What everyone should read. The Most Interesting Books Everyone Should Read

"Call me Ishmael" - with these words Herman Melville began his novel Moby Dick - probably the most important novel in the history of American literature of the 19th century. But this great writer was largely forgotten even before his death and was mentioned as Henry Melville in obituaries in the New York Times.
Drop it writing career happened, in fact, precisely thanks to Moby Dick. Prior to this, Melville had written quite successful books about sea adventures, but this ambitious tale of a crazed sea captain obsessed with the idea of ​​chasing a white whale turned out to be excessive for readers of the time who never understood it.
Even critics were stunned by Melville's poetic, almost biblical style. And only after his death, the book was recognized as a masterpiece of world literature - a truly powerful work that touches on the serious topics of the place. ordinary person in nature, the need to find the meaning of life and American nature in general.

2: Dead Souls

Although the name is familiar to many from an early age, it can frighten with its gloominess. In fact, Dead Souls one of the most witty books of the 19th century, written by Nikolai Gogol, which had a great influence on the work of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.
Dead Souls is the writer's only novel that tells about an enterprising young man traveling around Russia and buying up "dead souls" - dead peasants who were still considered alive by the landowners according to the registered census data. By buying them and registering them in his own name, he hopes to create the illusion of the owner of many peasants, which would allow him to receive large loans from the state, get rich and achieve a high social status.
Presenting a sweeping, brilliant satire of society (Gogol pokes fun at everyone from gossiping housewives to cruel landowners and pompous officials), Dead Souls is considered the first novel in Russian literature.

3: Cold House

Although not as famous as Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, Bleak House is still the greatest novel ever. Charles Dickens. He stuffed him with everything he knew about London. Victorian era, and reading it is like traveling through time.
On the surface, this is a satirical (but still meaningful) criticism of British law - corrupt lawyers, aristocrats and businessmen who use the court for their own selfish purposes. But this satire forms only one layer of the novel. It is also a story about forbidden love, family secrets and intrigue.
Well, since this is Dickens, then, of course, the book is simply crammed with unforgettable characters, including London himself. The chaotic development of the city and the swirling tentacles of fog have never been described with such artistic force by anyone. This is the most compelling escapism in literature.

4: Moll Flanders

Daniel Defoe's most famous work will forever remain Robinson Crusoe, but his other novel, Moll Flanders, is much grander and more exciting.
Moll is the daughter of a convict, born in prison, and firmly determined to become a decent, rich lady. This decision is followed by a series of often funny and sometimes tragic events, when Moll marries repeatedly, one of them to his own brother, accidentally commits incest, becomes a whore, a swindler and a thief, and gets too familiar with the walls of a prison cell.
Offering a breathtaking journey through the filth and glamor of the 18th century, the novel also gives us one of the most charismatic protagonists in literature. Beautiful, witty and ruthless, Moll is ahead of her time. And with all this, she is charmingly sweet and vulnerable, causing a desire to help sort out her life.

5: Pride and Prejudice

Many people are only superficially familiar with the novel. Pride and Prejudice, and then only thanks to Colin Firth, who played in one of his adaptations. But, if you know the work only from television screens, then you should get to know him much closer.
Jane Austen's favorite novel is funny from the first page, and as much comical as it is romantic. Austin managed to put together everything about romance, love and courtship: awkward flirting, confused messages, and how love can fool even the smartest and strongest of us.
Of course, everyone knows Darcy, one of the greatest romantic literary heroes, which is already a great achievement, given his hypocrisy and lack of a sense of humor. But the novel also has a whole gallery of delicious characters, from the grotesque Lady Catherine de Boer to the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, a lively, witty girl who would easily fit into the 21st century. This is the best women's urban novel of its time!

6: The Stranger from Wildfell Hall

Ann Bronte never became as popular as her sister Charlotte, which is not entirely fair, since The Stranger from Wildfell Hall one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
With this book, Ann Bronte launched the early women's rights movement. The novel is about a beautiful woman who leaves her unfaithful and depraved husband in search of her own path in life. The main character, Helen Huntingdon, is one of the strongest female characters in English fiction.
Although there is a huge difference between this novel and the distorted, orderly world of Jane Austen. Helen's story is about alcoholism, decadent sex and social scandal, and the novel's emotional power almost rivals Wuthering Heights.

7: Vanity Fair

Maybe Charles Dickens and the king of literary London in the middle of the 19th century, but one of his main rivals and contender for the throne was William Makepeace Thackeray.
Determined to outdo Dickens, Thackeray created a wild, energetic epic novel about life in Britain, gave it a villainous heroine, and called it Vanity Fair. While Dickens was no doubt a writer of greater scope and greater generosity, Thackeray was cruel, cold-blooded and completely unsentimental.
Vanity Fair is the story of Becky Sharp, a delightfully wicked career woman who uses looks, charm and a fair amount of cunning to charm men and accumulate as much money as possible. It is a poignant satire of British society and the hypocrisy of the upper classes. This Victorian novel is for those who are looking for a decent drama with a fast-paced comic plot.

8: Middlemarch

At first glance, the novel, subtitled A Study in Country Life, might not seem like the most exciting reading in the world. But writer George Eliot's Middlemarch is a serious contender for the title of the greatest British novel of the 19th century.
Eliot uses a small fictional town as a model for an entire civilization, exploring the nature of love, wholeness, family, virtue and vice. The central character - Dorothea - is a real angel, or at least wants to be. But the irony is that choosing the right path to do the right thing is exactly what gets her into a lot of trouble.
This is truly an English novel. And if the great Leo Tolstoy had been born in Great Britain, he would definitely have written something similar. But fortunately, Eliot did it, giving the world what Virginia Woolf would later call "one of the few English novels written for adults."

9: War and Peace




10: Madame Bovary

The French novelist, Gustave Flaubert, was a shy, presumptuous and irritated society. But this misanthrope is also behind one of the most sensual and touching images women's life ever written.
Emma Bovary's husband is a classic sweet guy - dependable, supportive and completely boring. And so Emma, ​​desperate for passion and excitement, enters into a series of hot romances, the inevitable result of which is tragedy. When this exquisite book was published, it provoked a scandal and a demand by French prosecutors to ban it for obscenity. But instead, she became a bestseller, and her clean, fresh style influenced many writers of later times.
This style was the result of Flaubert's manic perfectionism. He could write one page for a week, rewriting every sentence, until everything seemed perfect to him. The result was a story about adultery and the reasons that push people to treason and betrayal.

