1984

The Great Gatsby
The Son Also Rises
Native Son

Try this: "An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn't" -- it includes a section on literature, so you can start with that list.

http://www.amazon.com/An-Incomplete-Education-Learned-Probably/dp/0345468902

Anonymous wrote:OP once more. Take James Joyce. I look at Ulysses, and think What the hell? But, I should read it, right?

I just got my kid The Iliad and The Odyssey, but targeted for tweens/teens. I read them myself a few weeks ago.

These are great books to read vs. the actual Iliad/Odyssey, because those are texts that you would read in a class, with someone explaining what something meant, or *why* certain events or passages or comments are important. These books you can read on your own.

Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of 'The Iliad'
The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey
by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Wall St. Journal book group has just started on Sophie's Choice. Here is a link to the article explaining why, and a link to the first chapter. I just started reading it last night.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/thriller-writer-lee-child-chooses-sophies-choice-1409245606

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/SophiesChoice_Chapter1.pdf

Here's a list to look at. https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/100-books-to-read-before-you-die

If you haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird I'd start there as I don't know anyone who doesn't like that book.

I strongly suggest GoodReads. They have great lists for exactly this sort of question. Re Joyce: definitely start with Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, not Ulysses. Since you like non-fiction, you might consider pairing fiction with a book of non-fiction about the author/period. I had read some Bronte novels, but somehow never read Wuthering Heights. I read the novel with a biography of the family, and, for me, the biographical information just made the novel that much more powerful (how did she write that book?). I also read Gunther Grass's The Tin Drum alongside his autobiography-it was a challenging book for me, but his autobiography helped me understand what he was doing in the novel.

I would check your library for a book group. IMO the books you are mentioning, like Ulysses or Homer, are best read with a group.

OTOH, I think Pride and Prejudice is a great suggestion and I don't think you really need much extra discussion.

OP once more. Take James Joyce. I look at Ulysses, and think What the hell? But, I should read it, right?

OP again. Like Homer, Chaucer, Dante, etc.

Start by getting familiar with greek/roman myths (you could even buy a kids' version and read it with your kids) and biblical stories (regardless of religion), because those are stories that every educated person in the western world for hundreds of years was familiar with, and therefore they are referenced constantly. Being familiar with those narratives will help you understand and enjoy everything else.

Anonymous wrote:What topics are interesting to you? Do you like books with an exciting story or books about the inner lives of the characters? You relate more to male or female protagonists? What's your favorite book?

OP here. I like biographies. My favorite is probably Life Itself by Roger Ebert. I liked River of Doubt, about Teddy Roosevelt in the Amazon Jungle. Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzybski, on general semantics: not a biography but another favorite.

My thinking is, it does not matter what I like. There are books I should have read whether I like them or not.

What topics are interesting to you? Do you like books with an exciting story or books about the inner lives of the characters? You relate more to male or female protagonists? What's your favorite book?

Start with Pride and Prejudice. It's delightful and will make you want to keep going!

Would like to make up somewhat for lost time.

Please list the top classic books you would suggest to others.

Or, link to others' lists.