# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/41 "2007-10-07T00:32:39Z")
King Rat by James Clavell Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Atlas Shrugged (or We The Living) by Ayn Rand Ender’s Game by OSC The Black Company by Glen Cook WRT some of the other posters: If The Blind Assassin is your top Atwood pick, you really should read more Atwood 🙂 Edible Woman, Oryx and Crake, and Handmaid’s Tale are much better IMO. > [@](#): > > The Turner Diaries, Tommyknockers, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and any two of the Left Behind books. > > That way, dying won’t seem so bad. I suggest trading the first two for more Richard Bach novels for the full effect. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/42 "2007-10-07T00:38:20Z")
[QUOTE=Paladud] If The Blind Assassin is your top Atwood pick, you really should read more Atwood 🙂 Edible Woman, Oryx and Crake, and Handmaid’s Tale are much better IMO. [/QUOTE] Oh, have 'em and love 'em. But loved _Blind Assassin_ most-est. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/43 "2007-10-07T03:44:27Z")
Note to **Intelligently Designed** – You mentioned **One Hundred Years of Solitude** by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. You might be interested in knowing that his son Rodrigez Garcia is a director, writer and cinematographer. He worked on some of the episodes for \*\*Six Feet Under, Carnavale, \*\*and **the Sopranos.** He will be co-directing a new series “soon” with Gabriel Byrne and Diane Weist. It’s about a psychologist who needs therapy. My five books of the moment: **GREEN MANSIONS** by W.H. Hudson **TRINITY** by Leon Uris **A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY** by John Irving **LES MISERABLES** by Victor Hugo **ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL** by James Herriot If you haven’t read **A Prayer for Owen Meany** you must. My granddaughter’s teacher recommended it to her when she was a senior. When she finished, she insisted that I must read it. Her grandfather read it aloud to me. It has some of the hysterical passages in it – and some of the most poignant. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/44 "2007-10-07T05:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=Intelligently Designed] **Post Office** by Charles Bukowski (in fact, all of Buk’s works) [/QUOTE] I think this one would go in my five, but since it was mentioned, I will politely second it and add a different into my list. 1. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott. This is from my high school algebra teacher. A wonderful book that started many discussions about higher planes, philosophy, the Matrix movies, and life. I recommend it to everyone, with the recommendation that they also seek out that quirky teacher who I thought was so cool. 1. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier A wonderful book about life as a kid, and written by (imho) a great author. I think this book is my favorite of his, perhaps one of my favorites altogether. 1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Twain (plus the short story “The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg”) Basically one of my favorite books from when I was in high school, then I read it again for two different college classes and took a much better look at it. Such a great perspective on society’s problems that it isn’t funny. (TMTCH because it is a good example of how people behave in situations, and the real meaning of right and wrong) 1. 1984 by Orwell I consider it a good read, and it brings up an important discussion about what is known about whom. The idea of an all controlling force that is Big Brother, just spooky and thought provoking. 1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes A novel that shows you life through the eyes of someone different than yourself, their experience with becoming more like the average person, and what happens to them. Really makes a person think about things. Plus, it is written in an interesting way. Plus, I would like to add, short stories by Henry James (are they really able to be called short?). I never read Henry James before college, but once I got here I took a whole class on just his works. One of the best classes I ever took, so I always recommend him when I can. Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Beaucarnea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Beaucarnea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beaucarnea)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/45 "2007-10-07T06:22:58Z")
