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/lit/ - Literature

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729393 No.729393 [Reply] [Original]

/lit/, I am compiling a list of 20 books everyone should read. This can be because of the story itself or because of the influence it's had on literature or any other criteria you want to use.

To make it easier for everyone, you can choose five books. I will gather all your lists and pick the twenty with the higher occurances.

Don't exclude things like to kill a mocking bird and the catcher in the rye just because everyone's read it already, the final list should look familiar and most of you will have probably read them all.

>> No.729399

Reasons would be nice too.

>> No.729410

Atlas shrugged
Harry Potter
Twilight
The Gentoo Handbook
Capitalist Nigger

>> No.729415

Harry Potter
Of Mice & Men
...Topsy and Tim?

>> No.729418

It's extremely difficult to create a definitive list of 'must read' literature, particularly one limited to a mere score of texts. Personally, I don't support such compilations - or, at least, don't consider them to be a worthwhile undertaking. Having said that, I'm happy to help a fellow /lit/'er, even if his ideas are contrary to mine; thus:

1) Ulysses (the seminal 'stream of consciousness' work, an unequivocal modern classic).
2) Don Juan (an accessible and enjoyable work of epic poetry. Byron's magnum opus and, arguably, the jewel in the romantic crown)
3) Candide (much like Don Juan, Candide is an entry-level text - albeit in an utterly different field of literature. It is concise, thought provoking and genuinly humorous: providing an immensely pleasurable introduction to the world of philosophical literature to the young, investigative mind)

I'd suggest a couple more, but I think I'm going to be late for my train.

>> No.729423

1984 - because you have to
catcher in the rye - again, it's everywhere
Lolita - hopefully will make people more rational and emphathetic to those that aren't normal
infinite jest - to give you a different perspect on life
to kill a mockingbird - entertaining and deals racism

>> No.729426

Either/Or by Soren Kierkegaard

>> No.729428

>>729418

Briefly, I'd also add 'Crime and Punishment' and perhaps 'The Trial' to that list. Also, it'd be important to include a play, perhaps 'King Lear' or 'The Cherry Orchard'. Anyway, public transport beckons.

public transport beckons.

>> No.729429

Harry Potter is not a book.

>> No.729433

>>729426

I've never understood the expression either/or (English is not my native tongue). Don't they mean the same thing?

>> No.729438

>>729423
>to kill a mockingbird - entertaining and deals racism

Most boring book I have ever read.

>> No.729440

>>729418

Thank you, just in case you see this when you come back. Point taken it's not going to be a definitive or in most cases useful list.

Anyway I must flee as well, I will come back for analysis later.

>> No.729446

the odyssey
moby-dick
crime and punishment
lolita
invisible cities

>> No.729449

>>729433
the original is actually in danish, i could type out some things about the title but tbh you're better off reading wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Either/Or

>> No.729450

>a list of 20 books everyone should read

I have a feeling this is going to turn out a list of english/western literature

>> No.729454

>>729450
That being said I might as well be constructive about it and suggest Gilgamesh

>> No.729472

Compile a comprehensive list of all the must-read texts/books/authors instead. Or was it done already?
All I see are toplists with 20/50/100 titles which leave a lot out.
Those lists can only consist in personal favorites due to their scope which is why compiling in order to name them "everyone should read" is pointless in the first place.

>> No.729475

>>729454

Gilgamesh is western literature.

>> No.729513

>>729475
since when is Iraq part of western civilization?

>> No.729529

>>729450
The Art of War
The Bhagavad Gita
Norweigan Wood / Kafka on the Shore

>> No.729531

>>729529
Tao Te Ching

>> No.730090

bump.

>> No.730105

The Brothers Karamazov

because it's good for the soul

>> No.730113

I would say... Archipelago of Gulag... that is 3 very big books...


then...Spark of Life from Remarque
Then maybe some Sherlock Holmes?
Alcemist from Coelho


And Master&Margaret.

>> No.730120

>>729393

Thus Spoke Zarathustra- influence on modern western culture, depth of book and useful wisdom

Ulysses- I just think it'd be a good book for everyone to read, breadth of influence and good plot/conflict

Catch-22- Honestly just an awesome book, I love the main character and a huge post-modern hit

...I don't really know what else to recommend that I've read

The Stranger, maybe- perspective changing book for the reader, kicks literary ass

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or The Picture of Dorian Gray- for a coming of age novel, they're also just great books I think

>> No.730128
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730128

>>because of the story itself or because of the influence it's had on literature or any other criteria

You can make some excellent quality lists from these criteria that would be very very different from one another.

