I should also have suggested Paton: Cry, the Beloved Country, which hasn't made any of the other lists either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tabac
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I should also have suggested Paton: Cry, the Beloved Country, which hasn't made any of the other lists either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tabac
Ten Classic books
1. Earth Abides by George Stewart
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
4. Heidi by Jonathan Sypri
5. I am Legend by Richard Matheson
6. Tess of D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
7. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
8. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
9. Animal Farm by George Orwell
10. The Silmarillion by Professor Tolkien
Quote:
Originally Posted by nothingman87
I love every book in your list (that I have read) except for A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. For some reason I HATED that book. I cant even put my finger on why I hated it. I like most of Joyce's other works.
It did have a section or two that I really enjoyed, but overall it was a dissapointment for me.
I'm going to list a few books that are by no means a best of the best list, but just books that I have grown to appreciate for what they are. Most of you probably have never heard of the first three!
1. The Book of Daniel, by E.L. Doctorow
2. White Noise, by Don DeLillo
3. Foe, by J.M. Coetzee
4. Alice In Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
5. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
6. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
The Lover, by MARGUERITE DURAS
The Izu Dancer,by Kawabata Yasunari
Dr. Zhivago, by BORIS PASTERNAK
david copper feild by chales dickens
les miserables by victor hugo
hunch back of notra dame by victor hugo
phantom of the opera(forgot the authers name)
come to greif by dick frances
without remorse by tom clancy
rainbow six by tom clancey
jungle book by rudyard kipling
venum factor by diana duan
any of the diskworld novels by terry pratchard ar also good
Anyone heard of The Fire of Origins, where the life of one man sums up the entire history of Uganda. I recommend it, definetly on my top ten.
my top reads at the moment are les miserables and david copperfeild
les miserables:- this is set in the great setting of the french revolition it has a main plot of jean valjean prisnor 24601 starting a new life after fleaing from parrolle he becomes maror of a town and calls him self monsueire madeline there are also subplots in thsi book my favorate of which is police inspector javert's persuite of 24601
david copperfeild: i have only just starting reading this book but it is a good book as it is writin as if it where an autobiography the first chapter explanes david's early years
Books for the whole world to read? In no particular order of importance:
The Odyssey
The Bible
Tao-te Ching
The Koran
Paradise Lost
Transformations of Myth Through Time
"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" - assuming essays count as books
King Lear
Cry, The Beloved Country
Ramayana
1) 1984 - Orwell
The book that killed Orwell. Writing away on the island of Jura, a gloom falls upon both Orwell's world and the world of 1984.
2) Brave New World - Huxley
Huxley's portrayal of modern society is arguably more prophetic than Orwell's. This is the world of meaningless consumerism and self-centered hedonism that seems far nearer to what we have now than Orwell's dystopia in my opinion.
3) Jude the Obscure - Hardy
Its hard to believe that this book caused enough storm, for Hardy to vow never to publish a novel again. The finale is distressing and a massive critique of the Victorian moral social system that some would, unbelievably, like to see us return to.
4) Regeneration Trilogy - Barker
For those not familiar with Pat Barker's work, this trilogy is a great unweaving of arguments for the futility of war. I think all three books won prizes, including the Booker.
5) History of Bombing - Lindqvist
Sven Lindqvist is a brilliant writer of history. This book is truly eye-opening. The passages on the bombing of Hamburg are just simply harrowing.
6) Philosophical Works of George Berkeley
Berkeley is a profound critic of common sense reality. His arguments are easy to follow and he has a knack of uncovering the real problems. His greatest failing is the solution he provides to the problem of perception and epistemology.
7) On the Natural History of Destruction - Sebald
Like Lindqvist's book, completely engaging and heart-rending. A testament of man's inhumanity to man, often perpetrated by people who thought they were doing what was right.
8) An Intimate History of Humanity - Zeldin
A great work of social anthropology by the Oxford don, that manages to be both a history of women and a history of modern France at the same time. I loved its conversational style.
9) Reasons and Persons - Parfit
Extremely difficult read, but well worth persevering with. One of the first intelligent attempts to show that we do not have a 'soul' or a 'self' and that the idea of personal identity is misguided. Parfit claims we continuously make our selves up.
10) Straw Dogs - Gray
Much easier to read than Parfit, and similar direction of argument. Gray and Parfit are surely right: there is no special quality about human beings, we just have more complex brains.
You all ought to feel ashamed for forgetting The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. I highly recommend it.
I guess we'll all burn in hell for that.:)
Bring on the fire.
Who forgot it? I simply wouldn't put it on a list of ten works that every person in the world should read.Quote:
Originally Posted by mono
I didnt like Cry, the beloved Country at all. So much so that I didn't even bother finishing it after reading 40-50 pages.