**One Hundred Years of Solitude** Gabriel Garcia Marquez He paints pictures with words- his verse reads so swiftly you’ve bought myth as fact before you’ve had a chance to doubt. **A Prayer for Owen Meany \*\* John Irving Foreshadowing sublime; read all in one breathless rush. I’ve only been so emotionally invested in a character one other time. And recommend it to your kids, or any young people in your sphere; from this story they will learn how to live big and certain. Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card If you aren’t a fan of science fiction, you will pass this one up based on the cover. Take it home anyway, and find a few hours to read in one sitting. Then rave about it, loan it to your friends, and do not expect it to be returned. I actually had my own copy come back to me once, and from a stranger. Ethics for the New Millennium Dalai Lama If you’ve a temper, this will lesson it. If you’ve a prejudice, this will tame it. If you’ve a thorn in your side, this will teach you how to endure it. And if you don’t find your particular insight in this one, try any in His Holiness’s series. \*\* Prodigal Summer** Barbara Kingsolver Quick read with complicated interwoven stories. Kingsolver, a biology major, neatly entwines biodiversity, conflicts in relationships, and the inherent sexuality of a woman undefined by cultural constraints. (yeah.) **Zoe** , you always make the greatest connections- thank you for posting the info about Marquez. I’ve some media to track down! And I’m with you and others on Owen Meany. I’ve never _ached_ so much for a hero. I love this tale. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/46 "2007-10-07T07:05:10Z")
In no particular order: **The Penguin History of the World** , by JM Roberts. 1100 pages of small print, and I’ve read it twice now, both times feeling absolutely stupid about stuff I didn’t know. A good overview no matter what your political stripe. **War and Peace** , by Leo Tolstoy. Surprisingly readable and provides a valuable insight into the Zeitgest of the time. As one of my old History profs put it, this is one of those books you must read in order to be considered a human being. **Remembrance of Things Past** or **In Search of Lost Time** , by Marcel Proust (will take you a full year, or at least it did me). Again, a fascinating insight into a certain time and place. **The Razor’s Edge** , by Somerset Maugham. This book was THE catalyst that made me break out of Texas and out into the wide world. Bill Murray was sufficiently impressed with it, too, so much so that he reportedly agreed to do \*Ghostbusters \* only if they let him film this book. **Don Quixote** , by Cervantes. Regarded the first modern novel and another one on my History profs list of books to read in order to be considered a human being. The OP mentioned \*\*Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates \*\* by Tom Robbins, but I was disappointed in it. Among other things, having spent some time in Laos myself, the notion of any ex-US serviceman from the Vietnam War living there in such a capacity is a little TOO much for my suspension of disbelief, as is the notion of Lao villagers sitting in rapt attention week after week for years listening to academic lectures. He even gets the raunchy shows in Bangkok’s Patpong red-light district wrong. Surprising, since he’s supposedly spent so much time in Southeast Asia himself. But even if I were unfamiliar with this area, I don’t think I would have liked it. Much of his more recent work I’ve found substandard, and nothing he wrote before or since holds a candle to **Jitterbug Perfume**. I think **One Hundred Years of Solitude** by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez is at least in the top 10 if not in the top 5, as is **The Name of the Rose** by Umberto Eco ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/47 "2007-10-07T16:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=TheMerchandise] Oh, have 'em and love 'em. But loved _Blind Assassin_ most-est. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Sorry for the presumption. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/48 "2007-10-07T16:16:34Z")
[QUOTE=TheMerchandise] …at least, according to you! I’m going to bypass such trivial works as _The Great Gatsby_ and _Moby Dick_ and go with: _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 This thread is also my sneaky way of compiling an interesting list for a new book-buying spree. [/QUOTE] I LOVE _Fierce Invalids_! Philip Roth’s \*American Pastoral \* is on my list as an all-time great read. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/49 "2007-10-07T17:54:52Z")
As other posters have mentioned this list is very much an ephemeral thing: If you ask me tomorrow you’ll probably get a different list. I’ll stand by the value of all these works, but there will be many others that are almost as compelling that won’t make today’s list. Alexander Solzhenistyn’s [One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich](http://www.amazon.com/One-Day-Life-Ivan-Denisovich/dp/0374529523/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6847236-6065439?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191778881&sr=8-1). If you don’t know what this book is, it’s the account of one day in the life of a prisoner in a Gulag. The writing is plain, the continual privation of the prisoners comes through vividly, and there is no hope, no resolution for what is going on in the book. In spite of that I have always been stunned by how beautiful the book is. It’s not a happy work, but it’s heartbreaking. