Classics that shouldn't be missed...

[debbie in ak]

I am trying to read some of the classics in literature that I missed during my high school years. I went to 3 different high schools in three different states and so my education was kind of choppy. What classics are not to be missed in your opinion? Here is what I have read:

Great Expectations (just finished it for the second time)
Wuthering Heights
Don Quixote
Hamlet
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
Othello
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
Pilgrim's Progress
Tom Sawyer
Huck Finn
Frankenstein
Heart of Darkness
The Scarlet letter (currently reading)

[Stacia]

The Count of Monte Cristo
1984
Fahrenheit 451
A Tale of Two Cities
Dracula
Les Miserable or The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Murder in the Cathedral
The Canterbury Tales
Candide

[Carol S]

Oliver Twist has so many adaptations that I think I'd vote for that. The other one that just popped into my head has just popped out again.

Maybe add in some good short story collections and poetry.

[CINDY LB OH]

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my absolute favorites. You will not be disappointed!

These probably aren't considered "classics" by most people, but the fairy tales by George MacDonald are wonderful. I read a few of them with my dd about 4 years ago (Little Daylight, and The Castle) and always wanted to go back and read them all. I read The Princess and the Goblin a few months ago, and just started the sequel, The Princess and Curdie. I also picked up from the library The Complete Fairy Tales. MacDonald was one who inspired C.S. Lewis.

I am a C.S. Lewis fan, so I consider the Chroncles of Narnia as classics not to be missed. I also like his science fiction series starting with Out of the Silent Planet.

Also adding:
The Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
The Secret Garden
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Wizard of Oz
The Prince and the Pauper
Winnie The Pooh

[Paige P]

This is just a quick answer with what pops into mind that hasn't already been mentioned :)

* I'd read all of Jane Austen b/c I enjoy her :)
* The Oedipus Trilogy (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone)
* Medea
* Their Eyes Were Watching God
* some of Toni Morrison -- Beloved, The Bluest Eye
* The Awakening
* Tess of the D'Ubervilles
some other plays:
* Death of a Salesman
* The Glass Menagerie
* Trifles (very short)
* The Doll's House


Here's a link to works that have shown up on the AP English Lit. Exams. Maybe that'll give you some suggestions, too.
http://www.k12.hi.us/~konawahs/ap_suggested_reading_list.htm

[Angela Rose]

I would suggest
Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales
I didn't particularly like Beowoulf, but I did enjoy reading the Canterbury Tales, although some parts are rather raunchy. I mention these because they are brought up alot in college, etc.

[Michelle B.]

I'd add Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I've found several people discussing this one, bumper stickers, and tshirts that I understood because I read it.

[MicheleNJ]

Ann Voskamp has a Best books for boys (and girls and grown ups) list on her blog (http://www.aholyexperience.com/best-books-list/). Scroll way down the page for the girls/boys selections.

[Rebe]

Other than what's been mentioned:

Three by Agatha Christie, bestselling mystery writer of all time. These three are unique (because of "whodunit").

And Then There Were None
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Murder on the Orient Express

[Judyn]

The house of Seven Gables

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Man in the Iron Mask

The Woman in White...LOVED THIS!

David Copperfield

Dante's Inferno

Everyman

Gilgamesh

Odyssey

Billy Bud Sailor and Moby Dick....HATED both with a passion, but thought I would list them since they are, indeed, considered classics, much to my astonishment.

The Importance of being Earnest

Don Quixote

Romeo and Juliet

A Mid Summer Night's Dream

Little Women

Silas Marner...again...YUCK

Some short stories...

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Lottery

The Monkey's Paw

Bernice Bob's her Hair

A Christmas Memory

The Tale Tale Heart

A Christmas Carol

The Most Dangerous Game

[debbie in ak]

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my absolute favorites. You will not be disappointed!

