Must Read

[Scout11]

I don't know if this has been done, but if you were to make a list of books that everyone should read before they die -- what would you put on it?

To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone With the Wind, Pride and Predjudice and The Five People You Meet in Heaven would top mine...but there's many more I'm too lazy to list right now.

Basically I'm looking for more books to read -- one's that are real classics...but good classics.

 

[novella]

Hey there. What do you think of Running with Scissors?

 

[AlexXcore]

Is that a novel or an idea? haha

 

[novella]

Guess you don't read that much. Replying to your other thread, maybe you would like About the AUthor by John Colapinto.

 

[Scout11]

Hey there. What do you think of Running with Scissors?

It's a little strange, but I actually really like it. It's very interesting and amazing that it is actually a true story.

 

[Anamnesis]

Heh, Running With Scissors would probably have been one of my selections. It's probably one of the funniest books I've ever read. Anyway, some of my selections would be

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Eh, you know what? I think Running With Scissors would probably be on the list.

 

[novella]

It's a little strange, but I actually really like it. It's very interesting and amazing that it is actually a true story.

I read it, too, and liked it. My review is on this site somewhere. But there is some debate as to how true it is. For instance, the family that Burroughs lived with is suing him for various defamations. Plus Burroughs himself admits to taking some poetic license, I think.

I don't really believe in Must Read lists, as there are different purposes to reading. Must Read to what purpose? Education? Enjoyment? Cultural literacy?

I usually make recommendations based on a person's interests and aspirations. Like I've recently recommended to my son, who reads constantly, some Tom Wolfe books (The Right Stuff and Radical Chic), just because he's at the age where I think he'll 'get' them. He's grown out of his Ludlum phase and has read all the Maigrets, Rumpoles, Hardy boys, LeCarres, Martin Cruz Smiths, etc. and is ready for something different. He recently got into Rutherford (London and Sarum earlier this year). I would hate for his choices to be restricted by some bogus notion of 'educational' reading.

BTW, I think The Alienist is a good read, but completely lacking in period authenticity. It sort of felt to me like a costume drama with chronological confusion.