Books to read before I die?

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[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: Woosta

Originally posted by: tenshodo13
Not to be condescending, but aren't these all required HS reading books? Hell, I read 1984 in the 8th grade, LOTR in the 6th, and The Prince in the 10th.

This is a reading list that all graduating seniors should have read..

Maybe AP students... but I was a procrastinator. And did you read full books? Or just portions of them in a big ass English book?

Read the Full books. I'm not in AP English either, just normal English. They're not exactly long reads.

Haha, all graduating seniors should have read LOTR? Please, the writing is par for the course, and the story isn't exactly profound. You read it if you're into it, it's not required reading by any stretch of the imagination.

I accidentally included LOTR in the list. But I would have thought that everyone read 1984/Slaughterhouse 5 in their high school years

 

[Locut0s]

100 Years of Solitude
Moby Dick
The Grapes of Wrath
Cloudsplitter - the ending falls apart but amazing right up till then

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
Don Quixote is the greatest book I've ever read.

I've been meaning to read it at some point and time. Which translation did you read? A good translation is critical.

 

[ultimatebob]

The Bible... duh.

How did this topic get so far before some suggested this? Even if you're an Atheist, it's still important to "know your enemy"... right?

 

[theeedude]

Doctor Zhivago

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
The Bible... duh.

How did this topic get so far before some suggested this? Even if you're an Atheist, it's still important to "know your enemy"... right?

idk... I think there are things in the bible worth reading, but I can't imagine anyone but the most devoted religious scholars really get much out of reading the bible cover to cover.

I pushed through it when I was studying theology, but the pages upon pages of A begat B begat C, etc, etc, etc, made my eyes bleed.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
The Bible... duh.

How did this topic get so far before some suggested this? Even if you're an Atheist, it's still important to "know your enemy"... right?

I am an atheist and also love literature. I have never read the bible but agree it's a good recommendation. There is some very beautiful literature in the bible, I've read enough to know that,

http://www.rwf2000.com/2000/23pslm.htm

even if I don't agree in the religion.

 

[rocadelpunk]

catcher in the rye by salinger

sex, drugs & cocoa puffs - chuck klosterman

 

[Saint Michael]

Originally posted by: Locut0s

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
Don Quixote is the greatest book I've ever read.

I've been meaning to read it at some point and time. Which translation did you read? A good translation is critical.

Putnam. Tried and true. There's a new translation out too, might want to look into it.

 

[BradAtWork]

Maybe some Kafka. These days you can't calm to be into books if you haven't read some Kafka. Personally I think he's overrated.

The Metamorphosis was pretty good, but its a short story rather than a novel.

 

[dfdave12]

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
Harry Potter

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

A Clockwork Orange
Dune (And Dune Messiah - Children of Dune is ok)

 

[WraithETC]

Labyrinths by Borges
Dubliners Joyce

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: dfdave12
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
Harry Potter

Really Harry Potter in a list of books to read before you die!? LOTR above too for that matter.

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: dfdave12
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
Harry Potter

i just read the great gatsby

its a good book, i guess, but i didnt get anything out of it where i could recommend that everyone should read it, i just liked Fitzgerald's style of writing.

Originally posted by: Locut0s
100 Years of Solitude
Moby Dick
The Grapes of Wrath
Cloudsplitter - the ending falls apart but amazing right up till then

i didnt make it 20 pages into the Grapes of Wrath when i opened it last week, what a snoozefest. Hell, I may not have made it 15.

edit: as for the bible (this, from an atheist), i wouldnt recommend reading it if youre not really interested in it. find some material that overviews a number of religions, and then delve further into things if your interest is sparked for whatever reason. the bible is also a snoozefest (albeit with a few interesting tales and highlites, i certainly wouldnt go through the whole thing to find them)

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: dfdave12
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
Harry Potter

i just read the great gatsby

its a good book, i guess, but i didnt get anything out of it where i could recommend that everyone should read it, i just liked Fitzgerald's style of writing.

Originally posted by: Locut0s
100 Years of Solitude
Moby Dick
The Grapes of Wrath
Cloudsplitter - the ending falls apart but amazing right up till then

i didnt make it 20 pages into the Grapes of Wrath when i opened it last week, what a snoozefest. Hell, I may not have made it 15.

edit: as for the bible (this, from an atheist), i wouldnt recommend reading it if youre not really interested in it. find some material that overviews a number of religions, and then delve further into things if your interest is sparked for whatever reason. the bible is also a snoozefest (albeit with a few interesting tales and highlites, i certainly wouldnt go through the whole thing to find them)

Not a good sign when great works of literature, liked or disliked, promote the response "that book was such a snoozefest"!

 

[Farang]

Philosophical books:
Siddhartha - Hesse
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (you can probably read half of it and get the point)
Life of Pi

At the beach:
Twenty Thusand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.

Great American novel:
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Dharma Bums by Jack Keruac (if you liked On the Road)

Science-in-layman's terms book:
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: Woosta
Or if you can recommend a good book on Physics or Chemistry, that would be cool too. Just not something like some Einstein work that would brainfvck me. I'm open to almost anything.

Einsteins Ideas aren't difficult to comprehend, they are just very different from the way things where thought of back in the day. Now a days saying that spaces is curved and that the speed you travel effects how you see time are almost common knowledge. (see first contact)

Hawking's "A brief history of time" would probably be a good read

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: xSauronx
s for the bible (this, from an atheist), i wouldnt recommend reading it if youre not really interested in it. find some material that overviews a number of religions, and then delve further into things if your interest is sparked for whatever reason. the bible is also a snoozefest (albeit with a few interesting tales and highlites, i certainly wouldnt go through the whole thing to find them)

I must differ; there are several books of the Bible, especially in the traditional King James Edition, that stand out as some of the most beautiful writing in the English language. Disagree, if you will, with the theology and philosophy, but enjoy the poetry. Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs (aka the Song of Solomon) are particularly beautiful.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Screw the Books of the Bible. Read Revelations. The stories of how how everyone dies a painful death is actually entertaining.

 

[Flammable]

Tale of two cities sucks IMO...

On the other hand, Les Miserables was an excellent book

 

[bctbct]

My Pet Goat

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: bctbct
My Pet Goat

...but you'll have to find your own copy. I don't think George has finished his yet.

 

[ProfJohn]

Sun Also Rises, Hemingway's best book. (so they say)

If you like history and want a sense of what WW 2 was really like then Band of Brothers or D-Day.

Lolita, considered one of the best english language books of the 20th century, Nabakov's use of english is amazing.