What's your favorite classic work of literature, and why?

[raccoon]

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is mine. Its appeal for me is mostly the setting; I grew up in a small Southern town much like Maycomb. I was growing up a few decades later than Scout and Jem but there were far more similarities than differences.

Also, Atticus was such a kind and wise parent.

[FSogol]

1. Catch 22 for me. I reread it every year.

Also a big fan of anything by Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain, and Kurt Vonnegut

[Richardo]

19. Catch-22 is my all-time favorite novel.

I read it frequently as well.

...and Mark Twain my overall favorite author.

[Laura902]

2. Pride and Prejudice! n/t

[villager]

3. King Lear

...because it captures societal devastation so well, and shows how it all comes about as a result of the short-sighted decisions by the humans *in* those societies.

Plus, it underscores how rare integrity is when things fall apart (and also how valuable it is), and how the Fools, as ever, are the wisest ones around...

[newscott]

4. Ooh that's a good one.

[newscott]

5. It's hard to say

I change my mind all the time. I guess right now I'd go with Huckleberry Finn. That one scene when Huck says, "Then I'll go to hell," just gripped me by the throat.

Others in the running, Slaughterhouse Five a quasi apocolyptic novel about man's insanity.

Gulliver's Travels.

Anyone sensing a theme here?

[ixion]

6. The Snows of Kilimanjaro, or Trout Fishing in America

if I had to choose. But there are so many that I love.

For Snows: I think it was some of Hemingway's finest writing.

For Trout Fishing: I think it's one of the most unique novels ever written.

[villager]

13. Second online reference to Brautigan I've seen in two days!

Is there a revival in the wind?

I hope so! I need to re-read his "oeuvre!"

[Botany]

7. one hundred years of solitude

[FSogol]

10. Good one. Have you read anything by Carlos Ruiz Zafon?

If not, start with "The Shadow of the Wind" You won't be sorry.

[villager]

14. Pretty fantastic book...

n/t

[Laura PourMeADrink]

27. what is it about?

[polly7]

8. To Kill a Mockingbird was mine too,

The characters and story so strong and compelling. I felt like I was seeing through Scout's eyes, things I'd never even imagined, when I first read it. Next would be Les Misérables.

[Jim__]

9. Invisible Man.

The book is so rich in allegory and metaphor - Trueblood's story (has a child with his own daughter); the betrayal by Bledsoe; the paint factory, the explosion, and the lobotomy; Rinehart, the hat, good and evil; Tod Clifton, the dancing puppets; the underground, why am I so blue.

I can read that book 100 times and always see it in a different light.


Tomorrow, I'd probably name a different book. There are just so many great books.

[TygrBright]

11. Sinclair Lewis "Babbitt"

A beautifully-written, multi-layered tragedy. Makes "Death of a Salesman" look two-dimensional.

How to give up your soul...

reminiscently,
Bright

[Richardo]

20. I just read 'Babbitt' for the first time a few months ago.

I really liked it.

There one passage early on in the book where he describes the city at night, and what everyone is doing 'at that same moment' that took my breath away, it was so powerful.

[frazzled]

12. The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James

Because of its fascinating investigation of psychological states, and observations of cultural difference. It's a tough read, because of the language, and the story remains rather Victorian, but the psychological insights seem incredibly modern.

[Kceres]

15. TKAM mine, too. I also grew up in the South.

I read the book to my oldest son when he was in the fourth grade and now it is his favorite lit. book as well. We also love the movie; it did a great job of capturing the essence of the novel. Gregory Peck will forever be Atticus in my imagination.

[Renegades of Funk]

16. Catcher of the Rye

Holden is a boy growing up. He's messed up after his brother died, and I love how close he is to his little sister.

[Libertyfirst]

17. A Confederacy of Dunces and Don Quixote. I like to laugh.

[pscot]

18. Heart of Darkness

Hard to pick just one. I lean toward writers who reveal something about who and what we are. I read Catch-22 while I was in the army. It explained a lot. Kafka and Chekov and Dostoiesvky are profound psychologists. Shakespeare is a whole world by himself. I guess I would say my favorites are the ones that resonate; that set up a deep and ongoing vibration that rippes the surface again and again in different contexts, often when I least expect it.

[azmouse]

21. Jane Eyre

I first read this book when I was 12 and it opened up the entire world of Victorian fiction to me.
It will always be special to me for that.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

22. The Once and Future King.

Arguably the best book in the English language, IMO. Just for the language.

[hippywife]

23. Little Women.

Because my grandmother gave it to me when I was about 10 years old. I loved it and always associate that book with her.

[BlueIris]

24. "A Separate Peace."

The prose is so tasty.

[LWolf]

25. I don't have any ONE favorite. I'll toss out the first few that pop into my head:

Twain. Any of them.

Catch-22.
The Once and Future King.
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Rebecca
Anna Karenina
The Brothers Karamazov
Steppenwolf
Pride and Prejudice
The Taming of the Shrew

[TZ]

26. Grendel.

Its the monsters pov for Beowulf. Its very well done and rich in symbology which I love...

[leftyladyfrommo]

28. Light in August by Faulkner n/t

[JeffersonChick]

29. Animal Farm: caused a turning point in my life

It's what enabled me to realize that which I've known all along but was never able to articulate. If I ever become a teacher, it's the first book I'll have students read.

[JitterbugPerfume]

30. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurer

because I read it when I was just a kid and it helped to fuel a lifelong love of the written word.

[catnhatnh]

31. One just doesn't get it...

A novel for story might be "Grapes of Wrath" but it might be a number one for either the plot line or support of workers rights if taken from the political side.

For fantasy I could see either a Tolkien book or Watership Down.

For prophecy 1984 is hard to beat.

For historical overview any book by James Michener.

For whimsy Richard Bach had several.

For plain old fun Mark Twain was good early on.

For teaching me the importance and sexuality of smell Robbins "Another Roadside Attraction" was unique.

But mostly there was never any single best...my best analogy is a billion sperm and one reaches an egg to be born and each year many of these one in a billion win and are published.

A "Best 100" list might contain many of mine and a "Best 1000" more...but a book in the end can either reach you or not. I was very glad for both my reading and my re-readings of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" Just for teaching me that being hard to read didn't mean not worth reading many times...