Important reading

[Pesmerga]

I'm absolutely un-read, so name important novels to read and say why.

 

[Ennui]

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Best novel I've ever read.

 

[kineaesth]

1984, George Orwell.
Fan-freaking-tastic, ultra-influential, scary.

 

[99.vikram]

1984
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

...updates will follow.

 

[Narvi]

Animal Farm by George Orwell.

 

[Laivasse]

GJ on 1984. It made a strong impression on me, despite me being forced to read it for English class back in the day.

My recommendation, for the same reason, is:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

 

[Eejit]

The Iliad and Odyssey by Homer.

If you'd consider them 'novels', depends how broad your definition is

 

[Nomad]

Cat in the Hat by Dr.Seuss

What?

 

[ríomhaire]

His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Fantastic series with heavy themes concerning adolescence, maturing and thought.

Hogfather - Terry Prattchet
Excellent fantasy book dealing with human belief, including the concepts of justice, rightness, fairness and Santa.

1984 - George Orwell
The is the most depressing future imaginable outside of the extinction of humanity.

 

[oldagerocker]

A Song of Ice and Fire series - George RR. Martin
A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords - the BEST fantasy novel ever written.
A Feast for Crows

And the series continues with the next book hopefully finished this year. It's the best fantasy ever written, with incedibly deep woven plots, characterisation and history all written from numerous characters' point of view.
It's a really good starter for anyone who hasn't read fantasy before and you WILL become an addict.

 

[Godron]

My recommendation, for the same reason, is:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Seconded. I had to read it for English, and I actually liked it a lot.


I haven't read many books, but from what I have read, the Mortal Engines quartet by Philip Reeve has been the best so far. I'd recommend it to anyone.

 

[Sparta]

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (or anything else by him)

Its a brilliant and incredibly dark novel set in the southern U.S.A./Mexico in 1850. Its about a pack of scalpers making their way across the land as they deal with various hostile forces along the way, and a man called Judge Holden who seems a little off. Its awesome.

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

House of Leaves is about a guy who comes back from vacation with his family one day to find a hallway in his house that wasn't there before. Slowly the hallway gets bigger and bigger until it becomes this pitch black labyrinth that emits creepy sounds. Also awesome.

The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

Three cops chase a serial killer thats re-emerged after 20 years. Sounds like your average murder mystery fare but its more along the lines of Zodiac in terms of investigation. Its really really well done

 

[Jintor]

Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Douglas Adams

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; Hunter S Thompson

The Man Who Was Thursday; GK Chesterton.

Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve is also good, despite the fact that it is classified as Children's Literature.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I am to compose A LIST.
This post'll be deleted when it's done.

 

[Emporius]

Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

 

[Yorick]

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Seconded. Definitely the best book ever.

Fahrenheit 451 is in there too. Also Kurt Vonnegut's "TimeQuake" and "Catcher in the Rye" by Salinger. Oh and "The Outsiders". Yes.

 

[Dog--]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned, but I'll say it..

Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

You'll be glad you read it when the zombies do come. You'll be kicking yourself in the ass if you don't read it and they come..

 

[Dan]

Are you trying to become well read or just entertained? Most of the books listed here would not make a person "well read".

 

[Viperidae]

Lord of the Flies seems overly forced and premeditated. Golding knew what he was doing intellectually, but he didn't make it an enjoyable read. Sure, it's fine and clever when you analyse it, but he seems to have designed it expressly for that purpose. Not to mention the ****ing stupid ending.

Aaaaanyway, I'm probably biased because of my current studies, but I'd honestly recommend delving into some English poets, as poetry was around a lot longer than novels. Odyssey & Iliad are definately helpful as foundations. Start with Beowulf. Read some of Chaucer, familiarise yourself with Gawain and the Green Knight and Arthurian legend, then move on to the early modern boys, namely Spencer and Shakespeare (Marlowe is fun but a bit shallow, Wyatt is noteworthy for early sonnet-ing). Then move on to Marvell, Donne and Milton, although sparknotes of Paradise Lost are enough to get the point.

From then on you can probably skip ahead--Romantic poets are fun, but the novel was developing in a big way, e.g. Frankenstein.

Or, you could save yourself a lot of time and just take English 101. /lulz

 

[French Ninja]

A Song of Ice and Fire series - George RR. Martin
A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords - the BEST fantasy novel ever written.
A Feast for Crows

And the series continues with the next book hopefully finished this year. It's the best fantasy ever written, with incedibly deep woven plots, characterisation and history all written from numerous characters' point of view.
It's a really good starter for anyone who hasn't read fantasy before and you WILL become an addict.

