I would add "A Forged Coupon," a short story by Tolstoy to this list. Tolstoy masterfully illustrates how one sin (a forged coupon by a young boy) ultimately leads to murder after weaving in the lives of several characters, and then he illustrates through the life of a single character how her act of love unravelled all of the previous sin and chaos that led up to her murder. And everyone is changed for the better as a result of her one act of love.
Twain, no question. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc is such a surprising, tender departure from his usual tone - and somehow still unmistakably him. Quietly devastating in the best way.
For consideration, A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr. Short, poetic, and equally rich with longing, memory, and the ache of what’s unsaid. An underrated gem that lingers long after the last page.
The Culturist: fascinating! thank you for the timely reminder of the riches to be discovered in literature.
i am currently reading all of F Scott Fitzgerald's oeuvre, so the works you list are so far unread by me, but are on my reading pile next to my chair right now! really looking forward to reading them.
i was well aware of CSLewis and his many writings, but had only read the Narnia chronicles, but had no idea what the great divorce was about. now that i know, of course, i simply MUST read it! and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a work I've heard of often, so why have i never read it? it contains all the elements that i love, including the author himself, so i had better read this book too. and weirdly, i never knew that Mark Twain wrote about Joan of Arc, but now that i do know, i will be hunting this down.
I just read and taught Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for the first time this last spring to 7th graders in Omnibus II. I really enjoyed it; so did the kids! When I do it again, I will make to sure to spend more time reading other works that delve into the medieval code of chivalry before we get to Tolkien's translation.
With tech giants warning that humanity might not survive AI (Genesis), it might be a good time to look back at “Galapagos” by Vonnegut. Also, Annie Dillard is not a big name in this company, but “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” is a great read.
I enjoyed ‘The Naïve and Sentimental Lover’ by John le Carré. No Smiley, in fact no spooks or espionage at all. A semi-autobiographical love-triangle. Interestingly another book covers the same events from another perspective. The Kennaway Papers by Susan Kennaway, published after the death of her husband, James Kennaway.
Thank you very much. C. S. Lewis is only known by name and fame. But I haven't read anything by him up to now because I took him to be a strictly theological writer, which appears to be wrong. I think I'll try your recommandation - a bus ride through existence. That looks like an unusual introduction. Thank you.
All My Sons by Arthur Miller is a haunting tale of a war profiteer named Joe Keller, whose success in WWII comes to haunt his own family in devastating, personal ways.
J.G. Ballard’s “The Garden of Time” is a short story of only about 20 pages. It is however, the best allegory of the times we live in ever written. Once read , never forgotten.
I read 'Sir Gawain', during the English lessons to learn English, as a way to access early versions of that language. I may not express this correctly. It was the same reason why we read Edgar Allan Poe, Tennyson, Conan Doyle, and even Walter Scott. This was followed by excerpts from Milton, Shakespeare, and Chaucer, for even older English.
You keep telling me to read CS Lewis and I keep adding him to my list! I read the Narnia books several times, both as a child and an adult, but have never read anything else. He sounds like a fascinating man so I am about to order The Great Divorce.
I shall also get the Tolkien translation - another author where I have only read (and re-read) the Lord of the Rings books.
Not a fan of F Scott Fitzgerald so will be giving him a miss! I do enjoy these articles you post.
I would add "A Forged Coupon," a short story by Tolstoy to this list. Tolstoy masterfully illustrates how one sin (a forged coupon by a young boy) ultimately leads to murder after weaving in the lives of several characters, and then he illustrates through the life of a single character how her act of love unravelled all of the previous sin and chaos that led up to her murder. And everyone is changed for the better as a result of her one act of love.
Twain, no question. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc is such a surprising, tender departure from his usual tone - and somehow still unmistakably him. Quietly devastating in the best way.
For consideration, A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr. Short, poetic, and equally rich with longing, memory, and the ache of what’s unsaid. An underrated gem that lingers long after the last page.
I've read 2,3,& 4. I even taught Twain's book about Joan of Arc! Great book.
The Culturist: fascinating! thank you for the timely reminder of the riches to be discovered in literature.
i am currently reading all of F Scott Fitzgerald's oeuvre, so the works you list are so far unread by me, but are on my reading pile next to my chair right now! really looking forward to reading them.
i was well aware of CSLewis and his many writings, but had only read the Narnia chronicles, but had no idea what the great divorce was about. now that i know, of course, i simply MUST read it! and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a work I've heard of often, so why have i never read it? it contains all the elements that i love, including the author himself, so i had better read this book too. and weirdly, i never knew that Mark Twain wrote about Joan of Arc, but now that i do know, i will be hunting this down.
I just read and taught Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for the first time this last spring to 7th graders in Omnibus II. I really enjoyed it; so did the kids! When I do it again, I will make to sure to spend more time reading other works that delve into the medieval code of chivalry before we get to Tolkien's translation.
With tech giants warning that humanity might not survive AI (Genesis), it might be a good time to look back at “Galapagos” by Vonnegut. Also, Annie Dillard is not a big name in this company, but “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” is a great read.
I enjoyed ‘The Naïve and Sentimental Lover’ by John le Carré. No Smiley, in fact no spooks or espionage at all. A semi-autobiographical love-triangle. Interestingly another book covers the same events from another perspective. The Kennaway Papers by Susan Kennaway, published after the death of her husband, James Kennaway.
Thank you very much. C. S. Lewis is only known by name and fame. But I haven't read anything by him up to now because I took him to be a strictly theological writer, which appears to be wrong. I think I'll try your recommandation - a bus ride through existence. That looks like an unusual introduction. Thank you.
His Space Trilogy gives much to chew on without getting into overt theology.
His "Mere Christianity" changed my life.
I would probably have listed Till We Have Faces as Lewis's hidden masterpiece.
Some others:
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell (he thought it was better than 1984)
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (think To Kill a Mockingbird pt 2)
The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
The first two sound interesting. Watchmen for me was a trudge, but Ivan Ilych lingers after many years.
All My Sons by Arthur Miller is a haunting tale of a war profiteer named Joe Keller, whose success in WWII comes to haunt his own family in devastating, personal ways.
So glad you mentioned Twain’s Joan! That book is such a revelation. Looking forward to diving into the others on the list.
Thank you!
Bleak House by Charles Dickens…comically rich characters through and through. One of his best, if not the best, despite being relatively under-read!
J.G. Ballard’s “The Garden of Time” is a short story of only about 20 pages. It is however, the best allegory of the times we live in ever written. Once read , never forgotten.
I read 'Sir Gawain', during the English lessons to learn English, as a way to access early versions of that language. I may not express this correctly. It was the same reason why we read Edgar Allan Poe, Tennyson, Conan Doyle, and even Walter Scott. This was followed by excerpts from Milton, Shakespeare, and Chaucer, for even older English.
You keep telling me to read CS Lewis and I keep adding him to my list! I read the Narnia books several times, both as a child and an adult, but have never read anything else. He sounds like a fascinating man so I am about to order The Great Divorce.
I shall also get the Tolkien translation - another author where I have only read (and re-read) the Lord of the Rings books.
Not a fan of F Scott Fitzgerald so will be giving him a miss! I do enjoy these articles you post.
CS Lewis’s Till We Have Faces is my favorite work of his, and he considered it his best, although critics have not agreed.
I shall add it to my list, thank you
The Great Divorce is a great work by CS Lewis.