9: War and Peace

Here it is, the father of the classic novel, the epic story that many call the greatest book of all time. Don't let its size and reputation scare you. He should definitely like him, even though he caused awe and disgust at school.
Talking about early years A 19th-century masterpiece by Leo Tolstoy depicts a group of Russian aristocrats facing an invading Napoleonic army. Although the many battle scenes in the novel are quite vivid and bloody, the book excels at its moments of conflict in human relations. In the end, Tolstoy was most interested in one assumption - how one can not touch morality, faced with the defects of this vicious world.
With such a vast novel, it's no wonder so many writers have compared Tolstoy to Shakespeare (even though Tolstoy himself never liked Shakespeare). War and Peace is one of those novels that you live, and not just read. Find time for it, and you will understand that it is not in vain that it is so praised, and in vain you did not read it at school.

12: Daniel Deronda

Dissatisfied with producing the stunning masterpiece that is Middlemarch, Eliot ended her career with another great novel, Danielle Deronda. Today it is known as one of the first and most sympathetic novels about British Jews.
Sweet and handsome Daniel Deronda saves a charming singer from suicide by preventing her from jumping into the Thames, which leads to his acquaintance and joining the Jewish community in London. Eliot deftly weaves Daniel's self-development with the story of Gwendolyn, a young woman who initially appears as a spoiled girl, but gradually recovers by helping others.
For a story about the society of Victorian England, the book is strikingly relevant to the events. modern world. One of the themes is the migration of Jews to that part of the Middle East, where Israel was later formed. But this is only a love story, and Eliot does not allow political and philosophical ideas outshine the characters she created.

13: Red and black

The French writer Stendhal knew how to deal with the ladies of the 19th century. He was actually obsessed with romance and seduction, which may explain the character of the classic novel's protagonist. Red and black. The book tells the story of an unscrupulous young boor, Julien Sorel, who uses his looks and intelligence to carve his way into French society in the years following the fall of Napoleon. Unfortunately, he didn't right choice way of conquest, and his affair with the mer's wife sets off a series of events that somewhat moderate his quest for wealth and power. But is Julien worth admiring? It is this question that makes the novel so intriguing. The book challenges our own notions, showing a man who is deceitful and selfish, who is at the same time no worse than those he manipulates. By analyzing his motives, you may reconsider your own perception of the world.

14: Reasoning

All Jane Austen novels are incredibly popular. Everything except this. For some reason, Persuasion never evoked the same groveling that Pride and Prejudice, Emma or Feelings and sensibility. But to some extent, this is her most intense work.
Perhaps this is because the book was her last and was published after her death. Unlike other Austen novels that focus on up-and-coming socialites experimenting with first loves, this one explores the life of a more mature woman. The main character, Anne Elliot, convinces herself to turn down a suitor because he isn't "respectable" enough. Many years later, Anne's longtime "love" returns as a wealthy and respectable man, but is it too late?
Reasoning is a thought-provoking, nostalgic novel. It's nice to see Austin deal with themes of regret for lost love instead of straight-forward courtship. That is why the novel is the perfect complement to her other masterpiece - Pride and Prejudice.

15: Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad created many real classics, but his best job- a relatively short novel Heart of Darkness - probably the only subtle criticism of colonialism.
The book is about Marlow, an Englishman who needs to smuggle a shipment of ivory down the Congo River in Belgian-occupied Africa. During his journey, he witnesses many atrocities against the native Africans by the colonialists, and also learns about an ivory merchant named Kurtz, who has posed as a demigod among the tribes of the region.
Together with Kurtz, Konrad demonstrates how the idea of ​​"civilizing" other races can ignite a backfire and corrupt the occupiers. This is a powerful tale that can be applied to many other historical moments. Francis Ford Coppola, for example, used the story to explore the Vietnam War in his film Apocalypse Now.

16: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There was nothing before her, there was nothing as good after.
Thought so Ernest Hemingway, and while he may have gone a little overboard, that says a lot about the importance of the piece. Twain conceived it as a simple adventure story, but the book turned out to be a real call for freedom and resistance.
Written from Huck's point of view (and American slang is one of the book's many phenomena), the story follows a teenager and a runaway slave named Jim as they travel on a raft down the Mississippi River. Along the way, they encounter many unwanted people and situations that only reinforce their resolve to reject mainstream society.
It is the ruthless critique of pernicious slavery that gives the book such strength. But it is also a beautiful tale of childhood, presenting a contrast between the innocent idealism of youth and the violence and depravity of the adult world. Try to see Hemingway's awe with your own eyes...

17: The Picture of Dorian Gray

It is the only novel published by the legendary Oscar Wilde, which is as delightfully wonderful as one would expect from it. Dorian is a strikingly handsome and narcissistic young man who does not want to grow old. His wish came true, and instead of him his portrait ages, and then traces of the growing cruelty and depravity of Dorian appear on it.
This is Wilde's interpretation of the old Faust myth. This is a classic example of Victorian era literature full of promiscuous dandies smoking opium and discussing art, sex and morality. Undoubtedly, the novel was considered somewhat shocking in its time, especially for the hidden theme of homosexuality.
It's a great book, but it's worth reading just for arming yourself with a few killer witticisms to use at your next social gathering.

18: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

When a priest named Lawrence Stern posted The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman in the mid-18th century, the sheer originality (and strangeness) of the text made many critics roll their eyes. Even Samuel Johnson said that "Tristram Shandy won't last long!"
But it did last, perhaps precisely because the book's sense of humor was remarkably modern, full of so many clever antics, obscenities, and perversely silly interludes that you'd think the book was written by a drunken Monty Python production team.
The plot itself is pretty simple. This is the story of the life of little Tristram Shandy, told by himself. What makes the book unusual is its surprisingly chaotic style. Shandi begins with the story of his conception, and continues with so many strangely related stories that he is born only after hundreds of pages have passed.
The novel is stuffed with sly jokes, bizarre digressions, and crazy accidents, and seems to be the most eccentric and bizarre classic literary work all times and peoples. But it was also Virginia Woolf's favorite book.

19: Dracula

This book may not be as beautifully written as some of the others on this list, but it is clearly the most famous of them all. After all, Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, gave us a truly iconic character that can be seen in numerous films, television shows, comics, cartoons, musicals, computer games and other books.
But the book is much more than the story of a blood-drinking count. This is a fascinating description of the morality and sexuality of the Victorian era. Dracula himself is a tempter who completely corrupts the lovely Victorian virgins, and only a group of heroes in camisoles can expel this wild creature and restore proper etiquette and order.
Dracula is still the great horror novel that takes us on a journey from Transylvania to England and back again. So forget Buffy, Interview with the Vampire, Twilight, and other pathetic imitations. Sit back in your chair with an original Bram Stoker novel in your hands and meet the vampire who started it all...

