Ginevra Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 "All adults should have read this in his or her life"? I'm using a little bit looser definition of "classic"; i.e., I won't quibble if you say the first Harry Potter, or The Magician's Nephew. :) At some point this year, I want to read a classic that I never read and I want to choose well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) I'll just list some of my favorites (& of course a few more than five).... Dracula by Bram Stoker The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes For quite modern classics, I'd suggest: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Edited March 23, 2016 by Stacia 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) I think it really really depends on both the cultural identity and nationality of the person and on things like gender, personality, religion, even profession. DH and I share a generation (we're early millennials), a cultural identity, a race, a nationality, and religion (we're not religious but not atheists). Still, the differences between us in gender and in self mean that my 5 books and his might overlap by one author (Shakespeare) or *maybe* two (Lao Tsu) - he might not even agree about Lao Tsu. So all that to say, I dunno. I guess for me, off the top of my head, at this point in my life Tao Te Ching Lear Jane Eyre Earthsea Trilogy (the Tao fictionalized, I guess) not sure about the 5th For DH, it would be Ulysses Sartor Resartus (Carlyle) Will to Believe (essay by William James) I Ching (edited 4/10 as he told me these were the ones and there were only 4 :) ) eta: DH would put Huck Finn in place of the I Ching, maybe, and definitely in place of the Tao. I have never been able to get through Ulysses, Sartor Resartus, or Huck Finn, and Notes from Underground (which I thought would be on his list) was a *huge* effort. I cannot see ever persuading DH to read, much less enjoy, Jane Eyre. :) Edited April 11, 2016 by ananemone 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Journey to the Center of the Earth Taming of the Shrew Oliver Twist The Prince The Art of War Atlas Shrugged Mere Christianity The Adventure of Tom Sawyer Hmmm that is more than 5 but I tried to put some variety in there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantmeawish Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 My favorites so far Dracula Anna karenina Cost of discipleship My Antonia I'm currently reading and enjoying The brothers Karamazov 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Dante's Inferno, a Shakespeare play, The Iliad and The Odyssey (OK, that's 2), a Dicken's work like Great Expectations, and Karl Marx. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Journey to the Center of the Earth Taming of the Shrew Oliver Twist The Prince The Art of War Atlas Shrugged Mere Christianity The Adventure of Tom Sawyer Hmmm that is more than 5 but I tried to put some variety in there. The Prince was just recommended by a friend because we were talking about politics. I have wanted to read Atlas Shrugged for a few years. Have never read 1984 and thought that was a possibility. I have read Dracula and Anna Karenina. Also read Jane Eyre. Have read Tom Sawyer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I think most Americans have To Kill a Mockingbird and Romeo and Juliet in high school. I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird now with 8th graders; it is really so well done. I still want to play Scout, Jem, and Dill. (do not want to live in Maycomb County, Alabama during the depression though) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 The Iliad and/or The Odyssey Fahrenheit 451 Huckleberry Finn Alice's Adventures in Wonderland something Arthurian 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFG Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 A couple that stand out in my memory/ Cry, the Beloved Country The Grapes of Wrath Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Anna Karenina The Catcher in the Rye The Doomsday Book (so not a classic but I love it) Atlas Shrugged (or anything Ayn Rand) Any big collection by Edgar Allen Poe (can this count?) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I know it's controversial on these boards but I loved atlas shrugged. Crime and punishment Grapes of wrath Lovecraft stories Yes, 1984 was good and an easy read. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 The Prince is pretty interesting and is fairly short. I read it only about a year ago or so. I also liked the Cost of Discipleship someone mentioned above. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Cry, the beloved country The Great Gatsby The Count of Monte Cristo anything by Shakespeare, Mark Twain, the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Les Miserables To Kill A Mockingbird Something by Dickens Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky The Metamorphosis Iliad or Odyssey Dante or Machiavelli Sorry, I know that's too many. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Dickens - most of his famous ones would work. I would not choose Bleak House, though. How about something by Pearl S. Buck? A little different from the ones mentioned above. I didn't like most of those futuristic ones like 1984 etc. Not enough human warmth and romance. Maybe they are more of guy books. I did like more of the romantic ones written by women. I enjoyed reading the works of Aristotle and Plato etc. in college. A lot of the ones listed above were read by me when I was a teen or even younger. So I don't necessarily view them as grown-up classics. Maybe I should re-read them and see if I missed much due to youth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I don't know that there are any that everyone "should" have read because I don't know that everyone gets literature in a way that makes it life lesson worthy or anything. I think the five most influential on me personally would be Les miserables Either Anna Karenina or war and peace but not both Tkam Middlemarch north and south 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Cry, the beloved country The Great Gatsby The Count of Monte Cristo anything by Shakespeare, Mark Twain, the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen DS16 is reading Cry, The Beloved Country right now in English. (Or more likely, he is stumbling through it and getting intermittent interpretations from his teacher. :D He is not my literature buff kid.) A few years ago, I read every Jane Austen book, I think. I love Jane Austen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 My list: Animal Farm (substitute other dystopian) Puddinhead Wilson (substitute other subtle satire dealing with social issues, preferably by Twain.) Lost Horizon (substitute other Utopian) The Foundation Trilogy (Substitute other cerebral science fiction that imagines the future of humanity) Curtain (substitute other classic mystery that delves into the nature of evil) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Les Miserables To Kill A Mockingbird Something by Dickens Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky The Metamorphosis Iliad or Odyssey Dante or Machiavelli Sorry, I know that's too many. I did just read a good bit of The Iliad because I was helping DS struggle through it for English. I also read large portions of Les Miserables in French when I was taking French in college. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 My list: Animal Farm (substitute other dystopian) Puddinhead Wilson (substitute other subtle satire dealing with social issues, preferably by Twain.) Lost Horizon (substitute other Utopian) The Foundation Trilogy (Substitute other cerebral science fiction that imagines the future of humanity) Curtain (substitute other classic mystery that delves into the nature of evil) Oh! This is funny! I just read the first Foundation book because it was my book club selection! That was definitely never on my radar screen until the book club. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 For sheer power to move: Gulag Archipelago. I slogged through War and Peace a few years ago and was better for it. I would say that Tolkien's masterpiece Lord of the Rings is a classic for me. The Silmarillion is really neat. I really appreciated Mark Twain more after reading through his essays. Villette by Bronte. Just wow. Don Quixote. So worth it at the end. More than five, but maybe a little bit of a different list. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I'm about 80% of the way through War & Peace. I got inspired by the mini series, and finally made myself try it. I've been thoroughly surprised at how much I've enjoyed it. I can't believe I let its reputation put me off for so long. I will say that I did have to do some Googling on the Napoleonic wars to understand some of the context. Others that have stuck with me through the years Of Mice & Men --Steinbeck Huckleberry Finn-- Twain (though I feel like it gets sooo convoluted toward the end, when Tom Sawyer gets involved. I have no patience for TS) The House of Mirth--Wharton Jane Eyre --Bronte Pride & Prejudice/Sense & Sensibility --Austen Crime & Punishment --Dostoyevsky Ruth --Elizabeth Gaskell. One of her lesser known works, but I thoroughly adore it. Middlemarch--Eliot Anything by Thomas Hardy The Woman in White/The Moonstone --Collins (they're just fun) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I'll second Gulag Archipelago. Have to think about the others though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 The Prince was just recommended by a friend because we were talking about politics. I have wanted to read Atlas Shrugged for a few years. Have never read 1984 and thought that was a possibility. I have read Dracula and Anna Karenina. Also read Jane Eyre. Have read Tom Sawyer. Atlas Shrugged has a very strong philosophical POV, informed (imo) largely by the fact that Ayn Rand never had kids. Not a terrible book, and has some good ideas, but ultimately kind of depressing and unrelatable. 