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Ask HN: I'm reading all the classics, what should I read next?
I'm reading all the classics, what should I read next?
As in classic literature.
Since this varies by region, I'm in the US.
What's your top classic literature book you've read?
- latexr 4y ago> what should I read next? What have you read so far and what have you enjoyed the most?
- lando2319 4y agoI was trying to avoid mentioning the classics I've read thus far, because I didn't want to bias people towards genres I'm taking in everything
- theCrowing 4y ago[flagged]
- lando2319 4y agoThanks, I'll check that one out.
- matt_holmes 4y agoAs you have a good sense of humour, try Kafka "The Trial", and his other short works Hesse "Steppenwolf", and if you like it "The Glass Bead Game" Stendahl "The Red and the Black" and Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" Once you've read them come back for more! And if I may note, literature is a world thing that opens up new domains. No way to limit it to one place. However in your stated context, how about Steinbeck "The Pearl" and Miller "Death of a Salesman"
- 082349872349872 4y agoFWIW, I pretty much read the glass bead game in The Glass Bead Game to be literature as Literature (or even L̴̛̪̻̙͆̊i̸̟̯̻̼̬̍͋́̓ṭ̷̣̉̂̑͗ę̴̟̝̩̞̃̍r̷̨̧̘̪̈a̶̧̤̤̍t̴̢͓̳͓̒͊u̶̹̘̯͕̓̊͠ͅr̴̲̺̤̋̽͠e̴̬͝) with "plays" consisting of references and meta-'s in all manner of domains. Sort of like metamemers go to the Opera? Glass bead arrangements (and rearrangements) as Beautiful Aperiodic Crystals of Harmony?
- latexr 4y ago“The classics” are a limited list of books and we don’t know if you’ve read one of them or fifty. If you’re reading every single one, all that matters is the order. Knowing what you’ve read is important to avoid recommending duplicates.
- rl3 4y ago>Knowing what you’ve read is important to avoid recommending duplicates. I don't see the issue with OP handling their own deduplication, makes for a better thread overall.
- 082349872349872 4y agoStanisław Lem, The Cyberiad trad., Nasreddin Hodja stories I'll stop here, because https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin#Taste_the_same https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin#Taste_the_same
- WHA8m 4y agoI don't want to translate titles, so you'll have to figure it out yourself. Anyways... Tolstoi, the 2 most important books. Dostojewski, the 2 most important books. Don Quijote. Umberto Eco is good. Frank Herberts Dune. Hermann Hesse. Lolita. Pinoccio. Frankenstein.
- surprisetalk 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_top_book_lists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_top_book_lists
- bediger4000 4y agoMoby Dick, by far. Skip the chapter where the Pequod is becalmed, and all the sailors sing.
- greggarious 4y agoI studied English Literature in undergrad (among other things), and honestly it depends on how you define “classic”. I’m a fan of creative nonfiction, so check out “In Cold Blood” for a good introduction to the genre. If you’re looking for more traditional fiction, “Player Piano” by Vonnegut. Or if we’re going to go to be overly literal about the definition of “classic”, then go back and reread “Shakespeare”, being sure to pause to search on the web every time you don’t understand a line. (And don’t let anyone who suggests “Lolita” take you to a secondary location - there’s other Nabokov novels.)
- yef 4y agoThe Foundation series is considered a classic of science fiction.
- MilnerRoute 4y agoWashington Irving's "The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon." It's 30 separate pieces -- two of which you've heard of ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip van Winkle.") But the larger work is a collection of essays by a travel-loving man, so even those two stories are cast as rural tales he'd heard during his travels. They're surprisingly modern -- funny, witty -- yet also very personal. (Irving wrote them in England while dearly missing his homeland of America.) Another interesting book if you're living in California: Two Years Before the Mast. Basically a blog kept by a sailor on a ship in the 1830s -- except he was an educated man who just took the job for his health, so his writing and observations are really succinct and vivid.
- cafard 4y agoProbably War and Peace. American, probably Moby Dick.