Literature Recommendations

A few literature lovers at our high school have decided to form our own exclusive book club. Because our English curriculum is disappointingly poor in promoting reading other books (and because curriculums only feature one book, maybe two, per segment), most of us in this book club are sadly under-read.

That's where I need the help of our LitNation.

I need book recommendations, preferably fiction, not because we're fiction buffs but because any attempt to even nominate philosophical or well-written non-fiction has already been blocked by our 5 members (outvoted 4-1). I do ask, be varied in our recommendations. We're not doing a hitlist on the classics although classics will invariably be chosen. Likewise, we're not strictly confined to one time period or author.

I know this is much to ask as is, but, if I may ask for one more piece of information; what made it relevant. Not necessarily an in-depth synopsis of the work, but what stood out. Much thanks and appreciation to any and all responses.

Regards,
IceM

The Magus by John Fowles was one of the most amazing, brillaint and captivating books I have read. It is the kind of book to keep the reader upon the edge of thier seat, and well it has lingered on with me for a long time after reading it. It is quite unlike anything else I have read and takes the reader on quite the interesting joruney.

Romeo & Juliet
Nicholas Nickleby - Dickens
The Cossacks - Tolstoy
Tess - Hardy
The Oresteia by Aeschlyus (Ted Hughes translation)
Pride & Prejuduce - Austen
Waiting for Godot - Beckett
Joyce - Portrait of the Artist...
Dostoevsky - Notes from the Undergound
Kafka - Metamorphosis
Chekhov - 'selected' short stories

Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis - an effective and thoughtful examination of being a working class man at middle age, and what he has lost by doing so. Lewis was the first American author to win the Nobel for Lit

The Eternal Husband by Dostoevsky - this is a great intro to Dostoevsky becasue it is not 600-900 pages long like most of his novels. It has all the themes that make his works memorable - physical illness, paranoia, romantic relationships, emotional expression

Cannery Row by Steinbeck - a great book that has all of Steinbeck's central themes: human longing, hobos, love, the pathos of loss

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - arguably the best novel ever written by an African-American author. The "invisible man" is not the guy wrapped in bandages (that is a different book), but the man who is never seen becasue of how races perceive one another differently


Joan of Arc by Mark Twain - amazing biography of the most extraordinary woman who ever lived. This book will change the way you see people. This book reads like a novel, and Twain considered it his best work

A Study in Scarlett by Conan Doyle - if you're looking for something lighter - this is the first Sherlock Holmes book. In it you will find taut, exceptionally logical writing as only Conan Doyle could do. Reading his stuff will literally make you a more rational thinker yourself

It's an interesting idea and I'm glad that you have taken it upon yourselves to read more than the strait-jacket allows, though, I don't know, I think half of the fun here is deciding what books you want for yourself. I think that you'll end up with a massive list from this thread and not be much better off for it. Having said that read Dorian Gray, ha, ha and maybe something by Balzac, I have a desire to read Balzac next very much...

Kafka and Dostoevsky are phenomenal considering the way they can fathom the human psyche in point of fact. They are amazing given their ranges of ideas and the way they phrase or structure their sentences, every sentence or paragraph packed with substance.

Of course you can find Chekhov too highly palatable when it comes to telling stories. Of course I like Maupassant' s stories but what attracts me to Chekhav is he is not convoluted,k simple yet witty and humorous, and this combination is rare. Some writers are too complex for us. For example Sartre is intellectually appealing but what makes me skip his books is his complex ideas. So is James Joyce. He is amazing in point of fact given the style of his book, but few claim to have comprehended him in essence.

I never could complete his book despite the fact that I like his books tremendously.

I second Neely, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an excellent read. It may not be the most important or influential novel in the history of literature, but it's very witty and still a well-known novel, as far as I know. Considered a classic, too.