These probably aren't considered "classics" by most people, but the fairy tales by George MacDonald are wonderful. I read a few of them with my dd about 4 years ago (Little Daylight, and The Castle) and always wanted to go back and read them all. I read The Princess and the Goblin a few months ago, and just started the sequel, The Princess and Curdie. I also picked up from the library The Complete Fairy Tales. MacDonald was one who inspired C.S. Lewis.

I am a C.S. Lewis fan, so I consider the Chroncles of Narnia as classics not to be missed. I also like his science fiction series starting with Out of the Silent Planet.

Also adding:
The Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
The Secret Garden
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Wizard of Oz
The Prince and the Pauper
Winnie The Pooh

Ok, so I am going to need to read The Count of Monte Cristo since a few of you have mentioned it.

I forgot...I have read Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. We are going to be reading The Prince and the Pauper as a read aloud soon.

[debbie in ak]

The house of Seven Gables

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Man in the Iron Mask

The Woman in White...LOVED THIS!

David Copperfield

Dante's Inferno

Everyman

Gilgamesh

Odyssey

Billy Bud Sailor and Moby Dick....HATED both with a passion, but thought I would list them since they are, indeed, considered classics, much to my astonishment.

The Importance of being Earnest

Don Quixote

Romeo and Juliet

A Mid Summer Night's Dream

Little Women

Silas Marner...again...YUCK

Some short stories...

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Lottery

The Monkey's Paw

Bernice Bob's her Hair

A Christmas Memory

The Tale Tale Heart

A Christmas Carol

The Most Dangerous Game

I LOVED The Woman in White...one of my absolute favorites! Can't believe I forgot that one!

[debbie in ak]

Billy Bud Sailor and Moby Dick....HATED both with a passion, but thought I would list them since they are, indeed, considered classics, much to my astonishment.




I have thought of reading Moby Dick....why did you hate it so much? Maybe I will take it off my list.

[BethInOK]

Silas Marner...again...YUCK


Really? I love Silas Marner.

[Susan Seaman]

One that I did NOT read in high school and that I haven't seen mentioned yet is:

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Obviously a very influential book, but also full of the gospel message. I was very moved by it and made it required reading for my daughter.

And another more recent that I think is becoming a classic (it's on the AP reading list) is:

The Kite Runner
It's disturbing, but so good!

[Jeni]

Some that have either left an impression on me or I really really liked:

Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert

My Antonia by Willa Cather

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (didn't care for the story but I can still to this day tell you why "Hester's truth is not Dimmsdale's truth" (quote from my 11th grade English teacher :P )

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe (short story)

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant (short story)

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe (short story)

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst (short story)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar by Shakespeare

Antigone by Sophocles

The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer (although I would recommend a good adaptation ;) )

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (LOVE the part about not wanting to be like the parasitic ivy :) )

I also went to 3 different high schools in two different states. Took a-level English my freshmen and senior years and honors English my sophomore and junior years. Very disjointed and I don't remember a lot of what we read other than we read it but those are the titles I either remember enjoying or just left an impression for one reason or another.

[Judyn]

Why Moby Dick...It was long...and FELT long. He would go on and on and on in his descriptions of things that weren't that important. It just didn't move quickly enough for me.

Billy Budd...I though it was pretentious. It had good thoughts in it...But the book never made me "feel". Instead of "showing" it "told", if you KWIM.

It doesn't mean that there there aren't lots of people out there that don't REALLY like these books. I'm just not one of them. By a long shot ;-) I guess it has more to do with how a person connects with the book and there was nothing there for me.


Someone else asked about Silas Marner...not pretentious, not long...but again...I didn't connect. It just seemed quite boring to me.

[Lindsey Carter]

Here are a few that come to my mind...

Little Women
The Diary of Anne Frank
A Christmas Carol
To Kill A Mockingbird
Twelve Angry Men
The Chronicles Of Narnia
Anne Of Green Gables
The Secret Garden
Dante's Inferno
Shakespeare's Julius Cesar
Romeo and Juliet

[debbie in ak]

Why Moby Dick...It was long...and FELT long. He would go on and on and on in his descriptions of things that weren't that important. It just didn't move quickly enough for me.