20: Wuthering Heights

And finally ... Of course, one could not ignore the amazing tale of passion, love, tragedy and uncontrollable anger by Emilia Bronte ...
Unfortunately, this novel also did not become as popular as the numerous works of the writer's sister, Charlotte Bronte, but personally, in my opinion, the book more than deserves a place in the school curriculum for foreign literature, not to mention the fact that every lover of reading should read it, and more than once, in her life.
In the center Wuthering Heights“Heathcliff is the original literary bad boy, whose love for the Yorkshire girl Cathy is the only thing that balances his hatred for everything else. And when Cathy chooses another, more respectable man for marriage, Heathcliff becomes furious, which destroys both their lives.
But that's only half. Everyone thinks Brontë's novel is the story of Katherine and her rude, dangerous, conniving suitor. But the book also describes the lives of a second generation influenced by Heathcliff's lust for revenge. This is an epic, powerful and rather complex story.

Nowadays, reading is not only necessary, but also useful. However, those who like to occupy their time with some fascinating book very often face the fact that they simply do not know what kind of work is really worth the time spent on it. To get around this problem, you need to know and remember the most interesting books that are waiting to be read. Anyone who makes such a small list for himself will not spend a huge amount of his precious time searching for works.

The most interesting books to read for teenagers. Novel "It's good to be quiet"

I must say that in recent years, reading has become fashionable, and it's great. A few years ago, not a single teenager rested while sitting at a book, because his peers could ridicule him. Now the situation is completely different: not to read - ashamed! Therefore, many teenagers are fond of literature that interests them. However, very often they cannot choose the works that suit them, because many writers write what they think is “boring”, and such books are very difficult for teenagers to read. In order not to face such problems, it is necessary to make a list called "The most interesting books that should be read by teenagers."

One of all teenagers is "It's good to be quiet." The plot of this novel is very exciting and interesting, besides, the work is written in an easy and understandable language for every teenager.

This book will focus on Charlie - the main character, who once overheard the conversation of his classmates about a guy who has the ability to understand the thoughts of other people. The hero was in a depressive state associated with the death of Aunt Helen and his best friend, whose name was Michael. Charlie found out the address of the "understanding" guy and began to write letters to him. In them, he detailed all his feelings and experiences, but hid his address and name.

"A house where..."

No less will be the "House in which ...". This novel is intended for those who are fond of horror, mysticism and fantasy. It is important that the plot of the work does not allow the reader to relax for a second, because with each new sentence read, the teenager gets acquainted with new actions taking place in the novel.

"The house in which ..." describes the events that unfold in a boarding school for disabled children. They are experienced by the main character named Smoker. He was transferred to another group, as he quarreled with his own, and it was after that that he became a witness to unusual and mystical phenomena taking place in the House.

In the list of works for teenagers called "The most interesting books to read" you can include "For boys and girls. School Survival Advice Book.

This work will be interesting for those children who study in secondary and high school. For those who are still in elementary grades, it is better to postpone acquaintance with the book. It is worth noting that people who have long graduated from school would also be interested in reading this work and remembering their school years.

The best books about life. "Crime and Punishment"

Not only teenagers like to read, but also adults. They are interested in literature written in a more “complex” language. Many adults like to read books about life. After all, it is in such works that you can find yourself, draw any conclusions, change your outlook on life and learn worthwhile lessons from them. In order not to spend a huge amount of time looking for a good book about life, you need to make a small list for yourself called "The most interesting books about life that are worth reading."

One of the most famous and 19-20 century is "Crime and Punishment" by the great F. M. Dostoevsky. Probably, people who are not familiar with this work do not exist. The novel describes the emotional drama of a man who decided to kill and committed it. "Crime and Punishment" is considered a classic of Russian and world literature. Anyone who wants to read any literature about life little man, you need to get acquainted with this work.

"Life and Destiny"

The most interesting books worth reading about life can always please and surprise any reader. Therefore, anyone who wants to read really good literature should make a small list for themselves, with the help of which it will be possible to spend time with pleasure and benefit.

The work "Life and Fate" should be noted, because it is considered one of the best books about life.

Through this novel, the author tried to convey to the reader that there is nothing that can be put above human values: neither the ideals of the revolution, nor a single system, etc. The writer wanted to show that the life and fate of any person is the greatest value.

Lust for Life: Vincent van Gogh

If you want to find something worth reading, don't miss Lust for Life: Vincent van Gogh. You will surely like it. Every lover of literature about human life will not remain indifferent after reading the book, because it is a real masterpiece.

This work describes the very tragic fate of the great Vincent van Gogh. The reader will get acquainted with how difficult the life of the artist was, no one understood him. Van Gogh's work was criticized and not accepted by society.

Now your list called "The most interesting books that everyone should read" has replenished. However, it is worth recalling several interesting works about psychology that will appeal to every reader.

List of books about psychology. "People who play games"

If you do not like science fiction, mysticism, drama, etc., then a list called "The most interesting books to read about psychology" will be a great helper in choosing good literature for you.

One of the most popular and best books on psychology is People Who Play Games. It can be safely added to the list called "The most interesting books worth reading." The work was written by the world-famous psychologist Eric Berne, who created transactional analysis, as well as a system of psychological assistance based on it.

The book is dedicated to the reader being able to get rid of the complexes and stereotypes that hinder him in Everyday life. Through this work, the author tried to teach all readers to analyze their communication.

From the very beginning, the psychologist wanted to publish this book as an advanced textbook on psychology, but he managed to write it in a simple and understandable language for everyone, which can be understood by any person who has expressed a desire to get acquainted with this work.

In order not to doubt the choice of literature suitable for you, you must use the list called "The most interesting books worth reading." Reviews of each product you choose can be easily found. This will help you understand what impressions the reader has after reading a particular book, and that is why you can make the right choice of work.

"Man's Search for Meaning"

Undoubtedly, a masterpiece of literature on psychology, which is simply a must-read for everyone, is the book "Man's Search for Meaning." A lover of writings about psychology should get acquainted with this book, because it contains reasoning and answers to some important questions for every person. In Man's Search for Meaning, such eternal questions as the meaning of life and death, love and suffering, etc. The author decided to pay great attention to issues related to psychotherapy.

"Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process"

The best one that absolutely everyone should be familiar with is Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process.

The work is one of the best textbooks on psychoanalytic personality diagnostics. However, the frightening title does not affect the content at all. This book is written " plain language". The work will be interesting to absolutely everyone who is fond of psychology and likes to read the relevant literature, written "simple" and "easy".

