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What book should everyone read?

"In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust. Of course, it's voluminous, so unbelievable voluminous :eek: , but it is worth to read every page.
It's not so "shocking" like Dostoyevsky, but it points out the innermost part of everyone's soul in the same excellent way. Everyone knows these feelings, but the genius Proust has found the right words to describe them.
I've started reading it once again.

Greetings
 
The Burn Journals by Brent Runyan.

It's a memoir written by a guy who tried to kill himself when he was 14 by dousing himself in gasoline and lighting himself on fire. Very good book.
 
I really like Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series and I think it would be a great place to start for anyone getting into fantasy. They're relatively short and just beautifully written. I actually didn't read them until I was already a fantasy nut, but I wish I had read them earlier.
 
Not sure whether everyone should read the same thing but a couple of writers blow me away.
Anything by Elfriede Jelinek is fantastic. The Piano Teacher was her most well known book but I prefer Women As Lovers, Wonderful Wonderful Times and Lust. Her narrative style / use of language and rhythm doesn't stringently adhere to Anglo-American writing conventions (Jelinek is Austrian) and she's not afraid to be visceral or explicit. Great writer. Well deserving of the Nobel.
A book that totally blew me away was Lolita by Nabokov. I know people find this one a bit controversial, but the guy has such a gift with language. It's probably one of the best books I've ever read. The characters were complex and there was actually a lot of humour (albeit dark humour) alongside the seediness. An immensely enjoyable read.

I guess I better not say anything good about Stephen King in case I get roasted. I love his books. Doesn't mean I won't read anything else, but I grew up with his books and still think he can spin a yarn.

Incidentally, my psychiatrist and I both love Stephen King.
 
They are not the BEST books I have ever read, but I have gotten the most enjoyment out of reading "A Series of Unfortunate Events" out of all the books I have read. I am literally sad that I only have one more book left in the series. It is a wonderful, brilliant, whimsical journey of a series, in my opinion. :)
 
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts. It's a work of non-fiction (the author was a journalist) that describes the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic in America and how the government ignored the crisis for so many years. When I read it, I was completely shocked at how the government "decided" that AIDS wasn't important because it was a "gay" disease. It was almost as if they wanted to let all of the people afflicted with AIDS die. But because of their inaction, there are thousands of people who got infected that maybe caould have avoided it.
 
LoeMa said:
"In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust. Of course, it's voluminous, so unbelievable voluminous :eek: , but it is worth to read every page.
Click to expand...

I just recently started a project to read Proust. Have finished Swann's Way and am still not sure how I feel about it. But I keep reading! I'm not afraid of long books either, as I was sorry when Bleak House ended.
 
hahaha everyone knows what I'm gonna say...The Bible and The Lord of the Rings. Really! :D Everyone, EVERYONE should read those.
 
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

lof_edu_edition.jpg
 
I didn't read the entire thread, but I think everyone needs to read the Autobiography of Malcolm X, DaVinci Code, and Harry Potter

yes, I know they're a bit mainstream, but they're necessary
 
The Da Vinci Code is necessary reading? Er, why? The only thing you could ever need it for is propping up a wobbly table.
 
best book

The book that everyone should read... Watership Down. That book was amazing. I spent hours without putting the book. I even went to sleep at 11 in the morning once after staying up all night reading it.
 
Annie Dillard, For the Time Being.

Not only is this book an education in itself, but it's fascinating and beautifully written as well.

God is no more cogitating which among us he plans to be born as bird-headed dwarfs or elephant men--or to kill by AIDS or kidney failure, heart disease, childhood leukemia, or sudden infant death syndrome--than he is pitching lightning bolts at pedestrians, triggering rock slides, or setting fires. The very least unlikely things for which God might be responsible are what insurers call "acts of God".
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AquaBlue said:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

lof_edu_edition.jpg
Click to expand...

An excellent choice! My students absolutely love this book. The discussion questions they do along with it really open the door to a fascinating conversation on the nature of man and whether or not we all really could get along if left in a state of nature.

I would also recommend Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451(as previously mentioned), Brave New World, Atlas Shrugged, The Jungle, The Grapes of Wrath, and I will boldy predict that The Road will join the canon of well-respected books in the future to be included in the classical canon of education.
 
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