Compulsory reading

[Mme Erzulie]

I often feel I have read too little.

I have not read that much of what is generally considered classic literature, and some of what I have tried bores me.

What would you consider to be compulsory reading for a civilised (please ignore contentious and culturally insensitive term) human being?

What books? What myths? What epics? What poems?

Feel free to give a short blurb or reason for each choice.

I look forward to compiling an interesting reading list (which I will no doubt never get through).

Cheers
Mme

[Jaqen the FatManderly]

I'll limit my recommendations to 10:

[i]Anna Karenina[/i], Tolstoy
[i]The Heart of the Matter[/i], Graham Greene
[i]Pickwick Papers[/i], Charles Dickens
[i]The Good Earth[/i], Pearl S. Buck
[i]The Master of Hestviken[/i] or [i]Kristin Lavransdatter [/i]or [i]The Wild Orchid [/i]& [i]The Burning Bush[/i], Sigrid Undset

[b]P.G. Wodehouse[/b]: at least one Bertie & Jeeves, one Blandings Castle
[b]Antoine de Saint-Exupery[/b]: Anything
[b]Shakespeare[/b]: Selected works
[b]Chaucer[/b]: Selected works
The [i]Iliad[/i], [i]Odyssey[/i], and [i]Aeneid[/i]

Non-fiction bonus:
Churchill's history of WWII
Catton's Civil War trilogy
[i]The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy[/i], of course!

I gave Mark Twain a pass because most everyone has read him. Same for Tolkien and some other oft-read authors like Joseph Conrad. T.S. Eliot, I'm afraid I don't quite get. :bang:

[MaesterLuwin]

My reading has been limited to mainly Western literature, for which I apologize. I'm sure there's a whole list of non-Western classics worth reading, but I'll stick to what I know for now. I'll also stick to recommending literature, although there's a lot of philosophy/history that I think people should read as well.

In roughly chronological order:

[b]The Odyssey[/b] by Homer - While the [i]Iliad[/i] is a bit hard to get into, the Odyssey still thrills everyone from the high school freshman to the most cynical literary critic. Even without the gripping plot, this is still worth reading just to see what character and plot archetypes have come down to us through the ages - the journey home, true love, father/son issues, fate vs. free will, et cetera. (A lot of the other Greek myths are worth reading as well. I'd recommend Edith Wilson's [i]Mythology[/i] as a good compendium).

[b]The Bible[/b] - Believer or not, it's hard to escape the impact that this collection of works has had on the Western canon. At the very least, reading it will make you a more informed person and better prepared to talk knowledgeably about Christianity. Definitely read the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the book of Job, the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and the Book of Acts.

[b]L'Morte de Arthur[/b] by Thomas Malory - The original King Arthur saga, and one of the more detailed. Sometimes a slog to get through, but also very rewarding. Nearly all retellings of the myth stem from this version.

[b]The Works of Shakespeare[/b] - Beautifully written, great plots and characters, and still surprisingly relevant. Definitely go with the four "great" tragedies--Hamlet, MacBeth, Othello, and King Lear. The Tempest and Julius Caesar are also personal favorites of mine, though more people debate their merits. For his history plays, go with Henry IV. For comedies, go with Twelfth Night, or A Midsummer Night's Dream.

[b]Don Quixote[/b] by Miguel Cervantes - Though dense, the story remains just as compelling today as it did 400 years ago. This book struggles with the notion of chivalry, the idea of insanity, man versus society, and does it all in the guise of a semi-comic romp. Both humorous and heartbreaking at the same time.

[b]War and Peace[/b] by Leo Tolstoy - An epic in every sense of the word. A thousand pages long, but never feels like it should or could be shorter. The quintessential war novel.

[b]Crime and Punishment[/b] by Feodor Dostoyevsky - The quintessential psychological drama. Dostoyevsky has the ability to paint compelling and strangely likeable characters even in the Russian underworld. And Raskolnikov is one of those haunting characters who stays with you long after you finish the book.

