Jawz II
Oh Dear
Huck Finn was a favourite of mine when I was young. I've never understood why I've never read Tom Sawyer. It's so weird that I've never come across a copy.
Get them, I read mine till they fell apart.
Top 10 novels I need to read before I die
- Thread starter Bast
- Start date
Get them, I read mine till they fell apart.
It is very hard to suggest an entire novel to one to read, since novels tend to be huge..
However if you like built-up of anxiety, you could try Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment". The Possessed is more full of blood, and has an impressive number of characters and plots, and Karamazov is- for my tastes- too sunk inside christianity. I read these, along with the Idiot, when i was 18, since at the time i felt that this would allow me to sort of enter into the world of literature, for better or for worse
Thomas Mann's "the magic mountain" (which i have never read in its entirety) is also imo good at creating the feel that the reader is really there, and is equally sizable.
However if you like built-up of anxiety, you could try Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment". The Possessed is more full of blood, and has an impressive number of characters and plots, and Karamazov is- for my tastes- too sunk inside christianity. I read these, along with the Idiot, when i was 18, since at the time i felt that this would allow me to sort of enter into the world of literature, for better or for worse
Thomas Mann's "the magic mountain" (which i have never read in its entirety) is also imo good at creating the feel that the reader is really there, and is equally sizable.
Kosez
Sitting Wool
My list:
1. Albert Camus: Stranger
2. Dostojevski:Crime and punishment
3. G.G. Marquez: One hundred years of solitude
4. H.S.Thompson: Fear and loathing in Las Vegas
5. F. Kafka: The Judgment
6. H. Miller: Tropic of Cancer
7. J.D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye
8. Milan Kundera: The unbearable lightness of being
9. de Sade: Juliette et Justine
10. Jaroslav Hašek: The good soldier Švejk
1. Albert Camus: Stranger
2. Dostojevski:Crime and punishment
3. G.G. Marquez: One hundred years of solitude
4. H.S.Thompson: Fear and loathing in Las Vegas
5. F. Kafka: The Judgment
6. H. Miller: Tropic of Cancer
7. J.D. Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye
8. Milan Kundera: The unbearable lightness of being
9. de Sade: Juliette et Justine
10. Jaroslav Hašek: The good soldier Švejk
Syterion
Voodoo Economist
These are suggestions, I've read all the below novels.
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (he writes beautiful prose)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (It does get repetitive, but it is still a must read, imo)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
1984 by George Orwell
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (he writes beautiful prose)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (It does get repetitive, but it is still a must read, imo)
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
1984 by George Orwell
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Chukchi Husky
Lone Wolf
I never read books, unless it was for school, and then it was only a couple.
Bartleby
Remembers laughter
No votes for Moby Dick?
Bast
Protector of Cats
Finished Howards End. I really shouldn't have said "before I die", should be more like "before the end of the year".
Howards End has been an enigma to me all these years. I saw the film years ago and was fascinated by the Schlegel sisters and the socio-economic conditions during that period in England. I think the novel had a lot of interesting things to say particularly with regard to culture and class. As well as with relationship between a man and a woman in a marriage. It's a lot about social structures. Things that we allow to happen, things that we don't allow to happen. Basically about what we stand for. It forces me to think about what I stand for especially in relationships and especially where I draw the line.
What shall I read next?
Howards End has been an enigma to me all these years. I saw the film years ago and was fascinated by the Schlegel sisters and the socio-economic conditions during that period in England. I think the novel had a lot of interesting things to say particularly with regard to culture and class. As well as with relationship between a man and a woman in a marriage. It's a lot about social structures. Things that we allow to happen, things that we don't allow to happen. Basically about what we stand for. It forces me to think about what I stand for especially in relationships and especially where I draw the line.
What shall I read next?
Bartleby
Remembers laughter
How about Moby Dick?
Bast
Protector of Cats
thetrooper
Misanthrope
- Joined
- May 24, 2004
- Messages
- 9,086
Bartleby
Remembers laughter
Nope, you got me there, troop.
PrincepsAmerica
Nothingness made flesh
A Catcher in the Rye is terribly simplistic and equally overrated.
Pokurcz
Emperor
If you want to read “Ulysses” by James Joyce I strongly recommend to read “A portrait of the artist as a young man”, which is a shorter less cumbersome book that introduces you to the main character of “Ulysses”. I unfortunately read Ulysses first, but several long parts of the book where dazzlingly good.
I’ve always wanted to read “War and Peace”, once got a hundred pages into it…
I really recommend “Paradise Lost” by Milton, it flows very well and you get a nice sceptical comment of mans banishment from Eden. “Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven”, “Save what is in destroying other joy to me is lost”, quotes like that are hard to beat!
AAGLO
Red/Blue/Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson are one of the best hard SF stories one can read!
