xkcd

by **telkanuru** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:17 am UTC

protocoach wrote:Oh, c'mon now, where else will people learn to plot properly if they don't read The Count of Monte Cristo? Modern stories have plots with two, maybe three steps that are completed in months. Nobody puts the effort in to make a solid, multi-year nefarious plot, with tens of moves, all plotted in advance for the proper destruction of enemies.

The plot's fine, there's just so much angst over taking revenge it makes Hamlet look decisive.

by **__jess** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:36 am UTC

Heaps and heaps of good books have already been mentioned (I'm not going to pretend I've read them all, but I'm making a list

). It's hard to pick books to add, because a 'must read' list is such a subjective thing, and there's already three pages of suggestions that I can't include.

I've just finished Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. It's got such a frighteningly beautiful, lyrical style, but I'm sure not everyone would want to read it.
Someone must have already mentioned Kafka, yes? Enough said.
The Time Traveller's Wife is a recent one that I enjoyed, although not everyone I've spoken to has.
I also love A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (he committed suicide because he couldn't get it published, such a waste), aaaaand, um, Tom Robbins in general, and Roald Dahl's adult short stories for the macabre humour of them, and there's so many many more. I'm not sure any of these belong on a list of books you MUST read, but that's already been covered fairly well and I'd recommend these as great books.

by **gibberishtwist** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:53 am UTC

Only one other person mentioned The World According to Garp, truly sad. That book is incredible. Here's my humble list:

The Jungle Books (Rudyard Kipling) - Not only is the language beautiful, but it includes more than just the familiar story of Mowgli. It has Rikki Tikki Tavvi, for fuck's sake!
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Jules Verne) - Another book with stunning language, the imagery of the ice cave they find gave me goosebumps the first time I read it.
The Giraffe And The Pelly And Me (Roald Dahl) - Just read it. It'll change your life. Actually, just read anything by Roald Dahl. He kicks some serious ass. My personal favorites of his are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Twits.
The His Dark Materials Trilogy (Phillip Pullman) - Incredible.
Peter Pan (JM Barrie)
V For Vendetta
Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back (Shel Silverstein) - A sharpshooter lion who loves marshmallows? Yes please.
Watchmen
The House on Pooh Corner (A.A. Milne) - all the Winnie-The-Pooh books are excellent
The Giver (Lois Lowry) - In my opinion, one of the best books ever written, ever.
The Tao of Pooh & The Te of Piglet (Benjamin Hoff)
Of Mice and Man (Steinbeck)
Catch-22 (Heller)
A House With A Clock In Its Walls (John Bellairs <3)
Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
American Psycho (Ellis)
Freaky Friday (Mary Rodgers) - A really truly funny book, ignore the horrible movies that have been based on it.
The Portable Dragon (R.G.H. Siu)
Maus (Don't remember the author's name) - Amazing, moving, wonderful graphic novel about a Jewish man who went through a concentration camp.
Catherine, Called Birdy & The Midwife's Apprentice (don't remember the author) - The only books about teenage girls that didn't make me wince or hate the main character. Something about being in medieval England must have helped.
Ender's Game (duh)
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (Al Franken) - A little outdated, but I still read it because it's the only book that's ever made me laugh aloud.
A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engel)
Johnny Got His Gun

I'm starting to draw a blank so I'll end this by saying that Faulkner has all the literary merit of a tube sock. A pox on that man.

by **Quixotess** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:04 am UTC

Re: Midwife's Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy:

Those were written by Karen Cushmen, and I agree, they're excellent.

by **gibberishtwist** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:13 am UTC

Quixotess wrote:Re: Midwife's Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy:

Those were written by Karen Cushmen, and I agree, they're excellent.

That sounds right. I haven't read them in a long time, but my copy of Catherine is practically falling apart from years of use.

by **telkanuru** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:18 am UTC

Maus is by Art Speiglman (sp?)

by **gibberishtwist** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:21 am UTC

telkanuru wrote:Maus is by Art Speiglman (sp?)

Thanks, and thanks for reminding me that Schrodinger's Cat needs to be added to my list of books to read.

by **Drummer23** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:38 pm UTC

Hey!

this is actually my first post. Look a' that.