However, many people prefer to read not such as it seems to them "difficult works". Many simply adore the classics and everything connected with it. Therefore, it is necessary to list several works that can be safely included in the list called “The most interesting books worth reading. A classic that will remain in the heart.

A classic of literature that everyone should read. "Faust"

Classics will never go out of fashion, because such works appeal to most people who are fond of reading. In order to easily find such a book, you need to make a small list of the best works that can not leave absolutely no one indifferent.

Faust is considered one of the most significant works in German literature. It is significant that Goethe worked on this book throughout his life. The author completed the work a few days before his death. The writer saw the story of Dr. Faust for the first time when he was 15 years old, and after five years he decided to start creating his own interpretation of the popular myth, filling it with philosophical questions that relate to being.

Despite the fact that Faust is a very interesting work, it is necessary to add to the list of "The most interesting books worth reading." The list of masterpieces of literature will help each reader find what he has been looking for for a long time and read such works that are very popular.

"War and Peace"

"War and Peace" is the greatest epic novel that shows Russian society during the wars against Napoleon. The novel contains a huge number of parts, as well as chapters with plot completeness. This book contains hundreds of episodes that will not leave the reader indifferent.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude"

No less amazing is the work "One Hundred Years of Solitude". It is worth saying that reading this novel will cause every reader a storm of emotions, and also leave best experience. Therefore, if you want to read a real masterpiece of literature, make a choice in favor of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Now you can safely name the most interesting books worth reading. A list of these works will always help in Hard time when you want to read some good literature. Books - best friends, which will help escape from depression, as well as learn a lot of new things, who, moreover, spend free time with benefit. Therefore, you should not spend a lot of time looking for really good and worth your time books, because the list of the most interesting works will always help you quickly choose a book, and it will definitely become your favorite.

What

Perhaps the biggest bestseller of the decade is a psychological thriller with more twists and turns than even the most demanding reader could wish for.

Plot

On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunn's wife, Amy, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, and he turns out to be the prime suspect in her possible murder.

Context

Critics called Flynn's book a "novel of mirrors": nothing can be trusted here, and on every page everything turns out to be not what it seems. It seems that the reader opens the book for the sake of it, so that he is thoroughly taken aback, but not only. Flynn composes, as it were, a fascinating reading on the favorite topic of a great novel - about the family. She takes two completely glossy protagonists, rips off all the covers from them, so what kind of marriage is there, it’s uncomfortable to stand next to such people, but at the same time she implies that such an impossible union of unpleasant people is the ideal formula for a strong marriage.

Screen adaptation

Young, successful, beautiful and, most importantly, emphatically Hollywood protagonists just ask to be on the screen - Flynn seems to be writing a novel about a secret life. american stars. In the novel, by the way, it is repeatedly emphasized what kind of blondes they are - and it seems that the very choice of Ben Affleck for the main role hints that Fincher is up to something out of spite of the text. In any case, this film adaptation will not be difficult to become better than the original - there is nothing in the text except the plot, and Fincher is just known for his ability to do beautifully.

Tom McCarthy "When I Was Real"


What

An avant-garde novel delightfully different from all other novels before and since.

Plot

The protagonist, waking up in the hospital after an unnamed disaster, is compensated for several million in damages and paranoid uncertainty about the reality of today - and spends a fortune to recreate the "real" pictures dormant in his mind. It all starts with the construction of an entire house, where a team of special people recreate the smell of fried liver, the sounds of music from the pianist from above, cats walking on the roof. But it doesn't end there - the scene of a street robbery is recreated behind the house, and then something worse.

Context

Tom McCarthy came to literature from contemporary art, and his novel is not about the state of modern society, but rather about the state of modern art. Like trying to find out how far Actionist art can go in its pursuit of reality. That is, not only the fantasies of the hero, who suffers from the inability to light a cigarette with the ease of De Niro in Mean Streets, are important here, but also the fact that a whole army of professionals helps him fulfill any whim: from casting to literally choosing wallpaper. This alienation of the process from the result is reminiscent of the movie - it is worth adding that Charlie Kaufman was inspired by this book when writing New York, New York.

Screen adaptation

It is logical that the film adaptation of the novel was also taken up not by the director, but by the artist, and not the last row: the video artist Omer Fast became famous precisely for his works, groping for the line between art and reality - in Spielberg's List (2003) he interviews the team of the film "Schindler's List" On the site of a concentration camp built near Krakow as a set for a film, in Casting, a soldier talking about his service in Iraq turns out to be an actor auditioning for the role of a soldier. The author of the book and the director wrote the script for the film together - and it seems that they understood each other: Fast describes the movie, where Tom Sturridge tries to reach his own forgotten past with the help of artistic reconstructions, as the story of an artist devoid of talent.

Laura Hillenbrand "Unbroken"


What

One of the top non-fiction bestsellers of the decade, Time Magazine's 2010 Book of the Year is about a man who survived.

Plot

The incredible biography of Louis Zamperini, the street boy who was raised to be an Olympic runner and sent to the Berlin Games. After he became a pilot during World War II, survived a plane crash, drifted on a raft in the ocean for a month - and all to be captured by the Japanese.

Context

An incredible and absolutely real story that Laura Hillenbrand found; our time needs heroes and, not finding them in the present, finds them in the recent past.

Screen adaptation

The script for Angelina Jolie's film, which we will see at the end of the year, was written by the Coen brothers, her joint photo with the main character, taken shortly before his death, bypassed the Internet, but it may turn out that the desire to make socially responsible cinema will play a bad joke on her: this an already pretentious story is easy to kill with bestial seriousness.

Jeannette Walls "The Glass Castle"


What

A wonderful book about a difficult childhood in a strange family.

Plot

Dad drinks, mom paints pictures, no one works, there is often no food at home and never money, children don’t go to school, but dad can tell them the best fairy tale in the world, and mom teaches them to play the piano - and everyone is happy.

Context

In fact, “The Glass Castle” is almost the best thing that has happened to young adults literature this decade: instead of the fictional suffering of teenagers from dystopias, there is a real difficult childhood, where the bohemian life of parents does not always turn out to be a joy for their four children.

Screen adaptation

The main name of the upcoming film adaptation is already known - this is Jennifer Lawrence, for whom this book will finally be a chance to get out of the Hunger Games swamp somewhere closer to the arthouse. With all the love for Lawrence, a lot depends on her in this film adaptation: the whole book is built on very subtle details, and the “Land of the Tides” should come out of this in a good way, and not just another teenage thriller.

