Required Reading.

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Youre a perfesser at LIT U, what books do you require your pupils to read to expose them to what prose writing is all about?

GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Charles Dickens
COGANS TRADE by George V.Higgins
HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME by Victor Hugo
CALL FOR THE DEAD by John LeCarre
IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote
A LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
SALEMS LOT by Stephen King
WAR & PEACE by Tolstoy
ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis
THE UNFORGIVEN by Alan Le May

 

[sr71plt]

No one novel or groups of novels tells anyone what prose "is all about." They'd benefit from reading any/all of those, but your premise is off.

 

[oggbashan]

A few that come to mind

I've mentioned it before. In 1948 there was published a list of the 1,000 books an English Gentleman should have read, but these are a few that I would recommend:

Sir Ernest Gowers: Plain Words
Q (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch): On the Art of Reading, On the Art of Writing.
George Orwell: Essays including Decline of the English Murder
Lincoln:The Gettysburg Address
R L Stevenson: Familiar Studies of Men and Books
Steinbeck: Cup of Gold
Francis Bacon: Essays
Charles Lamb: Essays of Elia
Rudyard Kipling: Puck of Pook's Hill, Rewards and Fairies
Thorne Smith: The Night Life of the Gods, Topper
Richard Powell: Don Quixote, USA

and:

The Oxford Companion to English Literature; The Oxford Companion to American Literature.

 

[jomar]

Have to narrow down the books, but I'd throw in some Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Elmore Leonard, Robert Parker, Cormac McCarthy (except for The Road), Patrick O'Brian. Probably some others.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

No one novel or groups of novels tells anyone what prose "is all about." They'd benefit from reading any/all of those, but your premise is off.

No, my premise is correct, my wording is off. I prolly shoulda included fairy tales to the list.

 

[sr71plt]

No, my premise is correct, my wording is off. I prolly shoulda included fairy tales to the list.

Tales of the Arabian Nights would have been a good one for an erotica board.

 

[slyc_willie]

I would include:

"Treasures of Tartary" by Robert E. Howard -- excellent description of foreign customs and ideals through the eyes of a Westerner, as well as pretty good descriptions of personal combat
"The Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft -- thought-provoking prose and a prime example that not all fiction needs to read at the 8th grade level
"No Country For Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy -- a wonderful example of writing for the times and how to portray a truly sinister character
"Drawing Blood" by Poppy Z. Brite -- over-the-top but compelling use of gratuitous verbiage and ongoing themes

and

"Naked Lunch" by William Burroughs -- a unique and interesting perspective by a drug addict, and also shows at least one way of weaving together apparently disparate plot lines.

 

[TE999]

I would add the following to the list:

'R.U.R' by Karel Capek He coined the word 'robot' for a mechanical man.

Jules Verne's 'Around the World In Eighty Days' and '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' Well written and forward looking sci-fi.

'Gulliver's Travels' by Johnathan Swift Excellent work of satire.

'Canterbury Tales' by Chaucer. Some tales are rather bawdy and thus would appeal to Lit readers. Get a modern version; reading it in the Olde Englishe is a PITA.

'The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel' by Francois Rabelais Full of crudity, scatological humor, satire and violence. Once considered obscene. (see Lit reference above)

'Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Excellent detective stories.

'The Last of the Mohicans' and the sequel 'The Pathfinder' by James Fenimore Cooper. Lots of adventure during the French and Indian War (Seven Years War).

Reading all of these requires a reasonable level of concentration and an above average vocabulary ... slowly vanishing skills in 21st Century America.

 

[ishtat]

Add Saki's (HH Munro) short stories and anything by PG Wodehouse - leave out Dickens.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I would include:

"Treasures of Tartary" by Robert E. Howard -- excellent description of foreign customs and ideals through the eyes of a Westerner, as well as pretty good descriptions of personal combat
"The Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft -- thought-provoking prose and a prime example that not all fiction needs to read at the 8th grade level
"No Country For Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy -- a wonderful example of writing for the times and how to portray a truly sinister character
"Drawing Blood" by Poppy Z. Brite -- over-the-top but compelling use of gratuitous verbiage and ongoing themes

and

"Naked Lunch" by William Burroughs -- a unique and interesting perspective by a drug addict, and also shows at least one way of weaving together apparently disparate plot lines.

Anton Chugar is like the ultimate predator.

 

[PayDay]

'20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' = A+

also:

The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Good Guy - Dean Koontz
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

+as many short stories as can be found.

 

[trysail]

I'd add at least one volume from H. L. Mencken's trilogy of semi-autobiographical reminisces, probably Happy Days.


While there have been numerous attempts at imitation ( William Manchester's biography of Mencken comes to mind ), nobody (and I mean NOBODY) ever wrote with as distinctive a prose style as Mencken. It is magnificent and it is unforgettable. No one who reads Mencken remains unaffected.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I'd add at least one volume from H. L. Mencken's trilogy of semi-autobiographical reminisces, probably Happy Days.


