Archived: Required Reading for Humanity: Third Edition

**Euda** · 01-21-2009, 02:16 AM

Of course I forgot to give credit to deptstoremook for the first edition, which happened to be superior to this thread in that it included why the book was listed as required reading.

Well, you get the idea. The original thread contained many great books to provide totseans with reading suggestions.

The longer your list, although quality over quantity is always better, the more helpful and interesting this thread will be to everyone.

Wow, there are already well over two hundred books on the list.

I'm disappointed that the original was deleted without any notice for bumping.

For those of you that don't realize it, there is no order to this list.

The Illiad

The Odyssey

Ulysses (Anything by Joyce)

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Complete Works of Shakespeare

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Gatsby

Animal Farm

1984

Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas

Brave New World

Angela's Ashes

The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

The Deptford Trilogy

The Bible

Frankenstein

Catch 22

Catcher in the Rye

Two Solitudes

Paradise Lost

The Death of Ivan Illytch.

Dracula

LOTR (Anything by Tolkien)

Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy (Anything by Douglas Adams)

The Republic

The Allegory of the Cave

Jane Eyre

The Things They Carried

Beloved

Crime and Punishment

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Sun Also Rises

Fahrenheit 451

Fight Club

Gods Debris

Tao of Jeet Kune Do

H4rrY p0tt3R!!! OMG!! l0lz0rz!11!

Heart of Darkness

The Poisonwood Bible

All Quiet on the Western Front

Anything by Burgess (A Clockwork Orange)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Flowers for Algernon

The Color Purple

Qu'ran

Torah

Anything by William Faulkner

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Leaves of Grass

Anything by Robert Frost

Anything by Emily Dickinson

Things Fall Apart

On the Road

Slaughterhouse-Five

Anything by Nietzsche

Go Tell it on the Mountain

Point Counterpoint

Jennifer Government

Of Human Bondage

The Moral Animal

Non-Zero: The Sum of Human Logic

The Disposessed

The Razor's Edge

Temporary Autonomous Zone

Power of One

A Christmas Carol

Anything by Einstein

The Chronicles of Narnia

Noteable Historical Trials (Vol. 1-4)

No Man is an Island: A Selection of Prose of John Donne

Anything by Voltaire

Anything by Thoreau

The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference

Culloden

Glencoe

Aeneid

Moby Dick

Anything by Will Ferguson (If you're Canadian)

Business Communication: Process & Product

Neuromancer

Anything by Poe

The Egyptian

Anything by Orwell

The Farseer Saga (Anything by Robin Hobb AKA Megan Lindholm)

The Wheel of Time

Anything by T.H. White

A Song of Fire and Ice

The Sword of Truth

Anything by Tad Williams

Anything by David Eddings

Anything by Frank Herbert (Dune Series in Particular)

Anything by Raymond Feist (Riftwar Saga)

The Darksword Trilogy

The Death Gate Cycle

Sword of Shannara

Rose of the Prophet

Anything by Michael Moorcock

Incarnations of Immortality Series

Anything by Steven Brust

Tales from the Earthsea

Tales of the Otori

The Glass Bead Game

The Prince

The Art of War

Anything by Jung

Anything by Marx

Metamorphosis

Gulliver's Travels

The Island of Doctor Moreau

Oedipus Trilogy (Sophocles)

Gulliver's Travels

Dante's The Divine Comedy (especially Inferno)

Origin of Species

Anything by Dickens

Anything by Jules Verne

Don Quixote

This Side of Paradise

The Wealth of Nations

The Time Machine

The Three Musketeers

Faust

The Dumas Club

Long Walk to Freedom

Anything by Hunter S. Thompson

In the Skin of a Lion

Coming up for Air

The Motorcycle Diaries

The Histories (Herodutus)

Song of Solomon

Shibumi

Breakfast of Champions

Despair (Nabokov)

Something Happened

Ivanhoe

Redwall

The Dharma Bums

The Divine Comedy

Selected Works of King

Anything by Kerouac

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Anything about science, history, or religion by Asimov

On War

Schindler's List

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales

The Arabian Nights

The Oxford Companion to English Literature

On the Good Life

Meditations

Democracy in America

History of Western Philosophy

The Wit of Oscar Wilde

A History of the English-speaking Peoples

Anything by Hawking

Silent Spring

Island

Ishmael

A Brief History of Everything

Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

The Millionaire Machine

Common Sense Economics

Goals! by Brain Tracy

Man's Search For Meaning

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

The Clan of the Cave Bear

Anna Karenina

Bhagavad Gita

Sophocles

Siddharta

Dhalgren

Something Happened

God Knows

Endgame (Script)

