Bug's guide to essential novels.

[Bugman]

I'll start with these ten, in no particular order. This is of course completely subjective so post yours here. The subject matter is not important. We like what we like.

Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain.

For Whom the Bell Tolls. Ernest Hemingway.

To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee.

A Tale of Two Cities. Charles Dickens.

2001: A Space Odyssey. Arthur C. Clarke.

Animal Farm. George Orwell.

War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy.

Catch-22. Joseph Heller.

The Drifters. James Michener.

The Red Badge of Courage. Stephen Crane.

 

[desdemona]

You know, I read a lot of classics throughout high school and college. I've only read two on your list - To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn. To Kill a Mockingbird is a fave 🙂

Other classics in my book:

The Stranger - Albert Camus

The Odyssey - Homer

The Little Prince - St. Exupery

The Telltale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

 

[Bugman]

You know, I read a lot of classics throughout high school and college. I've only read two on your list - To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn. To Kill a Mockingbird is a fave 🙂

Other classics in my book:

The Stranger - Albert Camus

The Odyssey - Homer

The Little Prince - St. Exupery

The Telltale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

I've read The Telltale Heart, Moby Dick and parts of The Odyssey.

War and Peace can be a difficult read, not because you have to be all that smart to read and understand it, but because of its length. Depending on the edition it runs 1,125 to 1,475 pages. My intrest in Russian and military history helped get me through it but I'll never try to read it again.

 

[Bothersome]

Aw, come on!

How can you have a must-read without Lord of the Rings? 😀

 

[stroker]

Heres a few to add to the mix.

Centennial - James Michener

The thin red line - James Jones

Cry the beloved country - Alan Paton

The Choirboys - Joseph Wambaugh

Bonfire of the vanities - Tom Wolfe

Dune - Frank Herbert

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson

Lord of the flies - William Golding

On the beach - Nevil Shute

On the road - Jack Kerouac

 

[MatrinZachs]

All I can bring to the list are

Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein (Please never mention the movie in my presence. I get physically ill.)

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Dragon Lance - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Everything else I have read you could do without.

 

[Kittycupcake]

I definitely agree with a lot of those, but have to add on a few of my own!

Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
Emma - Jane Austen
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons - Bill Watterson
Also Chuck Palahniuks social commentary is phenomenal and makes me wish I was smarter. John Irvings books are brilliantly written, plus I love that he never leaves you wondering what becomes of a character.

 

[Whoviantrekkie]

Some of my favorite novels that I haven't seen on here yet:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson

Henry V, Hamlet, & Othello by William Shakespeare

Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

 

[Whoviantrekkie]

Also one that I just read and is a bit out there but just as important:

Savushun by Simin Daneshvar

A really wonderful best selling classic from Iran that really gives you a new prospective on the country and the region. Takes place during the British occupation of Iran. If you can find the English translation its a must read!

*Also Chapter 14 has a Very brief F/F pedicure tickle scene, just in case you needed a little more enticing*

 

[milagros317]

1984 by George Orwell

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

 

[GarnettRose]

I am definitely of the opinion that hyperfixating on classics can cause one to miss out on centuries of enjoyable reading. That being said, here are a few of my faves.
Frankenstein. Mary Shelley
Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen
Inferno. Dante Alighieri (I read this one annually lol)
Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury
War Music. Christopher Logue (An interesting poetic reduction of the Illiad)
Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe (An beautiful/painful exploration of colonialism over the course of three Nigerian generations.)