IHO of best book thread - What is the best classic you have read?

[boyob13]

I really enjoyed "20,00 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth".

 

[2cats1kid]

Count of Monte Cristo - fabulous book!

 

[LaurenLC]

To Kill a Mockingbird really left a lasting impression on me. I really enjoyed reading Wuthering Heights in middle school, I think....

 

[Angelhalo]

I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird but honestly don't remember it being anything special to me. Strange because so many people adore it. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation.......

I think my favorites would be Night by Elie Wiesel, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez and my number one fave, As I Lay Dying by Faulker.

 

[RunningGirl]

East of Eden
Pride and Prejudice
To Kill a Mockingbird

 

[KrnB]

I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird but honestly don't remember it being anything special to me. Strange because so many people adore it. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation.......

I think my favorites would be Night by Elie Wiesel, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez and my number one fave, As I Lay Dying by Faulker.

Night was one of the first ones that came to my mind when I saw this thread too. Fantastic book. All Quiet on the Western Front was a good book too - I read it that same year, only when we covered WWI, whereas Night was along with the study of WWII.

I remember that I really liked reading To Kill a Mockingbird in 10th grade. I remember thinking that I would have liked it even more if I hadn't had to read it for school and therefore have to dissect everything about it. It's a book I easily would have enjoyed just picking up and reading for the pure enjoyment of it. There aren't a lot of books that I read in school that I would have said that about.

 

[Angelhalo]

Night was one of the first ones that came to my mind when I saw this thread too. Fantastic book. All Quiet on the Western Front was a good book too - I read it that same year, only when we covered WWI, whereas Night was along with the study of WWII.

I remember that I really liked reading To Kill a Mockingbird in 10th grade. I remember thinking that I would have liked it even more if I hadn't had to read it for school and therefore have to dissect everything about it. It's a book I easily would have enjoyed just picking up and reading for the pure enjoyment of it. There aren't a lot of books that I read in school that I would have said that about.

You make a good point. Maybe I didn't really get to enjoy it for that same reason. It can sometimes be hard to truly enjoy something when you have to completely dissect it....

 

[IDoDis]

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger.

 

[bntlyclg89]

"All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren (11th grade English).

 

[Tumblwd501]

Great Expectations
Catch-22
A Farewell to Arms

 

[metalis4ever]

I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird but honestly don't remember it being anything special to me. Strange because so many people adore it. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation.......

I think my favorites would be Night by Elie Wiesel, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez and my number one fave, As I Lay Dying by Faulker.

All of those you mentioned particularly "The Jungle" are amazing reads!!!!

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

The Jungle is the only one that has been mentioned that I absolutely couldn't get through and I was supposed to read it three different times for different classes. For those who said it was so good, what made it so good in your opinion (in other words, what was I missing?)

 

[Angelhalo]

The Jungle is the only one that has been mentioned that I absolutely couldn't get through and I was supposed to read it three different times for different classes. For those who said it was so good, what made it so good in your opinion (in other words, what was I missing?)

Well when Upton Sinclair wrote the book he was quoted as having said "Hello! I'm Upton Sinclair, and I'm here to write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor Movement!" Which I felt it pretty much was. It was so compelling to read about the wage slavery that was going on. It was a real eye opener about political parties and journalists who wrote about the urban life and poverty, and against the established institutions of society, such as big business. I also thought that the whole sanitation issue was just fascinating. It was interesting to read about how the public outcry led to better inspection practices.

 

[metalis4ever]

Well when Upton Sinclair wrote the book he was quoted as having said "Hello! I'm Upton Sinclair, and I'm here to write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor Movement!" Which I felt it pretty much was. It was so compelling to read about the wage slavery that was going on. It was a real eye opener about political parties and journalists who wrote about the urban life and poverty, and against the established institutions of society, such as big business. I also thought that the whole sanitation issue was just fascinating. It was interesting to read about how the public outcry led to better inspection practices.

Couldn't have said it better myself...I would also add that Upton Sinclair also takes the opportunity to show just how difficult it really was to be an immigrant in this Country. How much sacrifice and hard work it took just to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head. Sinclair wipes out the notion that "in America the streets are paved with Gold" to use an anonymous quote from what is reported as an Italian Immigrant "They told us that the streets in America were paved with gold, but when we got here we found out 3 things one the streets weren't paved with gold, two the streets weren't paved at all and three we were expected to pave them". Sinclair's main character in the novel Jurgis Rudkus comes to this realization rather quickly in the book and you can feel his pain as you read word for word his long walks in the Chicago winter with no coat no gloves just to see if he could work then to have to work in the meat factory under those conditions is just awe inspiring.

Hands down one of the most important books regarding the history of US labor as well as food safety laws.

 

[TravelGuy37]

The Moonstone.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

"All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren (11th grade English).

I can't believe I forgot this one!!! Definitely left a lasting impression.

 

[MomofKatie]

Gone with the Wind
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Little Women
Pride and Prejudice
The Grapes of Wrath
Flowers for Algernon
Diary of Anne Frank
The Color Purple
Shakespeare's plays and sonnets
Lord of the Flies

 

[justjudy]

The Grapes of Wrath
An American Tragedy
Main Street

 

[justjudy]

The Grapes of Wrath
An American Tragedy
Main Street
The Winter of Our Discontent

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I think I'll give The Jungle another try on my own instead of for a class. It was years ago that I tried to read it, so I may have changed.

Gone with the Wind
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Little Women
Pride and Prejudice
The Grapes of Wrath
Flowers for Algernon
Diary of Anne Frank
The Color Purple
Shakespeare's plays and sonnets
Lord of the Flies

I can't believe I forgot Little Women (although probably it was because I was thinking of books I read for school) or Shakespeare. Othello was my favorite and it saved my AP English grade in High School.