Any Good Classic Book Recomendations?
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I would also recommend the collected works of H.P. Lovecraft.
One other note on Dostoevsky: I would strongly recommend the translations by Pevear and Volokhonsky. I have not read any other translations, but there seems to be a broad consensus that P&V's are the best...and after reading their translations of all of his major novels, it's difficult to imagine any could be better.
One other note on Dostoevsky: I would strongly recommend the translations by Pevear and Volokhonsky. I have not read any other translations, but there seems to be a broad consensus that P&V's are the best...and after reading their translations of all of his major novels, it's difficult to imagine any could be better.
I read and re-read a lot of classics. I'm a big Steinbeck fan. Big recommend for Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden.
If you enjoyed Lord of the Rings, you simply must read The Silmarillion.
Moby Dick is always a solid classic recommend. Especially given some pipe smoking wound in.
Coincidentally on the Russian theme above, I'm currently reading Crime & Punishment. ,
If you enjoyed Lord of the Rings, you simply must read The Silmarillion.
Moby Dick is always a solid classic recommend. Especially given some pipe smoking wound in.
Coincidentally on the Russian theme above, I'm currently reading Crime & Punishment. ,
A good modern thriller is Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter.
How about William Faulkner's The Reivers? (His last novel)
Might take a look at Hemingway's collection of short stories called In Our Time as an alternative writing style to Faulkner.
You could look at some of the 1920s mystery genre, like Edgar Wallace's The Avenger.
Loads more suggestions - just ask...
How about William Faulkner's The Reivers? (His last novel)
Might take a look at Hemingway's collection of short stories called In Our Time as an alternative writing style to Faulkner.
You could look at some of the 1920s mystery genre, like Edgar Wallace's The Avenger.
Loads more suggestions - just ask...
My wife, the English and literature major/ British lit fanatic, recommends anything Victorian British. She specifically mentioned Dickens, the Bronte sisters, as well as Agatha Christie and C. S. Lewis ( not Victorian ). As far as American authors go, she recommends Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Faulkner and Byron Herbert Reece. She also recommended Hemmingway and Jack London which I had mentioned earlier.
Oh by the way, Byron Herbert Reece was a relative of my family, my Great Grandmother still remembers him and his family. They lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains in north Ga. , not far from where I am in south east Tn. I haven't got around to reading any of his works, but my wife has read several of his books and poetry and she really likes him.
Oh by the way, Byron Herbert Reece was a relative of my family, my Great Grandmother still remembers him and his family. They lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains in north Ga. , not far from where I am in south east Tn. I haven't got around to reading any of his works, but my wife has read several of his books and poetry and she really likes him.
Some Jack Kerouac, On The Road, or The Dharma Bums. Then there's Kurt Vonnegut; Breakfast Of Champions and Slapstick are two of my favorites.
Huckleberry Finn is,perhaps, the Great American Novel - at least, Hemingway is reputed to have thought so.
I personally prefer Steinbeck to Hemingway, though. His shorter novels can be just as worthwhile as his longer ones. "Travels with Charlie" is also not to be missed.
For a classic I'd suggest Dumas' Three Musketeers. There's so much more to the book than has ever been shown on the big screen. If they were to make a movie version of it close to the book it would need to be a trilogy. Well worth the read.
I just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and it was pretty good.
Another one I finished earlier this summer was Drood by Dan Simmonds (sp?). It's a fictional book about the last five years of Dickens' life. It's written as a memoir from his friend and fellow author Wilkie Collins.
Right now I'm working on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Figured it'd be good to get to reading it this time of year. Not too bad so far, I'm seven chapters in.
I just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and it was pretty good.
Another one I finished earlier this summer was Drood by Dan Simmonds (sp?). It's a fictional book about the last five years of Dickens' life. It's written as a memoir from his friend and fellow author Wilkie Collins.
Right now I'm working on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Figured it'd be good to get to reading it this time of year. Not too bad so far, I'm seven chapters in.
