So basically I was unschooled, and the amount of books I’ve read in my life is embarrassingly low. It was never emforced like in a school, and with my family’s religious hangups, I never tried getting into new things because I never knew what would be deemed “offensive”.
But I’m always interested when I hear people talk about both storycraft and also literary criticism, so I want to take an earnest stab at getting into books.
No real criteria, I don’t know what I like so I can’t tell you what I’m looking for, other than it needs to be in English or have an English translation. Just wanna know what y’all think would make good or important reading.
ETA holy shit thanks for all the suggestions! Definitely gonna make a list
ETA if I reply extremely late it’s because it took me this long to get a library card in my new locale.
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 27•3 months ago
The dystopic books that warn us of what we could be.
1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, Animal Farm, The Giver (and yes, you should still read The Giver even if you’re an adult if you’ve never read it before).
But the first book that flashed through my mind when I read the question was Slaughterhouse Five.
- MonkeMischief ( @MonkeMischief@lemmy.today ) 6•3 months ago
Ah yes, all those books whose plots are being used as manuals these days. :( lol
The Giver was really neat. Accessible too. The movie adaptation was such a bad idea because I thought one of its strengths was how it was set in an ambiguous time, iirc. The reader’s visuals seemed really important for that story.
- Elise ( @xilliah@beehaw.org ) 18•3 months ago
Hmm, considering your religious upbringing you might want to try some absurdist literature to break the mold.
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- The Cyberiad
- Discworld
- The Little Prince
These are accessible too, as you’re not used to reading yet.
I can also recommend subscribing to a monthly magazine and making a point to read it from cover to cover. That way your skills will improve. You can also buy a whole stack of old national geographics cheaply. This will expand your horizons.
- SLfgb ( @SLfgb@feddit.nl ) 3•3 months ago
Oh yes definitely The Little Prince is a must-read.
- teawrecks ( @teawrecks@sopuli.xyz ) 2•3 months ago
HHGttG is a must.
- Dessalines ( @dessalines@lemmy.ml ) 11•3 months ago
As far as good storytelling, some of my favs are:
- The count of monte cristo
- The arabian nights
- 100 years of solitude
- The silmarillion
- A confederacy of dunces
- The three musketeers
I have a very long ranked list, but there’s a few.
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 4•3 months ago
I really loved The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. I was surprised at how well they held up over time.
- Unquote0270 ( @Unquote0270@programming.dev ) 3•3 months ago
Is the three musketeers really on par with the count? I’ve been meaning to read it for months but I always got the sense it would be disappointing.
- d13 ( @d13@programming.dev ) 4•3 months ago
Maybe unpopular opinion here, but I just read The Three Musketeers, and it’s not even close to The Count of Monte Cristo.
The characters wildly change in tone and basic morals, the heroes are dirtbags, and the plot wanders.
I still enjoyed it, but it just wasn’t the same.
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 2•3 months ago
No. The Count of Monte Cristo is a much better and deeper novel, but The Three Musketeers is much lighter and more fun. They’re both good reads for different reasons.
- Dessalines ( @dessalines@lemmy.ml ) 2•3 months ago
I think so. It’s top-tier adventure storytelling. The sequels are also great.
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 2•3 months ago
The sequels are worth it.
- Mothra ( @Mothra@mander.xyz ) 2•3 months ago
I only read the Count, and I loved it
You know, I was on vacation and saw a newer translation of The Arabian Nights and pondered getting it for a REALLY long time before deciding not to spend all my money on the first day of my trip. Thank you for reminding me, gonna put it on my list!
- Dessalines ( @dessalines@lemmy.ml ) 2•2 months ago
No probs! I’m obsessed with adventure stories, and you can’t get much better than 1001 nights.
- ProdigalFrog ( @ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net ) English10•3 months ago
Fahrenheit 451 is certainly worth a read. I read it late in life, and could see immediately why it’s so often read in schools. Very well written, and a compelling story.
Another book that you may find quite personally compelling is The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (Archive.org has a free audio book version), due to the themes it covers.
- IninewCrow ( @ininewcrow@lemmy.ca ) English2•3 months ago
+1 for The Chrysalids … read it on English class in high school and loved it
- Nicht BurningTurtle ( @nichtburningturtle@feddit.org ) 10•3 months ago
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- Random Dent ( @CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml ) English8•3 months ago
The best five-book trilogy you’ll ever read, even though there are six of them.
- CeruleanRuin ( @CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world ) English2•3 months ago
I hope you’re referring to the unfinished compilation Salmon of Doubt as the sixth, and not that weak sub-fanfic tripe by Eoin Colfer.
- NataliePortland ( @NataliePortland@lemmy.ca ) English10•3 months ago
For literature I find 100 years of Solitude to be without equal. An absolute joy to read.
For nonfiction I have learned so much from 1491. It was recommended to me by a friend though I have never heard of it elsewhere. The premise is that basically everything we think about Native Americans before Columbus arrived is wrong. I could go on but here is one tidbit: we tend to think of Native Americans as peoples without government. Now of course there are so many different groups of peoples all over the Americas and across so many eras it’s foolish to even think of them as being this way or that way because who and when are you referring to? But there were many types of government. In fact the Incas were total bureaucrats! Anyway I’m doing a poor job selling it i know but it’s a great read.
