RRC Archives

As I get older, I feel the need to read more "classics"..not the boring "cause you're supposed to" classics, but books that really gripped you.

My only requirements....no war history, no climbing related, and at least 20 years old....

ideas?

Lolita

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - THE "Great American Novel"? Probably. Simply a must read.

Shogun, Lonesome Dove, LOTR, A Prayer for Owen Meaney, Siddhartha

The Fountainhead, Roots

interesting Pigsteak. i'd be curious about the mood cause that influences my pick. but Moby Dick is never a bad option. anything Hemingway....
not 'gripping' in the sunday night movie way, The Sun Also Rises perhaps?

maybe a little dated, but Jack London is out of the spotlight but 'gripping', Steinbeck..., Mahfouz Naguib?

Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises' is one that will draw you in from the start. His style and the way he introduces you to characters...amazing.

Also, I am a firm believer that 'Catcher in the Rye' should be read every 5-7 years.

Sorry, I think I posted in the wrong place the first time:

Catcher in the Rye
Lord of the Flies
Slaughterhouse Five (not war history, i promise)

Not necessarily a classic but certainly worth it: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage to the Antarctic.

Both of mine have already been mentioned, actually by the same person, but if you're keeping score you can give them extra ticks...

Lonesome Dove is a great read. Not just the original, but the entire Lonesome Dove series (which, oddly, does not begin with Lonesome Dove, even though that was written first). Book 1, Dead Mans Walk, and Book 2, Comanche Moon, are both easy to read with great character development, Return to Lonesome Dove is pretty good. I could do with or without the last book of the series, Streets of Laredo.

Lord of the Rings is one of my all time favorites, but it is not for everyone. It is heady, though, and keeping track of all the plot-lines and characters, can be a challenge, and it is not a book to be read while you are distracted. But the world Tolkien creates is either remarkable or a waste of time, depending on how well you emerse yourself into it. For a lighter read, I do enjoy reading the Hobbit to my kids and can't wait until they are old enough to be nerds like their dad and understand LOTR. Unlike most Tolkien fans, though, I would warn you away from The Silmarillion unless you are REALLY into LOTR. The first part of The Silmarillion is a thinly veiled interpretation of the book of Genesis, and once he finally gets into the actual story telling, it lacks the attention to detail and the story telling of LOTR (probably because Tolkien's died without finishing it and his son "edited" it from whatever notes he could find).