Recommendations of Classic Books

[Supermaxaroni]

I recommend the brothers karamazov by fyodor Dostoyevsky. Super great book, with an interesting and drawn out plot and extremely thoughtful philosophical debates on the existence of God, necessity of religion, the criminal mind, and the psychology of all.

[Carolreads30]

Hi Everyone!

I'm new to the book club. I just finished reading "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde for the first time. I was supposed to read it in High School many moons ago but never did or at least I don't recall that I did. This book is extremely Candid, about Life and Differences between Men and Womyn. I learned alot about Life and Love from this book. I do recommend this novel to anyone who loves fiction and classic lit. Now I've started further on my list of classic books to read and am reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Happy Reading Everyone! 7-5-2010

Welcome! "The Great Gatsby" is a good book. I read it while in high school, but I don't think I have ever read anything by Oscar Wilde. I may have to add some of his books to my I Want To Read shelf.

[Shky waalker JEK-VDK]

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott has always been close to my heart. I always pick it up when I'm feeling low and it always cheers me up (and also makes me shed a few tears), especially the first part. Most importantly, I feel a little bit more alive when I'm reading about these four lovely March sisters and their family and friends and how they manage to survive in the Civil War era despite all odds.

[AngelaHanks]

Time and time again, books have proven to be portals to another world, defining and changing our perception, even if entirely written on a fictional subject.

Portals to another world can often be found in Ray Bradbury’s tales, which depict worlds where human capacities have been replaced by those that are artificial, comparable to the Veldt. Or in the case of The Invisible Man in which a man is rendered completely invisible to those around him because he is an African American.

[Book_nerdie]

Loved these reviews of books. I’d recommend Anna Karenina or Gone with the wind or War and Peace. These are really good classic books

[DEEPA PUJARI]

I love this topic. Classics are my most favorite books to read. I can say I am obsessed with classics. I have read the works of many authors including Shakespear, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Flitzgerald, Bronte sisters, Lewis Carrol, John Steinbeck, Harper lee ... but my favorite of all times is Charles Dickens. I started reading his works when I was 10 years old and have been captivated by his writing ever since. Oliver Twist was the first book I read. I recommend it to every young reader. I like his Great Expectation, David Copperfield, A Christmas carol and The tale of two cities. But my most favorite book is The Pickwick Papers. The Pickwick Papers is not very popular among readers but it is a gem of a book. This was Dicken's first book and is a collection of events that happen in the life of Mr Pickwick who is the president of the Pickwick papers. This book is very hilarious and will have you in splits. The humor is very subtle and beautiful.

[thaservices1]

Loved these reviews of books. I’d recommend Anna Karenina or Gone with the wind or War and Peace. These are really good classic books

I just started War and Peace. I am completely suprised. Not what I was expecting at all.

[Netvigator72]

Everyone has at least heard of "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens, but I'm always surprised by how few seem to enjoy it. I'll admit that its true that the the plot, or rather plots, are very numerous and seemingly disjointed; yet the way they weave together in the end is simply genius, and I would think any who complain that plot lines are too linear these days would get their fix for life from this book.

I can only imagine that the complaints arise from how often the viewpoint jumps, and it's pretty hard to follow for awhile. In fact, I found myself really lost at a few points as to how anything was relevant. But when the conclusion comes around, and you see what everyone and everything is all about, your mind just reels from all the meaning you can draw from it!

Sydney Carton is definitely one of the most profound characters I know. A life of perpetual disappoint would lead so many to choose so differently, and especially when they could have benefited from it like he could have. But when he makes his final choice... not only giving his life a final purpose, but to define the height of true love and nobility, brings out the best of humanity we all hope actually exists in us.

This book will forever be one of my favorites... I wish I could talk about it for pages, but no one would read the post, haha! But the best way is to read it yourself.

Thank you for your review. I will be giving this book a try.

[Apples86]

I love this story. The Giver made me realize that emotions are important.... don't wallow in them letting them over run you.

[Patricereads]

I recommend you Solomon Kane, and Conan Stories of High Adventure or Conan The Defining Stories. I guess Conan Hour of the Dragon is also great.

[Doodle98]

A book that I think gets overlooked a lot is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. It's credited as being the first detective novel and inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write the Sherlock Holmes series.

Not only does it have a fascinating mystery around The Moonstone itself and its affects on a wealthy family (lots of secrets being revealed of course), but there is also a lot of commentary on England colonizing other countries and that maybe it isn't the best idea. Considering it was written in mid 19th century, it's pretty amazing that a book as critical as this was published and read at all.

There's also some interesting gender-bending stuff around Ezra Jennings, the detective character, in which he describes himself as connecting more with feminine features instead of masculine ones.

Lots of amazing stuff to find in this novel and I know very few people who have ever heard of it.

[stormydesert]

I've read several books that I would call classics in the past year or so.

I'm reading Don Quixote. It's way more fun than I imagined! It's huge and it's very old, and I'm honestly not sure whether it could be said to have a plot, but I keep turning pages because the language is a delight and I'm curious what will happen next.

I enjoyed Anna Karenina because I found the characters interesting and relatable, especially Levin and Anna, who both try to live lives true to themselves in spite of obstacles and others' insistence that they bend to expectations.

I did not enjoy Crime and Punishment. The author uses storytelling techniques that I think of as modern to bring the reader into the tortured thoughts of the main character. I found it both dull and unpleasant.

I don't really remember how I felt about Fahrenheit 451. It's an important book, and an interesting book, but short. Bradbury's stories are pretty creepy, so I'm not sure I would have wanted the story to be longer. But it felt like he created a big, weird world and then only talked about it a little bit.

Definitely I did not like Dubliners, a book of short stories by James Joyce. Sometimes Joyce doesn't sufficiently explain what's going on and just relies on context I feel like I don't have, and sometimes his subject matter is too gritty and depressing for me. Thus, confusing and unpleasant.

[blackpinkpurple]

While everyone is recommending greatest of books, I would like to bring your attention to a classic that never failed to entertain me and fill my little world with hope and happiness in my childhood i.e. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. The book is filled with unforgettable crazy yet wonderful characters, with a witty heroine way ahead of her time. This book reminds me to get lost down a rabbit hole every once in a while.

[seedben]

Crime and Punishment is a complex classical book and I love it.

[Stlin]

A great classic is Mice and men because, not only the great use of description, but the characters because Steinbeck shows how children are, in some cases, better people than adults in the way that they do not judge people because they do not see people or things from that point of view (an example being childlike Lennie who has a mental disability though they didn't know that at the time the book is based).
The great thing about that is that it shows some of the other characters' feelings about the situations they are being put in and shows how Steinbeck feels about racism and sexism. Yet another good thing about this book is that it is not long and does not drag on which is great for readers who do not like to read long books and get bored when reading long books.
This shows the greatness of the book because it shows how the book packs that all in (racism, sexism, the Depression, etc) yet in so little time. I hope this review encourages you to read Of Mice and Men because it is a truly great book and I would give it a 4.5 out of 5.