I found a good read

I'm into classic fiction, thought I would try my second novel by English novelist, George Gissing. I did enjoy his book, New Grub Street.

Now, I've started The Nether World.

Do you have any you would like to share?

Yes like a million. But two things come to mind: it's a bit hard to remember which are good, like is Dostoevsky still good? (I mean is he good in a absolute sense.) Which actually helped me a lot, it struck with a lightning bolt that it was he who praised Anna Karenina.

But anyway Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, etc. I know you'll laugh and what not. I'm not talking Scarlet Letter more House of the Seven Gables type of stuff. Almost Thomas Mann.

I did like Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsin. Chekhov seems there. I want to say like some naturist by you know, honestly there are a lot worse books than Walden.

We have this slightly terrible disease where the classics are shunned with a lot of vim and vigor.... But the thing is, books like Walden are truly, and deeply, beautiful and wholesome. They're like actually writing for the soul. So hey like hearten it, uplift it, and so on and so forth. It's not literature but the 4th chapter of James' Varieties fits into all this.

One thing that's perhaps a problem with things like this is that we calcify the writers and instead of remembering -- what they wrote about was the Soul, portrayed in all its forms, creating, being, becoming, etc.- and the process of mind and growth, rather than just the opinions or views of the authors.

Oh but also you have books that aren't classic literature by modern standards but are phenomenal works of art and beauty, and I would put The Buried Pyramid, and Child of a Rainless Year into this category. (Just as Emerson and Thoreau, Whitman etc al had an entire continent to explore, and to grow from, the rich oxygen and all-- she (these books' author) loved wolves a lot and grew from this.

Radical. :)

Just starting 'Perfume, the Story of a Murderer' by Patrick Süskind
-Been waiting years to read this one!

Recs:
'Crime & Punishment' and 'Catcher in the rye' - Utterly flawless classics
'K-PAX' - Not quite a classic piece of writing, but an interesting conceptual story

Currently, my reading is "Gambarra" by Balzac, which is a somewhat atypical novel in Balzac's work:

The novel is built around a love triangle with a Milanese aristocrat who courts the wife of Gambarra, an eccentric composer. but the relationship between the characters is very complex since the composer passively accepts his wife's extramarital relationship (implying that he is aware of the hypocrisy of the Milanese aristocrat's feelings), while the Milanese pretends to understand and to help Gambarra in his spiritual and artistic quest.

interesting and relatively unknown novel, which is a vigorous social satire, specific to Balzac's style, with characters that are as stereotypical as possible, which are sometimes reminiscent of a play. the notion of an eccentric artist/creator, overwhelmed by his works of art is very interestingly explored, with a good dose of dark humor and above all a lot of compassion.

otherwise, I recently started reading "Du Côté de chez Swann" by Proust, the challenge for me is to approach Proust's literary style, which is a large uninterrupted fresco of various impressions and long description. there are the important elements and themes of the unconscious, memory and dreams, which sometimes forces me to reread the same description 4 or 5 times to understand the hidden meaning or the importance of this or that place object on the consciousness of the narrator. moreover, it is a kind of fictionalized autobiography, therefore, knowing Proust's youth is important to understand the importance of this literary fresco.

"Don Quixote" by Cervantes, after more than 400 years still the best novel known to man. The Nobel Prize voted it "The Greatest Book of All Time" and they sure got it right. If you're going to read an English translation start with the one by Walter Starkie and published by Signet Classic; it's still the best.

Great contributions on the forum, thank you all.

the legend trilogy (by marie lu) (includes graphic novels)
the dragon warrior (by katie zhao)
the gifted clans trilogy (by gracie kim)
the winnie zeng trilogy (by katie zhao)
the i funny series (by james patterson)
the wings of fire series (by tui sutherland) (includes legends, quartets, official guide)
the harry potter series (by jk rowling)
the lunar chronicles (by marrisa meyer)

1001 Arabian Nights

I am fond of Gravity's Rainbow. There's a lot to like about parabolas.

I am fond of anything written by Tom Wolfe. There's a lot to like about the way he dressed.

As a child, I was drawn to the writing of Louis Auchincloss. There's a lot to like about old money.

And let us never forget any of the science fiction writers of our youth. Heinlein. Asimov. Bradbury. Clarke. Herbert. Dick. Verne. Wells.

There's a lot to like about looking forward to the future when we are young.

You were so close to alphabetizing them.

Asimov. Bradbury. Clark. (P.K. I presume?) Dick. Heinlein. Verne. Wells.

Speaking of Asimov, The Foundation Trilogy, the I,Robot series (more or less catalogued after the fact,), Nightfall... I'm trying to remember others but I mean the Foundation Trilogy (not just 3 books........) was phenomenally captivating, and many of his other words as well. And Foundation is now a television show. They changed a whole heck of a lot, but it is wonderfully true to the spirit. Once you get used to Hari Seldon being a heck of a lot more rueful than portrayed in the books (though equally resourceful, intelligent, and prescient), it is very smoothe sailing.