Hi everyone!
I was recently gifted a collection of books by my book-loving grandmother. Myself I’m more of a non-fiction/science journals kind of person. Over the years she’d kindly jest with me that what I was reading had practical applications, but no emotional ones: and that she’d get me some books to change that.
Today I went to see her and saw she had a box for me. She made on her word, and I now have the following:
1984 by George Orwell
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Animal Farm by George Orwell
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (translated by P&V)
Dubliners by James Joyce
Dune by Frank Herbert
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (translated by Ignat Avsey)
The Plague by Albert Camus (translated by Laura Marris)
Ulysses by James Joyce
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Anthony Briggs)
I think I read Animal Farm back in high school? Aside from that, **where do I even start?** I love philosophy and history in general. Not a big fan of sci-fi stuff. If there’s any that have marine biology then I will surely love it. I guess I’m just wondering, **how** do I even start?
by Icy-Ichthyologist92
5 Comments
Fairly basic selection of 20th century classics. No duds. Start anywhere.
Steinbeck did put marine biology into a novel, *Cannery Row*. It’s very short and wonderful.
Read the back cover and see which sounds interesting.
I’d say start with 1984 or Crime and Punishment first, they’re a little more accessible as far as classics go (not including Animal Farm, but it too). At least I think so. Don’t start with Infinite Jest or Ulysses, they’re pretty dense.
I recommend starting with Cuckoo’s nest, then the other shorter ones in any order, then Dune and East of Eden. You can sprinkle the Russians in there if you want to break them up, or read them later. They’re not hard, necessarily, but they’re long and can feel boring until you get the hang of them. Ulysses is the hardest by far, followed by Infinite Jest. Consider the Lobster is essays, funny and easy to read. There’s two ways to read Ulysses, imo. You can follow a guide (I have a whole separate book that is all annotations) or you can just go, read it for the vibes and accept that you’ll miss all the references and not always understand what’s going on.
If you love philosophy then you can’t go wrong with Dosteyevski. Start with Crime and Punishment. I guarantee you will feel something when you read the last page.
That will prepare you for The Brothers Karamazov. The argument can be made that it’s the greatest philosophical novel ever written.