>> No.730131

1984
the plague
the metamorphosis

nothing else comes to mind

>> No.730133

ask oprah

>> No.730139

The Brothers Karamazov- Arguably the best novel ever written, beautiful and piercing insight into the human condition.

Ulysses- Arguably the best English language novel ever written, and a great capstone to modernist literature.

Collected Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges- Huge influence on 20th century fiction and beyond. A titan of imagination.

The Tao Te Ching- For it's historical and spiritual significance.

Hamlet- The magnum opus of one of history's greatest writers. It's influence on modern literature has been huge.

>> No.730165

if this thread gets anywhere i'll make a /lit/ reading list like they have on /mu/

>> No.730172

crime and punishment
the lord of the rings
the odyssey
hamlet

since people are saying nietzche i'm going to add the critique of pure reason.

>> No.730208

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

>> No.730217

as the greatest adventure book ever try

The Count of Monte Cristo

just finished it again for like the 8th time

>> No.730222
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730222

>>730165

Don't trust these fuckers, go form a decent opinion on your own.

>> No.730225

Crime and Punishment
Candide
For whom the Bell Tolls

>> No.730229

>>729393

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash

>> No.730230

The Metamorphosis
The Death of Ivan Ilych

>> No.730242

>>730222

It has to be a collective list though...

Also that book was fucking difficult to read. Had to look up shit on wikipedia every 2 seconds.

>> No.730246

1984 by George Orwell
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

All are worthy of a read (even The Fountainhead, by /lit/'s troll).

>> No.730248

>>730242
But you're so much smarter now.

>> No.730256

#1: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

>> No.730260

Here's a quickly put together List.

1. The Bible
2. The Tale of Genji
3. Collected works of Shakespeare
4. The Brothers Karamazov
5. The Divine Comedy
6. The Illiad/The Odessy
7, Gravity's Rainbow
8. The Trial
9.The Golden Notebook
10.Les Miserables
11.Ulysses
12.The Wasteland
13.Paradise Lost
14.Waiting for Godot
15.Either a. Great Expectations b. Oliver Twist c. Tale of Two Cities or d. Bleak House
16. The Sound and the Fury
17. Gonna second Candide
18. The Old Man and the Sea
19. Things Fall Apart or The Famished Road for African-lit
20. Infinite Jest


This list is more accurately called, things that everyone should read and are also located on my bookshelf currently, since there are hundreds of other books that people should read..

>> No.730292

bamph

>> No.730295

Shoplifting from American Apparel

>> No.730324

>>730260
This list is almost perfect, it's only missing Goethe's Faust.

>> No.730342

>>730260
Needs more Don Quixote. Swann's Way should probably be in there, too.

>> No.730366
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730366

>>730260

Just replace The Trial with a book of Kafka's short stories.

>> No.730401

Lolita
V. - easier than Gravity's Rainbow and still quite good
Blood Meridian
1984
Heart of Darkness - this one absolutely positively has to be on the list

>> No.730405

>>730295
fuck off tao lin

>> No.730414

>>730366
fail

>> No.730426

1984
Do androids dream of electric sheep
Lord of the rings
Oryx and Crake

>> No.730436

>>730414


His short fiction is actually really good, but I probably wouldn't put it as the required reading representation of him - but y'know, diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

>> No.730438

1984
Journey to the End of the Night
Slaughterhouse 5
The Lord of the Rings
The Divine Comedy

>> No.730442

The Bible
The Tao Te Ching
The Sound and the Fury
The Quran
Atlas Shrugged

>> No.730445

Native Son (Urban realism racism; not just PITY THE BLACKS WHITES SUCK like most racism texts)
Zen & the Art of Motorcylcle Maintenance (this philosophical shit blows your mind)
Little Prince (Inner child connection)
Tale of Two Cities (Awesome romance)
Ender's Game (Sci-fi coming of age win)
Night (My personal favorite holocaust-themed book)
The Watchmen (Graphic novel staple)

>> No.730458

in order:

Catch-22
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Ulysses
Gravity's Rainbow

I guess this is mostly just for Westerners, or even just for Americans, because it should show you why you have your head so far up your ass.

