Favorite "Classic" Literature — Page 3

I was just reprimanded by a group of small children for never having read The Giver. I know it's a literary sin, though, and it's high on my list of things to read. I have three all-time favorite novels: The Great Gatsby (which I have read at least ten times), The Picture of Dorian Gray, and 1984. I'm such a lit snob - I always gravitate toward the classics. I also love The Catcher in the Rye, Cat's Cradle, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I could go on and on.

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Em, I'm so glad you mentioned A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! That's my absolute all-time favorite book.

I definitely have to agree with To Kill a Mockingbird, Gatsby, Huck Finn, The Sun Also Rises and Pride and Prejudice. I'd also like to add Fahrenheit 451 (which I am in definite need of rereading). And, since someone mentioned The Giver, I'd like to add Number the Stars. Some other children's books I've always loved are Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Outsiders and Bridge to Terabithia (though I don't know how "classic" those are).

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I fiiiiiinally got around to To Kill a Mockingbird last year and for the first half I kept thinking, "This is all right but Capote must've helped her with this, she never wrote anything else" and then by the last half I thought, "Oh Capote didn't write this at all."

It would have been better.

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Gone with the Wind
Death Be Not Proud
Little Women

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Something Wicked This Way Comes is my fave Bradbury novel (though I love even more his short fiction). Just a great mix of nostalgia and creepiness (like It but better :P )

Namo, I wonder if age plays a part? I read Mockingbird in seventh grade and it blew me away--I didn't expect to like it that much. But I didn't know anything about the story, movie, etc

I fiiiiiinally got around to To Kill a Mockingbird last year and for the first half I kept thinking, "This is all right but Capote must've helped her with this, she never wrote anything else" and then by the last half I thought, "Oh Capote didn't write this at all."

The fact that Harper Lee only wrote the one book just makes me love Mockingbird more. She did start writing another book, realised it wasn't going to be anywhere near as good, and quit while she was ahead. There are a LOT of authors out there who could've really benefited from following her lead.

As for Catcher in the Rye, I think you need to be fairly young, and I think you need to discover it for yourself. If someone gives it to you, or you've matured beyond a certain level, you're just going to find it pointless and annoying. But if you get it the right way at the right time, then it'll totally speak to you.

No, really, how *are* we defining classic? I want to add The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. Absolutely hands-down the finest genre novel I have EVER read. He wrote it in the '50s, and it hasn't aged at all. Absolutely mind-blowing and HIGHLY recommended!

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