I have decided to take up literature as a serious hobby. What is a list of books that everyone should read? History, fiction, poetry, anything really. I want to expand my knowledge in the subject and I need help as to where I should start.
Phew...man, what an Odyssey you've decided to embark on. You could well start with...Odyssey No, really, I think it doesn't matter from what end you start. But classic literature or modern classics is a nice start. I really liked The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. It's a book everyone should read. Oh, now taht we're talking about it: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/05/14/100-must-read-books-the-essential-mans-library/ You can find many more lists, some of the books repeat, some are different picks.
Yeah, I did have the Great Gatsby in mind, as well as Of Mice and Men since they're readily available in a library near me. I was wondering if there is a history equivalent of Gray's Anatomy, A book that goes into great detail about major historical events, but also some of the lesser known.
Though it's an honorable idea, I wouldn't go into much detail about much of the history because it will beat the hack out of you. Start easy. Guess what I did - I purchased Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism, a book that covers "just" the second world war and the pre-war antisemitic smovement. I haven't finished it yet. Although it's interesting at times, it's mostly boring. These history books are great if you want to read something factual for a change but you can't hold on them for too long. So if you're considering a grey's anatomi-ish history book, drop it. Read some prose on history. The pool of literature is as immense as the sea. Come to think of it, you may even wikipedia some of the major historical events. Even that will blow your head off. For instance, of late I've found interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I even found a book with maps describing the modern-day conflicts, their roots and consequences. Very interesting book, I'm planning to go through it one I have the chance to get holed up in the uni library.
It probably depends on your goals for writing. If so, you should share what kind of work you'd like to do. But if you want to know the landmarks through literature's history, there's lists published by Time and the American Library Association about all time favourites, or you could look up the syllabus for an undergrad course like Major British Writers.
They aren't that hard once you get started. I'd say a good start would be one translation of: The Theogony Homer's Iliad and Odyssey Theocritus Sappho Aeschylus Sophocles Aristophanes Plato Aristotle And the Romans: Virgil Catullus Horace Lucretius Ovid Then make sure you get though Dante and Petrarch, and you should have for yourself a solid base in some of the best writing humanity can offer you.
Good! That's a very good book. Well worth the Nobel it won the author. I put that in with Catch 22 as books that are both populist and fantastic as works of literary art.
I'm a fan of the book so far, although I haven't felt like reading the last two days so it's on hiatus. I also have a few books on my bookshelf that need another read-through.
Don't forget poetry too. I mean, the English language boasts any fine poets too. You have the likes of Percy Shelley, John Keats, Robert Burns, William Blake, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, A.L. Tennyson, E.A Housman, T.S. Eliot, HD, Elizabeth Bishop, W.H. Auden, Philip Larken, Seamus Heaney, Emily Dickenson - god, far too many to name. Most of those can be read simply, in a non-poetic mindset and still be great enjoyed.
I know it's a cliche, but I read the Raven the other day. I liked it. Walt Whitman I know off (because I watched Breaking Bad ). The rest don't ring a bell.
Yeah, but the fact the bird is a psychopomp, sitting on a burst of Pallas Athene, I get it, I know what it's saying, but why is the narrator being tormented as he reads his ancient lore as his only stock and store against the misery of remembering Lenore?
Never read them, but I was being sarcastic, anyway. Lemex, go and read my workshop post and rip it to pieces. You're an English teacher -- it's your duty!
