Seeing the movie doesn't count! If you skimmed
through these in school, take a closer look.
1. THE GREAT GATSBY BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD:
Yes, there is a film with Leonardo DiCaprio, but that
doesn’t get you off the hook from reading this perceptive,
pitch-perfect novel. Set in the jazzy Roaring Twenties,
Fitzgerald’s tale of obsession, ambition, love, money,
and a world that would vanish with the Depression
was to be his Big Hit—and he was surprised and disappointed
when it sold poorly. When Fitzgerald died in
1940, he was an all but forgotten writer. Soon after,
there was a revival of his work, and now he is viewed as one of the great American novelists.
Today, 500,000 copies of Gatsby are sold each year.
2. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BY HARPER LEE
Lee’s famous novel, published in 1960, has sold more than 40 million
copies worldwide. For all that it exposes the racial injustice of a particular
time and place, it is timeless and universal, which makes it a
good book to read. As Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg
wrote in Reader’s Digest, “Many people see this novel as a civil
rights novel, but it transcends that issue. It is a novel about right and
wrong, about kindness and meanness.”
3. GREAT EXPECTATIONS BY CHARLES DICKENS:
We promise that this book is a good one to read. The story revolves
around Pip, an ambitious orphan. Dickens, in his time, was as famous
as a rock star (or, a Kardashian) because his novels were written as
page-turners, with whip-smart observations about ambition and human
nature.
4. FRANKENSTEIN BY MARY SHELLY:
You just can't expect this
list to even be a proper list
without this one.Shelley
was still a teenager when
she created the iconic mad
scientist and monster.
Frankenstein never loses
its grip on our imaginations,
because the questions
it raises about science, ambition,
and our humanity
remain as urgent as ever.
5. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA BY C. S.
LEWIS :
Yes, The Chronicles of Narnia are children’s
books and no, they don’t age. These complex
fantasy novels, which have sold more
than 100 million copies worldwide (and clearly influenced, among others, J.K. Rowling),
have been praised and criticized for their Christian themes, but there’s a lot more going
on here than simple allegory. Read them again. Better yet, find
a child to read them to. You’ll be amazed by the richness of storytelling.
6. THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN BY MARK TWAIN:
This may be one of the best choices you can ever make in your
life if you are a bit on the mischevious adventurous side. This
much-more-grown-up sequel to The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer is widely considered to be Mark Twain’s masterpiece.
It’s part coming-of-age story, part cross-country adventure,
part biting social satire. Twain makes brilliant use of irony as
Huck, raised in the pre-Civil War south, gradually comes to understand
the evils of slavery. Huck Finn has endured, despite
its notoriety as one of the most best books of all time.
I KNOW THE LIST SAYS 6 BUT I CAN'T
HELP ADDING ONE MORE TO THE LIST...
7. THE MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS BY AGATHA CHRISTIE:
When a rich American businessman is killed on a train, it’s up to
detective Hercule Poirot to figure out which of the passengers is
responsible. Published in 1934, Murder on the Orient Express's
conclusion still stuns readers. This famous whodunit was just
made into a hit movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Penélope Cruz,
Josh Gad, and Judi Dench.
ANIKA NAWAR AHMED
XI INDIGO
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