I'll second 1984, and i don't know if it's already been said, but Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson. Maybe not such a classic, but it gripped me anyway.

C.

by **bigglesworth** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:56 am UTC

telkanuru wrote:The Count of Monte Cristo

Aww, I just started reading this...

by **protocoach** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:21 pm UTC

bigglesworth wrote:
telkanuru wrote:The Count of Monte Cristo

Aww, I just started reading this...

Pay no attention, it's a fantastic book.

by **telkanuru** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:14 pm UTC

Yes, it's right up there with Wheelock's Latin on my thriller list

by **kellsbells** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:22 pm UTC

gibberishtwist wrote:A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engel)

A little while ago I reread this book (hadn't read it since I was around 11) and realized that it is still one of the best, most inventive books I have ever read, and has had the most profound impact on my writing style as well. I think this may have been *the* book that made me realize books are awesome. Love it!

by **gibberishtwist** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:53 am UTC

kellsbells wrote:
gibberishtwist wrote:A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engel)
A little while ago I reread this book (hadn't read it since I was around 11) and realized that it is still one of the best, most inventive books I have ever read, and has had the most profound impact on my writing style as well. I think this may have been *the* book that made me realize books are awesome. Love it!

I haven't read it in a few years, but it's still one of my favorites. I don't remember the following series too well, unfortunately.

by **Johnny Edge** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:01 am UTC

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
and It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

by **SpiderMonkey** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:04 am UTC

Everyone, repeat everyone, who put 1984 should also have read Homage to Catalonia to place it in its proper historical context. I grind a millimetre of enamel off my teeth every time some Rand-loving nonce says that 1984 is a tale about socialism being evil.

Speak of which, Ayn Rand is a waste of time - half baked philosophy for spoilt college students looking for something to justify their immense, unearned privilege. It is for people who doggedly refuse to recognise the benefit they have gained from society as a whole and thus consider it terribly unfair they are expected to pull their weight. Don't try and give anything back, just strut around calling yourself a 'Prime Mover' or some shit like that...

On a Sci-Fi note; The Stars My Destination is vastly underrated. It is probably my favourite of the genre right now.

by **Dream** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 6:34 am UTC

A while back there was a question over what is the longest novel in the english language. It's a fair bit shy of the longest, but I'm currently reading War and Peace, and even a third of the way through I know that this is something everyone who reads avidly should read. So much of human life and emotion is here, and so much epic scope. The multiple narration is masterful, and the insight into the minds of the characters is unsurpassed. There is comparatively very little dialogue, but the intertwining streams of consciousness give such a vivid account of conversations that it is made largely redundant.

They really don't make them like this any more. There is a reason why people read all half million words and 1400 pages.

by **Narsil** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:04 pm UTC

SpiderMonkey wrote:On a Sci-Fi note; The Stars My Destination is vastly underrated. It is probably my favourite of the genre right now.

Isn't that a straight-up rewrite of Count of Monte Cristo?

by **SpiderMonkey** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:07 pm UTC

Narsil wrote:
SpiderMonkey wrote:On a Sci-Fi note; The Stars My Destination is vastly underrated. It is probably my favourite of the genre right now.

Isn't that a straight-up rewrite of Count of Monte Cristo?

It draws from it, but I don't recall teleportation and rocket ships in the Count of Monte Cristo.

by **Narsil** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:49 am UTC

Then stop reading abridged versions.

by **clintonius** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:38 am UTC

I'm notorious for search engine failures, but it seems that nobody recommended "The Sun Also Rises." That's a tragedy. As is the novel (in the way it was supposed to be -- one of the few novels that really tore me up emotionally).

Also have to second gibberistwist's nod to The Jungle Books, and recommend "Just So Stories" on top of it. People who assume that Kipling was a writer of children's stories simply because of that fucking disney movie. It's not true. I promise.