I’ve read Moby Dick, and all dough I remember it as a good one it could have been shortened easily and still retain its greatness.
Bulgakov’s “The heart of a dog” is a brilliant description of what happens to a person under the plight of Communism. Read it!
I’ve always wanted to read “War and Peace”, once got a hundred pages into it…
I really recommend “Paradise Lost” by Milton, it flows very well and you get a nice sceptical comment of mans banishment from Eden. “Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven”, “Save what is in destroying other joy to me is lost”, quotes like that are hard to beat!
AAGLO
Red/Blue/Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson are one of the best hard SF stories one can read!
I’ve read Moby Dick, and all dough I remember it as a good one it could have been shortened easily and still retain its greatness.
Bulgakov’s “The heart of a dog” is a brilliant description of what happens to a person under the plight of Communism. Read it!
I loved it. But it is just like Seinfeld: I can only enjoy it because I recognized early on that the protagonist is actually a horrible person.
You really should read Job: A Comedy of Justice.
How come nobody mention Lord of the ring ?? 
Its quite interesting
@aaglo- Oh, the Mars trilogy, i will recommend all to read it as a set. But its only on my "Top 10 novels to read before migrating to Mars"
Its one of my Fav.
I will also like to add.
-The old man and the sea. (Ernest Hermingway) No excuse for not spending 1 day to read this.
-Animal Farm (George Orwell, will recommend 1984 also)
-King Lear(technically not a novel, but worth reading)
-Dune (for the Hardcore Sci fi)
-The Story of a Mother (Han Christian Anderson, Must read)
There are many many good books. just find it hard to put into this list...
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
Hansel And Gratel (Brothers Grimm)
A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
Of mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
will add more once i remember.
Its quite interesting
@aaglo- Oh, the Mars trilogy, i will recommend all to read it as a set. But its only on my "Top 10 novels to read before migrating to Mars"
Its one of my Fav.I will also like to add.
-The old man and the sea. (Ernest Hermingway) No excuse for not spending 1 day to read this.
-Animal Farm (George Orwell, will recommend 1984 also)
-King Lear(technically not a novel, but worth reading)
-Dune (for the Hardcore Sci fi)
-The Story of a Mother (Han Christian Anderson, Must read)
There are many many good books. just find it hard to put into this list...
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
Hansel And Gratel (Brothers Grimm)
A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
Of mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
will add more once i remember.
Serutan
Eatibus Anythingibus
Of the original list posted, I only tried Ulysses (totally
unreadable), and War and Peace (agree with those who say it's a bit of a slog, but still worth it).
A few more :
The Oddysey - Homer Amazingly good story.
The Prince - Machiavelli
Paris in the XXth Century - Jules Verne Not published until the early 90s, but very interesting read.
unreadable), and War and Peace (agree with those who say it's a bit of a slog, but still worth it).
A few more :
The Oddysey - Homer Amazingly good story.
The Prince - Machiavelli
Paris in the XXth Century - Jules Verne Not published until the early 90s, but very interesting read.
Gothmog
Dread Enforcer
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2002
- Messages
- 3,352
There are so many different reasons to read a book, I like different books for different reasons. I think my favorite type is a book that was written mostly for pure entertainment, but in some other time and place (edit: i.e. the writer lived in another time and place), and with some deeper context. Like Dostoevsky IMO.
I've read all but two of your list (3 and 9), everything there is worth reading.
I will often read three or four books by the same author in a row, to get a better feel for his/her style. I can't read just one Steinbeck novel for example, he's like potato chips for me.
I just finished reading a few by Dashiell Hammett (maltese falcon fame, though I didn't read that one - some other time I guess) and they were great! Fun fun fun to read, great prose, incredible ability to create a character you are interested by in just a few sentences. Quick reads too, could finish one on an airplane.
For those who are interested here's a link to a Tom Sawyer pdf on google books. I've been reading this to my son before bed recently.
I love Twain and have read most of his stuff already
http://books.google.com/books?q=Tom+Sawyer&btnG=Search+Books&as_brr=1
I've read all but two of your list (3 and 9), everything there is worth reading.
I will often read three or four books by the same author in a row, to get a better feel for his/her style. I can't read just one Steinbeck novel for example, he's like potato chips for me.
I just finished reading a few by Dashiell Hammett (maltese falcon fame, though I didn't read that one - some other time I guess) and they were great! Fun fun fun to read, great prose, incredible ability to create a character you are interested by in just a few sentences. Quick reads too, could finish one on an airplane.
For those who are interested here's a link to a Tom Sawyer pdf on google books. I've been reading this to my son before bed recently.
I love Twain and have read most of his stuff already
http://books.google.com/books?q=Tom+Sawyer&btnG=Search+Books&as_brr=1
