# Five books everyone should read before they die **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672 "2007-10-05T19:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/21 "2007-10-06T00:11:54Z")
The best five books to understand who we are, how we got here, and why we act the way we do (read them in order): **A Brief Hostory of Time** Stephen Hawking **Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors** Carl Sagan (or you can substitute Darwin’s little book, though I wouldn’t) **The Demon Haunted World** Carl Sagan **The God Delusion** Richard Dawkins **The End of Faith** Sam Harris ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/22 "2007-10-06T02:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=RandMcnally] A suggestion, tell us _why_ we should read those books before we die. Why are those five books on your list so important? What kind of meaning do they convey? Just making a list of books you like doesn’t really make me want to read them unless I think there’s something I could get out of them. [/QUOTE] Fair enough. Now that I have more time: [Quote=me] The Unvanquished by William Faulkner [/quote] A good place to start with Faulkner. It’s not heavily stream-of-consciousness, and it hits a lot of his main themes, most importantly the fallout down the generations of the Civil War. I like it because it’s in some ways more hopeful than _The Sound and The Fury_ or _Sanctuary_ or a lot of his other work. The main character, Bayard (no relation), recognizes that his social system is cracked, that his father got what was coming to him, and that individuals have to break social norms rather than simply allow a perverse morality to continue. Nothing particularly ground-breaking in that, but it’s very well done, and the writing is…well, it’s Faulkner. The man was a verbose, repetitive, self-indulgent, freakin’ genius. > [@](#): > > _Mother Night_ by Kurt Vonnegut The flip side to _The Unvanquished_, in which the main character goes along with a perverse system, all along “warming [himself] with [his] secretly virtuous insides”. It’s moving, less over-the-top surreal than most of Vonnegut’s other work, and beautifully written. He creates images that are still fresh in my mind even several years after the last time I read it. It’s a powerful argument that there is no such thing as an inner person, only the sum of our actions. > [@](#): > > _We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families_ by Philip Gourevitch This is a non-fiction account of the Rwandan genocide. Gourevitch explains how thousands of people could be convinced to hack their neighbors to death, mostly because men on the radio told them to. He traces the completely arbitrary and irrational beginnings of the Tutsi and Hutu divide, and shows how political leaders exploited it to such an extent that even previously decent people went out and massacred their friends. If you wonder why a lot of us get wound up when people in the media villanize and dehumanize a group of people – based on race or whatever – read this book. > [@](#): > > _A Confederacy of Dunces_ by John Kennedy Toole This book was hilarious, and reading it made me really happy. Everyone ought to be happy sometimes. > [@](#): > > and… > I can’t think of a fifth one, and I have to leave now. So, uh, the OED? Uh, because it would, uh, give you a real big vocabulary? OK, now that I have more time, I still don’t know what to put down as my fifth. So…::rolls mental D20::…_Our Man in Havana_ by Graham Greene. Mostly because, the more things change, the more the stay the same. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/23 "2007-10-06T02:39:36Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] I still don’t know what to put down as my fifth. So…::rolls mental D20::…_Our Man in Havana_ by Graham Greene. Mostly because, the more things change, the more the stay the same. [/QUOTE] Ooh, good one. That one was so good, John le Carré had to steal the plot for _The Tailor Of Panama_. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/24 "2007-10-06T03:10:52Z")
[QUOTE=RandMcnally] A suggestion, tell us _why_ we should read those books before we die. Why are those five books on your list so important? What kind of meaning do they convey? Just making a list of books you like doesn’t really make me want to read them unless I think there’s something I could get out of them. [/QUOTE] Well, _The English Passengers_ (in addition to being entertaining, witty, educational and humorous) made me think about colonization, especially its impact on native people. _Lonesome Dove_ I liked because of the characterizations, the scope, adventure, action, tension, and because I’ll never go on a cattle drive. It was realistic, not romanticized, and never dull. _The Dollmaker_ gives some much-needed dignity to people we often think of as “hillbillies”. It’s set during WWII. Gertie Nevels’ husband decides to go to Detroit to find work in a defense factory. His wife stays behind for awhile, and through incredible hard work and ingenuity, manages to save almost enough money for the family to buy their own land, which was the main reason her husband went to Detroit. Then she’s pressured by her mother to move the family to Detroit – “a wife should be with her husband”. Gertie’s strong, but she’s not strong enough