>> No.730532

The Day of the Triffids
The Fountainhead
The Last Hero
The Diamond Age
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

>> No.730536

>>730445
THE Watchmen?
I'm pretty sure the title is just 'Watchmen'

>> No.730542

Sometimes a Great Notion
The Green House
Hopscotch (Rayuela)
The Catcher In The Rye
In Dreams Begin Responsabilities.
Breakfast For Champions.
Trainspotting.
On The Road.
The Castle.
Crime and Punishment.

>> No.730548

Snow Crash

It basically predicted social networking and the internet and its fantastic cyberpunk story, way better than neuromancer.

>> No.730651

>>730548

Neuromancer definitely needs to be on this list.

>> No.730654

>>730651
no..it doesn't.
neither does any shitty "cyberpunk" novel.

>> No.730658

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Brave New World
V for Vendetta
House of Leaves
Fight Club

inb4 hipster

>> No.730662
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730662

>>730658
hipster

>> No.730663

>>729450
>implying 4chan isn't an English/Western website you pretentious fuck

>> No.730672

>>730658

I agree with all of these, except V for Vendetta.

It's a pretty comic book, and not much more.

>> No.730674

Wuthering Heights

>> No.730681

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and series, if possible)

Everybody should read at least one novel that is excruciatingly long, such as over a few hundred pages. As to which one, it may vary depending on tastes.

>> No.730690

>>730672

really? I thought the story and writing was fantastic. (SPOILERS: "The news of my death was...exaggerated"? absolutely ingenious lines. /SPOILERS)

Fine, replace it with Watchmen. Watchmen is more abstract and confusing, qualities /lit/ classic-lovers drool over.

>> No.730692

>>730690
why do you people insist that comic books are literature

are you just trolling or what

>> No.730695

>>730692

time 100 best novels argument etc blahblahblah

>> No.730697

Atlas Shrugged
The Demon-Haunted World
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Slaughterhouse-5
A Clockwork Orange

>> No.730698

>>730692

Stagolee: accusing other people of trolling.

HA HA OH WOW.jpg.

>> No.730701

>>730690

y...you know where that line comes from, right?

>> No.730702
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730702

>>730692

>uses "comic books" as an ad homenim
>calls someone else a troll

>> No.730704

>>730701

Of course, I'm saying the way in which it was used blew me away.

>> No.730722

>>730702
i don't think you know what "ad homInEm" actually means.

>> No.730746

>>730722

hm, I thought I googled it and pasted the right spelling. anyway, it "is an attempt to persuade which links the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise."

The use of "comic books" in context rather than "graphic novels" or some other better descriptor implies that "comic books" are just rags, have no value beyond entertainment for children. My premise is (apparently) that graphic novels can be literature, and this guy is linking the apparent trashy nature of "comic books" to try to say I'm an idiot. Or something.

Either way, it's subtle name-calling, aka trolling

>> No.730763

>>730746
anyone who thinks "graphic novels" are literature is an idiot. there. now throw another latin phrase at me, please.

>> No.730765

>>730746
a third guy interfering here, while you are right with the classical meaning of ad hominem, in modern use it's usually considered an attack to the man.

>> No.730769

>>730746
I'd rather have them called 'comic books' than 'graphic novels', which is pretty much just a pretentious term.

>> No.730773

Well, that's disappointing. This thread started out pretty well, only to be drowned in pop lit and silliness.

Don't ever change, /lit/.

>> No.730777

>Either way, it's subtle name-calling, aka trolling

Could've just said that.

And really, /lit/ is a slow board, everyone knows(Or at least should) that Stagolee is just another troll.

>> No.730791

>>730777
even if you guys think i'm a troll you know that i'm right. comic books are not literature and they never will be. so take "the sandman" and "watchmen" and "v for vendetta" back to /co/.

>> No.730845

Catch 22- It is good in every aspect, thought provoking, and entertaining.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (how could you guys forget this)- It is a classic, gives a message about racism, morality, and society without the dullness of To Kill a Mockingbird

1984- Again a classic with a message about society

>> No.731171

Right, bumping before I go to sleep so hopefully this will be alive tomorrow morning for more.

>> No.731181

>>730845
>implying huck finn is not dull

seriously if you hipsters want a message about racism then read invisible man by ralph ellison. i've mentioned this book in other threads and most people seem to ignore it. and the message is more significant than huck finn or to kill a mockingbird.