1984 -also depressing, but prescient and worth a read. Homage to Catalonia was his best, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I'm not one for "should read" book lists, but the 5 that come to mind are: Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe A Tale of Two Cities? The Count of Monte Cristo? Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky Man, this is too hard. There are SO many I still want to read that would probably be squished in there! lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 The Doomsday Book (so not a classic but I love it) Ah me too! Connie Willis, right? (Unless we are talking about a different Doomsday Book). Did you read Passage? That is my favorite of hers, and one of my favorite books (hard to recommend since it is so niche, though) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) Brothers Karamazov Arch of Triumph (Remarque) The Second Sex Some Balzac, can't pick Never let me go Love in the Time of Cholera Edited March 23, 2016 by madteaparty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Flowers for Algernon is just a novella I think, but something about that book has haunted me my whole life. I think it teaches such a great lesson about how we treat people based on how smart we think they are. Does "being smart" matter? Does it really mean anything? Are we different inside based on our IQs? What makes us, us? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Flowers for Algernon is just a novella I think, but something about that book has haunted me my whole life. I think it teaches such a great lesson about how we treat people based on how smart we think they are. Does "being smart" matter? Does it really mean anything? Are we different inside based on our IQs? What makes us, us?Oh I read that as a teen and it's definitely haunting and so sad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Moby Dick (Melville) Sister Carrie (Dreiser) The Golden Bowl (James) All the King's Men (Warren) Buddenbrooks (Mann) 100 Years of Solitude (Garcia-Marquez) The Trial (Kafka) Tin Drum (Grass) Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky) Cancer Ward (Solzhenitsyn) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 A work from Aristotle, Plato, or Socretes (I preferred Plato) Shakespeare English Romantic Poetry (fan of Lord Byron) An author of the Harlem Renaissance (I liked Zora Hurston) George Orwell (I loved Animal Farm) I would also making your list 6 titles and looking for a non-Caucasian title like Black Boy (Wright), House on Mango Street (Cisneros), The Bluest Eye (Morrison) or The Woman Warrior (Kingston). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) Oh...there are so many more than five. Dickens definitely, Lord Byron, Shelby, "Trent's last case," (a classic in my book), Jane Austen, Bronte sisters, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series, John Donne and more. :lol: If you like discourse on philosophy, Plato's writings about Socrates, and the Socratic method, and The Republic. Edited March 23, 2016 by Liz CA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) The Prince was just recommended by a friend because we were talking about politics. I have wanted to read Atlas Shrugged for a few years. Have never read 1984 and thought that was a possibility. I have read Dracula and Anna Karenina. Also read Jane Eyre. Have read Tom Sawyer. Have you had a taste of Dorothy L. Sayers yet? If not, I would go there first. Collins is fun and nowadays his books are considered classics. The Prisoner of Zenda is another fun one. Edited March 23, 2016 by Liz CA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 "Classics" that stuck with me: Fahrenheit 451 A Separate Peace A Connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur's Court" And Then There Were None The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Another book that I really really enjoyed that doesn't fall into classic literature even a little was Against the Gods the Remarkable Story of Risk. I learned a ton and that book tied so many historical people and the things they did together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I'm not one for "should read" book lists, but the 5 that come to mind are: Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe A Tale of Two Cities? The Count of Monte Cristo? Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky Man, this is too hard. There are SO many I still want to read that would probably be squished in there! lol I read Kristin Lavransdatter a few years ago; it was recommended to me by a friend who is a college lecturer. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird now with 8th graders; it is really so well done. Me too! Isn't it good?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Hmmm. five, only five. That's harsh :D . I guess I would be inclined to want to read from specific time periods. Ancients - Epic of Gilgamesh or The Odyssey Medieval - Beowulf Renaissance - Shakespeare - Hamlet and Macbeth since two plays is still less reading than one novel. Early Moderns - The Scarlet Letter Modern - To Kill a Mockingbird or something like The Diary of Anne Frank, The Hiding Place I don't like leaving out many volumes - Dante's Inferno, Plutarch (Lives of the Romans), Song of Roland, Tennyson, Poe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, more Shakespeare, A Tale of Two Cities, The Canterbury Tales, A Christmas Carol, ... But definitely the Ernest Hemingway novels can be left OFF the list. ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Kristin Lavransdatter (Be prepared to check out of life for a few days.) Middlemarch The Problem of Pain Anna Karenina Jane Austen's novels (Any or all, but preferably all -- I was trying not to cheat with more than 5, so I suppose if you have to choose one Austen, read P&P.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropymama Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I like FaithManor's list a lot. It's incredibly hard to pick, because it depends on the purpose of reading them. I'm going to assume I'm suggesting books to an adult who never got much of a classical education and wants to be culturally literate in America. I'd say: To Kill A Mockingbird Animal Farm or Fahrenheit 451 Something JRR Tolkien, either the trilogy or the Hobbit if three books is too much Shakespeare's sonnets, or a selection thereof (I think they're easier to work through) Uncle Tom's Cabin or The Diary of Anne Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Some of my favorites: Shakespeare - I love Hamlet, but choose any of the "big" ones. The Illiad/Odyssey Jane Eyre To Kill a Mockingbird LOTR Dante Paradise Lost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Ah me too! Connie Willis, right? (Unless we are talking about a different Doomsday Book). Did you read Passage? That is my favorite of hers, and one of my favorite books (hard to recommend since it is so niche, though) Yep, Connie Willis I haven't read Passage. I like To Say Nothing of the Dog. I'm not usually a fan of Science Fiction, although I'll read some Heinlein. The Doomsday Book was so good and started my interest in the Middle Ages. I was never a history fan until well into my adult years. I'd never given much thought to the middle ages before this book. I'll find Passage and give it a try. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 1. The Iliad 2. Shakespeare--Hamlet 3. Pride & Prejudice 4. Lord of the Rings trilogy--if you buy them as a bindup, that counts as one book, right? 5. Animal Farm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Iliad/Odyssey--If I had to choose one, I'd pick the Odyssey Shakespeare--Maybe Hamlet or Macbeth? Jane Eyre Huckleberry Finn The Grapes of Wrath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Books that came to mind: Grapes of Wrath (depression-era USA) We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (Rwandan genocide) The Mind's I (philosophical sci-fi-ish short stories) No Blade of Grass (early apocalyptic sci-fi (1956), *all* grasses succumb to a virus in post WWII world - set in UK) Can't think of a 5th at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callapidder Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) Five Classics that have stayed with me: To Kill a Mockingbird Animal Farm As I Lay Dying Huck Finn Lord of the Rings trilogy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited March 23, 2016 by callapidder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callapidder Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 But definitely the Ernest Hemingway novels can be left OFF the list. ;) Agreed! I had to read several in high school and have done my best not to think of them since. :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) How are we defining "classic" here? Even loosely defined gives a lot of leeway! I'm working my way through Romance of the Three Kingdoms right now. It's slow going, but fairly enjoyable, so let's add that to your list. I'm also reading my way through a graphic novel adaptation of the Ramayana this year in preparation for reading the real thing, so that's number two. And then for modern classics... oh, gosh. Let's say Maus, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The City and the City, and the entire Discworld ouvre except those early books I don't like. Edited March 23, 2016 by Tanaqui Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I think it really really depends on both the cultural identity and nationality of the person and on things like gender, personality, religion, even profession. I agree with this 100%. As a Boston-bred, prep school kid transplanted to the Deep South for all of my adulthood, To Kill a Mockingbird was a profound read for me. I first read it at 40. I'm sure for others it wouldn't make their list. A Separate Peace resonated with me as a teen, but again, likely others wouldn't care about it. The sailing books by Tristan Jones were so impacting for me, but certainly not a "classic". I also love the idea of reading other's lists - especially ones that are from profoundly different backgrounds as me rather than there being One List. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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