This.

 

[Slug Advisor]

This.

.
You found my secret message! Receive 5 internets!

 

[theotherguy]

Seconded. Definitely the best book ever.

Fahrenheit 451 is in there too. Also Kurt Vonnegut's "TimeQuake" and "Catcher in the Rye" by Salinger. Oh and "The Outsiders". Yes.

Nah, that book was just patronizing, mawkishly sentimental, overtly mystical and just plain stupid. We read it for school, and I was the only person who wasn't totally entranced by it. I just thought it was an awful book.

 

[StardogChampion]

HG Wells - The Island of Dr Moreau
Arthur Conan Doyle - Lost World
Alexandre Dumas - Count of Monte Cristo
Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe
Charles Dickens - Great Expectations
Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

Read these because they're downloadable for free - http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog

 

[intothep0rtal]

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (and any other of his books for that matter; they are excellent!)

Dan Brown's books (The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Digital Fortress, and Deception Point)

Robert Ludlum's Bourne Series, if you like hard reading (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Legacy)

 

[Pesmerga]

Are you trying to become well read or just entertained? Most of the books listed here would not make a person "well read".

Well read- ie; must reads, classics like Don Quixote or The Prince.

 

[Gray Fox]

Wrath of the Grapes by John Steinbeck

It's a kick ass alien zombie sci-fi where space bacteria infect grapes which are in turn eaten by humans
who are put in to( not under) the control of aliens.
I must warn you though it does contain subconscious passages encouraging emphasociammunism.

 

[Solaris]

You need a healthy dose of dickens, Shakespeare, Orwell and probably Hemingway too.

 

[Dan]

Well read- ie; must reads, classics like Don Quixote or The Prince.

Important Fiction Novels (excluding plays):

Moby Dick
War and Peace
Lolita
A Tale of Two Cities
The Count of Monte Cristo
Brave New World
Island
1984
Animal Farm
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Heart of Darkness
The Old Man and the Sea
Don Quixote
The Great Gatsby
Catch-22
A Room With a View
Pride and Prejudice
A Clockwork Orange
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Ulysses
The Grapes of Wrath
Wuthering Heights
Great Expectations
The Brothers Karamazov
Medea
The Tin Drum
Gulliver's Travels
The Catcher in the Rye
The Mayor of Casterbridge

 

[dfc05]

Seconded. Definitely the best book ever.

Fahrenheit 451 is in there too. Also Kurt Vonnegut's "TimeQuake" and "Catcher in the Rye" by Salinger. Oh and "The Outsiders". Yes.

I didn't really like Fahrenheit 451, probably because I had read 1984 just before that, and 1984 was so much better...

So I figured I'd try reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, but the cheesy ending killed it.

I've heard The Martian Chronicles were pretty good, so maybe I will give Ray Bradbury another chance to redeem himself .

 

[Jangle]

Lord of the Flies seems overly forced and premeditated. Golding knew what he was doing intellectually, but he didn't make it an enjoyable read. Sure, it's fine and clever when you analyse it, but he seems to have designed it expressly for that purpose. Not to mention the ****ing stupid ending.

I felt the same way about Animal Farm. Yeah, it's a clever analogy, but it wasn't an engaging story and it definitely went on too long. You know what's going to happen at the end before you're even half way through.

 

[lame-o]

The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem (interesting philosophy, poetic sci-fi)
Tales of Pyrx the Pilot - Stanislaw Lem
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
Choke - Chuck Palahniuk (disgusting but true)
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque (I think it's the only story which - serenely - shows the inner pain of war)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
The Rum Diary - Hunter S. Thompson

 

[Viperidae]

I am to compose A LIST.
This post'll be deleted when it's done.

Necro-what-the-hell-happened-to-this-post.

Some ones that I should have mentioned earlier:

The Innocent Traveller by Ethel Wilson.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

 

[MJ12]

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

I tried to read this years and years ago but couldn't. It gave me a headache. It has a very unique visual design, but that doesn't make it enjoyable to read in the bizzare formats it presents. If I recall correctly the book is huge too.

 

[Rizzo]

huh... For a while there I thought Pesh was back.

 

[Solaris]

The Rum Diaries are amazing.

 

[Nomad]

I wonder why no one has mentioned "To Kill A Mockingbird"?

It was a good book, but a shame that it was Harper Lee's only book.

 

[Tyguy]

A Peoples History of the United States - Howard Zinn
This is a must read if you have any interest in the history of our Country

Rare Earth - Peter Ward
A must read if you have any interest in the history of our planet