>> No.731200

>>731181

Have to agree with this. I only read the first half of Huckleberry Finn and it was pretty much like the Tom Bombadil part in the Lord of the Ring. nothing happened.

>> No.731235

Death in Venice
Heart of Darkness
A Clockwork Orange
1984
Iliad
Odyssey
Aeneid
Metamorphoses
Gilgamesh
Paradise Lost
The Cherry Orchard
Catch 22
Lolita
Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Watchmen
Caesar's Conquest of Gaul
Plutarch's Lives
Ulysses
Moby Dick

>> No.731242

>>731235
Beowulf
Pride and Prejudice
The Three Musketeers

>> No.731243

I, for one, propose that there should be no such thing as required reading. If everyone is obligated to read the classics, our favorites, they will become cheap: as money, when printed in excessive quantity, becomes only less and less valuable.

It is better to allow people to pursue their own interest in whatever books they wish to read. This way, we do not simply churn out human beings who have all been taught the same lessons of Alyosha, Humbert Humbert, etc. As Aristotle said, plurality is both natural and good.

>> No.731251

>>731243
The only problem being that plurality doesn't tend towards people reading a different set of classics, but to people reading endless fantasy novels and the latest pop stuff.

Sure, there are lots of different kinds of maths, but we don't object to teaching arithmetic first.

>> No.731257

>>731243

>If everyone is obligated to read the classics, our favorites, they will become cheap: as money, when printed in excessive quantity, becomes only less and less valuable.

This is just silly, hipster logic. Lots of people doing an activity doesn't make it any less valuable and there is something wrong with the way you think if your concept of value has for its main referent money.

>> No.731258

>>731251
>implying the classics should be read by all and that fantasy is utterly worthless

If people don't want to read the classics, why should we force them to? If they want to read fantasy, who are we to say this is somehow inferior to reading the classics? Different strokes...

>> No.731270

>>731257
Um, if everyone is forced to read the same books, then, yes, reading those books will be less valuable. Reading Crime and Punishment isn;t going to be nearly as enjoyable if I'm being forced to do so and knowing every other person is doing the same. By the way, just attaching the word hipster to my idea doesn't somehow make your idea instantly superior to mine

>> No.731271

>>729393
Jesus you read my mind. I was just reading some kids facebook status and he was talkinga bout reading books. So i wanted to read some books. So i can to /lit/. So lets see this list nagas.

>> No.731273

the odyssey
to kill a mockingbird
zombie survival guide
tao te ching
the little prince

>> No.731276

>>731257
>there is something wrong with the way you think

>implying there are definite 'right' and 'wrong' ways of thinking about value.

>> No.731283

>>731243

I, for one, haven't done an awful lot of reading since high school. I am just starting to get back into it and I think this is a good idea.

I mean, where do you start if you want to get into reading? With films, you go to the movies and watch whatever' on, but I don't want to go to a book store and buy something in the commercial section because I know there are better 'classics' out there that I never read. And these classics are more likely to make me want to read more.

So those of you saying this isn't a good idea, think of it this way, what woud you recommend someone who has never read a book in his life?

>> No.731289

if everybody was reading dostoevsky then the world would be a lot smarter.

>> No.731296

>>731283

>what woud you recommend someone who has never read a book in his life?

Good way to phrase the question. Yes there's no such thing as essential, but most people recommend a certain book, and that recommendation will be subjective, then I might consider it essential because by not reading it I'm missing out.

>> No.731298

>>731289
No, we'd just have a lot more stupid opinions on Dostoevsky's work.

>> No.731303

>>731270

>Something is done by many people.
>Therefore it is less valuable.

I'm not "attaching" the word hipster to you. It perfectly describes this logic. In all the various usages people make of hipster, the central negative quality attributed is that of unreasoning devaluation of things many people do just because many people do them. The fact that you enjoy things less because other people are doing them is both ridiculous and a little sad. Do you enjoy sex less because everyone (or most everyone) does it? Is breathing less "valuable"? Is The Adolescent a more valuable reading experience because Crime and Punishment is so much more widely known?

>>731276

There are. Money is no way to think about value, especially when you're talking about reading a book.

>> No.731304

>>731289
No. Reading Dostoyevsky can't make you smart. There are those of us who can grasp at what Dostoyevsky is getting at in his writing, and there are those of us who cannot. What benefit can possibly be gained by forcing such incompetents to read what they will get nothing out of? This is why forcing people to read the classics is a dumb idea (unless your goal is to seperate the morons from the intelligent?)