[b]Der Ring das Nibelungen[/b] by Richard Wagner - All right, so it's technically an operatic work, but it still stands as one of the greatest achievements of mythological writing. Spanning four operas and over 12 hours, it takes the simple story of a man with a magic ring, and turns it into a much-debated allegorical myth on the nature of will, fate, love, and power. One of the few works that I think could represent all of mankind in all of its aspects. I would rank this as possibly the greatest artistic achievement ever.

[b]The Magic Mountain[/b] by Thomas Mann - One of my favorite books, and one I don't think as many people read as they should. Mann takes an isolated medical clinic in the Alps, and uses it as an allegory for human development and mankind's intellectual journey. Another work that you can draw so much meaning, and so many different conclusions, out of. It's hard to believe that it can all be contained in one book.

[b]The Poems of T.S. Eliot[/b] - Particularly the collection of poems in [i]The Wasteland[/i], though others are good as well. Eliot is one of those rare poets who is both easily enjoyed by the amateur, while still packing enough meaning to satisfy the poetry critic. Certain phrases of his have been floating around my head for years.

[b]Waiting for Godot[/b] by Samuel Beckett - Short enough to be read in one sitting, but so full of existential angst that it will be on your mind for a while. Beckett questions nothing less then the meaning of life through two characters who resemble Laurel and Hardy. Their lives seem meaningless and full of pain, and the fact that this 'tragicomedy' is filled with so much laughter makes the nihilistic message that much more poignant.

[b]Gravity's Rainbow[/b] by Thomas Pynchon - Not for everyone, but not as unreadable as some people will have you believe. A postmodern take on the destructive tendency of human nature, with some of the most original, and bizarre, plot devices that I have ever read.

Runners up: Some books that I think are classics of the 20th century, though not necessarily "all-time", include The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, Catch-22, If On Winter's Night a Traveler, Kafka on the Shore, and A Confederacy of Dunces. At the very least, these are extremely relevant to our generation.

Books that people have told me to read, but I've not gotten around to it: Moby-Dick, 100 Years of Solitude.

[The Man]

Most of the choices I would have mentioned have, believe it or not, already been mentioned. I'd only add [i]2666[/i] by Roberto Bolaño, which I would consider to be perhaps the first great novel of the twenty-first century; [i]1984[/i] by George Orwell; and [i]The Sirens of Titan[/i] or [i]Slaughterhouse-Five[/i] (take your pick) by Kurt Vonnegut.

[Jaqen the FatManderly]

[quote name='MaesterLuwin' post='1717130' date='Mar 12 2009, 09.31'][b]The Bible[/b] - Believer or not, it's hard to escape the impact that this collection of works has had on the Western canon. At the very least, reading it will make you a more informed person and better prepared to talk knowledgeably about Christianity. Definitely read the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the book of Job, the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and the Book of Acts.[/quote]
I often assume people have read [i]The Bible[/i], but the assumption is probably not the best these days. You're right, it's essential for everyone.

[quote]Books that people have told me to read, but I've not gotten around to it: Moby-Dick, 100 Years of Solitude.[/quote]
Give [i]Moby-Dick [/i]a pass and go right to the cliff notes version: [i]Billy Budd, Sailor[/i], imo.

[Crow's Eye]

In addition to the titles already named...

I'll second Orwell's 1984. Animal Farm is also excellent, though not quite on the level of 1984.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulker, and its pseudo-sequel, Absalom! Absalom! are excellent, although I prefer his less-famous "Sanctuary".

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

just off the top of my head

[El-ahrairah]

[quote name='MaesterLuwin' post='1717130' date='Mar 12 2009, 09.31'][b]The Bible[/b] - Believer or not, it's hard to escape the impact that this collection of works has had on the Western canon. At the very least, reading it will make you a more informed person and better prepared to talk knowledgeably about Christianity. Definitely read the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the book of Job, the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and the Book of Acts.[/quote]
I would venture to guess that while practically every literate in the world has read at least some of it, very few have done it cover-to-cover. I still have yet to do so.

