I need recommendation for reading (Specifically classics)

[lifeisart]

I think classics may change a human's life and that's why i want to focus on classics.

Do you have any suggestions? Not necessary to recomment a classics, but it's an asset :).

Now i read Albert Camus - The Stranger (not classics). When i finish this book, I'll start reading 1 classic book.

[TheFifthElement]

Classics I've read recently which have been really good include:
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

But I guess it depends on what you enjoy, and the term 'classic' has a really wide interpretation. So you might want to try something like Beowulf or The Tale of Genji or The Dream of the Red Chamber or the Epic of Gilgamesh or Shahnameh or something like that. All very entertaining and rewarding.

[lifeisart]

Thank you so much.

I like Jane Austen's works, but i do not like Charles Dickens.

Also I've read Victor Hugo - The Last Day of A Condemned Man. I think my favorite among them was Victor Hugo. The problem is im a fresh reader and other works of Victor Hugo might be tough to understand and they're very long for a fresh reader like me.

And Thank you, im going to check those 3 works as well.

[bounty]

no disrespect at all intended towards fifth element when I say this, but I tried to read a Virginia woolf novel once and I absolutely loathed it.

I think if you like jane austen, you might also enjoy any of the bronte sisters' works. jane eyre, wuthering heights, Shirley, etc.

[Leopard]

The Stranger is generally considered a classic.

[lifeisart]

I like Jane Austen! i only read her ''Pride and Prejudice'', but it was awesome.

I might also read other works of Austen but i dont know which one i should read the first :).

@Leopard, I'm sorry about that. I thought it was into classics because the publishhouse i bought only puts on the cover ''novel''. I think some publishing houses make such mistakes and thanks for correcting me :).

Also, if any of you want to come to my other topic, please visit that link; http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?86260-To-start-reading-phylosophical-books&highlight=

[Leopard]

It's nothing to apologize for. I just thought I'd point it out. :)

[Polliwog]

My second favorite Jane Austen book is Persuasion. If you like P&P and want to try Austen again I recommend that one next if you're looking for pure enjoyment.
Here are a few classics I'd put at the top of my favorites list (excluding Jane Austen):
The Pilgrims Progress
A Tale of Two Cities
David Copperfield
The Count of Monte Cristo
Vanity Fair
Les Miserables

[stlukesguild]

There are dozens of lists of great books or classics available online or otherwise:

https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/literature/bloom/complete.html#C

http://www.alistofbooks.com/

http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/12/features.fiction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100_Most_Influential_Books_Ever_Written

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1001_Books_You_Must_Read_Before_You_Die

"Classics" include far more than merely novels... which have only been around for a couple hundred years. You are speaking of a vast range of literary genre and styles from cultures ranging from ancient Babbylon and Egypt through Renaissance France and Italy to China and Japan on through the world today. You are speaking of literature ranging from lyric poetry to heroic or epic poetry, theological/spiritual writing, philosophy, theater, short stories, criticism, biography and autobiography, histories, travel journals, faerie tales, folk tales, etc... Jump around... try different genre and literary forms and styles. Explore several books by writers who grab your interest. Explore works by related authors... but don't be to quick to dismiss something that doesn't grab your attention right away. Most classics are as esteemed as they are for a reason.

[TheFifthElement]

no disrespect at all intended towards fifth element when I say this, but I tried to read a Virginia woolf novel once and I absolutely loathed it.
Surely you're not afraid of Virginia Woolf ;) I didn't like Woolf much the first time I read her either, but then I think I started with Mrs. Dalloway and it's a great book but I don't enjoy it. To the Lighthouse, though, is very good as is Jacob's Room. I imagine I wouldn't have liked her work at 18 though. Sometimes timing and outlook is key. The more I read, the more I see this. I recall, some years ago, vociferously maligning Don DeLillo after having read The Body Artist which I 'hated'. And I swore I would not read him again. Yet I did, and I'm glad I did. I now love DeLillo. I also love The Body Artist (though it's not his best, that's The Names imo). I suspect my temperament has altered, rather than his writing :)

lifeisart - if you enjoyed Camus you might also enjoy Kafka, Sartre and de Beauvoir. All 'modern' classics.

[DeeKaah]

If you're not specifically looking for novels, I would also recommend Walden by Thoreau. Fascinating read, really.

Otherwise, Moby Dick is a classic that everyone should read. Uncle Tom's Cabin is proper food for thought as well.

[Lendo]

Here's my suggestions (and maybe i'll repeat some that has already been made):

The Stranger, Camus

The Prince and the Poor Boy, Mark Twain

The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Liev Tolstoi

Malva, Maxim Gorki

[OrphanPip]

I like Jane Austen! i only read her ''Pride and Prejudice'', but it was awesome.

I might also read other works of Austen but i dont know which one i should read the first :).


Emma is her finest work, but all of Austen's novels are excellent in their own way.

I don't think she fits with the Brontes though, she's coming at the tail-end of the Georgian period and her work is dry, witty, and somewhat cynical. The Brontes are Romantics to the core, full of drama and emotion that you don't find in an Austen novel.

