<p>Ok, that was an exaggeration.</p>
<p>Anyway, what books have been assigned at your colleges that you were grateful to have read, and maybe would not have read them otherwise, OR maybe just books you enjoy in general from other experiences.</p>
<p>BASICALLY: Which books do you recommend reading and why?</p>
<p>Had nothing to do with school but I recommend Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell.<br>
Lolita is my long time favorite while North & South is a current obsession:)</p>
<p>I’ve heard nothing but great things about Lolita! I am going to have to read it soon.</p>
<p>Reading the Wiki of the latter, I really think I will read it over the summer, both of your recommendations.</p>
<p>I recommend The Bluest Eye, and Herland.</p>
<p>Also: I realized you and I have the same sleeping schedule, more or less. hahah</p>
<p>Reading the Brothers Karamazov on a high school trip through Germany made me want to be a better person.</p>
<p>The Scarlet Letter</p>
<p>made me realize how much I hate books…</p>
<p>If I could like the above comment I would. I hated that book!</p>
<p>For my Cultural Anthropology class we had to read this ethnography about a small Iraqi village in the '50s (or maybe early '60s) called Guests of the Sheik. It (and the class in general) was something that really interested me in learning more about different cultures, which I’m sure is something with which the professor would be most happy.</p>
<p>I major in English, so there’s been a lot of books I’ve hated, and many I’m glad I read.
Like Lolita, Slaughterhouse 5, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Ethan Frome, What I Loved and Light in August.</p>
<p>There are some like *Middlemarch<a href=“840%20pages”>/i</a> which I’m proud I’ve read but not necessarily glad I had to read it!</p>
<p>Before uni I barely read, but now - after nearly 2 years - I’m finally seeking them out for pleasure again.</p>
<p>But I’ve had to read 30 books so far in 2011, just for the course, so there’s not much time for it.</p>
<p>reading… for… pleasure??</p>
<p>whaaaa?!!!???</p>
<p>over my head</p>
<p>@ MLDWoody
I’d try to convince you how great it is, but clearly you wouldn’t get anything out of it!</p>
<p>It’d be like me doing equations for fun.</p>
<p>Haha, I agree.</p>
<p>I would rather do physics all day than read… oh, idk, what’s a book I was supposed to read but just sparknoted… The Secret Life of Bees</p>
<p>I had to read “Making Globalization Work” by Joseph Stiglitz… it’s very, VERY interesting, even if not exactly light reading…</p>
<p>Animal Spirits was an interesting read regarding our current economic situation. One of my favorite books is And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by Burroughs and Kerouac. They each create a character and write from that character’s point of view, so you have contrasting styles and ethics. It also addresses the ideas regarding homosexuality in the United States during the 1940s, as do many of Burroughs’ other novels.</p>
<p>Lewis’ A Grief Observed
Homer’s *Iliad<a href=“not%20technically%20a%20book%20but%20w/e”>/I</a>
Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise
Heller’s Catch-22
Camus’ The Stranger</p>
<p>I liked The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I thought it was really cool. I enjoyed reading Venus in Furs by idk who. It is the only book I have read in one sitting (its not that long tho).</p>
<p>@paradox, thats an interesting observation on the sleep schedule:)</p>
<p>I looked up Herland and it sounds like a fascinating book. Can’t believe I never came across it before! I’ll have to find it and read it.</p>
<p>Their Eyes Were Watching God completely redefined how I saw myself in relation to others, what I should expect in relationships, and what goals I should set for myself.
Which books affect someone is specific to each person, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many others shared the same sentiment.</p>
<p>Lolita is also amazing, but I don’t think life changing, it’s just an aesthetic statement. Great literature, but meh. It’s not like it was his goal to create life changing literature, so…</p>
<p>The creme de la crop from high school English: Jane Eyre, A Confederacy of Dunces, The Great Gatsby, Evidence of Things Unseen, The Count of Monte Cristo.
All great classics that I actually looked forward to finishing. None of these will dramatically “change lives” but they certainly might impact your view or philosophy in a positive way, or at least make you want to reread them. More life changing stuff, but kind of boring would be books like 1984, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, [insert dystopian novel here], Fountainhead, or Things Fall Apart. Iliad was alright but kind of a pain. That’s the kind of book I would recommend reading for culture, not fun. And oh man, reading The Scarlet Letter was a nightmare.
For books that really change lives, I was thinking more of stuff like Living Gluten-Free for Dummies or Mein Kampf</p>
<p>Montaigne’s Essays</p>
<p>Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: Amazing book, sci-fi-y, utopian literature is one of my favorite styles, if you like movies like Minority Report, the Island, Avatar, Fight Club, mind blowing stuff, then this is good.</p>
<p>Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut: will change your life</p>
<p>Any books by Stephen Hawking if you like science</p>