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s [The Little Prince](http://www.amazon.com/Little-Prince-Antoine-Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry/dp/0156012197/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-6847236-6065439?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191778948&sr=1-2). It could be only a children’s book, but it’s so much more than that. Lyrical, and thought-provoking. I can’t say more about it, except: where else would you learn that elephants need to be afraid of giant snakes? 😉 C. S. Lewis’ works. I’m torn between specifically reccomending [The Screwtape Letters](http://www.amazon.com/Screwtape-Letters-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652934/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-6847236-6065439?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191779021&sr=1-2) or [A Grief Observed](http://www.amazon.com/Grief-Observed-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652381/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-6847236-6065439?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191779145&sr=1-2). Choose one of them for yourself. Both reward re-reading. Screwtape is a series of letters from a senior devil to his nephew, on the way to tempt his mortal into sin. A fascinating look at what evil is in a modern world, and an often damning (literally) condemnation of many of the more poisonous traits in Christianity. Grief is a lightly edited version of four notebooks Lewis kept after his wife, found late in his life, died relatively shortly after they married. The pain, and anger and doubt all comes through vividly. A fascinating look at a deeply religious man dealing with a loss all the greater for that he’d never expected to have the boon in the first place of romantic love. The movie Shadowlands seemed to me to be based, in part on these writings, but the movie cheated, by ending before Lewis’ character reaffirmed his faith. And now for something completely different. Or so some people might think: Any one of Richard Feynman’s books of essays. [Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!](http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Adventures-Curious-Character/dp/0393316041/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6847236-6065439?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191779230&sr=1-1) is the more well-known of these books, but I really love the title essay from [What Do You Care What Other People Think?](http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-Think/dp/0393320928/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-6847236-6065439?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191779230&sr=1-2) Both books deal with observations by one of the finest minds in the twentieth century, illuminated with self-honesty, and a wicked sense of humor. What I really like about What Do You Care is the way that Feynman credits his late wife with teaching him about what was really important in life. Finally, since I think everyone should also read some fluff, now and then, I’ll suggest Mark Twain’s [Adventures of Huckleberry Finn](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/102-5567399-2800918?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Huckleberry+Finn) - the classic coming of age story, and struggle between what the protagonist has been told is right, and what he believes right to be. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/50 "2007-10-07T21:32:29Z")
Because Salinger’s _Catcher in the Rye_ didn’t tell the “whole story”, add: _Franny & Zooey Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters & Seymour - An Introduction 9 Stories_ ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/51 "2007-10-08T01:50:36Z")
_Winesburg, Ohio_ by Sherwood Anderson _The Book of Laughter and Forgetting_ by Milan Kundera _Till We Have Faces_ by C. S. Lewis _Roughing It_ by Mark Twain _Middlemarch_ by George Eliot Honorary mention: _Main Street_ by Sinclair Lewis _My Antonia_ by Willa Cather Sci-Fi 5: _Left Hand of Darkness_ by Ursula LaGuin _The Gods Themselves_ by Isaac Asimov _Icehenge_ by Kim Stanley Robinson _Fahrenheit 451_ by Ray Bradbury _Brave New World_ by Aldous Huxley ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/52 "2007-10-08T02:05:47Z")
_Riddley Walker Independent People Hunger Kristin Lavransdatter The Dwarf_ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/53 "2007-10-08T08:41:11Z")
I can’t think of any of the classics I’ve read that are worth inflicting on anyone, so here are some more entertaining titles instead. Jennifer Government by Max Barry Although absurdist, this book has enough reality to it to make you wonder if it’s possible. Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman Very real, very screwed up people show us how very badly true love can be when it runs its course. War For The Oaks by Emma Bull Possibly the very best urban fantasy ever written, and as a bonus it has one over few non-human leads that it’s still possible to fall in love with. You’ll want a Phouka too, I promise. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood Atwood is very good at two things. One is writting short stories. The other is dystopias. This is one of the latter. When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penmen The 12th century characters in this novel leap off the page and set up housekeeping in your brain. I like all her books, but this one is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/54 "2007-10-08T11:05:21Z")
