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A list of Classics

Fi Skirata

Fi Skirata

New member
Hello all!

I have recently made it my goal to read as many classic books before I go to college in two years. Seeing as some of you seem to be fans of the art of literature, I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for ones I should read. I have read all of the ubber-famous ones (Moby Dick, Invisible Man, Pride& Prejudice and Black Arrow just to name a few) but I am sure that there are less heard of ones that would be good for me to read. If needed I could post a list of all the classics I have already read if that would make a difference in selection processes. Thanks!
 
:ponder: Hmmm... you may have already read most of these, but here are a few of the classics that I have enjoyed reading over the years:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Around the World in Eighty Days

The Count of Monte Cristo

A Journey to the Center of the Earth

The Last of the Mohicans

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Mutiny on the Bounty

The Red Badge of Courage

Robinson Crusoe

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The Three Musketeers

The Time Machine

Treasure Island

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

The War of the Worlds

Additionally, I highly recommend reading The Hobbit and all three books of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you are a crazy Tolkien fan like me, then you may also enjoy reading The Silmarillion.

Since this popped into my mind while thinking about these books, I also highly recommend Bored of the Rings, a parody of The Lord of the Rings written by the Harvard Lampoon back in 1969. This book may not officially be a classic, but it is a wonderfully fun read.
 
i'd be curious to see what your list so far looks like. Here are a few I read and enjoyed as a teenager (or a bit later). There was a great series available in the UK then (and possibly still now) called "pound classics" that ran out-of-copyright books on cheap paper for GBP1.


  • * Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome.
    * The Club of Queer Trades, G. K. Chesterton.
    * Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
    * Woman in White, Wilkie Collins.
    * Emma, Jane Austen (I know you mentioned an Austen already, but this one is my pick---add it if you haven't already).
    * 1984, George Orwell.
    * The Thought Gang Tibor Fischer (it will be a classic, I'm sure).
    * The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde.

Perhaps as important are the ones not to read! Here are some I struggled through (or at least part of the way through) but decided weren't worth the effort. Of course, better minds than mine will disagree. :)


  • * The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald.
    * Anything by Virginia Woolf.
    * Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad.
    * Turn of the Screw, Henry James.
    * Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien. :p

There are others too I'm sure that I've managed to blank.
 
Adding to the list....

Frankenstein:The Modern Prometheus
The Odyssey
Dante's Inferno
Slaughterhouse Five
A Clockwork Orange
 
In addition to GeneralGrievous13's suggestion of The 3 Musketeers, I'd follow it up with Man In The Iron Mask. Both by Alexander Dumas.

Also an addition to Onacara's suggestion of The Odyssey, I'd suggest read the Trojan war, Iliad, first. Both are by Homer.

Others...

Prisoner of Zenda - Anthony Hope
Call of the Wild / Wild Fang - Jack London
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and John Carter series
Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Luo Guanzhong (this is a Chinese literature which is particularly a favorite subject of a number of video/computer games and Chinese movies, you can find a number of translation of this.)
Edgar Allan Poe's poems and short stories.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Dracula - Bram Stoker

Some readings that I think the current generation should read...
Fairy Tales collections - Hans Christian Anderson or the Grimm Brothers (don't rely on Disney)
Aesop's Fables

And finally... The Bible. Whether you believe in God or not, whether you care about religion or not. This book still have stories and teachings that are relevant to everyone. And it's probably the oldest classic of all.
 
I'd be curious to see what your list so far looks like.
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Here you go:
Spoiler Alert!


Thanks to those who have so far made suggestions. I do have one question about one of the books listed. I have looked into Dracula before and have heard it is a romance novel (one that might have inappropriate content in it for my age) could someone tell me if this is true or not. Because if it is not then I would love to read that one.
 
What I am finding slightly disturbing about this is that you are two years away from college and have not read some of these books already as part of your school curriculum?
 
Fi Skirata said:
Thanks to those who have so far made suggestions. I do have one question about one of the books listed. I have looked into Dracula before and have heard it is a romance novel (one that might have inappropriate content in it for my age) could someone tell me if this is true or not. Because if it is not then I would love to read that one.
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Judging from your original post, you're about 16. To my mind, that's plenty old enough that you'll be strong-willed enough to deal with any "inappropriate content" in Dracula or pretty much any other book. The bible, to take an example from your list, is much racier.

