World's Greatest Literature
- Thread starter Godwynn
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Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
Well, I'd say Mark Twain and John Steinbeck are really good authors; I admit to only having read The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, but it was excellent.
You might enjoy The Mysterious Stranger by Twain, Godwynn.
You might enjoy The Mysterious Stranger by Twain, Godwynn.
Harbringer
Your A One Flower Garden
war of the worlds.........
warpus
In pork I trust
The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith. Not because it's right or wrong, but because it really gets you thinking about big questions of how society works and what morality is. If you have time and interest it's best as part of a broader reading of social theory including other classic authors, but as a stand-alone, "wow that's really deep" book of human nature, it does a pretty good job of treating the topic. It's kind of dense and abstract because it doesn't use a novel or narrative format but rather just tells you stuff straight up with examples and parables as necessary, but it's rewarding in my opinion.
Integral
Can't you hear it?
1984 and Brave New World should be required reading, as always.
Personal recommendations
Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman (society, culture, politics, religion, and education in the age of television media)
A History of Knowlege, by Charles van Doren (A short history of nearly everything, but he doesn't reference his sources so it's a bit sketchy at times. Also includes short biographies of many influential people. Said to be a bit Euro-centric.)
The Peace to End All Peace, by David Fromkin (Excellent introduction to the early history and causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict.)
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (It's just a good book)
Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky (Turned me into an existentialist wreck in sophomore year of high school. Highly recommended.)
The Constitution of the United States (Rather short document, but apparently it's highly influential)
Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry in to the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, both by Adam Smith. Both are pretty dense reading, but it's worth it. And Wealth of Nations is worth reading simply because the full title is that awesome.
I recommend you at least take a look at Dune, by Frank Herbert. I just finished it a few weeks ago, and it's a suprisingly engaging story.
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Now, those are personal recommendations. I'm not qualified to name the World's Greatest Literature.
Personal recommendations
Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman (society, culture, politics, religion, and education in the age of television media)
A History of Knowlege, by Charles van Doren (A short history of nearly everything, but he doesn't reference his sources so it's a bit sketchy at times. Also includes short biographies of many influential people. Said to be a bit Euro-centric.)
The Peace to End All Peace, by David Fromkin (Excellent introduction to the early history and causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict.)
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (It's just a good book)
Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky (Turned me into an existentialist wreck in sophomore year of high school. Highly recommended.)
The Constitution of the United States (Rather short document, but apparently it's highly influential)
Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry in to the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, both by Adam Smith. Both are pretty dense reading, but it's worth it. And Wealth of Nations is worth reading simply because the full title is that awesome.
I recommend you at least take a look at Dune, by Frank Herbert. I just finished it a few weeks ago, and it's a suprisingly engaging story.
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Now, those are personal recommendations. I'm not qualified to name the World's Greatest Literature.
Fifty
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As many of these as possible
More selectively (still using Bloom as a guide), the major works of: Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne, Milton, Tolstoy, Vergil, Augustine, Dante, Chaucer, Plato, St. Paul, Goethe, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Nietzsche, Proust, Kafka, Ibsen, Chekhov, Swift, Austen, Hawthorne, Melville, Woolf, Emerson, Dickenson, Eliot, Wordsworth, Shelley, Hugo, Baudelaire, Homer, Joyce, Twain, Faulkner, Whitman, Fitzgerald, Flaubert, Borges, William Blake, W.B. Yeats, Dickens, and Dostoevsky all jump out at me at this exact moment (though I really have no clue if that's a good shortened list).
When asked to choose the most critical four books, Bloom chose:
1. The collected works of Shakespeare
2. The Divine Comedy - Dante
3. The Canterbury Tales - Chaucer
4. The Iliad - Homer
(his fifth would probably be Don Quixote)
More selectively (still using Bloom as a guide), the major works of: Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne, Milton, Tolstoy, Vergil, Augustine, Dante, Chaucer, Plato, St. Paul, Goethe, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Nietzsche, Proust, Kafka, Ibsen, Chekhov, Swift, Austen, Hawthorne, Melville, Woolf, Emerson, Dickenson, Eliot, Wordsworth, Shelley, Hugo, Baudelaire, Homer, Joyce, Twain, Faulkner, Whitman, Fitzgerald, Flaubert, Borges, William Blake, W.B. Yeats, Dickens, and Dostoevsky all jump out at me at this exact moment (though I really have no clue if that's a good shortened list).
When asked to choose the most critical four books, Bloom chose:
1. The collected works of Shakespeare
2. The Divine Comedy - Dante
3. The Canterbury Tales - Chaucer
4. The Iliad - Homer
(his fifth would probably be Don Quixote)
Tabasco Sauce
King
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Fatherland by Robert Harris
Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove
Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove
Tabasco Sauce
King
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Call me an uncultured imbecile, but most material pre 1950's does not interest me... except Philosophy, which to me is timeless.
I agree with Bloom here on the most critical works and the selective reading. However, I tend to disagree on his judgment on most of the 20th century books where I have read his take. When I drop off my 20th century fix to a wider perspective, I'll probably go with Fadiman: http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/grtfad4.html
Tabasco Sauce
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Oh, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Earth Abides by George R. Stewart.
Japanrocks12
tired of being a man
Less influential than the ones mentioned, but Siddharta by Hesse
War and Peace by Tolstoy is something I want to finish before the end of my life
I need to start Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms (it's sitting on my desk, itching to be read). The Count of Monte Cristo is amazing as an adventure tale.
War and Peace by Tolstoy is something I want to finish before the end of my life
I need to start Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms (it's sitting on my desk, itching to be read). The Count of Monte Cristo is amazing as an adventure tale.
ohcrapitsnico
Deity
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The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
I also would say Hawthorne and Twain. I can't think of anyone else offhand.
I would also recommend Romance of the Threee Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong simply because its a true Chinese classic, an truly excellent but long read, and an insight into Chinese society.
I also would say Hawthorne and Twain. I can't think of anyone else offhand.
I would also recommend Romance of the Threee Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong simply because its a true Chinese classic, an truly excellent but long read, and an insight into Chinese society.
Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
I just purchased that today; I will start it as soon as I have finished Dante's Paradiso, which will probably be in about a month.
Japanrocks12
tired of being a man
along with the other Chinese classics, The Journey to the West, the Outlaws of the Marsh, The Dream of the Red Chamber, and any others that I forgot
Lord Emsworth
Emperor
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. All five parts.
I havent read that.
I want to though I saw a description of it while flicking through Animal Farm by the same author.
