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Original poster

OK - I want new things to read. Please can you list two books- one classic, one modern- you think everyone shoulf read.

194 replies

seeker · 22/10/2008 22:45

I'll start. Pride and Prejudice and The Kite Runner, by Khalid Hosseini.

OP posts:
poissonfou · 23/10/2008 12:23

candide
atonement
though alot easier to think of many classics not so for contempory

oceana · 23/10/2008 12:21

1984 (changed my view of the world)

The Blind Assassin (Perfection...IMHO!)

OrmIrian · 23/10/2008 12:16

Talking of Robert Graves. Anyone read (and become temporarily obsessed with) The White Goddess? Fascinating book.Read it at college many years ago. But it seems noew that much of it was actually written by his girlfriend

CaptainKarvol · 23/10/2008 12:16

to kill a mockingbird
women on the edge of time (delighted that this has already got a mention)

wotulookinat · 23/10/2008 12:10

Dr Faustus (does that count?) and Closely Observed Trains. And The Picture of Dorian Gray.

bundle · 23/10/2008 12:08

ooh good choices myeye!

would love to have the time/energy/commitment to read the Dance To The Music of Time series by Anthony Powell

jumpingbeans · 23/10/2008 12:07

I did not like Kite Runner, but Loved 1000 Suns, give it ago

MyEye · 23/10/2008 12:06

Madame Bovary
The Line of Beauty

BroccoliSpearedThroughTheHead · 23/10/2008 12:05

Decline & Fall by Evelyn Waugh because it's so bloody funnt.

Or The Picture of Dorian Gray, if only for the description of the garden at the start. The whole story is brilliant.

And modern - I loved Making History by Stephen Fry. Very clever.

bundle · 23/10/2008 12:04

modern: Engleby by Sebastian Faulks

classic: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Eniddo · 23/10/2008 12:04
jumpingbeans · 23/10/2008 12:02

Wuthering Heights and A Thousand Suns by Khalid Hosseini.

Cremolatorium · 23/10/2008 12:02

classic:

The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

modern:

"The History Of Love", by Nicole Krauss -
(because i have just read it and it was wonderful.)

francagoestohollywood · 23/10/2008 12:00

Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse n.5. Is it a classic or modern?

Which reminds me that Chaim Potok Davita's harp is fab.

Classic: any PG Wodehouse.

FlameThrowersKillZombies · 23/10/2008 11:56

Grapes of Wrath

His Dark Materials

Eniddo · 23/10/2008 11:55

this morning I have been reading
WAtchmen (modern graphic novel)
and
Wish for a pony, monica edwards (classic)

hows that for eclectic

Dioriffic · 23/10/2008 11:55

Message withdrawn

Dioriffic · 23/10/2008 11:54

Message withdrawn

motherinferior · 23/10/2008 11:54

Marge Piercy's Braided Lives also very, very good indeed (her subsequent books aren't, are they)

Eniddo · 23/10/2008 11:52

ooh but you have to read Invitation to the Waltz first mi. love both of them.

how about:

Greek Myths, robert graves
Cazalet Chronicle, elizabeth jane howard

motherinferior · 23/10/2008 11:52

Oh no, actually, I'd say my 'classic' should be Bram Stoker's Dracula.

motherinferior · 23/10/2008 11:51

The weather in the streets (Rosamund Lehman)
Wise Children (Angela Carter)

mazzystartled · 23/10/2008 11:50

The Periodic Table/If This Is a Man - Primo Levi
The Corrections - Jonathan Frantzen

Bucharest · 23/10/2008 11:49

Or Vida- Marge Piercy.

We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Hmmm. Classic? Lady Chatterley' Lover.

OrmIrian · 23/10/2008 11:48

Madge, not Marge

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