>> No.731313

>>731303

Hipsters are asexual, don't you know?

>> No.731322

1984
Tao te Ching
Plato's Apology
Count of Monte Cristo
Hamlet

>> No.731327

>>731303
You make a fantastic error in your logic for someone who insults my own:
Your mistake is that you assume my association of diminished value with widespread obligatory readings stems from my wanting to be special or unique by having read something relatively unpopular. here you make a false presumption. The reason I think this is a bad idea overall is because it actually decreases the value of the literature for EVERYONE, not because it takes away my special-uniqueness and individuality (derp) because I'm the only one who has read Crime and Punishment.

>> No.731336

I'd like to add:

>The Divine Comedy
>The Beach
>The 9th Wife
>The Waves

Wait.

Oh it's OK this isn't /mu/, books can start with "the" and still be good.

>The Virgin Suicides (srs)

>> No.731351

>>731336
>implying the beatles, the doors, the animals, the beach boys, the who, the traveling wilburies, the collectors,......... aren't good

oh you

>> No.731355

>>731351

Don't forget The Led Zeppelin

>> No.731361

American Gods
Y: The Last Man
Death in Venice
Moby Dick
No Exit

>> No.731363

>>731355
lawl

>> No.731364

>>731327

Everyone must have a special and unique reading experience includes within it that "I" must have a special and unique reading experience. It's hipster altruism.

>decreases the value of the literature for EVERYONE

>Do you enjoy sex less because everyone (or most everyone) does it? Is breathing less "valuable"? Is The Adolescent a more valuable reading experience because Crime and Punishment is so much more widely known?

>> No.731366

>>731243
jesus christ you're a pretentious fuck

>> No.731373

1984

>> No.731384

Tale of Genji
Beowulf
Ulysses
Gravity's Rainbow
Naked Lunch

>> No.731387

>>731364
>hipster altruism
Jesus Christ. I know the thought of successfully labelling someone as a hipster has you jizzing your pants, but just hold on for one moment. Yes, "I" am included in everyone. So this means that anything I prescribe for everyone must be a selfish, individualistic ("hipster")-related desire?
Really man, get your head examined.

>> No.731391

>>731387

It is, though. All you care about is that people not do the same thing. The word perfectly describes your system of values, where obscurity and value are directly related.


>Do you enjoy sex less because everyone (or most everyone) does it? Is breathing less "valuable"? Is The Adolescent a more valuable reading experience because Crime and Punishment is so much more widely known?

>> No.731392

>>729423
>implying the point of lolita is to "make people more rational and emphathetic to those that aren't normal"
what. are you saying you emphathized with humbert? nigga, you got trolled by a supremely unreliable narrator

>> No.731399

Trout Fishing in America
White Noise
Pale Fire
Ficciones
The Crying of Lot 49

>> No.731413

>>731391
Wrong: there is a difference between equating obscurity with value and recognizing that total and utter uniformity is an impoverishment. A society where everyone is forced to read the exact same books is going to be shit, pure and simple. This does not mean that I find sex boring simply because it is common, nor does it mean that I would prefer the Adolescent over C&P simply due to its relative obscurity. It only means that I value plurality and would rather live in a society where a plurailty of ideas is encouraged rather than stifled. Call it "hipsterism" if you wish, it really doesn't mean shit to me. But if you see my point after all this then I fucking give up.

>> No.731417

The Sirens of Titan.

>> No.731419

V
Notes From the Underground
100 years of Solitude
A Clockwork Orange
Faust

>> No.731423

>>731392

It puts you in the mind of a paedophile, which is enough to make people at least think that what if you were attracted to children? What have you done that's immoral? You almost feel sorry for people that have been cursed with this disease.

>> No.731425

>>731413

> total and utter uniformity
>people having 20 books in common

Somehow I am having trouble reconciling these two things.

>> No.731426

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. LeGuin

>> No.731430

>>731392
actually, the point was indeed to empathize with Humbert, at least a bit. If you went through that entire book without ever feeling some empathy for Humbert, then you failed to grasp the whole point of what Nabakov was aiming for. You thought he wrote that whole novel simply to show how disgusting pedophiles are? You are stupid. It is you, and not us, who have been trolled. The so-called unreliability of the narrator is only in the eye of the beholder.

