D'Juhn Keep on 1/3/2006 at 02:43
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Because it's frequently beautiful and moving, very well written and has the best depiction of loneliness I personally have read.
Oneiroscope on 1/3/2006 at 05:09
Well, I am certainly not as well read as many of you. But I do love Stendhal's The Red And The Black and The Charter House Of Parma, as well as Dumas' The Three Musketeers, The Man In The Iron Mask, and The Count Of Monte Cristo. Also, I adore the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe.
A good book I just finished reading was The Education Of A Wandering Man, by Louis L'Amour. It's basically about how he educated himself by reading hundreds of books every year. That book has reignited an interest for me in books in general. I am intending to go through the extensive bibliography in the back and sift out a reading list. This thread has also suggested quite a few things. I think I will be looking for Borges.:)
TheGreatGodPan on 1/3/2006 at 05:26
When I was a kid I read so often that my parents would ocassionally prohibit me from reading my books for a week or two. I hardly do any of that now. I had a bunch of stuff I planned on reading, and was a bit over half-way through with the Gutenburg Project's "Pilgrim's Progress" (and yes, I did decide to read it because I heard Invisible War quoted it) when I got distracted and never resumed my planned reading. The last thing I read was G.K. Chesterton's "The Napoleon of Notting Hill", but that might not count since I read it on the computer. If I was going to recommend one book though, I'd say Thomas Woods' "The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History". Doh. Just remembered this is literature. Out of what other people have already said, I have to add that Candide shocked me with how good it was (how is Huckleberry Finn permitted to be referred to as satire or even humorous compared to it?), Wuthering Heights/Pride&Prejudice are overrated, 1984 is as great as its made out to be, Fahrenheit 451 and Cry the Beloved Country are alright, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is better, and the DaVinci code is godawful.
doctorfrog on 1/3/2006 at 08:30
Quote Posted by Naartjie
I'd be wary of reading those books (Chaucer, Dante etc) without any academic aids (other books or teachers). I think a lot of the content and cultural references would be over my head, considering how long ago they were written. I got a lot out of reading Shakespeare at school because I had the help of critical guides and essays. On the other hand, you could argue that a fresh approach to the books gives you insights which aren't simply spoonfed to you. Oh bollocks it, just do whatever :p
If you're into it (I = English major, therefore, I is), just pick up a Norton Critical Edition, they usually have excellent notes, and a handful of interpretive essays following the work. A whole course in a single package, all you have to do is keep... your eyes... open...
The majority of my English classes went like: "Hey, read this, read these essays giving background on it, listen to my interpretation on it in the scope of the course, spit out an essay about it, then move on before you absorb anything." A lot of that can be covered with a little discipline and a critical edition of something.
Two more recommendations:
If you want to get a lot of what goes on in
Dante's Divine Comedy, I enjoyed Mark Musa's translation of the
Inferno. I forget the publisher, but look for this guy's name. He explains EVERYTHING, and it included the Italian right along with the English, maps of Hell, and good summaries along with the verse for impatient types.
The first thing I read upon hitting uni was the Norton Critical Edition of
Erasmus's Praise of Folly. A lot of sarcasm, using print to aim barbs at political enemies, things like that. It's also pretty short. I think of it as one of the first best one-man flame wars.
Goblin on 1/3/2006 at 09:02
My list here is composed entirely of books with that magical literal significance, but are also just plain good yarns. Easy-to-read style and a dose of lol ensure that anyone can enjoy these classics whether you give a toss about philosophical metastatements or not.
* Ken Kesey - One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. To say this novel asks whether it's the man or the system that's insane, would grossly oversimplify. Akin to Jonathan Swift, there's more dichotomous paradigms in here than a room full of analogous similes for dichotmous paradigms.
* Joseph Heller - Catch 22 (cap off to WAREAGLE for beating me to it). Doing the ludicrous humour style of Pratchett long before him, and yet tying in honest human emotion in a seamless way. A dude getting cut in half makes you laugh at first, then the reader is forced to view the event through the eyes of onlooking characters and suddenly it isn't funny anymore. Big props.
* Tom Sharpe - Porterhouse Blue What am I, a blurb-writer?
* Richard Brautigan - Confederate General From Big Sur
Enchantermon on 1/3/2006 at 12:39
Animal Farm is, IMO, one of the best political satires out there. Great read.
Also, if you're looking for a relaxing read after a hard day's work, check out Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 5-book trilogy. ;) Interesting and hilarious, you'll get hooked.
Fragony on 1/3/2006 at 13:33
modern classics,
Anything from Houellebeque, especially 'elemental parts'. Anything from Brett easton Ellis, especially 'Glamourame'. 'In a thousand pieces, James Fray, 100 years of loneliness Gabriel de Marquez something.
classic classics,
Nausia from Sartre
Bedroom philosophers from de Sade (hilarious book)
'The idiot' Too russian to spell for me Distijevski or something
Vernon on 1/3/2006 at 19:00
Quote Posted by Fragony
'The idiot' Too russian to spell for me Distijevski or something
That would be another Dostoevsky/Dostoyevsky :)
theBlackman on 1/3/2006 at 19:44
Not "classic" "Neo-Classic" but just plain fun is Robert Ludlum The Road to Gandalfo.
A very earthy Pope is kidnapped. The ensuing venture is uproarious.