Colm Toibin "Brooklyn"


What

Irish Colm Toybin, one of the most serious modern authors, tragically (for us) not translated into Russian, and his novel, which received the Costa Prize in 2009.

Plot

A young Irish woman leaves her native village for America for a better life - and although Brooklyn is already difficult for her, everything becomes even more difficult when tragic events in her homeland force her to return home.

Context

Colm Toybin is one of the few authors who can write long, slow, unhurried texts and follow his characters with close attention and exceptional sympathy, which have been forgotten by world literature for more than a hundred years. His novel, however, can be read in a simpler way - as a novel about emigrants in reverse, where America becomes a place where you need to leave.

Screen adaptation

Saoirse Ronan, an apprentice confectioner at the Grand Budapest Hotel, will star in an upcoming - very Irish - adaptation of John Crowley: it looks like the heroine's inability to take life into her own hands will be the main plot here.

Kevin Powers "The Yellow Birds"


What

A novel about returning from the war, written by an Iraq War veteran, has become for Americans something like “All Quiet on the Western Front” in the 21st century.

Plot

Private John Bartle went to Iraq with his high school friend Murph. At the beginning of the war, they swear to each other not to die - but the hero returns alone. Survival is still half the battle: it turns out to be completely impossible to adapt back to peaceful life.

Context

The novel by Kevin Powers filled the empty niche of the Greater Iraq Novel; here, for the first time in the literature, all soldier's injuries are fully described - both in the fields and after the fields: why they leave, what they experience and how they return.

Screen adaptation

Benedict Cumberbatch, confirmed for the lead role in David Lowery's forthcoming film, says too much about the upcoming film adaptation: he doesn't look much like an Iraqi mercenary, which means that in the text, which is half poetry and the other half blood call, it's decided was to leave only poetry.

Sebastian Barry "Tables of Destiny"


What

A century of Irish history in notes from a lunatic asylum.

Plot

A hundred-year old woman, sitting in a madhouse, keeps a diary in which her tragedy own life inseparable from the tragic history of Ireland - and her attending physician sits around the corner and also keeps a diary, a little easier. Sooner or later they meet.

Context

The 2008 Costa Prize, the Booker Prize shortlist and a host of other awards prove, if not the importance, then the literary excellence of a text written by one of the finest Irish writers and playwrights alive today.

Screen adaptation

A rare case when already at the stage of preparation of the film it is clear that he will pay tribute to the original: Jim Sheridan in the directors, in the roles of the patient and her doctor Vanessa Redgrave and Eric Bana - and a whole sea of ​​famous names in flashbacks.

Elizabeth Strout "Olivia Kitteridge"


What

A collection of stories from the life of an American province, in which the main character manages to remain a minor character almost to the end.

Plot

13 stories from a small town in New England, which gradually develop into the image of the main character - an uncomfortable, domineering, aging school math teacher. We meet Olivia Kitteridge when she is not young, but we see her off as old - in general, this is a story, if not about aging, then about the loneliness that inevitably accompanies it.

Context

The 2009 Pulitzer Prize - and a whole host of other awards: Elizabeth Strout not only managed to find a new hero, but also completed the task of more difficult - with empathy to tell the story of an uncomfortable heroine.

Screen adaptation

Frances McDormand, performer leading role in the HBO miniseries due out this fall, Kitteridge doesn't fit the role very well: in the novel, we are repeatedly told what a large, physically uncomfortable body she has. By miniaturizing the heroine, television cut off the novel itself, turning it into a story about what happens to marriage after the children have grown up, a line that turns out to be far from the main one in the novel.

Jojo Moyes "Me Before You"


What

A sad story of impossible love that sells very well.

Plot

A girl at a crossroads loses her job and gets a job as a nurse for a smart, handsome and completely paralyzed man after an accident.

Context

The genre of social rom-com that Jojo Moyes invented with this novel and has been exploiting with might and main since then is an undoubted success. Here, in general, all the same Jane Austen, plus the problems of the first world in the XXI century. That is, poor beautiful girls have nothing to pay for loans, Mr. Darcy also cry, in the meantime - many details of the hard life of the working class, laughter through tears, but still more tears. It's not required reading, just a good girl's novel, but it proves that literature can be left-wing in a good way without even being too smart.

Screen adaptation

Estimated release - August 2015. Sentimental prose of this kind, as a rule, becomes something moderately marginal in film adaptations: gaining its strong hundred million (three times the budget), after which everyone tries to forget it, like an unfortunate misunderstanding. Without really counting on anything, the studio gave itself the freedom to play a little: it invited Thea Sharrock, who is more known for her theatrical work, to the director's chair (this will be her debut in a feature film, but she, as they say, is widely known on Broadway, in particular, it was her we owe naked Daniel Radcliffe with a horse), and called Emilia Clarke aka Khaleesi for the female lead. And Sharrock seems determined not to draw tears from the viewer, but to show him the injustice of the British class system.

Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita

The volume of Mikhail Bulgakov, standing on the bookshelf, testifies to good taste reader. It is no coincidence that what was written by this author survived the death of Soviet literature without loss and today is read as a continuation of the golden fund of Russian classics of the 19th century. Fascinating stories (“fantasy, rooted in everyday life”), vivid images, moral problems raised to a universal scale - all this makes you return to what you read again and again.

Marquez Garcia: One Hundred Years of Solitude

One of the greatest books of the 20th century. A strange, poetic, whimsical story of the city of Macondo, lost in the jungle, from creation to decline. The history of the Buendía family, a family in which miracles are so everyday that they are not even noticed. The Buendia clan produces saints and sinners, revolutionaries, heroes and traitors, dashing adventurers - and women too beautiful for ordinary life. Extraordinary passions boil in him - and incredible events take place.

George Orwell: 1984. Animal Farm

"1984" A peculiar antipode of the second great dystopia of the XX century - "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. What, in essence, is more terrible: the “consumer society” brought to the point of absurdity, or the “idea society” brought to the absolute? According to Orwell, there is and cannot be anything more terrible than total lack of freedom ... "Animal Farm" A parable full of humor and sarcasm. Can a humble farm become a symbol of a totalitarian society? Of course yes. But… how this society will be seen by its “citizens” – animals doomed to slaughter.

Herman Melville: Moby Dick, or the White Whale

Herman Melville is a writer and sailor, in whose work and destiny the experience of a traveler and the mythopoetic worldview of the artist surprisingly organically melted. The realization of the magnitude of Melville's talent did not come immediately, and only a quarter of a century after the death of the writer, the outlines of the enormous contribution that he made to the treasury of world literature became visible. Melville's work - the grandiose "Moby Dick" - became one of the pinnacles of American literature.