Most of all it's just a fantastic novel. I can guarantee you'll enjoy it; I know no one who hasn't.

especially for the more recent writers. He critiques Cormac McCarthy quite well. For classics, consult the Lifetime Readin Plan of Clifton Fadiman.

Frank Baum's Oz series

try browsing your library using the LitNet's 100 book official list here" http://online-literature.com/forums/...ad.php?t=40711

i find the list interesting :) Good Luck

Wow, thank you to all responses.

To the above poster, I'm aware of the list here on the website, but most of us read the classics on our own time. Albeit, we're still not well read as high school temptations do steal time from us. However, we're trying to read an author's well-written but lesser-known works. We've read Crime and Punishment but haven't read Notes of the Underground; we've read Dorian Gray but haven't read Wilde's other works.

In any other responses that I hope soon follow, I'm conscious of a novelist's premier works. If you know of any lesser known but still well-written works from an author, recommend those as well. We'll read at least 2 novels a month (considering we still have high school curriculum to learn), so we'll pore through most of the books you all mention. Thank you to everyone; we're much obliged.

Regards,
IceM

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Originally Posted by IceM

In any other responses that I hope soon follow, I'm conscious of a novelist's premier works. If you know of any lesser known but still well-written works from an author, recommend those as well. We'll read at least 2 novels a month (considering we still have high school curriculum to learn), so we'll pore through most of the books you all mention. Thank you to everyone; we're much obliged.

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you've hit on a topic that is vitally important to me. With almost every well-known author - I ALWAYS find that his/her lesser-known works are my favorite works by him/her. I'll give some examples - I'll put the lesser-known ones in italics - they are the ones I would recommend highest

Steinbeck is famous for Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden - my favorites by him, by far, are Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday, In Dubious Battle

When Fitzgerald is taught - everyone speaks of The Great Gatsby. I much prefer Tender is the Night by him


Sinclair Lewis is known for Main Street. I found his Arrowsmith to be MUCH better

Twain is know for Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Twain's Autobiography and his Roughing It are much better

I recommend The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. Simple read on the surface, but there is a lot underneath that a group of people can bring to light once the begin to analyze it. It's a tragedy, through and through. Rather short as well, and is probably classified as a novella. And most importantly, you get to delve into one of the greatest writers that Germany ever produced.

The Catcher in the Rye is a great coming of age book for teenagers and also classic literature.

I'll second The Picture of Dorian Gray... a very witty and engaging read.

If you're willing to try your hands at some poetry, Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" is a very introspective read that's fairly easy to understand.

I also preferred Cannery Row to Grapes of Wrath, but felt a bit guilty about it The latter is obviously more wide-ranging and "deeper", but the former is very touching, highly amusing, and an "easy read" on all levels. I might have been needing some relaxation when I read it!

As you've done "Crime & Punishment", why not try Tolstoy's "The Cossacks". It's a wonderful novel, but much shorter than W&P. And you can then have long arguments over "who is best", Tolstoy or Dostoevsky...

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Originally Posted by IceM

A few literature lovers at our high school have decided to form our own exclusive book club. Because our English curriculum is disappointingly poor in promoting reading other books (and because curriculums only feature one book, maybe two, per segment), most of us in this book club are sadly under-read.

That's where I need the help of our LitNation.

I need book recommendations, preferably fiction, not because we're fiction buffs but because any attempt to even nominate philosophical or well-written non-fiction has already been blocked by our 5 members (outvoted 4-1). I do ask, be varied in our recommendations. We're not doing a hitlist on the classics although classics will invariably be chosen. Likewise, we're not strictly confined to one time period or author.

I know this is much to ask as is, but, if I may ask for one more piece of information; what made it relevant. Not necessarily an in-depth synopsis of the work, but what stood out. Much thanks and appreciation to any and all responses.

Regards,
IceM

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Ok, IceM, you are 16, so I'll assume your group of book lovers are teenagers, high school students, and you don't want the type of books you might be asked to read in class: I am a high school English teacher and will mention those I know kids have liked for 'outside reading.' Most are not books I teach in class.

