Books to read

[winlit]

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

[nessgavin]

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.

[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.

[Mortis Anarchy]

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.

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.

[tudwell]

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!

[hhc]

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.