Voss

A Short History Of Nearly Everything

Out of Darkness

The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop

Papillon

The Stars My Destination

Zop Wallop

Common Sense, the Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings by Thomas Paine

The Red and the Black

Anything by Balzac (Lost Illusions)

Anything by Lovecraft

Njal's Saga

Anything by Schopenhauer

Anything by Rousseau

Leviathan

From Here to Eternity

The Thin Red Line

Anything by Brian Greene

Anything by Hesse

Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

The Martian Chronicles

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Story of Philosophy by Durant

The Picture of Dorian Gray

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Ficciones

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

Anything by Terry Pratchett

The Godfather

Rosemary's Baby

Anything by Philip K. Dick

Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake

L'Etranger by Albert Camus

There are many more to come, I'm sure.

John_Galt · 01-21-2009, 02:33 AM

I would like to add "The Brothers Karamazov", "Les Miserables" and anything by C.S Lewis especially "The Screwtape Letters"

negz · 01-21-2009, 03:36 AM

Required Reading 1
Required Reading 2
Required Reading 3
Required Reading 4
Required Reading 5
Required Reading 6

negz · 01-21-2009, 03:39 AM

Would it be possible to categorize the list for ease of browsing?

As for my recommendations:

Walden

Vagabonding (Rolf Potts)

War Against the Weak (Edwin Black)

01-21-2009, 04:23 AM

I'd add The Stranger, Ender's Game, Ringworld, Franny and Zooey, and The Tao of Pooh. I'm happy this was saved.

EDIT: and Watership Down.

Miaow · 01-21-2009, 04:59 PM

I'd like to add Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in particular, rather than just anything.
Whilst anything is good, Do androids Dream is a good starter.
It has to be one of the best SF novels ever.

I Still Needmoney · 01-21-2009, 05:55 PM

"Of Mice and Men"

Love it or hate it. Make of it what you will.

I Still Needmoney · 01-21-2009, 05:55 PM

Oh yeah, and "Lord of The Flies"

Acedia · 01-21-2009, 05:59 PM

When I was still in school I was the only person in my grade to like Lord of the Flies.

I Still Needmoney · 01-21-2009, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acedia

When I was still in school I was the only person in my grade to like Lord of the Flies.

I think the same held true for me, too.

Then again, my school was populated with retarded Xbox fucks who lacked the ability to even read a sentence properly, and I'm not exaggerating. A lot of them could barely read or write.

Acedia · 01-21-2009, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Needmoney

I think the same held true for me, too.

Then again, my school was populated with retarded Xbox fucks who lacked the ability to even read a sentence properly, and I'm not exaggerating. A lot of them could barely read or write.

I hear you, the nickname for my school was "Lack of Knowledge Jail" (the real name was Lackawanna Trail)

But, we're getting off topic. Too bad we don't have the school forum yet.

AtrainV · 01-21-2009, 07:45 PM

While this is not a bad list, it really needs to be categorized (at least by genre or timeline) to be of any real use. In my opinion, at least.

Acedia · 01-21-2009, 07:47 PM

Yeah, a little organization couldn't hurt. Maybe if I get bored later I'll start dividing them up.

EDIT: Actually, I'll just start doing that now since I've got nothing better to do except watch more bullshit inaugural coverage on MSNBC.

Acedia · 01-21-2009, 08:41 PM

UPDATE: I'm about halfway through organizing these, I didn't realize how many fucking titles there were in that list

! I have about 3 pages left, I just divided them up into genre so I hope that will suffice.

Acedia · 01-22-2009, 05:41 AM

Okay, here we go. Caesar, do whatever you need to with this if you don't want to leave it in this post.

Religious Works
The Bible
Paradise Lost
The Divine Comedy
Qu’ran
Torah
Bhagavad Gita
God Knows
Song of Solomon
Siddhartha

Fantasy/Horror/Science Fiction/Fairy Tales
Anything by Tolkien
Chronicles of Narnia
Tales from the Earthsea
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series
Dracula
Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus
Rosemary’s Baby
Anything by Terry Pratchett
Anything by Philip K. Dick
The Martian Chronicles
H.P. Lovecraft
T.H. White
Anything by Frank Herbert (Dune Series in Particular)
Anything by Raymond Feist (Riftwar Saga)
The Darksword Trilogy
The Death Gate Cycle
Sword of Shannara
Neuromancer
The Wheel of Time
A Song of Fire and Ice
The Sword of Truth
Anything by Tad Williams
Anything by David Eddings
Rose of the Prophet
Anything by Michael Moorcock
Incarnations of Immortality Series
Anything by Steven Brust
Tales of the Otori
Anything by Jules Verne
Redwall
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales
The Arabian Nights