If you're really getting stuck into the issues when reading these books (and if you're not, why bother reading them?) then "romance" is going to a long way down the list of items that you should be worrying about corrupting/inspiring you.
 
1984 and Animal Farm, both by George Orwell, are incredible reads. They tell a chilling story that is all to real. I enjoyed The Crucible by Arthur Miller (be warned- it's a play) and both The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer are fantastic.

Once I got past the Shakespearean language, I thought MacBeth was interesting. It is a really short Shakespeare play with a unique protagonist for Shakespeare's writing.


Onacara said:
What I am finding slightly disturbing about this is that you are two years away from college and have not read some of these books already as part of your school curriculum?
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I'm a high school senior and I have only read a few of these books in school, as "required reading". Most classics I've read on my own. It's really sad how anti-literature schools have become. Just last week I was talking to my old English teacher, who said that next year's kids won't be reading To Kill a Mockingbird until Freshman year now.

EDIT- wait, is the list what you have read or haven't?
 
wait, is the list what you have read or haven't?
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It is what I have read

Judging from your original post, you're about 16.
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Actually, I am fourteen almost fifteen ;).

Edit:
I'm surprised you haven't read this yet. My English class just finished it on Friday, and I'm a freshman.
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I have read it (as I stated in a previous post), I just forgot to list it (it was about two years ago in the Eighth Grade) as well as the Merchant of Venice and Lord of the Flies (three years ago).
 
Lots of great suggestions so far! Here's a couple more classics that you may enjoy:

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

The Prince and the Pauper

Don Quixote

Gulliver's Travels

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Rip Van Winkle

Oliver Twist

Silas Marner

The Wind in the Willows
 
Also, to let you all know, I am slotted to read Hamlet this year in school. With MacBeth and a few other of Shakespeare's works next year in British lit.
 
I've been jonesing to read for a while, but time (and reading speed) make it a little difficult. I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks at work ( about 5-6 hours that I can listen to my mp3 player) and I've discovered a nice resource. booksshouldbefree.com is a source for free audiobooks. All the titles are in the public domain. Reader quality isn't always great, but it is reasonable. There is also http://www.gutenberg.org/ is basically the same thing for ebooks in all kinds of formats.
 
This one's not a real classic novel in some sense but it was nominated as one of the top 100 books by Time Magazine. The Watchmen... the graphic novel by Alan Moore.

A few more suggestions of short readings...

Siddharta - Hermann Hesse
Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Mythologies (Greek, Norse, Romans, or if you can find Chinese or Japanese too)
 
Just go to Project Gutenberg and look at the top downloads to see what the most popular public domain books available for free download. Just ignore the first book on the list, but work your way down. I am reading some Jane Austin books right now as well as LOTR (never read before).
 
I just finished Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and really enjoyed it. It surprisingly read really fast and the persepective from the monster's view is brilliant writing.

Edit- already read it I see
 
lefton4ya said:
Just go to Project Gutenberg and look at the top downloads to see what the most popular public domain books available for free download. Just ignore the first book on the list, but work your way down. I am reading some Jane Austin books right now as well as LOTR (never read before).
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The Kama Sutra is the top download and might not be appropriate for a 14 year old. ;) Still, it did help me to remember some of my favorite classics.

You've read many of the books I would have suggested. A few other great choices would be:
A Tale of Two Cities
The Prince (also see The Art of War and The Book of the Five Rings)
Gulliver's Travels (also read A Modest Proposal)
Walden Two (possibly a positive version of Brave New World)
The Crucible (it may be a play, but I thought it was great)
Slaughterhouse Five (it might not be a classic yet, but it will be)
Siddharta
A Confederacy of Dunces (definitely not a classic, but it should be one day)
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I just finished The Prince and the Pauper (for school) and am halfway through Don Quixote (it is surprisingly long).
 
Anything (or better yet everything) by Robert E. Howard.
The greatest story teller to ever spin a yarn.
The father of sword & sorcery but he wrote tales for many genres including westerns, historical, boxing, Oriental, and even Cthullu (he was friends with H.P. Lovecraft).
Amazing writer able to deliver gripping descriptions with few words. He was also a great poet.
 
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.

All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo.
 
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