While there have been numerous attempts at imitation ( William Manchester's biography of Mencken comes to mind ), nobody (and I mean NOBODY) ever wrote with as distinctive a prose style as Mencken. It is magnificent and it is unforgettable. No one who reads Mencken remains unaffected.

That's true. I think its because he had a genius for exposing absurdity.

 

[MaxSebastian]

Michael Chabon, especially Wonder Boys.

Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated

Rex Pickett - Sideways

Walter Kirn - Up in the Air

Kaui Hart Hemmings - The Descendants

Elmore Leonard - Out of Sight

Great storytelling!

 

[Noor]

I would add the following to the list:

'R.U.R' by Karel Capek He coined the word 'robot' for a mechanical man.

Jules Verne's 'Around the World In Eighty Days' and '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' Well written and forward looking sci-fi.

'Gulliver's Travels' by Johnathan Swift Excellent work of satire.

'Canterbury Tales' by Chaucer. Some tales are rather bawdy and thus would appeal to Lit readers. Get a modern version; reading it in the Olde Englishe is a PITA.

'The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel' by Francois Rabelais Full of crudity, scatological humor, satire and violence. Once considered obscene. (see Lit reference above)

'Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Excellent detective stories.

'The Last of the Mohicans' and the sequel 'The Pathfinder' by James Fenimore Cooper. Lots of adventure during the French and Indian War (Seven Years War).

Reading all of these requires a reasonable level of concentration and an above average vocabulary ... slowly vanishing skills in 21st Century America.

Yikes! Had to quick make sure you weren't my father

 

[oggbashan]

That book, originally published in WW2, is:

Title: An English Library: An Annotated List of Classics.

Author: F. Seymour Smith.

Since I posted that I've acquired two copies of that book, one later expanded edition from eBay and a first edition from abebooks.

I sold my original copy to a customer about 15 years ago. I had read almost every book on its listings.

 

[slyc_willie]

Anton Chugar is like the ultimate predator.

After the reading the book three or four times, I'm inclined to agree. The man is beyond sociopathic.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

After the reading the book three or four times, I'm inclined to agree. The man is beyond sociopathic.

I'd rather deal with Hannibal Lecter.

 

[slyc_willie]

I'd rather deal with Hannibal Lecter.

Yeah, at least he would be polite about killing you.

 

[HeyAll]

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

 

[lovecraft68]

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

All I can say is

If you're a fan, sure okay, but as far as influential or something people could learn from?

Only lesson there is that Rice, like King, has grown to big for an editor to stand up to and say "Really?"

 

[lovecraft68]

I'd rather deal with Hannibal Lecter.

I don't watch TV, but heard people talking about the new "Hannibal" TV show.

I had thought that ship had sailed awhile ago.

How can there be any drama when you know from the series who catches him, when, how and what happens down the line?

In Silence of the Lambs, Lecter was amazing. Creepy and mysterious.

In Hannibal Harris got carried away and made him more than human. Especially at the end when he somehow walks unscathed through the pack of wild starving pigs and the assassin who had him dead to rights suddenly grew to afraid to pull the trigger (I refer to book, not lame movie)

Harris went to the well one too many times.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I don't watch TV, but heard people talking about the new "Hannibal" TV show.

I had thought that ship had sailed awhile ago.

How can there be any drama when you know from the series who catches him, when, how and what happens down the line?

In Silence of the Lambs, Lecter was amazing. Creepy and mysterious.

In Hannibal Harris got carried away and made him more than human. Especially at the end when he somehow walks unscathed through the pack of wild starving pigs and the assassin who had him dead to rights suddenly grew to afraid to pull the trigger (I refer to book, not lame movie)

Harris went to the well one too many times.

Thomas Harris wrote two decent books: RED DRAGON and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

 

[lovecraft68]

Thomas Harris wrote two decent books: RED DRAGON and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

Agreed

Although Silence was the bigger hit(and launched Hannibal) Red Dragon I felt was better Francis Dolarhyde was a sympathetic character despite being a killer. I felt for him at the end when he had a chance for love with the blind girl, but his "voice" talked him out of it.

Hannibal and Hannibal Rising were cash cows. Although the origin of how Lecter became a cannibal was pretty disturbing and well done.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Agreed

Although Silence was the bigger hit(and launched Hannibal) Red Dragon I felt was better Francis Dolarhyde was a sympathetic character despite being a killer. I felt for him at the end when he had a chance for love with the blind girl, but his "voice" talked him out of it.

Hannibal and Hannibal Rising were cash cows. Although the origin of how Lecter became a cannibal was pretty disturbing and well done.

I read all 4 of the Hannibal books, and prefer a sympathetic villain like Francis Dolarhyde. Even Hannibal is sympathetic. I'm toying with a villain who attacks VIPs thru their closest friends and associates. He reasons, IF YOU CANT KILL HITLER KILL SPEER, HIMMLER, etc. Destroy the VIP power base. Increase the detection effort exponentially.