EPT1984 is also great though I enjoyed Catch-22 more, it's still a great read.
~800 books you ought to read, top hits - Page 3
| Forum Index > General Forum |
|
Rayeth
United States883 Posts
1984 is also great though I enjoyed Catch-22 more, it's still a great read. | ||
|
Deadlyhazard
United States1177 Posts
OH YEAH And Tales of the Earthsea! And Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind! Both extremely well written stories  | ||
|
VeNoM HaZ Skill
United States1528 Posts
| ||
|
Gatsbi
United States1134 Posts
(see my name, yes i know its misspelled, gatsby was taken when i first wanted to use it) Such a great book, I love stuff about that time period. Probably why I love Boardwalk Empire (tv show) so much too. | ||
|
ChaseR
Norway1004 Posts
![[image loading]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/4100886174_d81158f2a9.jpg) | ||
|
TheGreatWhiteHope_
United States335 Posts
| ||
|
Mactavian
Canada60 Posts
It doesn't really matter if you liked the dream like diction, ominous tone, or overbearing sense of doom and insanity in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," because once you read it, you can trace the evolution of his theories on race and racism through Ghandi, Chinua Achebe, Martin Luther King, Malcolm-X and even to Spike Lee and his films. Fitzgerald's plucky and heavily ironic tale of Jay Gatzby may not pull on your hearts strings or make you want to pull your hair in frustration, but it does lay the groundwork for many modern stories of the American Dream, and particularly New York. Martin Scorsese owes a a lot to Gatzby, as does Francis Ford Coppola, (hell even Sofia Coppola's newest flick "somewhere" leans heavily on themes developed in Gatzby), and Ben Affleck's movie "Gone Baby Gone" plays on a lot of similar themes about morality and acceptance. Orwell's 1984 is a central log that fuels the fire of much american discourse when it comes to Socialism, Communism, Individuality, and political power. I'm sure Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage have all read 1984 and had it resound with them deeply. I could go on with basically every book on this list, but I think you get my point. I would be disappointed to hear that you didn't read a book because you thought you wouldn't like it, or didn't finish a book because you weren't enjoying it. You are probably not going to like all these books, but reading them will make you like other books more, and appreciate them more deeply. Reading an influential book that you didn't enjoy isn't a waste at all, it still gives you a framework to approach new novels, plays, cinema, and I'm told, even music (I don't really listen to much music, but I've heard my friends say so). I say if you like reading, read them all. It might now pay off in enjoyment right away, but it will, over time, increase the joy get from other books. | ||
|
Electric.Jesus
Germany755 Posts
On January 19 2011 04:32 RiB wrote: Of the books on that list I have read: Catcher in the Rye, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, Great Gatsby, Grapes of Wrath, To Kill A Mockingbird. All of the aforementioned were required for school. Anyone have any recommendations? Is it intended that the list contains mostly books from English-spekaing writers? I kinda miss some classics there such as Goethe's Faust (which is a must-read, if you ask me). With regards to the list, I only read a few of them, mainly the Dystopias but they are great reads. So I suggest Brave New World and 1984 and if you have read both of them, try Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. | ||
|
Mactavian
Canada60 Posts
And as a side note, my personal Favourites on this list Gatzby, Heart of Darkness, and On the Road. Easy Reads The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger 1984, George Orwell Lord of the Flies, William Golding The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald Animal Farm, George Orwell Brave New World, Aldous Huxley To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee Medium Reads The Grapes of Wrath, John Stienbeck Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison Hard Reads On the Road, Jack Kerouac Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky Moby Dick, Herman Melville Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen Ulysses, James Joyce Books I haven’t read The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner Catch-22, Joseph Heller | ||
|
Sunburst
Canada31 Posts
| ||
|
Diader
United States232 Posts
Personal Favorites (Both of these are part of a 4-way tie for my favorite book): Catcher in the Rye (AKA the teenager's bible) Pride and Prejudice (I know this gets a lot of hate, and I honestly feel like people don't give it a legitimate chance by just setting out thinking "Chick book". It's funny, there are a lot of subtle jokes and some great one-liners. Take it for what it is.) Pleasant reads: 1984 The Great Gatsby Animal Farm Didn't really like: To Kill a Mockingbird Heart of Darkness (very dense read, kind of difficult to understand) | ||
|
Lexpar
1813 Posts