Frances Burney was Austen's primary inspiration and their novels have a lot in common.

[Vota]

stlukesguild is correct in stating that the term "classic" covers a vast range of types of books.

Always remember that learning is a life-long journey, and that classics are classics because they speak to universal themes, and they were written by some of the greatest minds humankind has ever produced. They are rewarding to read, but even more than that, the books grow as you grow intellectually, revealing new insights as your understanding increases over time - this is why classics are usually deserving of repeated readings.

If you are extremely confident when reading a book of any type that you understand it completely, and have made efforts to verify that you are correct in that opinion, then the book doesn't necessarily have to be re-read unless A. you need to brush up on certain ideas and arguments, B. the book is aesthetically pleasing to you, similar to repeatedly listening to the same music or watching movies more than once, or C. the book is both intellectually AND aesthetically pleasing, which the greatest books tend to be - to varying degrees.

With that said, I would recommend looking at The Great Books of the Western World. This is what got me started on the path of reading and learning. It served as an excellent starting point, with all of the books still being held in high regard by me, and tending to higher and higher levels of esteem as my understanding grows. While I have branched out considerably to different authors and works, it is difficult for me to seriously critique the selection of books in this series; both because I am not knowledgeable enough at the present time to offer any legitimate critique on most of the chosen volumes, having only read parts of some, all of a few, and none of many, but also because the set, despite lacking much if any Eastern classics, and having a limited though outstanding literature selection, covers the basics of intellectual development - and their is nothing basic about many of the works contained in the set.

I really think that any person that read all of the GBotWW books, and put in the effort to really understand them, would have a phenomenal education and an exceedingly well developed mind. The set isn't perfect, but I reckon that attempting to attain mastery of the ideas and information contained in this set of books, would serve as an outstanding and fairly comprehensive system of education for anyone.

In addition to this set, I would add the book How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler. This is a phenomenal book that teaches the "art" of reading. Highly worthwhile, and I consider it a mandatory book to read, and re-read in order to get the most out of one's readings.

I would like to make it clear that this set of books isn't the end all be all, but I think one would be hard pressed to recommend a superior foundation of books from which to build on. There are many books that would cover the deficiencies in this set, but as a starting point, it is hard to go wrong with Great Books of the Western World.

One last thing, GBotWW contains fairly small print, and most of the volumes use two columns of print per page to reduce the size of the set as a whole, so it is recommended to buy different versions of the texts in the set, which also affords one the opportunity to choose translations.

[Jackson Richardson]

I don't think she fits with the Brontes though, she's coming at the tail-end of the Georgian period and her work is dry, witty, and somewhat cynical. The Brontes are Romantics to the core, full of drama and emotion that you don't find in an Austen novel.

Quite right. Austen and the Brontes are opposites,

If you want to read what many consider THE classic English novel, read Middllemarch by George Eliot.

George Eliot was a highly intellectual woman, by name Marion Evans. She is in part influenced by Austen in so far as there in a strong element of social comedy (which the Brontes just don’t do.) But she covers a greater social range than Austen and deals with profound social, political and religious issues.

Although an atheist, George Eliot seems to me to deal with religious experience far more convincingly than any other Victorian novelist.

[Red Terror]

I have a copy collecting dust in my closet. Is it easy to read??? How much effort is involved???


Quite right. Austen and the Brontes are opposites,

If you want to read what many consider THE classic English novel, read Middllemarch by George Eliot.

George Eliot was a highly intellectual woman, by name Marion Evans. She is in part influenced by Austen in so far as there in a strong element of social comedy (which the Brontes just don’t do.) But she covers a greater social range than Austen and deals with profound social, political and religious issues.

Although an atheist, George Eliot seems to me to deal with religious experience far more convincingly than any other Victorian novelist.

[Lendo]

"Metamorphose" by Franz Kafka is already considered a classic, i believe. One of my favourite books.

[Jackson Richardson]

I have a copy collecting dust in my closet. Is it easy to read??? How much effort is involved???

Middlemarch is a long novel, but I find it perfectly readable. It is very important for the reasons I have given, but to be honest I admire it rather than enjoy it. Like Austen and Dickens, Eliot has a sense of irony and social comedy with depth. However Austen and Dickens (however different they seem) are both able to describe monsters of selfishness. As a more morally serious, intellectual and charitable woman, Eliot nearly always can find excuses for weak character. That is greatly to her credit, but it means I find Dickens and Austen far more fun.

[laurar]

Hi! I have recently read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and I really enjoyed it cause I am fond of Gothic genre.
I also recommend you Moby Dick!

[Lendo]

One of the best european classics is "Os Maias", by Eça de Queiróz. It's also considered one of the best portuguese books of the XIX century, and a landmark of Portuguese Literature. It has been translated to more than 30 languages, including english. In fact, the english translation of 2008 won the Oxford Translation Prize.

[lifeisart]

I haven't been able to be online for a while. And I thank all of you.

Now, I'm thinking about reading How To Read A Book first. Then, I think of reading Emma. I'll also choose one more book among those before I order them.