Chaos Reading discussion

I really wish I would have started on serious Russian novels a few years ago, when I had longer chunks of time to devote to reading. I am reading The Brothers Karamazov right now and while I am enjoying it I need to set aside larger, uninterrupted chunks of time.

I wish I would have read more of the classics. One of my favorites is Jane Eyre.

Fun and funny books you might enjoy include: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal and A Dirty Job.

Another recent read I really enjoyed was Half of a Yellow Sun.

One thing that has gotten me to expand my reading horizon is the 1001 books you must read before you die list. It is a way of forcing myself to read classics that I might otherwise skip. If you have a competitive personality I suggest starting it because it is a great motivator.

Curious that you would mention Jane Eyre - I read it last year and "I wish I had read this when I was younger" where my thoughts exactly at one point. I spent so much time reading about the submiss and timid women of old, when I could have been reading about kick ass Jane, with her strong personality!

^ This of course means I second this suggestion. :D

Other books I would have liked to read when I was younger as they gave me so much food for thought wereThe Razor's Edge and The God of Small Things

There are so many books that I'm glad I read when I was younger, especially ones that used language and narrative structure in unique ways. In that vein, I second The God of Small Things. 17 is around the age most people seem to fall in love with One Hundred Years of Solitude. Both Midnight's Children and As I Lay Dying also have mind-blowing uses of language and structure.

These, of course, are my tastes :-), yours may be completely different, but I guarantee you'll be glad for having read more 'substantial' books, it's so great to pick them up again 20 years later and see how your relationship to them has changed.

What I vividly remember reading at 17 was The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think it's something that people seem to enjoy most when they're young.

Ruby wrote: "What I vividly remember reading at 17 was The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think it's something that people seem to enjoy most when they're young."

I think that's true, and I think 17 is about the right age; you can definitely be too young for it. Having loved the Hobbit, I tried to read The Lord of the Rings first when I was 11, and couldn't get past the Tom Bombadil section; I just found that bit dull and impenetrable. I finally picked it back up and got through the trilogy when I was about 13 and now 20 years later I'm reading it again, having assumed I would see so much more in it with maturity, which I do with books such as Jane Eyre (I probably was about 17 when I first read that - a really good one to read at about this age) when I re-read them now, and I'm just not enjoying it as much as I expected to – I think it feels like something of an academic exercise on Tolkein's part in trying to invent the most incredibly detailed, fully realised world he could, but in doing that he includes so much which does not really drive the narrative, or enhance the characters. I think I was too young at 11/13 for them, but too old at 33.

As for books I wish I'd read but didn't until much later, Catch-22 would be one – I don't think it's ever too young to learn more about the futility of war. Speaker for the Dead (and Ender's Game first, of course) since I read a load of really trashy Sci-Fi back then and it would have been better if I'd read something a bit more thought provoking, but I didn't discover these until I was almost 30. If you like Science Fiction at all they are really worth your time! I wish I'd found Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series earlier too (I first read it after the Master and Commander film came out) - wonderful writing but not for everyone. For anyone who hasn't read any Dickens by 17 (and they are wonderful, but not the easiest of reads, so 16 or 17 is about the earliest I'd say they are readable) A Christmas Carol is a good place to start - you'll almost certainly know the story but the actual book has so much more to it than the many many adaptations manage to put across.

Rida wrote: " I didn't like The God of Small Things much though. It felt very...disconnected. Not to mention random. I couldn't focus. The language was too flowery for me too. Then again, maybe I was just in a bad mood at the time (I had exams). Hmm, I guess I'll be re-reading it then. :) "

I understand how The God of Small Things might not be a pleaser for everyone. The timeline is not very coherent, the story is sad, its weirdly written.

For some reason, that was exactly what appealed to me, I can't even explain. The way she exposes everything through the bizarre thoughts of children, I found it very beautiful.

