Essential Books
 

What books would you consider must-reads and must-haves, whether they are classic novels or contemporary books....and why? (Doesn't matter if they are fiction or non-fiction)

The Bear Went Over The Mountain by William Kotzwinkle

Reason? Because most people haven't and ... just because.

Some of my essential books

-The Bonesetter's daughter by Amy Tan
-Corcoran "Cork" O'Connor series by William Kent Krueger (Iron Lake, Boundry Waters, Purgatory Ridge)
-Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik

Just off the top of my head

Catcher in the Rye
-Because everyone else has read it
Of Mice and Men
-A very short book that contains more story and emotion than any book I have ever read over 1000 pages.
To Kill a Mockingbird
-Same reason as Catcher in the Rye.
Stranger in a Strange Land
-A look at our world through the eyes of an innocent. This book had a signifigant impact on the culture of the 60s
Brave New World
and
1984
-These two books go together well. Speculative science fiction that explores what could happen if political and philisophical ideologies are taken to the extreme.

Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales of the Brother Grimm
1001 Arabian Nights

Oedipus Rex
Prometheus Bound
Hamlet

Count of Monte Cristo
David Copperfield
Gulliver's Travels

Hemmingway Short Stories

These are all easy reading, and fundamental to our culture.

I am planning on picking up both of these, but have been trying to decide which editions to get - any particular favorites?

If I could get ones with some nice illustrations included, I would prefer that.

Fahrenheit 451
-Not just the message, but so well written

Actually, I just read what versions the library had. I did once look at Andersen books in the bookstore, and the different translations were of different quality.

I asked for but did not receive this book for Christmas
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

I recommend this book of tales by Charles Perrault:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...036372-0428861
Perrault popularized a lot of stories we know, like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. He wrote literary versions for the Italian court.

I second 'A Cathcer in the Rye'.
...hard to believe you got through school without being required to read it...

My top 5:

Bram Stoker's Dracula
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Moby Dick
1984
The Godfather

Must-read Thrillers
 

I was recently asked by the new International Thriller Writers Association to compile a list of the must-read thrillers, so I'll share that list with you here.

Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mister Ripley, 1955
Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana, 1958
Richard Condon, The Manchurian Candidate, 1959
Len Deighton, The Ipcress File, 1962
Adam Hall, The Quiller Memorandum, 1965
Mario Puzo, The Godfather, 1969
Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain, 1969
Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal, 1971
Trevanian, The Eiger Sanction, 1972
William Goldman, Marathon Man, 1974
Ross Thomas, Chinaman's Chance, 1978
Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity, 1980
Dick Francis, Whip Hand, 1981
Thomas Harris, Red Dragon, 1981
Thomas Perry, Butcher's Boy, 1982
David Morrell, The Brotherhood of the Rose, 1984
Warren Murphy & Molly Cochran, Grandmaster, 1985
Stephen King, Misery, 1987
John Grisham, The Firm, 1991
Dean Koontz, Mr. Murder, 1993
Lee Child, Killing Floor, 1997
Daniel Silva, The Mark of the Assassin, 1998

It's not an exhaustive list, but they're all damn fine books.

Johnathan Livingston Seagull

Slaughterhouse 5

the sailor who fell from grace with the sea

Kafka, Metamorphosis
Because anytime someone writes something about an insect or alienation, it's always referred to be Kafkaesque.

Mann, Death in Venice + Camus, The Stranger
They're considered classics? Their European style has influenced alot of other foreign writers.

Welsh, Trainspotting
Because it's more than just a druggie book, plus the use of dialogue is cool.

Pratchett, Eric
A pretty good parody on Faust.

Of Mice and Men
seconding it cause it was my favorite book in HS.

Asprin, Myth Series
Fun, light fantasy.

:up:

Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follet

The Bible

These works seem absolutely essential to me since they are so imbedded in our culture.
The Bible
The Iliad and The Oddysey, Homer (and to a lesser extent, Ovid's Metamorphosis)
Canterbury Tales , Geoffrey Chaucer (at minimum the General Prologue, the Knight's Tale, the Miller's Prologue and Tale, The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, The Nun's Priest's Tale, and the Pardoner's Tale. I'm pretty fond of The Man of Law's Tale, too, but it's not popular).
Complete Poems of John Donne, as well as his meditations (at least the divine poems, the songs and sonnets, the elegies, and Meditation 17).
Complete Works of William Shakespeare (at least the most famous plays and the sonnets)


Some great novels:

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen(has been adapted umpteen times, worth reading the source)
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (same as reason as Pride and Prejudice, and the original story is so much better than the Hollywood version. Worth reading Milton's Paradise Lost before reading Frankenstein).
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad (For me, this novella isn't entertaining, but it's referred to so often in books, movies, conversation, etc. that it's essential)
Lolita, Vladmir Nabakov
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

Some books not already listed:

The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
Maus by Art Spielgelman
King Lear by William Shakespeare

And for kids, just off the top of my head:

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
And nearly anything by Roald Dahl

Paradise Lost - so good. as my college professor would say, paradise lost brought an end to a genre.

while i still think this 'end' existed only for lack of an emergent, widely accepted religion, the fact is it's been 300 years since we've seen an epic poem.

if you must know more, i could get out my notes as to why specifically this ended the epic genre. if i remember a little bit of the reasoning, i think it has to do with the scope of paradise lost being so much larger than anything else. for example, rather than writing about A man, it is about the man, first man, man in general. etc.

Definitely:

The Bible
To Kill a Mockingbird
1984

I could easily go on... there are so many good books that are must reads.

People actually read The Bible?

Epic stories, lots of kinky sex, flames and pillaging, what's not interesting?

(other than the begats and dimensions of the temple, of course...)

I almost included Paradise Lost in the top part of my list but stuck it in with Frankenstein, a novel that alludes so much to PL that it would be hard to fully understand without reading Milton first.

What I remember is that Milton is considered by many to be the last Renaissance writer, even though going strictly by a time line, PL was published after the Restoration. (The reasoning behind this is that Milton emulated classical literature, put man at the center of the universe the way Renaissance humanists did, and evoked humanist skepticism in his portrayal of Satan, etc). There are epic poems after PL, but none are nearly as famous, and I think that maybe the development of the novel turned great writers' attention away from narrative and epic poetry. Not sure on that though.

Religion/Spiritual

The Bible
The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ: By Anne Catherine Emmerich
Summa Theologiae: Thomas Aquinas
The Imitation of Christ: Thomas A Kempis
Gods Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Just Dont Get It

Political/World view

Bias: Bernard Goldberg
The New Thought Police: Tammy Bruce

Political w/humor

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: Al Franken
Dude Wheres My Country: Michael Moore

Fantasy/Adventure

Interview With the Vampire
Lestat The Vampire
Queen of the Damned

These are by Anne Rice... I couldnt get into the other tales of vampires she wrote, but this trilogy rocks.

so. democrat or republican?

A couple that haven't been named:

LOTR- started the fantasy genre and has yet to be topped.

The Great Gatsby- just a great, classic book.

I had no idea that America just has a two party system.

We landed on the moon by the way.

These are just books which I really enjoy reading and which are not "difficult" to read per se. The first is just an anthology. I am surprised I have not seen there here more.

T.C. Boyle Stories
Joseph Heller Catch 22
John Nichols The Milagro Beanfield War
Don DeLillo White Noise (I actually don't like much of his other work)

For "pop" fiction I really liked Stephen King's The Dark Half.

Oh and :up::up: for finally having a book thread not on comics. Comics != Books. Comics = Art, but Comics != Books.

Ah, the classics. There are so many of them I have not read. My early experiences with required reading were not good, so I ignored all the books that I “should” read for many years. I tried reading The Bible but just can’t make it through. I never got to the New Testament. David Copperfield, War and Peace, Remembrance of Things Past – I gave up on them all after a few hundred pages.

Last year I did finally read Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I expected it to be dry and boring but it was actually compelling and I didn’t want to put it down. It is the novel that started the American Civil War, according to some.

One book I think of as essential that I don’t hear much about it The Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. I was amazed by it and wished I had gotten to it much sooner than I did. Apparently that is a common reaction.

I also really liked The Catcher In The Rye. I managed to avoid it until recently and was surprised how much I liked it.

well there have already been some excellent suggestions so far.
I would add ayn rand, at least atlas shrugged and fountainhead, possibly fitzgerald's tender is the night, siddhartha and narcissus and goldumnd (mispelled I believe) by herman hesse. I'll have to put some more thought into it though as those are just off the cuff.

For younger folks reading I would say neverending story, wind in the willows, chronicles of narnia, his dark materials.

must have:
the complete far side
and soon to come, the complete calvin and hobbes collection

optional choice:
spy vs spy collection

i'd like to believe you're right. while the independents do occasionally provide an exception to the rule, the libertarians/greens/you-name-its are synonymous with also-rans.

but you appear to be a donkey, and this is neither here nor there

(i wanted to say ass, but want to be clear in suggesting you're a dem, not an actual ass. heh)

(ps, who really wants to have michael moore as a spokesperson?)

i second the bible, by the way. i would say most religious works would be essential reading and substantially relevant. so, the qu'ran would be good here too, and others.

understand these, and you'll understand most everything a little bit better. (insert reference to narnia, paradise lost, shakespeare, canterbury tales, and your favorite book here)

Daddy's Boy - Chris Elliot