Billy Budd...I though it was pretentious. It had good thoughts in it...But the book never made me "feel". Instead of "showing" it "told", if you KWIM.

It doesn't mean that there there aren't lots of people out there that don't REALLY like these books. I'm just not one of them. By a long shot ;-) I guess it has more to do with how a person connects with the book and there was nothing there for me.


Someone else asked about Silas Marner...not pretentious, not long...but again...I didn't connect. It just seemed quite boring to me.

Thanks, Judyn, that was my fear with Moby Dick when I saw how long the book was...that there would be a lot of description. I have to admit that I can get frustrated with tons of description at times in novels. While I adore Great Expectations there is a ton of descriptive passages....they tried my patience a bit with reading it a second time around. I still love the book...just wish there was less descriptions.

I am currently reading The Scarlet Letter and liking it, but even though it is a shorter book it also has descriptive parts that I tend to skim...I want the heart of the story instead the descriptions of how Pearl (Hester Prynne's daughter) plays. It is not the heart of the story for me.

I guess not all books are for every person...we are individuals and will connect differently with each piece of literature.

[Melissa C]

In case you ever lose this list, I think you could always jump onto the SonLight website and read whatever they're recommending in their levels. I also do not remember reading quality literature (or being encouraged to do so) except in one AP English class. I learned more in that class than anything else I can remember from school! Anyway, I look through the SL catalog when I'm needing a classic to read. I'm trying to get through them (albeit slowly) because I feel like I should.

[Judyn]

I've been thinking of this thread :lol: (its the kind of thing former English teachers and present librarians do)

Faust
Anna Karenina
The Sound and the Fury Faulkner
Leaves of Grass Whitman
The Portrait of a Lady Henry James
Utopia Thomas More
The Prince Machiavelli
le morte de Arthur sp??? Malory (all the tales of King Arthur and his knights)
Oedipus the King

[Michelle B.]

I just finished Rebecca and LOVED it.

[Susan Seaman]

I read Rebecca in the last year, too, and really liked it. Read My Cousin, Rachel and The Glass Blowers by the same author. I think The Glass Blowers was my favorite of the three. I really liked the author's style - very lyrical.

[debbie in ak]

In case you ever lose this list, I think you could always jump onto the SonLight website and read whatever they're recommending in their levels. I also do not remember reading quality literature (or being encouraged to do so) except in one AP English class. I learned more in that class than anything else I can remember from school! Anyway, I look through the SL catalog when I'm needing a classic to read. I'm trying to get through them (albeit slowly) because I feel like I should.

Thanks for the idea, Melissa!

[debbie in ak]

I read Rebecca in the last year, too, and really liked it. Read My Cousin, Rachel and The Glass Blowers by the same author. I think The Glass Blowers was my favorite of the three. I really liked the author's style - very lyrical.

Thanks Susan and Michelle...I put Rebecca on hold at the library...read a little about the author...she was influenced by the Bronte sisters. I loved their books!

[debbie in ak]

I just finished Rebecca and LOVED it.

Reading it now and LOVING it!

[Anjie in PA]

No one has mentioned The Good Earth. That's one I would definitely add to your list!

[Robin H in VA]

I am trying to read some of the classics in literature that I missed during my high school years. I went to 3 different high schools in three different states and so my education was kind of choppy. What classics are not to be missed in your opinion? Here is what I have read:

Great Expectations (just finished it for the second time)
Wuthering Heights
Don Quixote
Hamlet
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
Othello
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
Pilgrim's Progress
Tom Sawyer
Huck Finn
Frankenstein
Heart of Darkness
The Scarlet letter (currently reading)



I didn't get to high school, so I didn't read any of these and now I am finally doing just that.

So far I have read:
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Romeo and Juliet (currently reading)

That is all from your list. I have read a couple of other Jane Austin's but there are a few others if not all on your list that I wish to read.