to resist her mother. Gertie takes the kids and moves to Detroit, without ever telling her husband what she’d accomplished. You gotta let the man be the man, ya know? Anyway, tragedy ensues. The Nevels story will break your heart, and you’ll get an insight into a cultural shift. _The Book of Joby_ is also entertaining, witty, and humorous. It’s a coming of age story that combines the Biblical book of Job with Arthurian legend. I liked it because the author wasn’t afraid of stepping on Biblical or Arthurian toes – he had a story to tell and he told it in his own way. I think that’s brave. The book is a real page-turner, and nothing seems contrived. The story is natural. You believe in those people and understand why they do what they do. _Fevre Dream_ is a vampire story, also told without apology, or worrying about whether or not it fit with vampire legend. Vampires on a Mississippi riverboat in the late 1800’s. Mark Twain meets Dracula, sorta. Martin is an exquisite writer. ---
**Author:** ![TripleTee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@TripleTee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TripleTee)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/25 "2007-10-06T03:44:40Z")
Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand Lord of the Rings- Tolkien Huckleberry Finn- Twain 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea- Verne The Complete Sherlock Holmes- Doyle I will list my reasons why these 5 books when I have more time. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/26 "2007-10-06T04:54:47Z")
23 out of how many, including some I never intend to read? I’m gonna live FOREVER! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/27 "2007-10-06T10:01:58Z")
_Norwegian Wood_, by Haruki Murakami _The Hotel New Hampshire_, by John Irving _The God of Small Things_, by Arundhati Roy _A Girl Named Zippy_, by Haven Kimmel _The Lord of the Rings_, by J.R.R. Tolkein The God of Small Things is probably the most beautifully written book I’ve ever read. I wish Roy had not gone over to the Dark Side of political activism. A Girl Named Zippy is an exceptionally cute and entertaining account of childhood in middle America. Hotel New Hampshire and Norwegian Wood are great (and very different) coming-of-age (and more) stories. Lord of the Rings is the necessary fairy tale about good vs. evil. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/28 "2007-10-06T10:45:01Z")
I have no credibility. For Christmas last year I got a book called 1,000 Books you must read before you die and apart from those by Dostoyevsky, I have read few. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/29 "2007-10-06T11:54:00Z")
Some of my books I picked based on the writing and narrative of the book itself, and some for loftier life reasons. [QUOTE=TheMerchandise] _A Prayer for Owen Meany_, by John Irving _Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates_, by Tom Robbins _The Blind Assassin_, by Margaret Atwood _Motherless Brooklyn_, by Jonathan Lethem _The Pigman_, by Paul Zindel [/QUOTE] John Irving is a modern master of classic-style narrative. _A Prayer for Owen Meany_ is my favorite of all his works. I’ve gone through six copies, simply reading out a few and then loaning some out and never getting them back. The ending blows me away every in time I read it, leaving me in tears and in awe. Tom Robbins has books disguised as rants… or rants disguised as books. Either way. Several times in my life, Robbins has put to print thoughts I was trying to formulate for myself, but could quite manage to put into cohesive sentences. And _Fierce Invalids…_ has some wicked awesome n uns. _The Blind Assassin_ has some wonderful lessons on family and love and regret. Plus, my list was shockingly lacking in female authors. Plus, Margaret Atwood is a female author who rises above that terrible pigeonhole of the “female author” and become just a beautiful and thoughtful author. _Motherless Brooklyn’s_ main character is an impossible one: A private detective with Tourette’s Syndrome. Instead of being all the things a private eye should be – suave, cunning, sneaky, silent – he’s twitchy and freaky and awkward. And it feels so real! Plus, I have a major crush on Jonathan Lethem and I know if I keep recommending his books, he will come to my house and want to be my boyfriend. Finally, _The Pigman_ was a favorite as a child. It put some important lessons into my pre-pubescent mind: Treat people as you would be treated, think of the consequences of your actions, don’t take advantage people who genuinely care about you. Obvious lessons, yes, but not always to 11-year olds. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/30 "2007-10-06T18:00:11Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] That one was so good, John le Carré had to steal the plot for _The Tailor Of Panama_. Stranger [/QUOTE] “Steal” is such a harsh word. Let’s call it a homage. Actually, I have yet to make it through a John Le Carre novel. I did really enjoy the movie _The Tailor Of Panama_, however. I thought Brosnan was wonderfully smarmy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/31 "2007-10-06T20:18:42Z")
