Quotations and Literature Forum

I highly recommend "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd and if your into science fiction you could try "Halo The Fall of Reach" by Eric Nylund or any of his books.

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“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”


~Albert Einstein

Les Miserable by Victor Hugo
For Sure!!!!!!!!!
I just love his style of writing, it makes me so relaxed.
It also is a great story.

As for the classics, I would recommend "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. For Fantasy I would recommend anything by Terry Pratchett. He has an insightful and funny way of looking at life plus his characters are wonderful. I especially liked his version of death in "The Hogfather".

Some of my fave have already been mentioned so I'd just add

Nicole Krauss - the history of love
J. Safran Foer - Extremely loud incredibly close

Hate Dickens. Love Salinger.

I'm not trying to be smart, but if it's just books to fill a library, get a few yards with nice bindings. If it's to start reading, I don't think working through a recommended pile would work for me - other than as an endurance test. For me, a better way is to pick any one of the books that has been recommended - read it - read it again and "see where it takes you". I remember hearing that "Ulysses was one of the best books written in the 20thC"; that provoked me to read it - I've now done so five times. Each time has been easier and more fulfilling than the previous - an experience I've had with almost all profound books that I've read. The book will lead to others. The introduction in most paperback editions gives a sound guide to sources and threads of influence. Each book read becomes not merely another chunk of work completed but another piece of an expanding and evolving "family". Some threads you enjoy and follow; some you don't and leave. Joyce led to Eliot, Conrad, Frazer, Dante and Lawrence and so it goes. And all paperbacks! So much more fulfilling than buying a pile of books and slogging through them.

In my humble opinion, John Steinbeck is the greatest author ever and anything he writes is fantastic. Tortilla Flat by Steinbeck is my favorite book and is an easy read as well.

Also, for a harder read, check out Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

Google 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Lots of great books on the list.

Well, I can't really tell you the name just yet. As I haven't even start writing it. But I promise, I will write.

Meantime, you can try

God of Small Things &
Confederacy of Dunces

Yours Truly,

Dorian Gray

Come on, you got to have Oscar Wilde and Goethe. And let us not forget about the new generation.

Good luck

A Fine Balance by rohinton Mistry

Kite Runner - for the love of god I cannot recall the author and I am way to lazy too google

Doesn't the word "trilogy" imply three parts?

Here's a list of excellent books:

Les Miserables; Victor Hugo
Hunchback of Notre-Dame; Victor Hugo
Fathers and Sons; Ivan Turgenev
Lord of the Rings; J.R.R. Tolkien
Selected Stories; Anton Chekhov
Complete Tales and Poems; Edgar Allan Poe
The Aeneid; Virgil
The Canterbury Tales; Chaucer

I would definitely add Paradise Lost by Milton as well as The Prince by Machiavelli.

I would like to suggest a few remarkable works that fall in the genre of short-fiction.
Ivan Turgenev's "MUMU"
Anton Chekhov's "WARD NO6"
D.H.Lawrence's "THE FOX"
Stephen Crane's "THE OPEN BOAT"
and two novels
Guy de Maupassant's " BEL AMI"
and
Jack London's " THE LONE WOLF"

Try 'Samedi the Deafness' by Jesse Ball

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