I was wondering if any of you could give me some pointers. English is not my native language, even though I am perfectly bilingual, and I wish to discover more English / American / Aussie Literature. My question is this: Which Books do I have to have read, and why? I am particularly interested in books that might be considered 'classics'. The stuff you 'had to read' at school, and secretly loved.

Does anyone have the definitive suggestion?



<< insert hilariously witty quote here >>

I had to read "To kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee when I was at school, and thought it was fantastic, although that was quite a few years ago now! I'm not sure I could give you the definitive suggestion, I've spent much of my reading life stuck inside SF books, and have only just ventured out into the non-SF world.

Hi Shiva,

I know in terms of aussie classics, you cannot go past an autobiography called "A Fortunate Life" by a gentleman named AB Facey.

annie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Shiva,
>
> I know in terms of aussie classics, you cannot go
> past an autobiography called "A Fortunate Life" by
> a gentleman named AB Facey.

Wow! Just looked it up, it sounds like a bit of a heart breaking read, I'm guessing that it's inspirational too though!

Beowulf, in Seamus Heaney's translation. Wonderful stuff. And Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf.

Hi Bas,

the quick answer is none! There are no books you have to read: U.K. school required reading choices change with fashion.
Australian, U.K and U.S. lists are very different. I won't presume to suggest Australian or U.S. titles as there are lots of people on the fforum far better able to tell you their school required books than I could.

My suggestions are to read some Charles Dickens. Ease into his works with something light such as "The Pickwick Papers", "A Christmas Carol" or his ghost stories.
British humour is almost defined by P.G. Wodehouse. Read just about anything, although the Bertie Wooster stories are probably the most popular.
Of course there is Shakespeare, but if Puck will forgive me, I would suggest that you see the plays and put off reading anything, including the sonnets,until later. Do see as many of the plays as you can manage.

Visit your local bookshop and flick through the Penguin Classics. Grab a handful that take your fancy.

Skipping over huge swathes of literature, perhaps try some Iain Banks. "Espedair Street" might be a good place to start. Note that Iain M. Banks is the same person, but the "M" signifies his science fiction novels.

Finally, "Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame and "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift are worth trying. They both seem to be love/hate books, so perhaps you should try these from the local library.

Cheers

Lovely, thank you very much...

What about 'Three Men in a Boat' and 'Of mice and men'?



<< insert hilariously witty quote here >>

Pyramid Scheme and Rats Bats and Vats (Both by Dave Freer and Eric Flint) are worthy of inclusion here....

Larry Niven, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke are also good. I tend to stick to SF for what it's worth.

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

SkidMarks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Skipping over huge swathes of literature, perhaps
> try some Iain Banks. "Espedair Street" might be a
> good place to start. Note that Iain M. Banks is
> the same person, but the "M" signifies his science
> fiction novels.
>


And if you want to try his scifi, start with Consider Philbas, then go in print order
or you could always ask here, we're mostly harmless there.
[213.253.134.7]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blood! Death! War! Rumpy pumpy! Triumph!

Barnadine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lovely, thank you very much...
>
> What about 'Three Men in a Boat' and 'Of mice and
> men'?

I didn't think 'Of Mice and Men' was anything special... but then it was something I had to read at school, and that never helps. Never tried 'Three men in a boat'... but I've heard not bad things about it.

As someone else said, there isn't really anything you have to read.

Come to think of it... I don't think there were any books I read at high school that I secretly loved. Shakespear wasn't as bad as I expected, so maybe you could grab a handful of that.

Rob

------
That statement is either so deep it would take a lifetime to fully comprehend every particle of its meaning, or it is a load of absolute tosh. Which is it, I wonder?
Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

They may be kids books, but Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach are brilliant stories that I re-read regularly, and so would recommend without reservation. Other than that, just check out Amazon.com and see what takes your fancy. Go with the books you like the sound of, just as you would in German.

Two Irish recommendations:
James Joyce's 'Dubliners' short stories - read them in school, and still like them
Flann O'Brien 'Best of Myles' collection or, if you like it a bit tougher, his 'At Swim-Two-Birds'

---

Design #3609494995:
It's a newly-discovered breed of fish that keeps your teeth clean, tastes delicious and dissolves in water.
generated with The Prior-Art-O-Matic

Ok. Right. If I can't admit it here, where can I?

When I was in high school I LOVED Jane Eyre. It was actually my love for Jane Eyre that prompted me to pick up The Eyre Affaire. So I suggest that one...

and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, too.

After that, maybe Terry Brooks "Word and the Void" series. Which I also really liked, although I'm not sure if any but me would consider it a classic.

~A

oh school books! I know thee well. It's true I did secrectly love some of them. THe HObbit. The Crysalids by John Wyndham. At the back of the north wind by George MAcdonald. All quiet on the western front. Shakespeare (I liked reading the tempest myself) Lord of the Flies by william golding.

I agree many of the classic childrens books are great! Charlie and the chocolate factory. The phantom Tollboth. the neverending story. still love them.

If you like extreme stories, read Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho or Perfume - The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suesskind. If you don't, try Nick Hornby.

After having read "Hamlet" you should also read (or watch) Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. It's really funny!

Kaz: Dutch, please, not German.

Hee Hee



<< insert hilariously witty quote here >>

'The Go-Between', LP Hartley- if nothing else, you'll understand a couple of 'the past is a foreign country' gags in modern books. Helps to understand this book if you have a thorough understanding of the zodiac and related myths.

'Tom Jones', Henry Fielding. Coleridge said it had the most perfectly constructed plot, and he was right!

'The Picture of Dorian Gray', Oscar Wilde. One of my all time faves, I was given this book when I was a kid and was hooked from that point on. A marvellous story that shows the progress of corruption and self destruction. A bit like Faust, but without the devil. I'm going to stop raving about it now, or else I'll forget to mention;

'The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy, Gentleman', Laurence Sterne. If only I had read this before I read any James Joyce, I wouldn't have bothered wading through Finnegan's Wake. It's sublime. Beautifully funny nonsense.

'The Trial', Franz Kafka. Read it in the same spirit you watch Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil'. Keep a few tissues on hand for the ending.

Barnadine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kaz: Dutch, please, not German.
>
> Hee Hee



There's a difference?

*ducks all blunt and sharp missiles*

Not much in certain places from what I hear.

I can speak German and understand the gist of what Hollandaise people are saying. (Do use them as a source often?)

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Now hear this! ;) *pouty arms and face*

The thing that annoys me most of all, in the whole world, is when Holland is Compared to Germany. Not to dis Germany, mind. It's just that everyone who *blindly* compares Holland to Germany, effectively denies me my national identity. And if this were only once or twice, no problem. But at least once a week for twenty-eight-bloody-years? 8[

Imagine -if you are English- someone walking up to you (out of the blue) and asking you "So, you're basically French, right?", and meaning it. Now imagine this happening in every conversation you have. And then when you patiently explain -once again- that you are NOT in fact, French, the other person displays distinct lack of interest and says something like "Yeah, but what's the difference, really. It's all the same to me."

I live in London. Imagine having your nationality nibbled away from you bit by bit every day when thick people refuse the existence of other countries but their own. It gets to me sometimes. Most times. Always.

*Ends pouty fit with a firm nod*



<< insert hilariously witty quote here >>