Beatnik/Counterculture
On the Road
Dharma Bums
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Anything by Thompson really)
The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test

Philosophy
Nietzche
Thoreau
Voltaire
History of Western Philosophy
Democracy of America
L'Etranger by Albert Camus
Story of Philosophy by Durant
The Art of War
Anything by Jung
Anything by Marx
Reflections on the Revolution in France
The Red and the Black
Common Sense, the Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings by Thomas Paine
Man's Search For Meaning
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit
A Brief History of Everything
Tao of Jeet Kune Do
The Republic (Plato)
The Allegory of the Cave (Plato)
Temporary Autonomous Zone
Oedipus Trilogy (Sophocles)
Meditations
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Sophocles

Poetry & Plays
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Songs of Innocence and Experience
Robert Frost
Emily Dickinson
No Man is an Island: A Selection of Prose of John Donne
Anything by Poe
Leaves of Grass
A Christmas Carol
Dahlgren
The Complete Works of Shakespeare
Endgame

New & Classic Novels
Heart of Darkness
The Great Gatsby
Animal Farm
1984
Of Mice and Men
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Grapes of Wrath
The Count of Monte Cristo
Catcher in the Rye
A Clockwork Orange
Farenheit 451
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Moby Dick
Fight Club
Brave New World
Island
Point Counterpoint
The Poisonwood Bible
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
All Quiet On the Western Front
The Godfather
The Lord of the Flies
The Thin Red Line
From Here to Eternity
Catch-22
Something Happened
Slaughterhouse Five
Anything by William Faulkner
Ulysses (Anything by Joyce)
Angela's Ashes
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
The Deptford Trilogy
Two Solitudes
Jane Eyre
The Things They Carried
Beloved
Crime and Punishment
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemmingway)
The Sun Also Rises (Hemmingway)
The Color Purple
Things Fall Apart
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Jennifer Government
Of Human Bondage
The Moral Animal
The Dispossessed
The Razor's Edge
Power of One
Anything by Will Ferguson (If you're Canadian)
The Egyptian
The Glass Bead Game
Gulliver's Travels
Charles Dickens
Don Quixote
This Side of Paradise
The Three Musketeers
Faust
The Dumas Club
Breakfast of Champions
In the Skin of a Lion
Despair (Nabokov)
Ivanhoe
Schindler's List
Oscar Wilde
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
The Clan of the Cave Bear
Anna Karenina
Voss
Anything by Schopenhauer
Anything by Rousseau

Reference
The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics
Isaac Asimov
A History of English-Speaking Peoples
Stephen Hawking
Common Sense Economics
Anything by Brian Greene
A Short History of Nearly Everything
The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference
Anything by Einstein
Noteable Historical Trials (Vol. 1-4)
Business Communication: Process & Product
The Prince
Origin of Species
The Wealth of Nations
Long Walk to Freedom (Autobiography)
The Motorcycle Diaries
Selected Works of King
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The Oxford Companion to English Literature
On War
Silent Spring

Short Stories & Novellas
Flowers for Algernon
Ficciones
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
God’s Debris
Metamorphosis

Greek/Roman
The Illiad
The Odyssey
Aeneid
The Histories (Herodutus)

AtrainV · 01-22-2009, 07:20 AM

Awesome. Thanks for your work on that, Acedia.

Acedia · 01-23-2009, 12:36 AM

There's a lot of good books not on that list. Keep contributing.

The Power of Now is a pretty good read, the name of the author slips my mind at the moment though. I'll have to look it up.

And, Thompson's already on that list, but Kingdom of Fear is a better read than Fear & Loathing IMO, probably because it's closer to my generation.

LiquidIce · 01-25-2009, 12:40 PM

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a must. Great piece, great piece...
Also:
Paulos, John Allen - Innumeracy - Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
and
Carl Sagan - The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Struwwelpeter · 02-06-2009, 07:55 AM

Why should religious books be required reading for humanity? Do you to increase or decrease the likelihood of humanity being poisoned? Do you feel humanity is not already fucked up enough as it is?

Thank you in advance for a response.

The Explanation · 02-07-2009, 06:08 AM

Ender's Game FTW
Maybe it's just me, but I actually liked the left behind series.

