Having just bought and read ‘Of mice and men’, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I’m wondering what other classics are worth a read – so what book would you recommend and briefly why?
Loved The grapes of wrath and nearly finished War and peace which is a fantastic read too. I like a decent length book to get my teeth into.
Only book I’ve never finished was Moby Dick.
East of Eden is a more satisfying novel than Grapes of Wrath IMO. I have enjoyed many of his books, though Cannery Row is probably my favourite. If you judge a books success by feeling compelled to re-read it, then Sweet Thursday and Tortilla Flat are worth a mention. Cannery Row is the only novel I have ever finished and found that I needed to read it again immediately.
Erskine Childers The Riddle Of The Sands. Spies and skulduggery prior to the First World War on the North Sea coast. Excellent book, well worth reading, and free.
Not all “classics” as such, but all ace books – short books mainly because I’m rubbish with long books.
Ray Bradbury – Farenheight 451
Kurt Vonnengut – Cats Cradle (although I could give you a long list of his books which are ace)
Pat Barker – Regeneration Trilogy
Bowman – Ascent of Rum Doodle
Chuck Palahniuk – Survivor
Tressell – Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich – Solzhenytsyn
Walden – Thoreau
Strangers and Brohers – CP Snow
The Outward Urge – Wyndham Lewis
The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
Big fan of Orwell. Funnily enough not really 1984. Down and out in Paris and London and homage to Catalonia would be my favourites. Actually now you mention it might reread down and out.
This is my favourite book. I have read it a dozen times and bought and lent it to dozens of people! As an aside he is buried in the small cemetery opposite the entrance to Walton prison on Hornby Road.
Also anything by George Orwell and Solzhenytsn as above.
And you didn’t specify novels, so I’ll also mention La Rochefoucault’s Maxims.
A book of incredibly sharp short observations on human nature which ought to be required reading for anyone planning on using an internet forum.
For example…
“There is more pride than kindness in our reprimands to people who are at fault; and we reprove them not so much to correct them as to convince them that we ourselves are free from such wrongdoing.”
I’d also put in a mention for Robert Graves
Goodbye to all That – his account of WW1 which is apt in 2014 and I Claudius – a book i picked up only because I’d read everything else on the bookshelf. It’s not like your reading about ancient Rome you are quite simply there, a stunning book.
