I'm not as well-read as I think I should be - what books should I have read by now?

[CambridgeBlue]

I consider myself fairly intelligent but when I think about it I haven't read a lot of the 'classics' (not adult ones anyway, read far too many children' classics!) apart from those I did at school. For example I am embarrassed to admit I've never read any Jane Austen.

I read all sorts from fairly low brow chic lit to historical stuff, biographies etc but I tend to choose books that I know I will enjoy rather than giving anything a bit more challenging a go.

What sort of thing would be on an 'ought to have read' list?

I reread LOTF earlier this year, having first read it at school. It is vile, repulsive, a horrifying depiction of what can happen when society breaks down.

But I like it very much, and class it as a favourite novel which I shall want to read again and will keep for my DC when they are old enough to appreciate it.

I would strongly suggest reading books because you feel you have to. By all means try all that have been mentioned above, but don't feel you should like all of them, even if you're 'supposed' to like them. Books are so subjective, I for one dislike The Great Gabsy, found it tiresome and uninteresting.

Luckily Lord of the Flies is one of the few I have read so no need to decide whether to read it or light a fire with it!

I found lots of these in the Kindle store last night, just wondering what to try first - I'm considering To Kill a Mockingbird or The Great Gatsby.

I would strongly suggest not reading books just* because you feel you have to

Gah!!!

Is Brave New world worth rereading, I did it for Eng lit. And despite getting an A I can't really remember it.

I just remember getting very cross with the 'cloning' because the science is all wrong.

I can tell you things I've read that I think expanded my horizons at different stages for different reasons.

At around 17/18:
Vanity Fair
Lord of the Rings
Gormenghast
Hamlet

In my 20s:
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Great Hunger, Cecil Woodham-Smith
Religion and the Decline of Magic, Keith Thomas
The Voices of Morebath, Eamon Duffy
Paris After the Liberation, Artemis Cooper and Anthony Beevor
The World we have Lost by Peter Laslett

In my 30s:
Brighton Rock
War and Peace (just keep going anyhow through the first few chapters, I survived by thinking of it as a spoof of nineteenth century novels, then after a bit you suddenly find you have been swept away by it).
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
and i know it's a Mumsnet perennial but it's there for a good reason - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

I don't know what to think about the Jane Austen thing. I re-read them all every year or so, so they don't change me in any way, I know them too well. But I guess I find more and more echoes of my own badness in them. I think actually that Emma is both the most openly nasty and the most enlightening. They are all pretty dark, Persuasion used to be my favourite but Mansfield Park is now. The way she simply writes horrible endings for so many of her characters - and horrible living endings, she doesn't kill anybody important, they have to go on living and being tormented, the way we all do. She is a vivisectionist.

It's funny really, the idea of an 'improving' book but I do think challenging preconceptions about certain forms of literature is an 'improving' thing in that therein lies the path to broader mindedness.

I recall being given Jane Eyre to read and groaning at the thought of having to. I was blown away by the courage of Bronte- she addressed aspects of life that other women and men did not. From slavery to religious hypocrisy, the right of people to be paid a fair days wage, how women's appearance influences the way others respond, the standing of governesses and teachers to the plight of orphans in the 'care system' I found it pretty timeless.

I absolutely love Wuthering Heights, the atmosphere and tragic love story. I also loved Jane Eyre and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. For a bit of light relief The Importance of Being Earnest is also great.

I'd recommend books like 1984, Lord of the Rings, Catcher in The Rye and To Kill A Mockingbird as more modern 'classics' too.

Ooh this has made me want to cosy up on a windy, rainy day and re-read Wuthering Heights (again)!