For self-help try How to Win Friends and Influence People. I know the title sounds like it’s a guide to manipulation but it’s really not. It’s 100 years old but still holds up so well. Times change, but people don’t, you know what I mean? People 100 years later still appreciate it when you remember their name and look them in the eye and make time to listen.
- Mothra ( @Mothra@mander.xyz ) 2•3 months ago
May I ask, why did you like 100 years of solitude? Did you read it in Spanish or translated to another language? I read it in Spanish and can appreciate a lot of good things in it, but I always wonder how it feels like for people who don’t have a latin/Spanish background. Perhaps you do, I don’t know. Still curious!
- Cowbee [he/him] ( @Cowbee@lemmy.ml ) 10•3 months ago
While other books have made a larger personal impact, Piranesi is a wonderful, easy to read mystery novel with a charming, innocent protagonist that I wish I could read for the first time all over again.
It’s only a couple hundred pages as well, as opposed to the thousand page monsters many people love.
- ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠 ( @Nemo@slrpnk.net ) 4•3 months ago
Seconding this book. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this decade.
- Bldck ( @Bldck@beehaw.org ) English8•3 months ago
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All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing are beautiful western novels by Cormac McCarthy. Both are very much “a boy and his horse” kind of stories about learning to be yourself. They’re loosely related and there’s a third book that brings the boys together and concludes their stories
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The Jungle and Oil! by Upton Sinclair are novelizations of Sinclair’s investigative journalism work in the meat packing industry and the nascent workers rights movement respectively. Oil! was very loosely adapted into the film There Will Be Blood (the film covers maybe the first 3-4 chapters by greatly expanding upon the material
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Hatchet by Gary Paulsen was a very impactful book for me as a child. It’s a YA novel, but still worth a read. The main character Brian survives a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness and is forced to find a way to survive on his own
A few more recent novels that I enjoyed:
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Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. Won the 2024 Booker Prize (best English language novel) about an authoritarian government taking power in Ireland and how that unfolds from the perspective of a mother with young children. It’s a hard read, but very well written
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Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. Translated into English. A friend described it as “sexy witches in South America deal with authoritarian rule.” And that’s pretty close…
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Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park. A semi-fictionalized history of the Korean Peninsula and the desire to have a unified identity. Many people come to the peninsula (same bed) with very different goals for its use (different dreams). Really fascinating book and engaging
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Follows a trio of friends as they explore the world of video game design. Starts in the early 80s and runs through the 2000s. Reminder me very much of the show Halt and Catch Fire.
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My Friends by Hisham Matar. Follows a Libyan immigrant living in England in the 80s through 2010s as he wrestles with his identity, his homeland, his friends and family. Khaled’s closest friends serve as foils to his own feelings, reacting to the same circumstances very differently from himself
- adhocfungus ( @adhocfungus@midwest.social ) 8•3 months ago
Hatchet was such a powerful book when I was a kid. I bet it still holds up, so maybe I should reread it soon.
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 6•3 months ago
I’ve been thinking the same myself. I remember it having such an impact on me as a kid.
The only McCarthy book at my library was The Passenger. The librarian told me I was brave and that last time she checked out a McCarthy book, she needed therapy.
Absolutely not what you recommended but I’m in for a treat.
- Bldck ( @Bldck@beehaw.org ) English1•2 months ago
The Passenger is mild… but only half the story. You want to read the companion novel Stella Maris too
Some of his books are fucked up. The Road and Blood Meridian are stomach turning, gut-wrenching explorations of the awful side of humans.
All the Pretty Horses is: young man likes horses. Moves to Mexico to work on a ranch. Young man falls in love with woman. Hijinks. horses. Done
Ooh OK, good to know! I’ve read excerpts of The Road that made me cry from descriptions alone. I wasn’t wasn’t sure how his other works compare.
My friend is obsessed with The Road so I’m sure I’ll read it somewhere down the line. I’m just starting with what I can check out for free right now.
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- ludrol ( @ludrol@bookwormstory.social ) English8•3 months ago
Discword series is really good. - very witty comedy with subtle commentary about real world
I wouldn’t say it’s must read but I can’t reccomend it highly enough: “Ascendance of a Bookworm” - an slow adventure about a girl struggling with an unknown disease in another world, and all she wants is to read books.
you can also hang out in !chat@literature.cafe and tell about your experience.
- silasmariner ( @silasmariner@programming.dev ) 3•2 months ago
I’m not sure how subtle discworld really is 🤣
- frank ( @frank@sopuli.xyz ) 7•3 months ago
From a philosophy standpoint, Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s a brutally tough read, but a very interesting perspective of a Holocaust survivor and some of the more “mundane” parts (which were still horrific) in between the parts most people know about. The philosophy that follows is interesting.
It’s certainly not without it’s faults and criticisms, though.