Francis Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby” - the most famous novel by Francis Fitzgerald, which has become a symbol of the “Jazz Age”. America, 1925, the time of Prohibition and gangster showdowns, bright lights and bright life. But for Jay Gatsby, the epitomeamerican dreamturned into a real tragedy. And the way up, despite fame and fortune, led to a total collapse. After all, each of us, first of all, strives not for material goods, but for love, true and eternal ...

Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment” is a novel about one crime. A double murder committed by a poor student for money. It is difficult to find a simpler plot, but an intellectual and mental shock that the novel produces is indelible. And the question that the main character set for himself to decide: “Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?” - terrifying.Abyssthe fall is explored by the writer in order to rise to the heights of the spirit.

Ray Bradbury: Dandelion Wine

Dandelion wine” Ray Bradbury is a classic work that has entered the golden fund of world literature.Enter the bright world of a twelve-year-old boy and live one summer with him, filled with joyful and sad, mysterious and disturbing events; summer, when amazing discoveries are made every day, the main of which is that you are alive, you breathe, you feel!

Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon

This fantasy story has amazing psychological power and makes us think about universal questions of morality: do we have the right to experiment on each other, what results can this lead to, and what price are we willing to pay to become “the smartest”. What about lonely?

Alexander Pushkin: Eugene Onegin

Novel "Eugene Onegin– “encyclopedia of Russian life” – presented in thisbookwith the famous comments by Yu.M. Lotman, allowing the reader to better understand the spirit and customs of the era and the novel, whose heroes have been loved by readers for the third century. The book is illustrated with drawings by A.S. Pushkin, made by the poet on the handwritten pages of the novel.

Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea. Beyond the river, in the shade of the trees

The story "The Old Man and the Sea" is one of the most famous and beloved by readers of Hemingway's works. She brought the author the Pulitzer Prize, and also played an important role in awarding him the title Nobel laureate. This is a story about “tragic stoicism” and courage, about how, in the face of a ruthless fate and loneliness, a person, even losing, must maintain dignity.

Jonathan Swift: The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver

Gulliver's Travels is Jonathan Swift's most significant work. Similar at first glance to a funny fairy tale, “Gulliver's Travels” is an allegory, a parable, the author of which is a ruthless and brilliant master of words, ridiculing human and social vices. Masterfully using all shades of the funny, from good-natured humor and mild irony to angry sarcasm and venomous ridicule, Swift created one of the greatest satirical books in world literature.

Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace

Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is a book for all time. It seems that it has always existed, the text seems so familiar, as soon as we open the first pages of the novel, many of its episodes are so memorable: hunting and Christmas time, the first ball of Natasha Rostova, a moonlit night in Otradnoye, Prince Andrei in the battle of Austerlitz ... Scenes of “peaceful” , family life are replaced by pictures that are important for the course of the entire world history, but for Tolstoy they are equivalent, connected in a single stream of time.

Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind is the only novel by Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) for which she - a writer, emancipe and advocate for women's rights - received a Pulitzer Prize. This is a book about what makes us live and fight - no matter what happens around. For more than 70 years we have been reading this novel, for more than 70 years we have admired Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in the film adaptation - and the story does not become outdated. Most likely, it is eternal.

Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

Lolita” was released in 1955. Causing scandal on both sides of the ocean, this book liftedauthorto the top of the literary Olympus and became one of the most famous and, without a doubt, the greatest works of the 20th century. Today, when the polemical passions around Lolita have long subsided, we can confidently say that this is a book about great love that has overcome illness, death and time, love that is open to infinity, “loveat first sight, from the last glance, from the eternal glance.

Daniel Defoe: The Life and Wonderful Adventures of the Sailor Robinson Crusoe

The famous novel by Daniel Defoe was published almost 300 years ago. But even now, after many, many decades, the exciting adventures of Robinson Crusoe still captivate readers. The life of a sailor who, by chance, ended up on a desert island, is full of amazing events. And how many difficulties fall to his lot!

Alexandre Dumas: The Three Musketeers

Where can a poor Gascon nobleman go if all he has is courage, a noble heart and ambition? Well of course inParis! And of course, such a brave man has a place among the royal musketeers. However, the honor to be in this privileged regiment still needs to be earned, and the surest way is to make powerful enemies and make friends. D'Artagnan brilliantly succeeded in both in the shortest possible time ...

Ilf, Petrov: Twelve chairs

The famous feuilleton novel by Ilf and Petrov “The twelve Chairs ” was first published in 1928. The story of two swindlers who set off in search of Madame Petukhova's diamonds brought unprecedented success to the authors. But few people know that one of the most popular works of RussianliteratureThe twentieth century, which withstood hundreds of successful reprints, was mangled by Soviet censorship: not only individual phrases and episodes, but entire chapters were not allowed to print.

Ray Bradbury: 451° Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel that brought the writer world fame. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper ignites and burns. The philosophical dystopia of Ray Bradbury paints a hopeless picture of the development of a post-industrial society; this is the world of the future, in which all written publications are mercilessly destroyed special detachment firefighters, and the possession of books is prosecuted by law, interactive television successfully serves to fool everyone ...

Charles Dickens: The Life of David Copperfield as Told by Himself

The novel of the great English writer won the love and recognition of readers all over the world. Largely autobiographical, this novel follows the fate of a boy forced to fight alone against a cruel, bleak world populated by evil teachers, self-serving factory owners and soulless servants of the law. In this war, David can only be saved by moral firmness, purity of heart and a talent that can turn a ragamuffin into England's greatest writer.

Jules Verne: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

One of the most fascinating novels by J. Verne. Biologist Pierre Aronnax and harpooner Ned Land go in search of strange fish, noticed by sailors in different parts Sveta. The mysterious creature turns out to be a submarine designed by the mysterious Captain Nemo.

Arthur Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Peru of the English writer and journalist Arthur Conan Doyle owns historical, adventure, fantasy novels and works on spiritualism, but he entered world literature as the creator of the Great Detective of all times and peoples - Sherlock Holmes. A noble and fearless fighter against Evil, the owner of a sharp mind and extraordinary powers of observation, with the help of his deductive method, the detective solves the most intricate puzzles, often saving human lives.

The fairy tale of the modern classic Leonid Filatov is the best book for family reading, half of the text of which has already been parsed into aphorisms and anecdotes. Here is the first fully illustrated edition. Characteristic characters, witty mise-en-scenes - one of the most striking books of the 20th century is finally coming out in a wonderful design.

Antoine Saint-Exupery: The Little Prince

A touching, kind and philosophical work by Antoine de Saint-Exupery with author's drawings. A book addressed to children will accompany you all your life, each time revealing itself in a new way.