IN COLD BLOOD, by Truman Capote. I've taught this, but the kids love it: most of them reading the whole thing the first weekend they take it home. Capote invented the genre of 'true crime' with this book. It is a true story, but written like a novel. Really gripping.

CATCHER IN THE RYE, by J.D. Salinger. Most kids seem to really like this one. Seems to touch a chord in all young people, the emerging soul of the individual in society.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, by Ken Kesey A book that has been very popular, expressing the individual's rebellion against society--a rebellion against conformity.

CATCH 22, by Jospeh Heller An anti-war novel, hilarious black comedy.

THE BEAN TREES, by Barbara Kingsolver. Girls like this one. When I teach it, at least half the girls come back from the first weekend they've had the book with it completely finished. Pretty modern story of a young woman driving across country, stopping when she runs out of money, and making a new life for herself.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOM X is very interesting. Also, very gripping, true story but about an amazing man who went from being a convict to one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement: he was assassinated in the late 1960's.

myrna22 is spot on with the first four suggestions. I haven't read the latter two, but the others, Catcher in the Rye especially, were great. I'd like to take the liberty of adding another title to those suggestions, being A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. Very good read, and despite the rape, murder ultra-violence and similar leisure activities, very funny too.

If you want to read an obscure, but terrific author, I can recommend Naguib Mahfouz. Perhaps the most underrated author I've read, also one of my favourite, if not my favourite. Wedding Song is a thrilling read (and has nothing to do with weddings ;) ).

I should add Haruki Murakami, especially if you're interested in modern foreign literature. I especially loved Kafka on the Shore. All of his books have a beautiful surreal quality... not quite fantasy writing, but not quite realistic literature either. It's as if he creates a new existence for his readers.

Also, something I greatly enjoyed in high school was reading "The Heart of Darkness" along with watching the movie "Apocalypse Now" (which is loosely based on the book). Finding comparisons between movie and book was especially interesting.

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Originally Posted by Amoxcalli

myrna22 is spot on with the first four suggestions. I haven't read the latter two, but the others, Catcher in the Rye especially, were great. I'd like to take the liberty of adding another title to those suggestions, being A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. Very good read, and despite the rape, murder ultra-violence and similar leisure activities, very funny too.

If you want to read an obscure, but terrific author, I can recommend Naguib Mahfouz. Perhaps the most underrated author I've read, also one of my favourite, if not my favourite. Wedding Song is a thrilling read (and has nothing to do with weddings ;) ).

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Yes, I agree with A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

and not so famous authors ....

The Insulted and the Injured - Dostoevsky
Tono Bungay - H. G. Wells
The Beautiful and the Damned - F. Scott Fitzgerald
It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis
The Killers - Ernest Hemingway (short story)
The Razor's Edge - Somerset Maugham
Scoop! - Evelyn Waugh
The Queen's Necklace - Alexandre Dumas pere
The Prisoner of Zenda - Anthony Hope
The Black Arrow - Robert Louis Syevenson
The Moon and Sixpence - Somerset Maugham
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Thin Man - Dashiell Hammett
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John Le Carre
Dracula - Bram Stoker

These should keep you busy for a couple of weeks,

Troilus and Cressida, a "lesser" Shakespeare play, is worth a look. I think history and society has caught up with it and given it relevance

Jude the Obscure- Thomas Hardy
The Netherworld- George Gissing
Germinal- Zola
La Terre- Zola
L' Assomoir- Zola
Anything by Angela Carter

As for classics, my favorite is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I haven't read his other stuff (HoD is his most famous work). It's one of the first Modern novellas, and watching Apocalypse Now after reading it is great.