- NaevaTheRat [she/her] ( @NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.org ) English7•3 months ago
Ursula Le Guin’s the dispossessed is pretty impactfull. Very confronting anarchist utopia that is not a Paradise.
The lions of al rassan by guy gavriel Kay (worked on the silmarillion). A deeply melencholic fictional reflection on the reconquista of the Iberian peninsula.
The liveship traders by Robin Hobb has the best realised characters in fiction I’ve ever seen. Jaw dropping craft.
And finally, an entire shelf of book: The malazan book of the fallen. you will laugh, you will cry, and in the end you will love compassion.
- Random Dent ( @CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml ) English5•3 months ago
Yeah you can’t go wrong with Ursula Le Guin IMO. I loved The Left Hand of Darkness too.
Also 'cause I love sharing it, her 2014 book award speech is worth a read as well:
We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 2•3 months ago
I’ve heard that about The Dispossessed. I tried to listen to it on audiobook and the narration was terrible, so I just couldn’t get far into it. I need to pick up a physical or digital copy.
Oh, and Malazan is great. That one took me two tries to really get into as well, mostly because I initially had trouble keeping track of so many characters.
- NaevaTheRat [she/her] ( @NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.org ) English1•3 months ago
100% read it. I think most things aren’t “must reads” even my favourite stories, but some have such unique ideas or skillful execution that if you enjoy literature you owe it to yourself to read them.
There’s obviously a very large list, I suggested some I didn’t think would be represented here. The dispossessed is a short read and uncomplex in its construction and pros so it’s easy to squeeze in a chapter here and there or before bed.
Idk if you will agree it’s a must read, that’s obviously quite subjective, but I highly doubt you’ll find the time you spent with it unsatisfying.
- BlueSquid0741 ( @BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org ) 6•3 months ago
The best science fiction has to offer:
Metro 2033
Sphere
Jurassic Park
Roadside Picnic
Metamorphosis
Add from Stephen King:
Night Shift
4 Minutes to Midnight
(Both are novellas/story collections)
And also:
The Call of Cthulhu and other weird tales
- richieadler ( @richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one ) 4•3 months ago
Your “best of sf” doesn’t include many recognized classics. That’s weird. No LeGuin, no Bester?
- BlueSquid0741 ( @BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org ) 1•3 months ago
Only classics? Geez. OP, forget my recommendations.
Correct answer:
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g39358054/best-sci-fi-books/
I’m a week late but I never specified classics! I kept my request vague for a reason, I’m looking for variety. :) So I appreciate the recs.
- boatswain ( @boatswain@infosec.pub ) 3•3 months ago
Michael Crichton in a list of “best sci-fi”? Really? He just does mass market pulp. It can be entertaining, in the same way a Transformers movie can, but it hardly qualifies as “best”.
- BlueSquid0741 ( @BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org ) 2•3 months ago
I’ve read some of Crichton’s other books, not all but a few, and I get it. I wouldn’t rate them so high. But I don’t consider these two to be that kind of book.
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 3•3 months ago
I agree with more than one of these, but I would call out The Metamorphosis as one that everybody should read. You can appreciate it at any age (well, within reason–maybe not for the 8-year-olds), it’s dramatic and captivating, and it’s short.
I always try to recommend books of short stories to my friends who like to read but don’t have much time for it.
- IvanOverdrive ( @IvanOverdrive@lemm.ee ) 6•3 months ago
How about some pre-transhuman solarpunk? I recommend my favorite book, Walkaway by Cory Doctorow. It’s about the birth pangs of a post scarcity society. Absolutely brilliant.
- protist ( @protist@mander.xyz ) English6•3 months ago
The Stranger by Albert Camus, Franny & Zooey by JD Salinger, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and the entire short story collection of Edgar Allan Poe
- Drusas ( @Drusas@fedia.io ) 5•3 months ago
Wholeheartedly agree with The Stranger, but I think most people would not quite get it/appreciate its theme.
- seaweedsheep ( @seaweedsheep@literature.cafe ) 5•2 months ago
No idea what your reading level is, but here are some of the suggestions I’ve made to customers recently:
Harry Potter, if for no other reason than the cultural impact
Ender’s Game: children being taught to be elite military officers
Small Gods: satirizes religion, religious institutions, etc. If you ever want to read Discworld, this is a very good starting point
We Free Men: also Discworld, but YA-focused and about a girl who becomes a witch
Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal: author imagines what Jesus and his BFF Biff were doing for those thirty years missing not recorded in the Bible.
Kindred: a woman starts to travel back in time to the pre-Civil War South. She can’t control it and she doesn’t know why. Probably Butler’s most accessible novel.
A Canticle for Leibowitz: humanity nuked itself back to the early medieval period and this one holy order watches it rebuild. It’s hard to describe this book in a satisfactory way without just summarizing it, but it’s one of my favorites and I’ve read it multiple times
The Giver: YA dystopian novel about a very structured society and the kid who is able to see through it. The sequels aren’t too bad either
The Hobbit: much easier to read than Lord of the Rings, but full of the same heroics plus dragons, dwarves and a clever hero