This thread makes me feel shamefully under-read, but I’d like to toss in _Life of Pi_, by Yann Martel. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/55 "2007-10-08T11:14:10Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] _Riddley Walker_ [/QUOTE] :high fives lissener: Russell Hoban is a personal favorite. I’ll say _Charlotte’s Web_, _Huck Finn_, _The Great Gatsby_, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and _Native Son_. At least as books Americans ought to read. And they’re all really accessible, so there’s no excuse for _not_ reading them. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/56 "2007-10-08T11:21:13Z")
\*\*1984 \*\* by orwell can be one of the 5 . It portrays a dystopian world so powerfully, that it may leave you shaken for a while. Since the author drew inspiration from real life communist countries, it was disturbing enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/57 "2007-10-08T14:27:16Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] War For The Oaks by Emma Bull Possibly the very best urban fantasy ever written, and as a bonus it has one over few non-human leads that it’s still possible to fall in love with. You’ll want a Phouka too, I promise. [/QUOTE] I have this book, I’ve seen it recommended a kajillion times, I’ve been reading de Lint for years, but still I haven’t read War for the Oaks. Thanks for your nudge. I’ll read it next. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/58 "2007-10-08T14:36:58Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] In no particular order: The OP mentioned \*\*Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates \*\* by Tom Robbins, but I was disappointed in it. Among other things, having spent some time in Laos myself, the notion of any ex-US serviceman from the Vietnam War living there in such a capacity is a little TOO much for my suspension of disbelief, as is the notion of Lao villagers sitting in rapt attention week after week for years listening to academic lectures. He even gets the raunchy shows in Bangkok’s Patpong red-light district wrong. Surprising, since he’s supposedly spent so much time in Southeast Asia himself. But even if I were unfamiliar with this area, I don’t think I would have liked it. Much of his more recent work I’ve found substandard, and nothing he wrote before or since holds a candle to **Jitterbug Perfume**. I think **One Hundred Years of Solitude** by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez is at least in the top 10 if not in the top 5, as is **The Name of the Rose** by Umberto Eco [/QUOTE] Are you maybe thinking of _Villa Incognito_? Which isn’t that great, actually. The action in\* Fierce Invalids \*takes place primarily along the Amazon and Syria. Jeez, unless my mind is blanking a big part of the book… ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/59 "2007-10-08T15:47:40Z")
The Bible, You don’t have to believe it…lord knows I don’t… but it’s part of our cultural heritage. Ok you don’t have to read all the begats and such, but Genesis, Exodus, Revelation and a few others if you want to understand your fellow humans !984. Which stadly will also tell you quite a bit about your fellow humans. (And if you want to right anything Politics and the English Language…and pretty much anything by Eric Blair.) Guns Germs and Steel. Mandatory. Alice in Wonderland. Anna Karinia ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672/60 "2007-10-09T03:23:29Z")
[QUOTE=TheMerchandise] Are you maybe thinking of _Villa Incognito_? Which isn’t that great, actually. The action in\* Fierce Invalids \*takes place primarily along the Amazon and Syria. [/QUOTE] :smack: Yes, as a matter off act I am thinking of _Villa Incognito_, now that you mention it. I admit I liked \*Fierce Invalids \* now that I’ve got it straight which one it is. Still, I can’t imagine anyone liking any of Robbins’ books better than _Jitterbug Perfume_. That was his big 5-star epic. But thanks for setting me straight. But looking over this thread, I’m seeing more “Books I Personally Like, but They May Not Have Universal Appeal” than I am “Books Everyone Should read.” I will never forgive myself for not making my old History prof write out his list of books you need to read in order to be a human being, like _Don Quixote_. Each time one of these works popped up during the course of his lectures, he’d say, “It’s one of the books you need to read in order to consider yourself a human being.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-books-everyone-should-read-before-they-die/421672.md?page=4)