Annotated Bibliography
Classics
This is hardly a complete list of the classics, nor even a complete list of the
ones I've read. These are merely some of the ones that I feel were important
to me one way or another.
Samuel Beckett
- Waiting for Godot
The original existential play; this is the most readable (by far) of its genre.
I almost enjoyed it.
Albert Camus
- The Stranger
What a dark depressing book. What a cold unlovable protagonist. It's a
relatively easy book to read in French if (like me) you aren't particularly
fluent.
Jean Cocteau
- Les Enfants Terribles
I had such a horrendous time reading this in French, I think I missed a great
deal of it.
Miguel de Cervantes
- Don Quixote
No, alas, I was unable to finish it. But I'm convinced there is a beautiful
message lurking between those monstrous covers...
Charles Dickens
- Christmas Carol
This one is also pretty easy to read.
- Great Expectations
I really enjoyed this one. (He wasn't paid by the word on this one and it
shows!)
- Hard Times
I'd really have to be in hard times to pick this one up again. I guess I'll
never make a real literary critic.
- Tale of Two Cities
It's a good thing I was forced to read this in school.
William Faulkner
- Sound and the Fury
I had to read it twice to understand anything that was going on in the first
part. It was worth it: it is an extremely powerful work.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Great Gatsby
This is the story of the colorful Mr. Gatsby. This generally isn't my kind of
story, but I loved it. Every so often I was transfixed by a phrase or
paragraph of startling poetic beauty, and the dialog was great.
Victor Hugo
- Les Miserables
I almost finished this one time in high school and was fairly proud of
myself. It turns out it was an abridged version. It really was great,
but man it's a lot of words to plow through...
William Shakespeare
There's no way I'm gonna try to comment on "The Bard", but here is a list of
some of my favorites.
- As You Like It
- Hamlet
- Henry V
- Julius Caesar
- King Lear
- Macbeth
- Othello
- The Tempest
- Twelfth Night
John Steinbeck
- Grapes of Wrath
This is about the "Oakies" moving west to make a living as their farms were
slowly driven out of business by industrialized farming. The only complaint I
can make is Steinbeck went a little heavy handed on the symbolism (esp. the
turtle!) It is a classic no matter which perspective you use: history,
literature, entertainment.
Harriett Beecher Stowe
- Uncle Tom's Cabin
I was expecting essentially anti-slavery propaganda; I found an extremely
well-written book with superb plot, characters, settings, language, etc.
And heavy-handed anti-slavery propaganda. A highly enjoyable read.
?
- Beowulf
This is an important work to read if you want to understand the origins of old
English mythology. Is this the original dragon-slayer story?
- Tristan and Isolde
This is another useful book to read to learn about the mentality of medieval
life in England and France. It is also a pretty classic tragic love story.
?
- Beowulf
This is an important work to read if you want to understand the origins of old
English mythology. Is this the original dragon-slayer story?
- Tristan and Isolde
This is another useful book to read to learn about the mentality of medieval
life in England and France. It is also a pretty classic tragic love story.
Index
| Authors
| Titles
| Favorites
| Suggestions
| Main Page