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Question: Classic, must-read, books!?
My new Language Arts teacher has inspired me to explore more classic and literary-advanced books!. I really want to get more familiar with classics, but im not too sure where to start!.!.

Could anyone list some classic books which I must read!?
Ex!. Shakespear!?!?
I'd give more examples but really, shakespear is the only famous author/playewrite i can name!.!.

Help is extremely appreciated!.

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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
well just because it has to be classical doesn't mean it has to be super duper old!.
actually if you don't mind i will give you the list of the books that i had to read last year in Honors English, maybe you will like them!.
*okay try this author!. Ernest Hemingway!. he wrote some good books such as "the old man and the sea", trust me all most everyone who is past 50 knows this!. try him out, you just might like his stories!.
* Hal Borland wrote "When the Legends Die" it's a book, made into a movie, about a Ute Indian boy who is taken away and forced into a reservation where he becomes a bronc rider!.
* there is a short story called "Of Mice and Men"
*f you want to read a weird book try "Brave New World" it's not really weird but it's different!. it takes place in the future and people have a different perspective on things, i thought it was good!.
* "Anthem" by Ayn something!. sorry i can't remember the authors name!.
* " The Odyssey" is a good one!.
* we even read "Romeo and Juliet"
*more classical books are
Black Beauty
Tom Sawyer
Huckleberry Fin
even try
The catcher in the Rye

these are books that i can think of that were worth reading, the language is a little different, especially in Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer"!.
hope this gives you an idea that not all classical books have to be hundreds of years old!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I'm guessing you mean famous literature that is often alluded to in culture!.

Of that, I would suggest Shakespeare's Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth (among others, those stand out the most)!.

The Bible!.

The Metamorphosis (easy and interesting to read--by Franz Kafka)
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
Moby Dick
The Catcher in the Rye (classic, you will hear about this one all the time)

this is just a small list of examples!. Go online and check out what books are being taught in schools, what the more famous works of literature are!.!.!.and a lot of those will be good to read and help you with whatever you need to know!.
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This is a great question because I am into reading myself-- and like you I was stumped!. There's tons of great books out there and I wanted to choose the right one!. For you, I don't have just one suggestion but a list of books that you can choose from!

I found this really great book lovers journal at http://www!.bibliopages!.com -- it's called Read, Remember and Recommend, a reading list journal for teens!. It's a spiral bound reading journal with Awards Book Lists (including Books by Teens for Teens, The Alex Awards, The Carnegie Medal and the College Board List - a list of 101 books for College Bound readers)!. It also includes lists of books from different genres from Fiction and Literature, Historical Fiction, Biographies, Nonfiction, Science, Mysteries and Thrillers and even Fantasy and Folklore!.

There's also a space for you to write down your personal favorites, list down the books you loaned, and write down insights you may have about books you've read!. The best thing about is the book suggestions -- the book selections are awesome and will help any book lover read the right books!.

It really helped organize my book reading because of the tons of lists that it has!. You won't have to worry about the next book to read!. :)

Find it at http://www!.bibliopages!.com!. Happy reading!
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What do you picture when you say "classic" because that could be Greek, Shakespeare or anything from the Victorians!?!?!?!?
If by classic you mean well loved, popular or standard "literature" Try something like Jane Austen!? She is easier to read, and her stories are classic in theme!. Maybe Pride and Prejudice, and then you could rent the BBC's movie with Colin Firth! Or Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront?!. I did not love that story until I read it for a psychology through Lit!. class, and now it is one of my favorites!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Go to the library and find a book that teaches you how to read!.

Harold Bloom's "How to read and why" is awesome!.

"How to read literature like a professor" is a good one!.

"Story" by Robert Mckee is good too!.

Those books teach you how to read with purpose and they give you lots of ideas for other adventures!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Herman Melville; Moby Dick!. It may seem overwhelming at first but look at the way the chapters are arranged: narrative and then the next chapter will be scientific!. Most people do not believe it but there are quite a few lines in Moby Dick that are hilariously funny (like when he found out he had just gotten married and had no idea)!.
Nikolai Gogol; Dead Souls!.!.!.lots of irony
For an incredibly interesting discussion of why evil exsists in the world and how good can combat it try Boethius:The consolation of Philosophy!. There is a very intense part that is very revealing about why bad things happen to good people!.
Those three would be in my suitcase if I was ever sent to a desert island plus Anna Karenina, War and Peace and Le Mort de Arthur!.
Have funWww@QuestionHome@Com

"Madame Bobary"- Gustave Flaubert
"Hamlet", "Othello", "Romeo and Juliet" - Shakespare
"The Picture of Dorian Gray", "The importance of being Earnest", "Lady Windermere's Fan"-Oscar Wilde
"Crime and Punishment" - Fyodor Dostoevsky
"The Iliad and Odyssey" -Homer
"Don Quixote" -Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra
"The Miserables"- Victor-Marie Hugo
"The Gold-bug"- Edgar Allan Poe
"Divine Comedy" - Dante Alighieri
"Cantar de Mio Cid"(Spanish medieval poem)- Anonymous
"Oliver Twist"- Charles Dickens

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Erm, J!.R!.R Tolkien's books are classics!.

The Silmarillion might not be for everyone though (it took me several reads to fully understand it) but it's the best classic I've read!.
It's about the pre-LOTR era, then you could try the Fellowship of the Rings etc!.!.!.
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Hello! I'm a beginner in classic as well!. I would recommend Animal Farm (George Orwell) and Les Miserables (Victor Hugo) for you!.

Animal Farm is a very easy read, but if you want a "heavier" one, go for Les Miserables!. The story is amazing!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Rather than give you a list of classic books, I will list the authors, instead!.

Alexander Dumas
Victor Hugo
Geoffrey Chaucer
Charles Dickens
Louisa May Alcott
Jane Austin
George Eliot
George Orwell
Jules Verne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Zane Grey
Robert Frost
Emily Bronte
Upton Sinclair
Edna St!. Vincent Millay
Herman Melville
Agatha Christie
Edith Wharton

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Edgar Allan Poe (LOVE HIS STORIES!)

R!.L Steinbeck

Maya Deangelou (no idea how you spell her name)

Whoever wrote Little WomenWww@QuestionHome@Com

Oedipus the King by Sophocles!.

or American Psycho! ahaha!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

to kill a mockingbird by harper lee!. you must also read edgar allen poe!. Www@QuestionHome@Com