Books to read

Hello all

Of course I could commence reading trough the entire forum to find an answer to the following question, but I choose to create my own thread and ask you directly: Which books ought I to read? Perhaps I ought to rewrite; which books would I enjoy as an unexperienced reader? I realize this question isn´t exactly easy to answer, but there gotta be some classics out there which the majority regards as great. So far, these seem interesting to me:

Austen, Jane Emma; Pride and Prejudice
Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
Charles Dickens David Copperfield
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
William Golding Lord of the Flies
Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis
Herman Melville Moby Dick
Robert Lewis Stevenson Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Voltaire Candide
Aldous Huxley Brave new world
Oscar Wilde The importance of being earnest
Faulkner As I Lay Dying el. The Sound and the Fury
Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath

I´ve read several short-stories due to school, and recently I read The Double by Dostoevsky which I liked a lot, so I picked up Crime & punishment and are now halfway through this. Which book to read in the future?

On the day I decided to start reading serious literature the first book I got was The Great Gatsby.Although The Grapes of Wrath is and will probably always be my favorite novel,I would say definitely start out with Fitzgerald.It's not very long,and it has an impact on you.The last paragraph of The Great Gatsby I believe is the greatest in all of American literature.It not only summed up the whole book,but the entire American dream.It's haunting.

I'd suggest To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. One of my favourite novels of all time and a surefire classic.

It depends if you want to go the European route or the American route. I started off with Dickens' Great Expectations and that sparked my love for the classics.... if you want to go the American route, i suggest Great Gadspy

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Originally Posted by Skafte

Hello all

Of course I could commence reading trough the entire forum to find an answer to the following question, but I choose to create my own thread and ask you directly: Which books ought I to read? Perhaps I ought to rewrite; which books would I enjoy as an unexperienced reader? I realize this question isn´t exactly easy to answer, but there gotta be some classics out there which the majority regards as great. So far, these seem interesting to me:

Austen, Jane Emma; Pride and Prejudice
Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
Charles Dickens David Copperfield
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
William Golding Lord of the Flies
Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis
Herman Melville Moby Dick
Robert Lewis Stevenson Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Voltaire Candide
Aldous Huxley Brave new world
Oscar Wilde The importance of being earnest
Faulkner As I Lay Dying el. The Sound and the Fury
Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath

I´ve read several short-stories due to school, and recently I read The Double by Dostoevsky which I liked a lot, so I picked up Crime & punishment and are now halfway through this. Which book to read in the future?

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Why do you need other people to tell you what to read?

I don't have any standard rule on where should start first, as I consider reading is for pleasure. If you have any other intention (say, for research), maybe you could ask your English teacher. I've read Huxley's, Wilde's, Kafka's, and Dicken's; they're worth checking.

Of course I don´t need other people to tell me what to read. But due to my lack of knowlegde regarding books, som advice would be great :) Feel free to add books to the above-mentioned list..

Oh, and thanks for the replies so far.. Gonna go to the library tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by subterranean

Why do you need other people to tell you what to read?

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Asking for advice when we are not sure from where to begin is a very clever move; saves time and effort. We all do it at times; even you, I am sure, Sub.

There are similar threads, which might be helpful: http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=15527

The Review a Book thread is also good as well: http://www.online-literature.com/for...ead.php?t=4387

Also have a look at our Book Club, which reads a new book every month: http://www.online-literature.com/for...splay.php?f=15


Welcome to the Forum, Skafte! :)

Hello, I read your reading list and am familiar with most of your books... I would suggest Rebbeca or Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier.. Very dark but well worth a read - If you can get through Crime and Punishment you should like her.. Best Wishes.

Looks like an inviting reading list to me. My fave on there is Wuthering Heights (loved it!!!) I personally would suggest reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. one of my favorites, but one that would really get you into reading is Old School by Tobias Woolf. i think its a bit like Catcher in the Rye but more fictional, still exceptional. Good Luck

hey peeps. I read books from Christopher Paolini: Eragon and now Im reading Eldest. Im still reading stories from edgar allen poe. Im reading The murders in the Rue Morgue. Is good and well written but I dont get it. Im still in the beginning so I got more to go. I really havent been here in a while. a long while. feels good to be back though! :D

Just noticed it was your birthday, Nightmare Beauty. Happy birthday. :bday_2:

Yes a very happy birthday, lots of treats and smiles to you NightmareBeauty.
I agree that the Great Gatsby is awesome and so is Jamaica Inn, though I felt a great despair as I read it.My first more grownup book I read was "Gone with the Wind" believe it or not and I read it every summer sitting on the front step in the shade with a cool drink and a snack. And I always wondered if Scarlett and Rett would work things out..

The Lord of the Rings series is worth a look too. Quite a few excellent decriptions of nature.

If I were to choose three that would grab anyones attention;
Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis
F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby
Oscar Wilde The importance of being earnest

All of them are really wonderful books.

Many good books on your list. I read Moby Dick a few years back. It was a book that I found quite dull to read at the time but now it is one of the few books that really stick with me in terms of the story itself and the way it made me feel.

add robert durells alexandria quartet and umberto eco the name of a rose.fantastic books

I have recently begun a series of courses in the "common core". This past year we read The Meno, The Apology and Crito by Plato, Crime and Punishment, Aristotle's Ethics, Herodotus' Histories, Genesis, the book of Job, Matthew, Machiavelli, Hobbes Leviathan, Rousseau's Discourses, King Lear, Huckleberry Finn, in that order. One great idea leads to another and for the first time I feel I've been educated-I have a BA and MA-but the great idea concept is the way to go. One book speaks to the next. Each author read the others. It's a fabulous foundation for all other readings.

I'd recommend the Iliad and the Odyssey with all of my heart; the Iliad in particular is hard-going to begin with but they're well worth it, and hugely benefit re-reading. They also afford a better understanding of the legacy of the epic tradition in modern literature and film. I'd particularly recommend the Lattimore translation of both, as they have superb introductions and glossaries.

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Originally Posted by Behemoth

I'd recommend the Iliad and the Odyssey with all of my heart; the Iliad in particular is hard-going to begin with but they're well worth it, and hugely benefit re-reading. They also afford a better understanding of the legacy of the epic tradition in modern literature and film. I'd particularly recommend the Lattimore translation of both, as they have superb introductions and glossaries.

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Totally agree. This is one book that changed my life. I read it in the 7th grade and I could not put it down. Its amazing.

The book that I've come to think of as the flagstone marking my entrance into the world of "literary" fiction is Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. Granted, this isn't a very good place to start, and most of it went way over my head, but it got me down the road to reading other good fiction. I'd recommend starting elsewhere, however. You listed some Faulkner in the OP. He's one of my faves, though he can be a bit difficult at times. Probably older 19th century stuff is the way to go. Those books are invariably more linear and easier to follow than more modern books. Dostoevsky, Dickens, etc.

Good luck with your reading!

You should definitely add The Plague by Albert Camus and anything of Borges you can find. Reading For Whom The Bell Tolls would be good for you, too.:thumbs_up