On January 19 2011 04:40 Mactavian wrote: + Show Spoiler + As a follow up to my earlier post, I've broken the books into what I think are easy, medium, and hard reads. And as a side note, my personal Favourites on this list Gatzby, Heart of Darkness, and On the Road. Easy Reads The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger 1984, George Orwell Lord of the Flies, William Golding The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald Animal Farm, George Orwell Brave New World, Aldous Huxley To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee Medium Reads The Grapes of Wrath, John Stienbeck Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison Hard Reads On the Road, Jack Kerouac Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky Moby Dick, Herman Melville Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen Ulysses, James Joyce Books I haven’t read The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner Catch-22, Joseph Heller You really think Gatsby is an easy read? Personally I think you should switch it's place with Slaughterhouse. Maybe since Gatsby is your favorite it makes sense to you, but upon the initial reading it can be very difficult to wrap your head around everything happening in that book. For one thing, almost nothing happens in the first 3 chapters. It's worth it by the end, but it certainly dosent make the read any easier. Sorta book you want to read 2-3 times at least. Slaughterhouse? That "stream of consciousness" non linear story telling has been so totally digested by TV and Movies now that it's not really difficult for anyone to grasp. My opinion. | ||
|
IPA
United States3206 Posts
2666 - Roberto Bolano House of Leaves - Mark J. Danielewski The Castle - Franz Kafka (actually, read everything he wrote) Little, Big - John Crowley To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf Sabbath's Theater - Phillip Roth Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy O'Toole Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy Under The Volcano - Malcolm Lowry Malloy / Malone Dies - Samuel Beckett Just a personal favorites list, nothing more. If you enjoy reading at all, you will find much to like about any one of these books. Cheers and happy reading. | ||
Kipsate
Netherlands45349 Posts
Its incredibly disturbing and interesting | ||
|
Kickboxer
Slovenia1308 Posts
Can anyone keep a straight face and say they enjoyed reading Ulysses? As a linguist I was forced to write about it in university and outside of being a genius work with regard to complicated linguistic concepts that bore everyone except PhDs to death it's just terrible. And Catcher in the Rye? Please... it may have been controversial 100 years ago when it was considered outrageous to fart in public but in the day and age of kids smoking crack at 11 it's washed up and silly. Where is Hitchhiker's guide on that list? Where are the works of Murakami or E.A.Poe? Where is Dune and LOTR and all the genius of fantasy writing... I guess those are all too interesting for your standard stuck up professor ^_^ Maybe instead of shoving Tolstoy down their throats the powers that be should make lists of books kids will actually enjoy reading before children become illiterate.  | ||
|
Kipsate
Netherlands45349 Posts
On January 19 2011 04:54 Kickboxer wrote: Sorry but this list is exactly why kids nowadays don't read books. Dry intellectual canon that supposedly should not be questioned but is highly dubious at best. While some of these books are certainly outstanding, quite a few of them are incredibly boring and highly depressive. Can anyone keep a straight face and say they enjoyed reading Ulysses? As a linguist I was forced to write about it in university and outside of being a genius work with regard to complicated linguistic concepts that bore everyone except PhDs to death it's just terrible. And Catcher in the Rye? Please... it may have been controversial 100 years ago when it was considered outrageous to fart in public but in the day and age of kids smoking crack at 11 it's washed up and silly. Where is Hitchhiker's guide on that list? Where are the works of Murakami or E.A.Poe? Where is Dune and LOTR and all the genius of fantasy writing... I guess those are all too interesting for your standard stuck up professor ^_^ Maybe instead of shoving Tolstoy down their throats the powers that be should make lists of books kids will actually enjoy reading before children become illiterate. Children enjoy reading Twilight, does that make it a need to read? (Also i agree on hitchhikers :<) | ||
|
Kazragore
United States369 Posts
On January 19 2011 01:46 FishFuzz99 wrote: With 7 hits... The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger 1984, George Orwell Lord of the Flies, William Golding The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald 6... Animal Farm, George Orwell Brave New World, Aldous Huxley Catch-22, Joseph Heller The Grapes of Wrath, John Stienbeck On the Road, Jack Kerouac Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf Ulysses, James Joyce 5... Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov Moby Dick, Herman Melville Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner I bolded the ones that I have read, and I absolutely recommend every single one of them. Catch-22 is easily one of my favorite books. Read Heart of Darkness (another of my favorites) then watch Apocalypse Now, and you will only love it so much more. I don't even know what to say, except that you absolutely have to read these books. As an aside, thanks for compiling this list, as now I know that I have a fairly reliable reading list for the next few months (after I finish George RR Martin's series haha) | ||
|
ohlala
Germany232 Posts
Brave new world and 1984 were great reads. Try the Island by Huxley if you enjoyed those. I will give Crime and Punishment a try i guess. If you want to understand Ulysses you will have to read Odyssey first. | ||
|
nish827
17 Posts
| ||
|
IPA
United States3206 Posts
On January 19 2011 04:54 Kickboxer wrote: While some of these books are certainly outstanding, quite a few of them are incredibly boring and highly depressive. Can anyone keep a straight face and say they enjoyed reading Ulysses? Reading isn't always about enjoyment and satisfaction. It's also about challenge, personal growth, the ability to commune with minds long dead, etc. I read Ulysses and certainly didn't "enjoy it" like I enjoyed Dune; but Dune does not haunt me like passages from Joyce do. Basically I'm saying being a good reader means extrapolating more worth from true works of art other than (or in addition to) entertainment. | ||
| ||
