Baby... crying... typing with one hand. No propaganda intended... all well-written thought-provoking books I enjoyed in school which I thought was the theme of this thread. I can see how you might think there's something going on with the last three, but the first three don't clearly fit... read the Long biography before you make assumptions as it is about the art of politics and a cautionary tale of ambition rather than a discussion of a political philosophy.
i hate reading but every once in a while there was something i didn't hate that they made us read in school. 5th grade, The Westing Game. not sure why but always considered that book so bad ass and is always what i say was the book i enjoyed most when i read it. wonder if i would like it at all now. of course i don't read books for pleasure so i'll never know. A Tale of Two Cities would probably be my other favorite. had to choose b/t great expectations, tale, and oliver twist. i chose it b/c it was the shortest but i think i enjoyed it quite a bit. especially the "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known" quote by Sydney Carton. to show you how much i appreciated it, i had to look up if it was charles darnay that said that or that got saved. of course that was 7 years ago.
Just playing with ya rimrocker.... I am a politically minded person, but I think diversity of thought is important in a civilization and WE ARE LIVING IN A SOCIETY PEOPLE..... that is from Farley on a SNL skit....in case you thought I was losing my mind....
You catcher in the rye folks know the rumor about murders and that book right? Libraries are like the CIA, sure. The Awakening was an awesome read. As I read the book it seemed like I was looking at a painting that slowly changed. It is a beautiful, provoking book. I should read it again.
I took a Russian Lit class at Vandy, read some amazing books: And Quiet Flows the Don - Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky Cancer Ward - Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn other books I dug from school over the years: Alas Babylon Tale of Two Cities Huck Finn (before the political correct a-holes ruined it for everyone) Ender's Game (yes we read this in English) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Catcher In The Rye Honorable mention: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand....the first 600 pages were brilliant, but as soon as Dagny Taggart discovers "who is John Galt", the book takes a major dive into boredom...and the ONE HUNDRED PAGE radio address by John Galt.....yawn.
Damn, so did we...as a matter of fact it was one of my favorite school books that I was gonna list before I realized that I had to list those others. What school district did you attend? I was in Fort Bend.
Greatest of all time: 1. Catch 22 - Absolutely Hilarious!!! 2. To Kill a Mockingbird 3. Of Mice and Men 4. Long walk to Freedom - Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
For HS, my favorite was Anna Karenina, although it was o assigned at the end of the year and I was the only one who read it - all the other idiots thought it was too long. Actually, all of the "good" books I read in HS were from that year - junior - because it was the only time I had a teacher who not only was good but who could also complete whole sentences. My other english classes consisted of memorizing the school mission statement, etc. Ah, the joys of going to an "at risk" underfunded HS.
Siddharta - Herman Hesse Julius Caesar - Shakespeare The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan Invisible Man - Ralph Emerson Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton There is one other that I can't think of, but it is set in Bulgaria during WWII, and one of the characters names is 'Bluntschli' or something ... he is an ex-army person, who sneaks into this familys home and then him and the daughter fall for each other.
1) Killer Angels - Michael Shaara This was actually written by the father of the author of "Gods and Generals" (prequel and movie about to be released). It was a book I chose off a list and it was based around the battle at Gettysburg. This book was amazing, when I read it, I actually had "The Planets" playing on my stereo on loop, I can't say enough about how awesome this book is... "The best and most realistic historical novel about war I have ever read." - General Norman Schwarzkopf 2) For Whom The Bell Tolls - Hemingway We had a list of books we could read, I chose this book simply because of the Metallica song...it turned out to be a pretty awesome read.
