Any Good Classic Book Recomendations?

[hodirty]

I am almost finished reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and could use some recommendations. I want to read a good classic book in any genre. I was thinking about either 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick, or something by Mark Twain. Any suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance guys, and gals.

 

[jfox520]

I am just finishing up the John Cater series "Prince of Mars"; "Gods of Mars"; and "Warlord of Mars". These where written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. You might enjoy them.

 

[rmason]

For a good classic book I would suggest Candide, it's hilarious, but if you want a more modern classic anything by Joyce is great but it takes a special kind of person to read Joyce because of the writing style. Then you have even more modern classics my current two favorites are Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson and MASH by Richard Hooker. MASH the book I think is even better than the TV show or the movie. I forgot one more older classic if you want some interesting short stories I would suggest The Jungle Book 1 and 2 by Rudyard Kipling, they are some of the best short stories I've ever read. Good Luck with you search.

~Ron

 

[bubblehead33]

You really can't go wrong with the Sherlock Holmes collection, if you haven't already read them.

 

[flakyjakey]

@hodirty, anything by by Cormac McCarthy (of "No Country for Old Men"), an American writer who IMO should have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature many years ago - his "Red Meridian" is truly a masterpiece!

 

[plateauguy]

The Summer of '42 by Herman Wouk. It's not a classic in the truest sense, but every guy here can relate to it.
Any Agatha Christie "Poirot" if you're into mysteries. If you have a Kindle "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is a free download.
Any PG Wodehouse if you want funny.
Right now, I'm reading about homebrewing.

 

[dochudson]

I have been working my way thrugh this list.. a few I skipped and some I had already.
100 must reads

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

Lord of the Rings is a great choice. The Sherlock Holmes are good reads as well and there are plenty to digest. Get the Complete Collection or something like it. Jules Verne is also a good choice that you mentioned. Don't know how far back you want to go, and I may be scorned for this, but I would recommend Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." Great read, interesting message and it will kill a lot of time (over 1000 pages). Don't get hung up on the naysayers take on her writing/philosophy. You also can't go wrong with Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway (both pipe smokers as well) either. I found Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" to be a tough read, but it is still a classic.

 

[rayje589]

+1 on both Sherlock Holmes and Princess of Mars series.
Also while I don't know if people consider them 'classic' but any of the James Bond books.

 

[tbradsim1]

Irwin Shaw, The Young Lions, Rich Man , Poor Man!

 

[kashmir]

The Liberation Trilogy by Nick Atkinson is some of the best WWII writing since Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far and The Last Battle. Good pipe reading IMHO.

 

[petes03]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection is an excellent read! Other classic authors I like include Jack London, H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, Ernest Hemingway and a few more. As far as modern authors go, Clive Cussler is my favorite!

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I would highly recommend the A Song of Ice & Fire series (Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin. Those are great reads and they suck you in. The show on HBO doesn't follow the books 100% but I LOVE them and the show.

 

[phred]

If you're in the mood for Verne, I'd recommend 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, Around the World in 80 Days, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. I started in on one more of his (From the Earth to the Moon), but the science was so far off that I couldn't finish it. Not Verne's fault - he was going on the knowledge he had available to him, but we know so much more now about how g-forces work and how quickly explosive decompression can evacuate a space capsule that it's really impossible to take that one seriously.
If you're more in the mood for H.G. Wells, try The Island of Dr. Moreau (it's much better than the movies), The Time Machine, or The War of the Worlds.

 

[bryanf]

Why not continue the Tolkien and read The Silmarillion. I really enjoyed that.
I'm a sci-fi junky, myself. Just finished "The Mote in God's Eye" by Niven and Pournelle. One of the best sci-fi books I ever read.
Dune, Ender, and Foundation series were all great. Reading Oath of Fealty right now.

 

[delkhouri]

So many choices but if I had to narrow it down to one:
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

 

[brian64]

The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

+1 ... in addition to all of Dostoevsky's works, especially the major novels. But The Brothers Karamazov is definitely his crowning achievment.
I'd also highly recommend all of Philip K. Dick's novels...insightful, entertaining and often profound mix of dystopic sci-fi/philosophy/spirituality/mysticism. I especially like Valis and The Divine Invasion.

 

[terrygoldman123]

I second the "Brothers K" as an excellent choice. Try Dickens for classic stories as well. No Sci/Fi/Fantasy for me.

 

[northernneil]

Not what I would consider classic novel's but I love anything written by Chuck Palahniuk. "Invisible Monsters" and "Survivor" are two of my favorite. He is also the author of Fight Club, the movie with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. If you like dark and twisted, Chuck is a must read author.

 

[briarfanatic]

I will be the pompous dick and say war and peace or crime and punishment. Both are very easy reads. Read crime and punishment and it made me appreciate the Russian spirit. War and peace was very easy to read up until page one thousand something. He starts to go into a nonfiction babble about the Napoleonic wars....and I feel the last one hundred pages will be brutal. I really don't want to be that guy that says....finally finish war and peace....but the last part is tedious. It is an awesome novel....but I am the type of person that thinks if u have not finished a book...you never read any of it