Recommendations of Classic Books

[Vogin]

Candide by Voltaire. Simply a great satiric novel.

I've been listening to it on my MP player during my walks for the last few days ... magnificent satire.

It was actually one of the few books I had to go through on high school which I actually enjoyed.

We had to give resumé for each book we read and I was used to ridicule the "weirder" - like Madame Bovary (which is clearly inappropriate for 17 years old boys) - but couldn't really find anything about Candide.

[M.W.Armstrong]

My all-time favorite Classic is El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (aka Don Quixote), by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

I definitely agree with the general opinion that it sits among the best works of fiction ever written.

From a literary standpoint alone, the Spanish original is flawless. Not a single cliché and an extraordinary penmanship. Grammatically it contains a single error: a comma improperly used when a semi-colon should have been used.

I've read very good English versions, particularly Burton Raffel's which, in my opinion captures the spirit of the novel very accurately.

Considered the first modern novel, it features very well developed characters, a serious conflict between doing the right thing and just being a bystander, its elements of intrigue and suspense make it a veritable thriller.

Parental guidance is suggested if given to anyone under 14, though.

[Seraphy]

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's the first novel I read and also my favorite one. I think Jane is a very genius writer and her work is full of wits and fun.

[MissMeggie2804]

This is my new favorite book. Ever. i can't stop talking about it to my friends and family, even my teachers. I love it.
So, here is my review.

Some people go about blaming Lord Henry 'Harry' for all of Dorian's twisted outlooks on life, but that just cannot be the case- for Harry never killed a man, nor bardered his soul to stay young forever. I do, however agree that Harry formally introduced this way of life to Dorian. I think that the relationship between Dorian and the painting is so well played out, he can't stand the sight of it, yet he yearns to always be around it. I was quite sad when he murdered Basil, he was a well-shapened character. But my hatred really formed for Dorian when he treated Sybil in the way he did. I'm not sure how people treated eachother back then, but in any time it's mean to speak with somebody in such a way. It is quite unrealistic though. The relationship between Sybil and Dorian came on so fast it's just not probable, they were engaged before she even knew his name; another this unrealistic is how they will start to cry oh so often and fast, like when Dorian first sees the painting.
The story is moving and really makes you think about yourself. The ideals and advice from Harry is confusing and quite appalling.

This could (and should) classify as the best of gothic fiction ever, probably Oscar Wilde's best work ever.

[Neveranda]

I don't know if it is "classic" but I def love it, Terry Brook's The sword of shannara, probably my favorite book of all time

[Bighuey]

One of the most absorbing classic books I have ever read was Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard. Its a sequel to King Solomon's Mines. It holds your attention to the last page as most of Haggard's books do but I think this was his best one.

[Chotamunda10]

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is the best Book

[Bighuey]

I saw the movie, the silent version with Lew Ayres. Ill have to read the book, I liked the movie but the book is probably better as they usually are.

[M.W.Armstrong]

Yes, "All Quiet in the Western Front" is a powerful novel with a strong message about the enormous emotional toll War takes on soldiers.

The author, Erich Maria Remarque, clearly shows how what is now known as PTSD steadily destroys a soldier's mind in the front-lines. Even if that soldier survives the physical carnage.

The novel speaks to the difficulty, even to the impossibility, of a young mind to readjust to civilian life after being destroyed by war.

It describes war as it is: A hellish nightmare where killing to remain alive is all there is. Patriotism and idealism don't have any part on it; it is pure animalistic instinct to survive paired with a complete sense of betrayal by the politicians who start wars without ever participating in one.

Set in WWI. It applies to all wars after that. Wars where killing or being killed is all that matters and goes on, non-stop, for years on end.

This is a timeless description of the horrors of war, not the sanitized CNN version.

My favorite quotes:

"You take it from me, we are losing the war because we can salute too well."

Talking about generals and politicians:

"Give 'em all the same grub and all the same pay (as privates get) and the war would be over and done in a day."

"...a declaration of war should be a kind of popular festival with entrance-tickets and bands, like a bull fight. Then in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries, dressed in bathing-drawers and armed with clubs, can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be much simpler and more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting."

[Bighuey]

It makes a person wonder, they should settle wars like they did in ancient times. The leaders of the factions that are at war would fight it out hand-to hand to settle the conflict. Cant you just see Obama and Ben Laden fighting it out with spears and swords?

[M.W.Armstrong]

Another great author who masterfully contrasts personal tragedy against the impersonal destruction inflicted by War, capturing the cynicism of soldiers, the futility of war, and the suffering of civilians in war zones, is Ernest Hemingway in "A Farewell to Arms".

Not as powerfully as Remarque on "All Quiet in the Western Front", in my opinion.

The brainwashing (I can't think of any other term) performed on young soldiers and idealists by their puppeteers, is deftly explored by George Orwell in his "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four".

As Isaac Asimov, other of my favorite authors, had Salvor Harding declaring in "Foundation": Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

[StephenKingman]

After my not so great start trying to get a few classics under my belt with "To Kill a Mockingbird" im gonna try my next one, "On the Road" by Jack Keruac just as soon as my current few books are over, maybe i will enjoy that more

[Eric Tolevsky]

PhotonicGuy - If you enjoy Tolstoy and Dostoyevski you should read Anton Chekov. He is very good as well.

Also, if you enjoy Tolstoy read War and Peace it is so good!

[Sophius]

I'm intending to get into some classics over the summer, and am deeply excited for some of them. Top on my list are: War and Peace. Doctor Zihvago, The Sound and the Fury, and Finnegans Wake(which I am particularly excited for.). Does anyone have opinions on these books?

[Eric Tolevsky]

^
I am going to reinforce my earlier statement, read War and Peace. It is long enough to develop characters and mini plots, it will provide you with a good amount of reading, and it will also help you enjoy Woody Allen's Love and Death, just a bonus. I am interested in those others that you mentioned. I am going to the used bookstore this weekend, I am excited!