36 Mandatory Books-Recommendations

[Bodhisattva]

Here are some i've enjoyed

Fathers and Sons- Turgenev
The Master and Margarita- Bulgakov
Despair- Nabakov
Macbeth
Shogun, King Rat - Clavell
White Noise- DeLillo
Hemingways short stories

[Bodhisattva]

Also Vonnegut's books are fun reads. Most will recommend Five, but i'll go ahead and say i enjoyed Cat's Cradle and The Sirens of Titan more.

[Dominic]

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This is a nice start....also, I'd start reading some more popular, "easier to read" authors like Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, William Gibson, etc. While some might not considered them "high literature," they are often great books and a lot of fun to read.

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I actually consider Elmore Leonard to be good literature that transcends normal genre writing--I think in 50 years he'll be recognized as one of the best modern writers--just IMO.

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Oh, I agree...I just think the OP might be thinking that "literature" has to be Moby Dick, Atlas Shrugged and all these so-called "classics," but writers like Leonard or many science fiction authors are just a valuable.

[bobman0330]

lol @ 36 books a year.

[lastchance]

1984 by George Orwell.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

[cbloom]

Tropic of Cancer- Miller
Naked Lunch - Burroughs
On the Road - Kerouac
Ada - Nabokov (Lolita is okay too)
The Trial - Kafka
The Stranger - Camus

[cliff]

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master and margarita

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excellent call!

I would add

"The Stranger"
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
"Crime and Punishment"
"Catch 22"
"The Sun Also Rises"
"Heart of Darkness"

[Sigurd]

Douglas Adams: "Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy"

This isn't "high litterature", however, A LOT of people have read it, and there occationally are references to it in books/articles.
If you like Monty Python, you should read it, if not for anything else, then to get some decent entertainment between reading all the "great works".

George Orwell: "Animal Farm"
George Orwell: "1984"

If you only want to read one Orwell book, I think you should go for Animal Farm. It isn't as well known as 1984, but it is much shorter, and a much easier read than 1984.

"A Brave New World"

Don't read this first. There are Shakespear quotes, and some parts of it is pretty complicated.

[mmbt0ne]

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the great gatspy
red badge of honor

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Do you actually read?

[keith123]

some good ones named...not much of a reader myself, but..

a clockwork orange