>> No.731434

>>731430
>You thought he wrote that whole novel simply to show how disgusting pedophiles are?

Yeah, we're not talking about Bret Easton Ellis here.

>> No.731436

>>731425
so, then, your only disagreement is with the degree of uniformity? ok, then at least we are making progress here. As far as the literature goes, yes, there will be total and utter unifromity between all people as regards those 20 books.

>> No.731456

>>731436

Common cultural referents aren't an impoverishment, they're an enrichment. There's a reason people so often resort to using literature to illustrate concepts in non-fiction: they're mutually understandable.

One can and should read more than 20 books in any case.

>> No.731471
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731471

>>731430

>actually, the point was indeed to empathize with Humbert, at least a bit. If you went through that entire book without ever feeling some empathy for Humbert, then you failed to grasp the whole point of what Nabakov was aiming for.

>> No.731476

If you want 'influential' and 'timeless' texts, they're easy to identify. Here's some:

The Odyssey - Homer
The Art of War - Sun Tzu
Metamorphoses - Ovid
The Prince - Machiavelli
The Canterbury Tales - Chaucer

>> No.731481

>>731456
>One can and should read more than 20 books in any case
agreed. but why should we limit people/ force them in any certain direction in terms of what those books should be?

>> No.731497

lolita, lotr, what everyone else said

>> No.731500

>>731471
I must congratualte you on your uncanny ability to prove nothing. Certainly Humbert is cruel, and wants to appear to be touching. These facts do not mean that the reader must avoid feelings of empathy for him. Sure he is cruel, and indeed a fraud as well. But he cannot help that he really loved Lolita.

>> No.731519

>>731481

Some books form the basis of our culture, are referenced, reinterpreted and reworked almost every day, a basic grounding in them is useful for everyone.

>> No.731524

>>731500
this this this. it's my favorite book. even though he's ~gross~ and unnatural and whatever, you empathize because he's not just raping bitches. he truly loves her. he's human, he fucks up, etc etc. if he wasn't in the book to empathize with, what the fuck would the book be about?

>> No.731525

>>731500

There is an enormous gulf between "must avoid feelings of empathy" and those feelings being "the point".

>> No.731535

>>731430
"You thought he wrote that whole novel simply to show how disgusting pedophiles are?"
>implying I said that
no, but seriously now. I don't think the point of the book was to either decry or empathize with pedophiles; in the afterword, nabokov says he "detests symbols", so I think it would be fair to say that he would be against simplistic "morals" or lessons like 'PEDOS ARE BAD OK GUYS'. if anything, the moral is to be careful with people who are funny, clever, charming, and yet monstrous, like humbert. you can say the "unreliabilty" is up to each reader to decide, but mostly it makes me think you didn't read the book carefully, or you've only read it once. early on in the book, for example, he mentions offhand that he suffered a nervous breakdown and was place in a mental institution. obviously i can't list every example of his unreliability, but there are plenty of times he is really emphatic about things, and it's hinted that something else is going on. humbert is the oft-cited example of an unreliable narrator, so you can interpret him as being trustworthy if you really want, but you're definitely in the minority.

>> No.731548

>>731535
me again. one example of this, I think, are humbert's claims about how attractive he is. he goes out of his way, early in the book, to try to be humble about it, but to say that he's really hot and women all throw themselves at him. he probably goes over it again with lolita's mother, and he also mentions how he looks like a pin-up poster on lolita's wall, and I'm pretty sure he mentions her finding him handsome at some point. the point of all this, imo at least: an attempt to deflect blame. he wants the reader to think that he's so attractive, lolita was as unable to resist as he was, and so him having sex with her is more mutual and less of a rape. whether he IS this attractive comes down to how much you believe what he has to say.

>> No.731550

>>731535

What do you mean an unreliable narrator?

Also this book doesn't have a message/moral/purpose, Nobovok had nothing to say about paedophilia and he distances himself from the character in many ways, so it definitely was nothing personal.

>> No.731592

Talking of unreliable narrators, Money by Martin Amis.

>> No.731605

>>731550
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreliable_narrator

wikipedia sums it up well but basically, a story where, through hints or facts about the narrator or whatever, the reader is lead to question the accuracy of the story. I didn't get into much depth about humber'ts unreliabitly, but it's pretty much the standard interpretation of the character.

and yeah I agree, he definitely distances himself from humbert, plus I've read that at times he was disgusted/felt he couldn't finish the book, but he had this strong urge to get the story out of him and finished.