I'd be willing to bet that this next one will be met with some contention, but I recommend Stephen King's "It." In my opinion it's his masterpiece, and a masterpiece in general, far better even than "The Stand." The way King deals with friendship, and innocence, and, well, life. . . it's beautiful. It's the one novel of his where he achieves proper characterization of all the protagonist figures. Oh, and it managed to scare me so badly that I slept with the lights on for weeks after I'd finished.

by **SpiderMonkey** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:22 am UTC

Narsil wrote:Then stop reading abridged versions.

It isn't an abridged version. Just because one piece of literature draws on another doesn't make it worthless in itself. Most literature draws from previous stories, that is just how it works.

by **clintonius** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:22 pm UTC

SpiderMonkey wrote:It isn't an abridged version. Just because one piece of literature draws on another doesn't make it worthless in itself. Most literature draws from previous stories, that is just how it works.

Look at the quote of yours narsil cited when he made his remark, then think long and hard about whether or not you believe he was serious.

by **roc314** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:06 am UTC

Faust (I and II) by Goethe. How has this not been mentioned yet? It is (in my opinion) the greatest ever written. You should at least read it to get some great literature of non-English origin.

EDIT: also, everything by Swift; Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Tale of a Tub. No one can claim to have any appreciation of the history of satire without reading Swift.

by **StupendousYappi** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:06 am UTC

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells is a classic. Anyone who claims to be nerd (especially sci-fi nerds) should definitely pick it up

. I also recently finished Crime and Punishment and thought it was fascinating exploration of law and morality.

Other books I highly recommend:

The Road by Cormack McCarthy
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
the Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

by **Melannen** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:43 pm UTC

A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engel)

YES! That book was one of my favorites as a kid! Loved it, and its had a big influence on the way I write

Bridge to Terabithia- Katherine Paterson
Where the Red Fern Grows- Wilson Rawls
Lost in the Barrens (Two Against the North)- Farley Mowat
Marley and Me- John Grogan
Twelfth Night - Shakespeare (my favorite play)
Dragon Prince 1, 2, 3 - Melanie Rawn
White Fang - Jack London
Call of the wild- Jack London
Redwall- Brian Jacques
Watership Down- Richard Adams

There are more, but I havent gone to sleep since yesterday yet.... I really should, but its sooo late in the day to do so!

by **ndansmith** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:40 pm UTC

Sir_Elderberry wrote:
ndansmith wrote:Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand (I am reading this now)

You're going to get called on this--everyone either hates Ayn Rand or considers her the First Coming of Ayn Rand--but I thought this book was interesting either way. While I don't know if it's an "everyone should read" sort of book, I think anyone who does a lot of reading should eventually dip into Rand--I disagree with a lot of what she says, but her perspective is worth sampling anyway.

Ugh, I heartily withdraw Atlas Shrugged. I could make it only through 1/3 of it before a I quit it, because it is no good. Blegh!

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:51 pm UTC

I heard your brain kerploding...

New entry!

By Freeman Dyson. This book is amazing.

by **Sir_Elderberry** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:24 am UTC

ndansmith wrote:
Sir_Elderberry wrote:
ndansmith wrote:Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand (I am reading this now)

You're going to get called on this--everyone either hates Ayn Rand or considers her the First Coming of Ayn Rand--but I thought this book was interesting either way. While I don't know if it's an "everyone should read" sort of book, I think anyone who does a lot of reading should eventually dip into Rand--I disagree with a lot of what she says, but her perspective is worth sampling anyway.

Ugh, I heartily withdraw Atlas Shrugged. I could make it only through 1/3 of it before a I quit it, because it is no good. Blegh!

Aw. If you have the stomach for it--and I don't blame you if you don't--skip ahead to the 96-page monologue (I Am Not Making This Up) and you pretty much get a, er, "concise" statement of what she's trying to say. It's more concise than reading all 1200 pages, after all.

by **SilentSigil** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:26 am UTC

A few of these were mentioned before. Some, sadly, were not. Spoiler'd for length.

