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by greggman
4414 days ago
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I was similar to you? When I was ~19 I had never read a novel except stuff required by school. I hated it. I only read non-fiction stuff about Space and computer manuals/books/reference. I asked my best friend that loved to read what book would get me to like reading. He recommended H.Beam Piper's "Little Fuzzies" and I couldn't stop reading until I finished. I think his next recommendation was Ender's Game which I also couldn't stop reading. I never quite got addicted to reading but when something does catch me I can't stop, often not getting enough sleep until I finish. I agree with you, The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, are not for everyone. They weren't for me either. Many "classics" seem very out dated to me. But, I'm going to guess if you found the right books you'd at least really enjoy them even if like me you never become an avid reader |
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catcher in the rye (English 1951), lord of the rings err flies lol (English 1954), to kill a mockingbird (English 1960) but written in the 50s.
That is an extremely narrow definition of classics, all English language novels written in the 1950s by white dudes. If you have to hit 50-ish English novels at least try some Tolkien or Hemmingway or if +/- a couple decades is OK, some golden era Asimov and Clarke sci fi? Harlan Ellison and the invisible man?
If you have to stay white dude but are willing to stretch the dates, how bout some Hunter S Thompson from the 70s, or go the other way for the Great Gatsby (both titles are not for everyone, I think?)
Not trying to give you a hard time, but to point out that there's an extremely large world out there other than English novels from the 50s. Sure there's some good stuff, but theres orders of magnitude more "out there".
I think it would be hard for a teen boy not to be captivated by "anabasis aka the Persian expedition" which is a mere 2500 years old. Blood n guts and high adventure in a crazy old world on the other side of the planet 2500 years ago. If it weren't true some video game author would write it today. Gateway drug to Herodotus and then you end up lost to the "great books".
I read and greatly enjoyed Gibbon (its about one foot on a bookshelf, depending on edition) but even I haven't completed any Russians. So I can't answer if "The Idiot" is worth completing. However, not everything worth reading takes six months.