[MinDonner]

[quote name='El-ahrairah' post='1717284' date='Mar 12 2009, 16.41']I would venture to guess that while practically every literate in the world has read at least some of it, very few have done it cover-to-cover. I still have yet to do so.[/quote]

[url="http://www.thebricktestament.com/"]There's an abridged version here.[/url] :thumbsup:

A lot of these suggestions so far seem to be American classical literature (for example, Fitzgerald, Melville, Twain and Faulkner are not generally on school reading lists this side of the pond) - I'd add some of the following:

Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Germinal (Emile Zola)
The Secret Agent (Joseph Conrad)
Gulliver's Travels (Jonathan Swift)
The Call of the Wild (Jack London)
Alice through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)

I hate Dickens and Hardy so I won't recommend them, but others might...

[El-ahrairah]

[quote name='MinDonner' post='1717303' date='Mar 12 2009, 12.55'][url="http://www.thebricktestament.com/"]There's an abridged version here.[/url] :thumbsup:[/quote]
I've seen that before. Whoever made it is A) very obsessed, and B) rather irreverent.

[Jaqen the FatManderly]

[quote name='MaesterLuwin' post='1717130' date='Mar 12 2009, 09.31']I'd recommend Edith Wilson's [i]Mythology[/i] as a good compendium).[/quote]
Do you mean Edith Hamilton?

[quote][b]The Poems of T.S. Eliot[/b] - Particularly the collection of poems in [i]The Wasteland[/i], though others are good as well. Eliot is one of those rare poets who is both [b]easily enjoyed by the amateur[/b], while still packing enough meaning to satisfy the poetry critic.[/quote]
Well, doesn't that just make me a blithering idiot... :dunce: One of my most humbling moments was picking up a collection of Eliot with the intent to read the whole, starting with [i]Prufrock[/i], and reading the same couple pages over and over while watching the poem sail completely over my head. I think I gave it up and went to read some Greene to ... cheer up?

[quote]Runners up: Some books that I think are classics of the 20th century, though not necessarily "all-time", include The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, Catch-22, If On Winter's Night a Traveler, Kafka on the Shore, and A Confederacy of Dunces. At the very least, these are extremely relevant to our generation.[/quote]
Ironically, half of that list makes my all-time worst 'literature' reads. The dust at the beginning of [i]The Grapes of Wrath [/i]finally choked my affection for Steinbeck; I was a bit young/naive for [i]A Confederacy of Dunces [/i]on first read but I still think I would not value it; and I absolutely loathe [i]Gatsby[/i].

[Eponine]

[quote name='MinDonner' post='1717303' date='Mar 12 2009, 12.55'][url="http://www.thebricktestament.com/"]There's an abridged version here.[/url] :thumbsup:[/quote]

I particularly liked the story of Job.

[wolverine]

I too hated [u]Grapes of Wrath[/u]. However I really liked [u]Of Mice and Men[/u] by Steinbeck, I think it is the only book that ever made me cry.

[MaesterLuwin]

[quote]Do you mean Edith Hamilton?[/quote]

Ha, yes. Whoops. Edith Wilson was Woodrow's wife.

[quote]Well, doesn't that just make me a blithering idiot... dunce.gif One of my most humbling moments was picking up a collection of Eliot with the intent to read the whole, starting with Prufrock, and reading the same couple pages over and over while watching the poem sail completely over my head. I think I gave it up and went to read some Greene to ... cheer up?[/quote]

I guess I meant that they could be enjoyed even without training in literary criticism, which I don't think can be said for a lot of 20th century poets. There's a lot of Eliot that I think goes over my head, but the theme and tone is pretty clear, and the imagery is beautiful.

[quote]Ironically, half of that list makes my all-time worst 'literature' reads.[/quote]

Or maybe Eliot's not your cup of tea, and we just have different tastes. I like [i]Grapes of Wrath[/i] better than, say, [i]East of Eden[/i], with it's comically evil characters. Regrettably, I have not read [i]Of Mice and Men[/i].

[url="http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/greatbks.html"]Here[/url]'s a good list of more books than anyone could possibly read in their lifetime.

