I need book recomendations - Where should I start?

[costafinkel]

All right, I'm very well versed into the worlds of cinema and music, but my book reading culture just lacks.

 

So I decided to make an effort and read all those classics - Both for entertainment value and also to become a more "cultured" person.

 

I have read very little - One or two novels from the likes of Verne and Poe.. So, I need recomendations, where should I start???

 

I thought I'd start cronologically, beginning with the odyssey/illiad, and moving my way thru times..? But beginning with those should maybe, too much, since these are massive books? And also, I would take a long time to arrive at 18th/19th century england which is what I'm really interested?

 

So, I thought of beggining with Charles Dickens, of whom I've heard so much praise? I want to begin with the more well known writers and move away to the more obscure ones much later, after I read the most well known ones.

 

What do you guys think??? I also want to read something from Nietzsche. So what do you think I should do? I'll be waiting some answers to go to ebay and buy some books.

 

Thank you all,

 

Gabriel.

[Kylie]

Hello there.

 

I don't think you should necessarily restrict yourself to starting from the 'beginning', especially seeing as your interests lie more in 18th/19th century literature.

 

For Dickens, I would recommend Great Expectations as a good starting point. Dickens can be quite wordy, but personally I really like that style. It can take a little while to get into his stories sometimes, but I find they're all brilliant (well, the few I've read so far). A Christmas Carol is also an excellent introduction to Dickens. It's much shorter and a very beautiful story. Of course, it's not quite the season for it, but perhaps that won't bother you.

 

If you enjoyed Verne and Poe, you might also like to try HG Wells (The War of the Worlds), Robert Louis Stevenson (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde), Bram Stoker (Dracula) and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein).

 

I'm also a big fan of Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is probably her best-known work, and it's definitely my favourite, although I don't think you can really go wrong with any of her novels. The Bronte sisters are excellent as well. Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre are both excellent.

 

These books were only off the top of my head, and I'm sure I've left out loads of great authors and books. I'm sure everyone else will fill in the gaps.

 

The best thing about reading classics is that you can find them for free online (legally) at places like Project Gutenberg. If you have an ereader or don't mind reading on a computer screen, it will cost you nothing to read all of the above books.

 

I hope you'll stick around on the forum and tell us what you end up buying and whether you enjoy reading the classics.

[nursenblack]

I recommend the Bronte's as well. Wuthering Heights is my personal favorite. Also, a favorite among the classics and very readable, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

If you are looking for something classic, but with a modern feel then I recommend Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a fantastic novel about a terrifying future where firemen burn books.