• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Can anyone recommend good fiction books?

Dustin Kesselberg

Illuminator
D
Joined
Nov 30, 2004
Messages
4,669
Can anyone recommend some good fiction books that have played an important role in our culture? Books that are fairly sophisticated and have had an impact on western culture. Two books that I can name from memory might be "1984" or "War of the worlds". Books like that. Not necessarily science fiction though but those are ok.

I don't know much about fiction books and that's why I ask. I wouldn't know where to start looking for some of the types of books I'm looking for.
 
Dustin said:
Can anyone recommend some good fiction books that have played an important role in our culture? Books that are fairly sophisticated and have had an impact on western culture. Two books that I can name from memory might be "1984" or "War of the worlds". Books like that. Not necessarily science fiction though but those are ok.

I don't know much about fiction books and that's why I ask. I wouldn't know where to start looking for some of the types of books I'm looking for.
Click to expand...

Try "Delta of Venus" by Anais Nin. It's a collection of her erotic writings and it's noteworthy for being seminal in the area of erotica written by women, from a woman's perspective. Much of it was written during the second World War.

You obviously need to read it.

Hey, someone put it online, which may or may not be a copyright violation. Not safe for work.
 
Last edited:
Gone with the Wind--Margaret Mitchell
Uncle Tom's Cabin--Harriet Beecher STowe
Brave New World--Aldous Huxley
To Kill a Mockingbird--Harper Lee
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland--Lewis Carroll

That's what I can think of right now. If I come up with more, I'll add them.
 
These are some cultural touchstone novels I've enjoyed:

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton

The Conformist, Alberto Moravia

Main Street, Sinclair Lewis

My Ántonia, Willa Cather

 
Last edited:
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand comes to mind. It's #2 on a Library of Congress survey of books that most influenced people's lives (#1 was the Bible). It's long, but I really enjoyed it.

I'd also recommend the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien, and "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl.
 
LibraryLady said:
Gone with the Wind--Margaret Mitchell
Uncle Tom's Cabin--Harriet Beecher STowe
Brave New World--Aldous Huxley
To Kill a Mockingbird--Harper Lee
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland--Lewis Carroll

That's what I can think of right now. If I come up with more, I'll add them.
Click to expand...

Some of those sound good. Especially Alice in wonderland. I'm a big fan of Lewis Carroll but I haven't read that book.
 
hgc said:
These are some cultural touchstone novels I've enjoyed:

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton

The Conformist, Alberto Moravia

Main Street, Sinclair Lewis

My Ántonia, Willa Cather
Click to expand...

I saw the movie "Grapes of Wrath" with Henry Fonda, I hear the book is much more graphic and depressing though.
 
I love Hemingway. Start with The Old Man and The Sea.

Some of my non sci-fi fave fiction titles (we'd be here all day with my fave sci fi):

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving (you might also want to try The World According to Garp)
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Will be back with more later!
 
Dustin said:
I saw the movie "Grapes of Wrath" with Henry Fonda, I hear the book is much more graphic and depressing though.
Click to expand...


Yes, it can get to be pretty grim. But what happens on the last page of this book is incredible, and totally unpredictable (and not in the movie). Don't cheat -- you have to read the whole book up to that point to get the full impact.

Great movie too. It's a top-10 John Ford.
 
Dustin said:
Some of those sound good. Especially Alice in wonderland. I'm a big fan of Lewis Carroll but I haven't read that book.
Click to expand...

Also read 'Through the Looking Glass" - back to back

Mark Twain: Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Huckleberry Finn (in that order). I like all of Twain's stuff, and would love to have a complete set of all of his works. But these books are classic American fiction. Children enjoy them, but the book themes and conflicts are very adult.
 
Seriously.

Dune, Frank Herbert.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The Alchemist, Ben Johnson

The Colour Out of Space, H. P. Lovecraft. Complete text here.

Micromegas, and Plato's Dream, by Voltaire. Short stories, full text online.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong

The Time Machine, H. G. Wells

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, and "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Tick Tock Man. Harlan Ellison

Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlien.

Rashomon, and In a Grove. Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Complete text online.

The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Christopher Marlowe

The Man in the High Castle, Phillip K. Dick.

ETA: How could I forget The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain? Arguably the first uniquely American masterpiece of fiction.
 
Last edited:
Moby Dick - Herman Melville; David Copperfield (or any other) - Charles Dickens; The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald; Hearts of Darkness - Joseph Conrad; Tom Jones - Henry Fielding; Any P.G. Wodehouse, Jane Austen or Bronte sisters; Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons, I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith. (Just of the toppa' me head!!)
 
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, by Douglas Adams. It helps explain a bunch of things you might have found confusing. (Note: The books are still the best form of the story. Pay no attention to the movie.)

I'm surprised no one mentioned Gulliver's Travels, by Johnathon Swift. I recommend the Barnes & Nobles Classics edition, which has very good notes about the historic context, and what much of the older verbiage means.


ETA:
Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton. is always a thrilling read, even though my overall opinions of the author have lowered a bit, of late.
 
Last edited:
LibraryLady will steer you in the right direction, but it might be wise to visit your local library in person. They will have a variety of sources on hand to help you choose titles, and they might offer subscription databases you can access (at the library or from home) with your library card. NoveList seems to be pretty popular.

LiteraryCritic.com has several "best books" lists to browse through.
 
To echo fulair - definitely any Austen or Dickens. For Melville, start with a volume of novellas and stories: It'll include Billy Budd, Bartelby the Scrivener, The Encantatas, Benito Cerino.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom