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Must Read Classics
My favorite books are the classics. I'm always searching for "new" classics to read, ones I've not heard of or have overlooked. Let me know which ones you love!
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A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 301 |
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Fathers and Sons
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 98,714 ratings
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| 302 |
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Pale Fire
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4.17 avg rating — 56,355 ratings
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| 303 |
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Survivor
by
Chuck Palahniuk (Goodreads Author)
3.93 avg rating — 122,959 ratings
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| 304 |
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A Farewell to Arms
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3.82 avg rating — 346,809 ratings
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| 305 |
|
Less Than Zero
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3.60 avg rating — 96,027 ratings
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| 306 |
|
The Fall
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4.03 avg rating — 129,670 ratings
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| 307 |
|
The Day of the Triffids
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4.01 avg rating — 115,754 ratings
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| 308 |
|
The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #6)
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4.05 avg rating — 592,008 ratings
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| 309 |
|
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #6)
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4.27 avg rating — 69,153 ratings
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| 310 |
|
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
by
4.45 avg rating — 163,919 ratings
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| 311 |
|
Utopia
by
3.55 avg rating — 81,195 ratings
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| 312 |
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Cannery Row (Cannery Row, #1)
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4.06 avg rating — 150,822 ratings
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| 313 |
|
Filth
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3.82 avg rating — 31,627 ratings
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| 314 |
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Growth of the Soil
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4.23 avg rating — 12,218 ratings
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| 315 |
|
The Mill on the Floss
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3.83 avg rating — 58,332 ratings
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| 315 |
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Pet Sematary
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 675,671 ratings
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| 317 |
|
Madeline
by
4.26 avg rating — 217,598 ratings
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| 318 |
|
The Virgin Suicides
by
3.78 avg rating — 400,135 ratings
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| 319 |
|
The Complete Stories
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4.39 avg rating — 40,490 ratings
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| 320 |
|
Père Goriot
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3.85 avg rating — 65,485 ratings
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| 321 |
|
Wives and Daughters
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4.13 avg rating — 50,292 ratings
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| 322 |
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The Sneetches and Other Stories
by
4.31 avg rating — 65,849 ratings
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| 323 |
|
Light in August
by
3.94 avg rating — 65,716 ratings
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| 324 |
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Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Stories
by
3.83 avg rating — 288,142 ratings
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| 325 |
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Junky
by
3.85 avg rating — 70,288 ratings
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| 326 |
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Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins, #1)
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4.01 avg rating — 139,500 ratings
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| 327 |
|
James and the Giant Peach
by
4.04 avg rating — 508,441 ratings
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| 328 |
|
For Whom the Bell Tolls
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3.99 avg rating — 313,163 ratings
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| 329 |
|
The Waste Land and Other Poems
by
4.22 avg rating — 73,029 ratings
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| 330 |
|
Angels
by
3.99 avg rating — 5,694 ratings
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| 331 |
|
The Turn of the Screw
by
3.38 avg rating — 173,618 ratings
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| 332 |
|
The War of the Worlds
by
3.83 avg rating — 343,004 ratings
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| 333 |
|
The Cider House Rules
by
John Irving (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 193,445 ratings
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| 334 |
|
King Solomon's Mines (Allan Quatermain, #1)
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3.79 avg rating — 52,083 ratings
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| 335 |
|
The Death of Bunny Munro
by
3.44 avg rating — 16,985 ratings
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| 336 |
|
The Death of Ivan Ilych
by
4.14 avg rating — 209,431 ratings
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| 337 |
|
We
by
3.88 avg rating — 109,038 ratings
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| 338 |
|
The Name of the Rose
by
4.14 avg rating — 389,573 ratings
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| 338 |
|
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
by
3.85 avg rating — 28,434 ratings
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| 340 |
|
The Pearl
by
3.56 avg rating — 264,148 ratings
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| 341 |
|
Clown Girl
by
Monica Drake (Goodreads Author)
3.49 avg rating — 5,422 ratings
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| 342 |
|
2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)
by
4.18 avg rating — 331,965 ratings
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| 343 |
|
The Red Badge of Courage
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3.30 avg rating — 109,047 ratings
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| 344 |
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Narcopolis
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3.44 avg rating — 7,880 ratings
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| 345 |
|
Goodnight Moon
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4.32 avg rating — 390,913 ratings
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| 346 |
|
Christy
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4.25 avg rating — 56,614 ratings
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| 347 |
|
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
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4.06 avg rating — 372,674 ratings
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| 348 |
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The Blade Artist (Mark Renton, #4)
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3.83 avg rating — 8,023 ratings
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| 349 |
|
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
by
4.03 avg rating — 158,491 ratings
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| 350 |
|
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
by
4.16 avg rating — 208,390 ratings
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| 350 |
|
Diary
by
Chuck Palahniuk (Goodreads Author)
3.65 avg rating — 80,555 ratings
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| 352 |
|
Ubik
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4.11 avg rating — 119,838 ratings
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| 353 |
|
Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot, #18)
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4.12 avg rating — 297,274 ratings
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| 354 |
|
The 120 Days of Sodom
by
3.07 avg rating — 14,531 ratings
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| 355 |
|
The Red Tent
by
Anita Diamant (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 626,102 ratings
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| 356 |
|
Death of a Salesman
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3.58 avg rating — 254,169 ratings
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| 357 |
|
Island
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3.85 avg rating — 35,229 ratings
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| 358 |
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The Information
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3.61 avg rating — 6,454 ratings
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| 359 |
|
The Drowned World
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3.47 avg rating — 20,301 ratings
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| 360 |
|
The Road
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,010,074 ratings
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| 361 |
|
The House of the Seven Gables
by
3.45 avg rating — 42,323 ratings
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| 362 |
|
Silas Marner
by
3.69 avg rating — 92,396 ratings
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| 362 |
|
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by
3.64 avg rating — 161,822 ratings
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| 362 |
|
Hairspray and Lighter
by
J. Jupes (Goodreads Author)
4.49 avg rating — 247 ratings
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| 365 |
|
The Jungle Book (Jungle Book, #1)
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3.90 avg rating — 131,196 ratings
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| 366 |
|
Doctor Faustus
by
4.08 avg rating — 13,559 ratings
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| 367 |
|
The Return of the Native
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3.88 avg rating — 40,035 ratings
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| 368 |
|
The Rules of Attraction
by
3.72 avg rating — 50,865 ratings
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| 369 |
|
The Informers
by
3.40 avg rating — 19,793 ratings
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| 370 |
|
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
by
3.75 avg rating — 34,123 ratings
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| 370 |
|
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
by
3.94 avg rating — 9,364 ratings
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| 372 |
|
Howl and Other Poems
by
4.13 avg rating — 117,866 ratings
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| 373 |
|
As I Lay Dying
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3.72 avg rating — 183,665 ratings
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| 374 |
|
The Silmarillion
by
4.03 avg rating — 327,656 ratings
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| 375 |
|
The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)
by
Ken Follett (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 814,716 ratings
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| 376 |
|
11/22/63
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 622,055 ratings
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| 377 |
|
Our Mutual Friend
by
4.09 avg rating — 31,017 ratings
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| 378 |
|
The World According to Garp
by
John Irving (Goodreads Author)
4.11 avg rating — 236,729 ratings
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| 379 |
|
Dead Men's Trousers
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4.18 avg rating — 4,914 ratings
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| 380 |
|
The Secret History
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4.16 avg rating — 967,855 ratings
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| 381 |
|
Quo Vadis
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4.01 avg rating — 41,306 ratings
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| 382 |
|
The Long Weekend
by
4.60 avg rating — 42 ratings
score: 894,
and
9 people voted
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| 383 |
|
Forty-Ninth
by
Boris Pronsky (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 128 ratings
score: 890,
and
9 people voted
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| 384 |
|
Howson's Choice
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4.61 avg rating — 28 ratings
score: 888,
and
9 people voted
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| 385 |
|
Females of Valor (The Viking's Kurdish Love, #2)
by
Widad Akreyi (Goodreads Author)
4.73 avg rating — 107 ratings
score: 887,
and
9 people voted
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| 385 |
|
Zoroastrians' Fight for Survival (The Viking's Kurdish Love, #1)
by
Widad Akreyi (Goodreads Author)
4.70 avg rating — 116 ratings
score: 887,
and
9 people voted
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| 387 |
|
But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past
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3.66 avg rating — 18,367 ratings
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| 388 |
|
Annabel Horton, Lost Witch of Salem
by
Olivia Hardy Ray (Goodreads Author)
4.27 avg rating — 139 ratings
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| 389 |
|
Moon Tiger
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3.91 avg rating — 18,623 ratings
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| 390 |
|
The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
by
Dan Brown (Goodreads Author)
3.93 avg rating — 2,486,947 ratings
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| 391 |
|
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
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3.74 avg rating — 72,352 ratings
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| 392 |
|
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)
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4.09 avg rating — 500,143 ratings
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| 393 |
|
Number the Stars
by
Lois Lowry (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 611,253 ratings
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| 394 |
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
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4.62 avg rating — 4,034,112 ratings
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| 394 |
|
Pleasant Day
by
Vera Jane Cook (Goodreads Author)
4.32 avg rating — 1,174 ratings
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| 396 |
|
The Complete Works
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4.48 avg rating — 57,612 ratings
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| 397 |
|
Porno (Mark Renton, #3)
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3.84 avg rating — 26,502 ratings
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| 398 |
|
The Power and the Glory
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3.98 avg rating — 42,851 ratings
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| 398 |
|
The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs
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3.54 avg rating — 7,139 ratings
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| 400 |
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Germinal
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4.20 avg rating — 42,006 ratings
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Tags:
classic, literary-fiction
1729 likes · Like
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.
Jenny
1694 books
75 friends
75 friends
Kathryn
575 books
128 friends
128 friends
Brooke
127 books
20 friends
20 friends
Antoine
949 books
177 friends
177 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
Erin
563 books
65 friends
65 friends
Mary
1150 books
28 friends
28 friends
Jill
1716 books
98 friends
98 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-50 of 73 (73 new)
message 1:
by
Silvana
(new)
Sep 04, 2008 07:03PM
there are two "to kill a mockingbird". how to delete one?
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Silvana wrote: "there are two "to kill a mockingbird". how to delete one?"there are three wuthering heights - i voted for 'em all
You've a bit of Russian lit on here. If you enjoy it, and you've not read these already, you might try: Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita"
Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls"
The team of Pevear and Volokhonsky is my current favorite for Russian to English translation whenever I can find them. They do very well capturing the "flavor" and sensibilities of the original Russian.
I give it a week before the Bible or Book of Mormon supplants Camus as number one.
This is a great list! Eventually I'll work my way through it...lol
It's nice to know someone else is enjoying these books besides me! If only I could find someone in High School who enjoys them this much! Love your list and will hopefully be able to make it through all 456 books!!!
Emily, I love these books. Some strange ones slipped in this list but I really like them on the whole.
Some of these are not classics yet.
Great list! I'm a lover of classics myself, and if you haven't read them already, I highly recommend "La dame aux camelias" by Alexandre Dumas fils and "Manon Lescaut" by L'Abbe Prevost. They are some really great books that have been much neglected by readers. These two stories are similar but not alike.
Anne wrote: "Great list! I'm a lover of classics myself, and if you haven't read them already, I highly recommend "La dame aux camelias" by Alexandre Dumas fils and "Manon Lescaut" by L'Abbe Prevost. They are ..."
Anne, I just downloaded Manon Lescaut from Project Gutenberg. I could not find Dumas' La Dame aux Camelias. Thank you for the suggestions. I will find it somewhere else.
Anne, I just downloaded Manon Lescaut from Project Gutenberg. I could not find Dumas' La Dame aux Camelias. Thank you for the suggestions. I will find it somewhere else.
And diary of a wimpy kid dog days! What on earth?
Charlotte's web should be on that list. Its a true classic.
There are several repeats, I noticed The Bible, "To Kill a Mockingbird," "I capture the Castle," and "Metamorphosis." They are the different formats of the same book on here twice.... Can it be fixed?
Librarians' can change it, I think.
I removed diary of a wimpy kid from the list, but I am not sure if I should remove Harry Potter or not since I don't know how old a book can be before it is deemed a "classic."
I tried to do a check for duplicates but some of the books are wierd. For example, there is a 7 in one book for the Chronicles of Narnia, but there is also the first two in separate places on the list. Unfortunately, those can't be combined and if I delete one than votes will be lost, also being on the delete book page scares me, because if I delete something I shouldn't than my librarian privileges could be revoked. I value my librarian status too much to risk that.
Danielle wrote: "I removed diary of a wimpy kid from the list, but I am not sure if I should remove Harry Potter or not since I don't know how old a book can be before it is deemed a "classic.""I know that it has been a while but I agree with your decision to keep Harry Potter. It may not be a classic now, exactly, but I believe that one day it will be.