[Jacen]

Mostly agree with the previous entries, but I'd add:

Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe
The Stranger- Albert Camus
Candide- Voltaire
For Whom the Bell Tolls- Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises- Hemingway.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger
On the Road- Jack Kerouac
LOTR
Harold and the Purple Crayon
The Complete Works of Dr. Seuss :P

[Jaqen the FatManderly]

[quote name='MaesterLuwin' post='1717620' date='Mar 12 2009, 16.26']Or maybe Eliot's not your cup of tea, and we just have different tastes.[/quote]
I liked the book of cats .... and I like his style; I'm hoping to come back to him some day and have things click a bit more.
[quote]I like [i]Grapes of Wrath[/i] better than, say, [i]East of Eden[/i], with it's comically evil characters. Regrettably, I have not read [i]Of Mice and Men[/i].[/quote]
I enjoyed a couple Steinbecks in a row, including [i]The Moon is Down [/i](loved it!), [i]Tequila Flat [/i]and [i]Pastures of Heaven[/i]. But he's kind of a downer, and as he wrote of dust, dirt, blowing dirt, dry dirt, I felt my grip on sanity loosen, and decided enough was enough.

I do think some authors like Fitzgerald are particularly sensitive to taste; he's pretty popular on the whole. OTOH, I was probably the only one in my high school class who could stand Lewis's [i]Babbitt[/i]; it had a weird, [i]About Schmidt[/i]-intro charm.

My high school oral book report on [i]A Confederacy of Dunces [/i]resulted in my teacher accusing me of fabricating the plot. She wasn't too thrilled when I mentioned the vaseline scene, either.

[Arthmail]

As a Roman Catholic, lasped, who spent years in catholic schools, i do not second reading the Bible. Its influence has been unendiable, but its worth is debatable. I've tried reading the Qur'an as well, and endless praising for something that i do not believe in does not a good book make.

[b]Count of Monte Cristo[/b], by Alexander Dumas.

[b]One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest[/b], by Ken Kesey.

[b]The Road[/b], by Cormac McCarthy

[seastarr]

Okay, here's the definitive ABC reading list for appearing intelligent and well-read when you have to hang around people who think they are "cultured." Should you read all these? That depends on how much time and concentration you have available to you. They aren't all easy reads!

Anna Karenina-Tolstoy
Brave New World-Huxley
Crime and Punishment-Dostoyevsky
Don Quixote-Cervantes
East of Eden-Steinbeck
Faust-Goethe
Great Expectations-Dickens
Heart of Darkness-Conrad
Invisible Man-Ralph Ellison
Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte
King Lear-Shakespeare
Lolita-Nabokov
Midnight's Children-Salman Rushdie
New Testament
One Hundred Years of Solitude-Marquez
Paradise Lost-Milton
Quran
Remembrance of Things Past-Proust
Sonnets by Shakespeare
Things Fall Apart-Achebe
Ulysses-Joyce
Vile Bodies-Waugh
War and Peace-Tolstoy
X If you've got one I'd love to hear about it!
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Zorba the Greek-Kazantzakis

[TheLoneliestMonk]

when i started reading this i was pretty scared noone was going to mention hemmingway. thank you jacen.

[ldygrffn]

i'll throw in my agreements with:

Pride and Prejudice- Austen
Of Mice and Men-Steinbeck (To a God Unknown is also a good one)
One Hundred Years of Solitude-Marquez
Catch 22-Heller

and add

A Picture of Dorian Grey-Oscar Wilde
Of Love and Shadows-Isabel Allende
Satanic Verses-Salman Rushdie
The Tin Drum-Gunter Grass
The Bluest Eyes-Toni Morrison
Cider House Rules-John Irving
Immortality-Milan Kundera

and a million more

[Morcant]

I can't believe that of all the Dickens that has been recommended, no one has mentioned [b]A Christmas Carol[/b]. I like it so much that I reread every December, and I think that everyone else should do the same. Sure, the story has been redone in movies thousands of times, but none have been better than the original novel, and you can't let a movie like 'Scrooged' vouch for the tale.

Read [b]Beowulf [/b]if you haven't yet, its filled with all sorts of badassery. Lord Dunsany's [b]The King of Elfland's Daughter [/b] contains some of the most beautiful writing I have ever seen in the fantasy genre (and elsewhere.)