Lord of the Flies
1984
Fahrenheit 451
A Tale of Two Cities
Of Mice and Men
Catch 22
The Count of Monte Christo
Death of a Salesman
Fast Food Nation
Murder on the Orient Express
Pygmalion
Pride and Prejudice
Seven Habits of Highly Successful Teens
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Catcher in the Rye
Robinson Crusoe
The Giver
The Grapes of Wrath
The Great Gatsby
The Hounds of the Baskervilles
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Old Man and the Sea
The Scarlet Letter
To Kill a Mockingbird

Just to name a few!! : )

Cat wrote: "I also read the Hobbit when I was younger and I was thinking about getting back into that because I've always had the feeling there was a lot that I'd missed the first time through. And I loved the Lord of the Rings movies, but havn't really had the time during school because I'm almost constantly going to play practices. "

If you do decide to read LoTR then I'd definitely recommend going back to the hobbit first if it's a few years since you read it. To me, the films were better than the books (that may be the first time I've ever been able to say that - oh no, I liked Bladerunner better than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? too), but I know how many people will want to do me serious harm for daring to say that about Tolkein's masterpiece!

Cat wrote: " "I think that's true, and I think 17 is about the right age; you can definitely be too young for it. Having loved the Hobbit, I tried to read The Lord of the Rings first when I was 11, and couldn'..."

Well, probably best to leave it until you are in Uni, then you'll be constantly avoiding going to lectures (in new and creative ways) and have the time. :D

I wish I read these two when I was younger. They were given to me for my 27th birthday. They're both wonderful fables that leave me with a peaceful feeling for days afterwards.

Siddhartha
The Alchemist

I was given The Mists of Avalon for my 21st, and I wish I'd had that earlier.

Ruby wrote: "I was given The Mists of Avalon for my 21st, and I wish I'd had that earlier."

Ahh, see, I was the opposite. I tried to read The Mists of Avalon when I was about 12... my mother kind of raised her eyebrows a little but let me go for it. I lost interest after just a few chapters, since it was really too dense for me then.

I finally picked it up again a few years ago and finished it. Liked it, didn't love it.

I think 17 is definitely an appropriate age for that one, though.

Started University at age 17. Some of the books from that year:

The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Bible, The Odyssey, The Iliad, Antigone, The Republic, The Aeneid, The Bacchae, Augustine's Confessions, Divine Comedy (all three), Song of Roland, The Tempest, The Prince, On the Dignity of Man, Meditations on First Philosophy, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Kant's Future Metaphysics and Metaphysics of Morals, Leviathan, Gulliver's Travels, Hegel's Philosophy of History, Frankenstein, Origin of the Species, The Gay Science, Beyond Good and Evil, Death in Venice, Mill's On Liberty, Vindication of the Rights of Men/Women/ Crime and Punishment, The Waste Land, The Second Sex, White Noise -- some others as well.

Hitting all those books would pretty much prepare you for all the substantial reading you'd like to do. At the same time, I wish I'd read more Shakespeare and a few comic books as well, just for balance.

Additional recommendations: CC.s list (above) is awesome.

Riona wrote: "Ruby wrote: "I was given The Mists of Avalon for my 21st, and I wish I'd had that earlier."

Ahh, see, I was the opposite. I tried to read The Mists of Avalon when I was about 12... my mother kind ..."

I was about 17 when I read The Mists of Avalon I was in the middle of a Arthurian phase, this one was one of my favourites

I failed to read The Gormenghast Novels about five times when I was 16, then when I eventually started again at 23 I didn't even need to read the first 60 pages hahaha... too tomey for me at that age. Wish I'd had the patience then :-)

Leo wrote: "I failed to read The Gormenghast Novels about five times when I was 16, then when I eventually started again at 23 I didn't even need to read the first 60 pages hahaha... too tomey for me at that a..."

But you only really need to read the first one. And it's only leetle :(

Ruby wrote: "But you only really need to read the first one. And it's only leetle :("

I know right! The second one was awesome too, and little known fact, I wrote the third one myself when I was drunk :0)

Leo wrote: "Ruby wrote: "But you only really need to read the first one. And it's only leetle :("

I know right! The second one was awesome too, and little known fact, I wrote the third one myself when I was d..."

That actually wouldn't surprise me. It's not the best of the three! Then again, the guy was dead when he wrote it, so....... he's excused.