Oh and anything by Tom Clancy.

The Explanation · 02-07-2009, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim "fuck latinos" Carrey

Why should religious books be required reading for humanity? Do you to increase or decrease the likelihood of humanity being poisoned? Do you feel humanity is not already fucked up enough as it is?

Thank you in advance for a response.

Religious books, even if you don't espouse their beliefs, are important in understanding the human condition. Something that affects so many people and is alluded to in so many other works is something that needs to be read. I would argue that the Bible is the single most alluded to work ever.

Sally Paradise · 02-08-2009, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquidIce

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a must. Great piece, great piece...

Okay, I seriously love you. It is epic, in every sense of the word. I've never met anyone else who's read it before, I get strange looks from people when I say the title.

Are we doing poetry?
Chicago Poems - Carl Sandburg; Howl & Other Poems, Planet News - Allen Ginsberg; Paradise Lost - John Milton; The Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer; The Waste Land - TS Eliot

Prose:
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Pale Fire - Nabokov
Without Feathers - Woody Allen
^ it's hilarious. Brilliant. I'll add more later, when it isn't 3am and my brain is leaking out my ears. (Speaking of brains leaking out ears, has anyone read the Canterbury Tales in middle English? It's really lyrical and wonderful and all, but at the same time it's a real bitch to read. haha)

Sally Paradise · 02-09-2009, 09:58 AM

Oh and what about Doctor Faustus?

Eridani · 02-11-2009, 06:05 AM

No War and Peace? Arguably the best novel ever written.

EDIT: Thought of a few more:

Shogun,
King Rat,
Tai Pan, (anything by James Clavell really)
I Claudius (and sequel).

supperrfreek · 02-16-2009, 05:49 AM

Mark Twain is pretty good.
Poe is unmentioned.
Vonnegut anyone?
I wouldn't go so far as to say these are the best writers ever but I do believe that it would do no harm to read even a little of their work.

The Jitterskull · 02-16-2009, 07:37 AM

A Tale Of Two Cities?

dij314 · 02-22-2009, 08:45 PM

Cat's Cradle.

Jerry · 02-22-2009, 09:26 PM

Great work. What I was going to contribute is already there

porkkills · 02-23-2009, 08:46 PM

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. i'm guessing that it's here somewhere and i'm just not seeing it, but i can't let it pass. amazing book.

Darkhunter · 02-28-2009, 03:31 AM

House of Leaves

harry_hardcore_hoedown · 03-03-2009, 01:07 PM

That's a lot of reading material right there, but I think the book you're referring to is called Schindler's Ark.

negz · 03-04-2009, 07:24 AM

Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)

LiquidIce · 03-04-2009, 09:13 PM

Weird. No Bukowski.

Just read The Post Office. Got some more of his poems and stories to read. Love the style and some of the... perspectives on life.

illuminatikiller · 03-04-2009, 09:30 PM

Stranger in a Strange Land fo sho!

BlackSails · 03-11-2009, 05:54 AM

So uhm... Let's say I'm a person who's barely read any books at all. Where should one start? Thanks to TV and Internet, I never really picked up too many books in my time. But I owe it to myself to become a more educated person, well read.

Which are the first books I should pick up? I'd say I'm most interested in reading the classics first, so that I could potentially discuss them and get references to them. While y'all give me advice, maybe I'll start on the Hitchhikers Guide, as I've got it right here.

MissC · 04-11-2009, 05:19 AM

IMO (and it is opinion only), where possible, books should be read in their original language. If youre gonna read Camus' "L'Etranger" and can understand French to a decent level (A-Level really) - read it in French! If however you are - sadly - monolingual - then feel free to stick to english.

On these lists can we highlight Original Languages?
eg.

L'Etranger - Albert Camus (OL - Fr)

constantinople · 04-19-2009, 09:20 AM

Cosmic Trilogy by C.S. Lewis

DJ Meaty Cheeks · 04-19-2009, 09:21 AM

Required watching:

Grave of the Fireflies

Barefoot Gen

Implacable · 05-20-2009, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Needmoney

I think the same held true for me, too.

Then again, my school was populated with retarded Xbox fucks who lacked the ability to even read a sentence properly, and I'm not exaggerating. A lot of them could barely read or write.

boy needmoney, you sure have evolved from the troll you were way back when on totse.
i remember when everyone hated you. those were the days.

Dream of the iris · 05-26-2009, 09:05 AM

Any one a fan of William Blake have any recommendations?