But, as a college student soon to be an English teacher, if you want my advice, screw the traditional cannonical classics. If you're all into literature as much as it sounds, you'll probably be taking plenty of literature courses in college, and more in high school where you will be exposed to plenty of classics. Right now, have fun with your reading. Having fun with reading doesn't mean you can't read good pieces of literature, either. It doesn't all have to be Tolstoy, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, etc etc.

I'm a big sci-fi/fantasy buff, so here are some in that vein (all of which are good pieces of literature):

- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. A very easy read, but still one of my favorites. Good themes, and Card's predictions of the future for his world are pretty astounding in some senses.
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. A classic with a wonderfully unique creation of an alien culture, and the clash with mankind.
- Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. No explanation needed.
- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Amazing set of short stories.
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. One of the best dystopian novels ever.
- Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Not really sci-fi or fantasy, I would call it bizarre fiction. Amazingly unique.
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Another great dystopian novel, if you want more of a challenge.
- Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm reading it right now, and haven't finsihed it yet, and unless the ending is horrible (which seems unlikely), it belongs on this list. Le Guin creates one of the most unique, well thought out, and complex alien worlds I have ever read.

These are what I can think of at the moment. If any more pop in my head, I'll add them.

Just to fill you guys in, our panel of four (we like small groups) were split between Don Delillo's White Noise and Dostoyevsky's Notes From Underground (the guys, myself included chose the latter, the females choosing the former, for you detail lovers). After a tie-breaker, we're doing Notes From Underground.

Anything in the way of poetry, maybe? Thanks to all responses. They've been insightful and given me plenty of nominations. Much appreciated.

Sincerely,
IceM

Poetry? Keats. Philip Larkin. Ted Hughes (Crow and/or his translation of Aeschylus - kill two crows with one stone)

人間失格 / Ningen Shikkaku / No Longer Human - a look at the darker side of human nature from a non-western perspective. One of my favorite books.

The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time - a murder mystery narrated by a 15 year old boy with (possibly savant) autism. The idea alone should be intriguing, yes?

Catch-22 - you're at an age in life where this phrase coined by the title matters and at an age in time where this message penned by the author matters more.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - the Chinese epic to end all epics. It's like reading a never ending fantasy novel. Also having read it will score you brownie points in the Asian studies department when you get to uni.

Things Fall Apart - you've probably already read this haven't you? (~_~)

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Originally Posted by IceM

Just to fill you guys in, our panel of four (we like small groups) were split between Don Delillo's White Noise and Dostoyevsky's Notes From Underground (the guys, myself included chose the latter, the females choosing the former, for you detail lovers). After a tie-breaker, we're doing Notes From Underground.

Anything in the way of poetry, maybe? Thanks to all responses. They've been insightful and given me plenty of nominations. Much appreciated.

Sincerely,
IceM

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Definitely Tennyson and Frost for poetry, and Shakespeare goes without saying.

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Originally Posted by myrna22

IN COLD BLOOD, by Truman Capote. I've taught this, but the kids love it: most of them reading the whole thing the first weekend they take it home. Capote invented the genre of 'true crime' with this book. It is a true story, but written like a novel. Really gripping.

THE BEAN TREES, by Barbara Kingsolver. Girls like this one. When I teach it, at least half the girls come back from the first weekend they've had the book with it completely finished. Pretty modern story of a young woman driving across country, stopping when she runs out of money, and making a new life for herself.

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Considering some of the English classes I've been in, I think you have a very dedicated class. I'm jealous :cuss:

A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
A collection of poetry put together by Czeslaw Milosz

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Originally Posted by IceM

Considering some of the English classes I've been in, I think you have a very dedicated class. I'm jealous :cuss:

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No,not particularly dedicated classes; these are books the kids like to read, especially IN COLD BLOOD which is extremely well written and compelling.

Poetry: Sylvia Plath. Wordsworth. Walt Whitman. Emily Dickinson.

I'll try and give some of my favorites later!

You might try Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems from WritersCorps. It is poetry written by teens from various places across the U.S.