An unforgettable novel--if you can handle some true horror--is "Song of Kali" by Dan Simmons; an amazing novel I discovered about a year ago is "Winter's Bone" by Daniel Woodrell. It was made into an equally amazing movie a while back. Each of these works I guarantee you will never forget. And let's not forget the early novels of H.G. Wells: "The War of the Worlds," "The Island of Dr. Moreau," among them.
(Isn't it interesting what insights we gain into our members by noting what they have read?
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(Isn't it interesting what insights we gain into our members by noting what they have read?
)War and Peace in one of the newer translations by Pevear and Volkhonsky or Anthony Briggs. For some reason I hadn't read this before though I'd read much short Tolstoy until a year or two ago, and after reading it I felt like I had never read an novel before. The best.
+1 game of thrones.
I'd also really strongly suggest you try the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Unfortunately he didn't finish the series before he died but he left a ton of material behind so his wife had another guy Sanderson complete his works.
Great series of books.
Also any of those Jules Verne books are great. I always thought 20k leagues under the sea was the depth they traveled but after reading the book you find out that 20k leagues is the distance they traveled while under the sea.
I'd also really strongly suggest you try the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Unfortunately he didn't finish the series before he died but he left a ton of material behind so his wife had another guy Sanderson complete his works.
Great series of books.
Also any of those Jules Verne books are great. I always thought 20k leagues under the sea was the depth they traveled but after reading the book you find out that 20k leagues is the distance they traveled while under the sea.
Hard to beat The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye as two candidates for "The Great American Novel."
A modern classic with a retro vibe? The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a terrific story. Michael Chabon writes lines that make you smile and shake your head in wonder.
A modern classic with a retro vibe? The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a terrific story. Michael Chabon writes lines that make you smile and shake your head in wonder.
I'll plug the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien. Outstanding historical fiction about life in the British navy - excitement, adventure, etc.
Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday also gets my vote.
Trollope is also enjoyable - try the Palliser novels if you like parliament and the Barsetshire Chronicles if you like vicars and bishops.
Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday also gets my vote.
Austen's novels only get better with repeated readings, at least to me.
Trollope is also enjoyable - try the Palliser novels if you like parliament and the Barsetshire Chronicles if you like vicars and bishops.
Try Edgar Allan Poe's collected works. They are meant to be enjoyed with a nice Virginia flake and a brandy.
Reading Moby Dick made me pick up a pipe in college. There was a scene early on where Queeqeg smoked a bowl and Ishmael decribed the scene.
Great recommendations, Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian my fav), anything by Twain, I like ROughing it.I agree the Silmarillion is an awesome work. Beren & Luthien and the tale of Turin Turumbar rivals anything in the LOTR.
I would recommend Homer's "Odyssee." It's a great adventure, with the smartest guy in the Aegean, fresh off the Trojan War, matching wits with a po'd Poseidon avenging the blindness his son, a Cyclops, suffered at Odysseus' hands.
Since you liked LOTR I will also reference E.R. Eddison's 'The Worm Ourobouros." It's high fantasy written in a slightly archaic style but there are Houses against each other, magic and mayhem and court intrigue and fighting immortal armies and all sorts of fantastic stuff. Eddison was a contemporary of Tolkien.
I could offer up a lot of other stuff but brevity is the soul of wit.
(Yes, afflicted with an english degree)
Great recommendations, Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian my fav), anything by Twain, I like ROughing it.I agree the Silmarillion is an awesome work. Beren & Luthien and the tale of Turin Turumbar rivals anything in the LOTR.
I would recommend Homer's "Odyssee." It's a great adventure, with the smartest guy in the Aegean, fresh off the Trojan War, matching wits with a po'd Poseidon avenging the blindness his son, a Cyclops, suffered at Odysseus' hands.
Since you liked LOTR I will also reference E.R. Eddison's 'The Worm Ourobouros." It's high fantasy written in a slightly archaic style but there are Houses against each other, magic and mayhem and court intrigue and fighting immortal armies and all sorts of fantastic stuff. Eddison was a contemporary of Tolkien.
I could offer up a lot of other stuff but brevity is the soul of wit.
(Yes, afflicted with an english degree)
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