>> No.731896
File: 59 KB, 557x639, reaction1.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
731896

>>730260


>comes back 12 hours after posting this

>still has the most comprehensive list

>my face

>> No.731929

the sun also rises
1984
catcher in the rye
the stranger
huckleberry finn

>> No.731965

atlas shrugged
rant
strager in a strange land

>> No.732098

>>731270
>>731304
>>731413
Making a list is not forcing. It's pretty fucking hipster to want to keep your favorite things secret. I hate when they do that shit with music. I'm seconding The Master And Margarita because it's great and every time I go into a book store I buy a copy and end up giving it away when I'm done informing an employee that they carry censored editions that are not marked as such and people went to gulags for this book etc etc. Burgin translation and art evangelism FTW.

>> No.732134

>>732098
Please procede and recommend books that are so good they'll make me baw even harder when I hear this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r27SIo1bM7g

>> No.732293

[1] Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
[2] Light in August by William Faulkner
[3] Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
[4] Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
[5] The Stranger by Albert Camus

>> No.733218

Final bump, autosage soon anyway, I think.

Thanks everyone.

>> No.733227

>>732134

That is amazing. Thank you, just spotifying their entire discography.

>> No.733235

Anyone recommending Catch-22 can just fuck right off. Also, whats with all the fiction bullshit? Can non-fiction not be must reads?

>> No.733240

>>733235

Such as? Most non-fiction I can think of that I consider important are economic books, "true to life" things, but that's only if you're considering usefullness (or is it utility? lol) as a criteria.

If I were doing this for films I'd say the Godfather, even though it won't teach you anything...

>> No.733246
File: 63 KB, 408x597, 1272440391980.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
733246

To find something simliar do I just search for a single breasted, silver, dinner jacket with a ticket pocket?

>> No.733248

>>733246
woops

>> No.733251

>>733246

And some oliver people's glasses.

>> No.733624

I'm putting in One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde and Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence

>> No.733647

The Invisible Man- both the Ellison book and the Wells book
20,000 leagues under the sea
Frankenstein
Dracula

>> No.733672

>>733647


These are good books, but far from being required reading. Actually, they're the archetypal faux-classics.

>> No.733675

Oh I totally agree to the invisible man and Dracula. Also: on the road

>> No.733721

>>731270
Actually it makes the book more valuable if more people read it. If so many people read it, it gains cultural important and becomes more important to understanding that society. &Since when is recommending good literature "forcing" anyone to read, anyway? Youuuu're pretty fucking hipster.

>> No.734704

No Jane Eyre?
One mentioned of Wuthering Heights?

>> No.734712

Daniel Quin Ishmael is also missing.

>> No.734751

SO WHERE'S THAT LIST HUH

>> No.734753

The Bible-- so everyone sees how disgusting it is
The God Delusion-- just in case no one got it the first time

Other than that I don't care.

>> No.736008

>>734751

Making it nao.

>> No.736019

bad title, but a good, relaxed story: the inheritance of loss.
also, I want to marry her someday

>> No.736110

Farenhiet 451
Naked Lunch

Scratch that, just Naked Lunch 20 times over.

>> No.736114

I would divide it something like:

6 philosophy texts

3 history texts

3 poem anthologies

3 plays

5 works of fiction

As for the actual titles, possibilities are endless.

>> No.736124

Can't believe nobody has said these yet:

American Psycho
The Silence of the Lambs
The Green Mile
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Non-fiction:

A brief history of time
The demon haunted world

+1 for the bell jar.

>> No.736135

>>736124

Btw the reason I said the demon haunted world is because today, too many people are scientifically illiterate, and this book is aimed at these people. As a science student it was very basic and nothing new to me, but everyone I've recommend it to said it changed their life.

This threads needs more Sagan too.

>> No.736153

List needs less bible moar siddhartha

>> No.736159

>No Great Gatsby
>myface.jpg

>> No.736163

>>736135
fuck yeah

As an english major with an interest in physics/biology it pains me to listen to the willful ignorance of others on such simple topics.

>> No.736172

>>736135
african genesis -ardrey
we have to combat the crazy christian right who want to bring the education back to the lofty heights of the fifteenth century