Two people have mentioned “Atlas Shrugged”. If you were only going to read one of Rand’s book, I’d say make it “The Fountainhead”. It’s much more readable, and isn’t so heavy handed on the philosophy. If you don’t like it, no need to read “Atlas”. If you do, then “Atlas” is there waiting for you. I almost hesitate to bring this up, as it is not my intention to turn this thread into (yet another) Rand bashing fest. I hope that doesn’t happen… ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/32 "2007-10-06T22:39:27Z")
In no particular order, and for no other reason than my love of the storytelling is as great on every re-read as it was the 1st time. 1. **Tom Sawyer** by Mark Twain 2. **The World According to Garp** by John Irving 3. **The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart** by Lawrence Block (actually, the entire series, but if you force me to pick one, this is an excellent representation.) 4. **The Past Through Tomorrow** by Robert A. Heinlein (OK, it’s a collection of short stories and novellas, but they follow Heinlein’s Future History.) 5. (tie) **Coma** by Robin Cook (tie) **The Firm** by John Grisham (tie) **Andromeda Strain** by Michael Crichton (all page-turning thrillers) Honorable mention: **Still Life With Woodpecker** by Tom Robbins **Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas** by Hunter S. Thompson **Where Eagles Dare** by Alistair McLean ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/33 "2007-10-06T23:06:09Z")
Geez, **TheMerchandise** , do you know how tough it is to narrow it down to five? 😉 Anyways, my list may not be the same six months from now, but here goes. **Replay** by Ken Grimwood **Post Office** by Charles Bukowski (in fact, all of Buk’s works) **One Hundred Years of Solitude** by Gabriel Garcia Marquez **The Words** by Jean-Paul Sartre **Underworld** by Don DeLillo ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/34 "2007-10-06T23:44:25Z")
[QUOTE=Intelligently Designed] Anyways, my list may not be the same six months from now, but here goes. [/quote] Ditto. . . . \*Brideshead Revisited A Bright Shining Lie Catch-22 In Search of Lost Time The Twelve Caesars\* ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/35 "2007-10-06T23:44:56Z")
well… [ol] [li]_Huckleberry Finn_[/li][li]_The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress_[/li][li]_The Ancient Engineers_ by L. Sprague De Camp[/li][li]_Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail 72_ by Hunter S. Thompson[/li][li]_The Complete Plays Of William Shakespeare._[/li][li]_The Straight Dope_ by Some Guy Whose Name I Can’t Recall[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/36 "2007-10-07T00:10:53Z")
OK, I’ll play: **The Pretentious List:** The \*\*Iliad \*\* by Homer The \*\*Odyssey \*\* by Homer The **Aeneid** by Virgil **La Divina Commedia** by Dante Alighieri and finally **Paradise Lost** by John Milton Reading these in order provides the framework for all of Western Literature. **The Fun List:** **A cold six thousand** by Elroy **Perfume** by Süskind \*_Lolita \*\* by Nabokov **The talented Mr Ripley** by Highsmith **American Tabloid** _ by Elroy Because this is how evil, depraved and ugly people really are. The good guys don’t win and the assholes get away with murder. \*I’m still waiting for **Police Gazette**. If it’s as good as AT and A Cold 6000, making it a trifecta, I’m hoping for an omnibus to include all three. ---
**Author:** ![TripleTee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@TripleTee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TripleTee)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/37 "2007-10-07T00:14:52Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Two people have mentioned “Atlas Shrugged”. If you were only going to read one of Rand’s book, I’d say make it “The Fountainhead”. It’s much more readable, and isn’t so heavy handed on the philosophy. If you don’t like it, no need to read “Atlas”. If you do, then “Atlas” is there waiting for you. I almost hesitate to bring this up, as it is not my intention to turn this thread into (yet another) Rand bashing fest. I hope that doesn’t happen… [/QUOTE] I completely disagree. If you are going to read only one of Rand’s books, it needs to be “Atlas Shrugged.” The “Fountainhead” can be twisted to mean, “Follow your dreams and be an individual,” assuming you squint enough and ignore the plain meaning. “Atlas Shrugged” cannot. I know plenty of people who like “The Fountainhead” but do not like “Atlas Shrugged” for this very reason. They have convinced themselves the former means something different than the latter when, in fact, both books expound on the same philosophy. If you are only going to read one book by an author, it ought to be their crowning achievement, and “Atlas Shrugged” is certainly Rand’s. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/38 "2007-10-07T00:21:08Z")
For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemingway On The Road - Kerouac The Great Railway Bazaar - Theroux Breakfast of Champions - Vonnegut Any Bukowski ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/39 "2007-10-07T00:22:45Z")
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein Elfquest - Wendy Pini The Art of War - Sun Tzu The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/40 "2007-10-07T00:31:33Z")
Sadly, I only have one. \*Magic’s Pawn \* - Mercedes Lackey [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672.md?page=3)