Spoiler:

by **Galen** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:22 am UTC

a) I doubt there's any canon that really describes the best books for everyone to read. ie there's no must-reads. That said, there are definitely books to catch the references from so you don't look like a dolt at the dinner table.

b) 42nd-ing the people recommending the myths. Greek myths, Hindu myths, Mayan myths, et al.

c) The myths include a working knowledge of religious texts. Regardless of your beliefs or lack-thereof you need to know about the religions and origin myths because every other piece of art/literature/politics is either informed by the religious myths or is in direct reaction to them. I concede I'm making an outlandish claim. But start reading everything you can get your hands on and you might be surprised how disappointingly true my statement is.

P.S. You don't need to read the whole Bible. Genesis, Exodus and Luke will do you just fine for the basic gist of the tome.

d) Read Solomon's proverbs, Confucius' filial admonitions, Benjamin Franklin, Gandhi, Epictetus and all the other aphorisms you can get your hands on. They'll teach you wisdom. Whether you use it is up to you. (I generally refrain, as an experiment.)

e) At least get the basics of the political foundations for all the shit we're in/road to utopia we're on. That means Marx, Smith, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli and a hell of a lot of others.

f) Read at least some of what is specifically called philosophy. By that I mean: art is philosophy, but some particular books get filed in the philosophy section of the bookstore. Plato's pivotal. You can get away with a summary of his works though. Same goes for Aristotle. I spent four years reading their stuff -- I only remember anecdotes and allusions their thoughts. To understand what's going on today, get a primer in existentialism. Read bits of Sartre, Kiekegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Du Bois, de Beauvoir, Foucault, Derrida, Husserl, William James, etc.

g) Thankfully, you can get philosophy through art, thereby preventing absolute despair (not that despair's to be avoided).

h) Here's my personal canon -- the books that've informed my way of life and general disposition. Maybe they'll inform yours.
- Deep River by Endo (one of the eight books I've read twice)
- 'Til We have Faces by Lewis (another one of them)
- Franny and Zooey by Salinger (this too.)
- From Esme, with Love and Squalor by Salinger
- This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne ("'Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?' said Piglet. 'Supposing it didn't,' said Pooh. After careful thought, Piglet was comforted by this.")
- Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham (I've read this a few times, beginning in childhood)
- All Men are Brothers (Selections from Gandhi)
- A Strategy for Peace by Sissela Bok
- Exclusion and Embrace by Miraslav Volf
- Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
- The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels
- Cannery Row by Steinbeck
- East of Eden by Steinbeck
- The four canonized gospels and John's letters (though I'm not a Christian, the teachings offer a vital vision for society)
- The Tipping Point by Gladwell
- Leadership by Burns
- The Palm at the End of the Mind by Stevens
- On the Road by Kerouac
- Howl by Ginsberg
- Lilith by MacDonald
- Hitchhikers Guide (why does this book apply to nearly every conversation I've ever had?)
- The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by Joyce (I didn't understand this as a literary work, but I identified with Dedalus, so it personally affirmed my way of life at the time).
- Les Miserables by Hugo (Don't you dare touch the unabridged.)

I didn't make a distinction between fiction and non-fiction, because I don't really think one exists.

Books you can skip because they'll just depress you or freak you out: (Which is to say, read them anyway, but only on sunny days)
- 1984
- Lord of the Flies
- Anything by Dickens
- Anything by Thomas Hardy
- The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot
- Ayn Rand, generally

A short list of staggeringly beautiful books:
- God of Small things by Roy
- A Separate Peace by Knowles
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez
- Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (especially in the context of Finding Neverland)
- Lord of the Rings, et al.
- Roots by Haley
- Snow by Pamuk

by **no-genius** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:29 am UTC

devillic wrote:The Gormenghast Trilogy (Mervyn Peake; better than LotR in every way, made me cry, the writing is BEAUTIFUL if you like a poetic style. It's a hefty trilogy but I was hooked from the first paragraph. Great characters and incredible settings. No one's heard of it but everyone should read it.)