Can anyone recommend a publisher of hard cover classics? Or a book club where I can purchase them? I'd like to begin a library to pass on to my family's future generations. Thank you.
Classics are just phenomenal! They are basis of books today and a reason why I keep reading!
Anne wrote: "Great list! I'm a lover of classics myself, and if you haven't read them already, I highly recommend "La dame aux camelias" by Alexandre Dumas fils and "Manon Lescaut" by L'Abbe Prevost. They are ..."It is impossible I have finally got somenone who loves La dame aux camelias, this story is one of the best love stories EVER>
It's pretty easy to add books to lists; at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."
Susanna wrote: "It's pretty easy to add books to lists; at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes.""How does #181 Isn't It Pretty To Think So? qualify for this list?
Because those same 12 people have spammed it on 27 pages of Listopias! (Was 28, but I removed it from a few, like "Time's Top 10 Novels of 2012," which it wasn't.)
Removed, because a book published in 2012 is not a classic in the terms of this list:Isn't It Pretty To Think So?
some books are not classics and so should be removed
Dorothy wrote: "Can anyone recommend a publisher of hard cover classics? Or a book club where I can purchase them? I'd like to begin a library to pass on to my family's future generations. Thank you."Great idea - building a library to pass on to future generations. Thanks for the idea!
The Godfather is a classic? I liked it but a classic?
The movie is a classic. Haven't read the book.
I read the book and the part about the horse was much too graphic. I would not call it a classic yet but I am not sure how that is determined.
Is there a list for classic movies? (will search)
thanks
Is there a list for classic movies? (will search)
thanks
There are several for movies, don't know if there's a list for that or not, though. (There's at least one of all of these, though: book and movie both good, book better than movie, movie better than book.)
My definition of "classic" is about as liberal as you're going to find. In going through this list, I found and removed some titles published within the last ten-fifteen years:The Fault In Our Stars
The Book Thief
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Dear John
Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope (this is a YA modernization of the classic Austen novel)
Code Name Verity
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... And It's All Small Stuff
Looking For Alaska
I Know This Much Is True
Angela's Ashes
Many of these books are good, but it's too soon to say whether they'll become classics for future readers.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia-Marques is the greatest novel of the twentieth century IMHO.Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis is a great cycle of poetry.
The Illustrated Man by the late Ray Bradbury is excellent as are ANY OF HIS WRITINGS!
Other good reads:
The Devil's Storybook by Natalie Babbitt
Hawaii by James Mitchener
Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned by John A. Farrell
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
i have just retired an want a place to start reading,i have read a lot but want to read classics at this point, why? because i want to see what the great thinkers and writes had to draw on to get where they got with the knowledge they saw before them
I am very surprised to see The Scarlet Pimpernel on the list. Although Baroness Orczy should be credited for creating the disguised-hero-alter-ego oeuvre, I don't think that she had any talent!
One of the best non-fiction short stories I ever read was Jack London's People of the Abyss. It is a harrowing sociological study of the East End of London around the time of Jack the Ripper. This is a great classic and one that most people should read if for no other reason than to put that time frame in context. You will be thanking God that you live in this time as opposed to that time after reading this book. It is available to download on gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1688
Bruce wrote: "i have just retired an want a place to start reading,i have read a lot but want to read classics at this point, why? because i want to see what the great thinkers and writes had to draw on to get w..."Hi Bruce, I retired from "corporate America" recently but am doing lots of different things now. I too am catching up on my reading. I think this list is a pretty good place to start. I've read seven of the top ten and Jane Eyre is next!
This list is way too long. A lot of these aren't classics, especially the books on the latter pages.
Greg wrote: "Bruce wrote: "i have just retired an want a place to start reading,i have read a lot but want to read classics at this point, why? because i want to see what the great thinkers and writes had to dr..."Bruce, I read Jane Eyre. Worst book I've ever read. IF you dare read it, don't say I didn't warn you.
what definition is being used for "classic" ? i'd say some are too recent to be included.
I checked for duplicates and removed 17.
I went and typed this out on a spreadsheet & removed duplicates. The Harry Potter series is in there at least three times, still.
From the 1046 I have 956 non-duplicated books.
I love the classics for sure, but I just don't get the fascination with Gatsby or Catcher in the Rye... just because it's old doesn't make it a classic.
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