Hey, I've been reading that. Took me about 3 months to read the first book, so I'm taking a break from it (to read Against The Day. And then I read Snow Crash, Sandworms of Dune, The Princess Bride and How Mumbo-jumbo Conquered the World - which is by Francis Wheen, and is pretty good if you think that the Enlightenment, evolution and rational thought are GTs - Oops...), because its just really hard to concentrate on reading it. Totally worth it, though. (kinda) spoiler:

Spoiler:

I guess I'd say The Hitchhiker's Guide, The Salmon of Doubt (because it shows you a lot about DNA), The Blind Watchmaker (because there's a bit in SoD that says about it - I guess you could sub in The Selfish Gene if you wanted, but I haven't read it), The Origin of the Species (haven't read it, but I think I probably will get it), Lord of the Rings (not that I like it that much now), Neuromancer, Dune, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and probably most Phillip K Dick - just pick a title that looks interesting. Actually, The Man In High Castle is quite good.

Oh, and seeing as there are way too many books I can think of, I'll just leave you with House of Leaves

by **Stereo** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:59 pm UTC

In light of people mentioning Ender's Game, I would most definitely suggest A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge. Pretty much epic sci fi. Give it a chance, it starts slowly.

Samuel R. Delany bears mention, almost any of his books are good reads.

by **Copper Top** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:11 am UTC

Gojoe wrote:I only just started, but my brother assures me that The Wheel of Time series belongs on this list.

If comics are to be considered as well, ill add Watchmen and V for Vendetta. If i have to explain it means you haven't read them and you should stop wasting your life by not reading them

That series is good with the exception of it's really, really slow start.
In the way of fantastamagical fantasy I would have to suggest anything done by David and Leigh Eddings.

by **Clockwork_Golem** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:09 pm UTC

Copper Top wrote:In the way of fantastamagical fantasy I would have to suggest anything done by David and Leigh Eddings.

Even the Dreamers? I loved the Belgarath and Sparhawk books but I found that the quality seriously declined in the later books.

Personally I'd recommend Magician by Raymond E. Feist and any of Asimov's short stories.

Also:

Spoiler:

by **Copper Top** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:07 pm UTC

I liked the Dreamers, however my favorite by them is The Redemption of Althalus.

by **Clockwork_Golem** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:30 pm UTC

I liked Althalus and it used to be one of my favourite books too, but I felt that the Dreamers had too little variation on the same basic plot. It worked quite well in the older books but there didn't seem to be enough new material in the Dreamers. I think my favourite book by David and Leigh Eddings is now Belgarath the Sorcerer, which is another very good fantasy novel.

by **JayDee** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 6:00 am UTC

Clockwork_Golem wrote:I liked Althalus and it used to be one of my favourite books too, but I felt that the Dreamers had too little variation on the same basic plot.

That's pretty much what I think of Eddings. The Redemption of Althalus is my favourite because he takes the same formula and works it well in a single book. If I were to recommend anything by Eddings (and in the context of this thread, I wouldn't) it would be Althalus.

by **Kag** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:24 am UTC

Sir_Elderberry wrote:Aw. If you have the stomach for it--and I don't blame you if you don't--skip ahead to the 96-page monologue (I Am Not Making This Up) and you pretty much get a, er, "concise" statement of what she's trying to say. It's more concise than reading all 1200 pages, after all.

Ayn Rand wrote:CAPITALISM, FUCK YEAH!

After only 100 or so pages, the sheer volume of my hatred for Ayn Rand was very rapidly approaching the amount of energy required to travel back in time and kill her before she could write the aberration of literature that is Atlas Shrugged.

The Fountainhead is okay, though.

Also, reading World War Z right now; seconded times 1000.

by **Copper Top** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:06 pm UTC

Clockwork_Golem wrote:I liked Althalus and it used to be one of my favourite books too, but I felt that the Dreamers had too little variation on the same basic plot. It worked quite well in the older books but there didn't seem to be enough new material in the Dreamers. I think my favourite book by David and Leigh Eddings is now Belgarath the Sorcerer, which is another very good fantasy novel.

I see your point, and in that sense the Dreamers was not nearly as good as the say... The Pawn of Prophecy series. However, should it be read as an intro to Eddings then it would not be a repeat of the same plot. So in that sense it would still be a good series to read.

by **McCaber** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:19 pm UTC

I'm going to keep recommending "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin until I die. It's what Orwell ripped off to write 1984.

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