Strugatsky, Strugatsky: It's hard to be a god

Perhaps the most famous of the works of the Strugatsky brothers. One of the most famous stories of Russian science fiction. A fascinating, full of drama story of life, love and adventures of "Don Rumata" from the kingdom of Arkanar on a distant planet - a knight with two swords, under whose name Anton is a resident from the planet Earth of the XXII century.

Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland

The article was updated and supplemented in July 2018. We present a selection of 65 books that have become classics of world literature, and 10 online libraries where you can find a lot of fiction, scientific, historical and non-fiction literature in free access.

1. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Cien años de soledad" - Gabriel José de la Concordia "Gabo" García Márquez)

One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the most characteristic and popular works in the direction of magical realism.

2. "Moby-Dick, or The Whale" - Herman Melville ("Moby-Dick, or The Whale" - Herman Melville)

The story is told on behalf of the American sailor Ishmael, who went on a voyage on the whaling ship Pequod, whose captain, Ahab, is obsessed with the idea of ​​revenge on the giant white whale, the whaler killer known as Moby Dick.

3. "The Great Gatsby" - Francis Scott Fitzgerald ("The Great Gatsby" - F. Scott Fitzgerald)

The action of the novel takes place near New York, on the "gold coast" of Long Island, among the villas of the rich. In the 1920s, following the chaos of the First World War, American society entered an unprecedented period of prosperity: in the "roaring 20s", the US economy was developing rapidly.

At the same time, Prohibition made many bootleggers millionaires and gave a significant boost to organized crime. Admiring the rich and their charm, Fitzgerald at the same time denounces the unrestrained materialism and lack of morality of America at that time.

4. "The Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck ("The Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck)

The novel takes place during the Great Depression. A poor family of tenant farmers, the Joads, are forced to leave their Oklahoma home due to drought, economic hardship and changes in management practices. Agriculture. In practically hopeless situation they head to California along with thousands of other Oki families, hoping to find a livelihood there.

5. "Ulysses" - James Joyce ("Ulysses" - James Joyce)

The novel tells about one day (June 16, 1904, currently this date is celebrated as Bloomsday, "Bloom's Day") of a Dublin inhabitant and a Jew by nationality - Leopold Bloom.

6. "Lolita" - Vladimir Nabokov ("Lolita" - Vladimir Nabokov)

Lolita is the most famous of all Nabokov's novels. The theme of the novel was unthinkable for its time - the story of an adult man who was passionately carried away by a twelve-year-old girl.

7. "The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner ("The Sound and the Fury" - William Faulkner)

The main storyline tells about the withering of one of the oldest and most influential families of the American South - the Compsons. During the roughly 30 years of the novel, the family faces financial ruin, loses respect in the city, and many family members end their lives tragically.

8. "To the Lighthouse" - Virginia Woolf ("To The Lighthouse" - Virginia Woolf)

At the center of the novel are two visits by the Ramsey family to a rented Vacation home on the Isle of Skye in Scotland in 1910 and 1920. To the Lighthouse follows and expands on the tradition of modernist literature by Marcel Proust and James Joyce, where the plot fades into the background, giving way to philosophical introspection.

9. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina is a novel by Leo Tolstoy about tragic love the married lady Anna Karenina and the brilliant officer Vronsky against the backdrop of the happy family life of the noblemen Konstantin Levin and Kitty Shcherbatskaya.

10. "War and Peace" - Leo Tolstoy

"War and Peace" is an epic novel describing Russian society in the era of the wars against Napoleon in 1805-1812.

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11. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - Mark Twain ("The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - Mark Twain)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huckleberry Finn, on the run from his abusive father, and Jim, a runaway black man, are rafting down the Mississippi River.

12. "1984" - George Orwell ("1984" - George Orwell)

The novel "1984", along with such works as "We" by Evgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (1920), "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley (1932) and "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury (1953), is considered one of the most famous works in the dystopian genre.

13. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger)

In the novel, on behalf of a 16-year-old boy named Holden, in a very frank form, he tells about his heightened perception of American reality and the rejection of the general canons and morals of modern society.

14. "Invisible Man" - Ralph Ellison ("Invisible Man" - Ralph Ellison)

The Invisible Man is the only completed novel by Ralph Ellison, an African-American writer, literary critic, and literary scholar. The novel is dedicated to the search for identity and place in society.

15. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller ("Catch-22" - Joseph Heller)

1944 On the islet of Pianosa in the Tyrrhenian Sea, a US Air Force bomber regiment (flying North American B-25 Mitchell bombers) is stationed, in which Captain Yossarian, the protagonist of the novel, and his colleagues serve.

The command of the air regiment over and over again increases the rate of sorties, thereby extending the service of pilots who have flown their rate, after which they have the right to return home. Thus, flying off the norm becomes almost impossible.

16. "Midnight's Children" - Salman Rushdie ("Midnight's Children" - Salman Rushdie)


A multifaceted, fantastic, "magical" narrative covers the history of India (partly Pakistan) from 1910 to 1976. Political events, presented brightly and biasedly, do not exhaust the whimsical reality of the novel.

17. "On the Road" - Jack Kerouac ("On the Road" - Jack Kerouac)

The book, considered the most important piece of Beat generation literature, tells the story of the travels of Jack Kerouac and his close friend Neil Cassidy through the United States of America and Mexico.

18. "In Search of Lost Time" - Marcel Proust ("À la recherche du temps perdu" - Marcel Proust)

In Search of Lost Time is a magnum opus by the French modernist writer Marcel Proust, a semi-autobiographical cycle of seven novels. Published in France between 1913 and 1927.

19. "Pale Fire" - Vladimir Nabokov ("Pale Fire" - Vladimir Nabokov)

Pale Fire is a novel by V. V. Nabokov, written in English in the United States and first published in 1962. The novel, conceived before moving to the United States (the passages "Ultima Thule" and "Solus Rex" were written in Russian in 1939), is built as a 999-line poem with commentary rife with literary allusions.

20. "Madame Bovary" - Gustave Flaubert ("Madame Bovary" - Gustave Flaubert)

The main character of the novel is Emma Bovary, the doctor's wife, living beyond her means and having extramarital affairs in the hope of getting rid of the emptiness and routine of provincial life.

21. "Middlemarch" - George Eliot ("Middlemarch" - George Eliot)

Middlemarch is the name of the provincial town in and around which the novel takes place. Many characters inhabit its pages, and their destinies are intertwined by the will of the author.

22. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

The hero of the novel "Great Expectations", a young man Philip Pirrip, strives to become a "true gentleman", to achieve a position in society, but disappointment awaits him. Money stained with blood cannot bring happiness, and the "gentleman's world" in which Philip placed so many hopes turned out to be hostile and cruel.

23. "Emma" - Jane Austen ("Emma" - Jane Austen)

The daughter of a wealthy landowner and a big dreamer, Emma tries to diversify her leisure time by organizing someone else's personal life. Confident that she will never marry, she acts as a matchmaker for her friends and acquaintances, but life brings her surprise after surprise.

24. "And Destruction Came" - Chinua Achebe ("Things Fall Apart" - Chinua Achebe)

“And Destruction Came” is a story about a tribal warrior who cannot adapt to a new society under a colonial regime. The book has been translated into 45 languages ​​and is by far the most widely read and translated book by an African writer among his contemporaries.

25. "Pride and Prejudice" - Jane Austen ("Pride and Prejudice" - Jane Austen)

Young girls who dream of marriage, respectable mothers who do not shine with their minds, selfish beauties who think that they are allowed to control the fate of other people - such is the world of the heroes of Jane Austen, an English writer who was far ahead of her time and ranked by subsequent generations among the classics of world literature.

26. "Wuthering Heights" - Emily Brontë ("Wuthering Heights" - Emily Brontë)

Wuthering Heights is a love-and-hate story about the fatal passion of Heathcliff, the adopted son of the owner of the Wuthering Heights estate, for the owner's daughter Katherine

27. "Nostromo" - Joseph Conrad ("Nostromo" - Joseph Conrad)

The novel tells about the liberation struggle of the fictional South American state of Costaguana. The author is occupied with the problem of imperialism and its corrupting effect even on the best people, which is the protagonist of the novel, the sailor Nostromo.

28. "The Brothers Karamazov" - F. M. Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov is the last novel by F. M. Dostoevsky. Three brothers, Ivan, Aleksey (Alyosha) and Dmitry (Mitya), “are busy resolving questions about the root causes and ultimate goals of being,” and each of them makes his choice, trying in his own way to answer the question about God and the immortality of the soul.

29. "To Kill a Mockingbird" - Harper Lee ("To Kill a Mockingbird" - Harper Lee)

The novel conveys the events of the 30s of the XX century, the period of the Great Depression, which took place in the state of Alabama. The story is told from the perspective of a child, but the severity of interracial conflicts, social problems it does not lose its power.

30. "Process" - Franz Kafka ("Der Prozess" - Franz Kafka)

“The Process” is a unique book by Franz Kafka, which actually “created” his name for the culture of the world postmodern theater and cinema of the second half of the 20th century, more precisely, “weaved” this name into the idea of ​​postmodern absurdism.

31. "Slaughterhouse Five" - ​​Kurt Vonnegut ("Slaughterhouse-Five" - ​​Kurt Vonnegut)

Slaughterhouse Five is an autobiographical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about the bombing of Dresden during World War II.

32. "Mrs Dalloway" - Virginia Woolf ("Mrs Dalloway" - Virginia Woolf)

The novel tells about one day of the fictional character Clarissa Dalloway, a society woman in post-war England. One of the author's most famous novels.

33. "Jane Eyre" - Charlotte Brontë ("Jane Eyre" - Charlotte Brontë)

The book tells about the difficult fate of an orphan with a strong, independent character, about her childhood, growing up, finding her way and overcoming the obstacles that stand in the way.

34. The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien)

The Lord of the Rings is an epic novel by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, the most famous work of the fantasy genre.

35. "A Passage to India" - Edward Forster ("A Passage to India" - E.M. Forster)

At the center of Journey to India is the relationship between the Indian Aziz and the Englishman Fielding. The twists and turns of the plot, exciting in themselves, help to make these relations stand out more prominently, to reveal themselves in their extreme possibilities.

36. "All the King's Men" - Robert Penn Warren ("All the King "s Men" - Robert Penn Warren)

The protagonist of the novel is politician Willie Stark. Rising from the bottom of society, a born leader sincerely believed that he could make the world a better place. However, the truth of life revealed to him turns him into a cruel, unprincipled politician. His motto is: "Good can only be made out of evil, because there is simply nothing else to make of it."

37. "Brave New World" - Aldous Huxley ("Brave New World" - Aldous Huxley)

Brave New World is a dystopian satirical novel set in far-future London (around the 26th century of the Christian era, namely 2541). People all over the Earth live in a single state, whose society is a consumer society, the symbol of the consumer god is Henry Ford, and instead of the sign of the cross, people “sign themselves with the sign T”.

38. "When I was dying" - William Faulkner ("As I Lay Dying" - William Faulkner)

W. Faulkner's novel "When I was dying" is unique. There is no authorial speech at all, the book is broken into a chain of monologues, sometimes long, sometimes short, or even fitting in one or two phrases, and they are led by fourteen characters - mainly Bandren, and next to them neighbors, the same farm poor.

39. "Deep Sleep" - Raymond Chandler ("The Big Sleep" - Raymond Chandler)

Deep Sleep is the first in a series of novels about private investigator Philip Marlowe. Classic "tough detective".

40. "Stories" - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

A collection of short stories from a classic of world literature.

41. "Crime and Punishment" - F. M. Dostoevsky

"Crime and Punishment" is considered one of the most philosophical books in the world, which "poses the problems of good and evil, freedom and necessity, crime and moral responsibility, revolution, socialism, the philosophy of history and the state."

42. "Molloy", "Malone Dies" and "Nameless" - Samuel Beckett ("Molloy", "Malone Dies", "The Unnamable" - Samuel Beckett)

"Molla", "Malon Dies" and "Nameless" are three works that make up a trilogy and represent a separate milestone in Beckett's creative biography.

43. "Outsider" - Albert Camus ("L "Étranger" - Albert Camus)

The story is told by a 30-year-old Frenchman. His name remains unknown, but his last name is mentioned in passing - Meursault. Three key events in his life - the death of his mother, the murder of a local resident and the trial, as well as a brief relationship with a girl.

44. "Tin drum" - Günter Grass ("Die Blechtrommel" - Günter Grass)

The Tin Drum is Günther Grass' first novel. It was this work, which in a grotesque form reflected the history of Germany in the 20th century, brought world fame to its author.

45. "Sons and Lovers" - David Herbert Lawrence ("Sons and Lovers" - D. H. Lawrence)

The book describes the life of a young man named Paul Morel, who was born into a miner's family in the small town of Bestwood, Nottinghamshire. The love of children for their mother runs like a red thread through the novel. Paul is most attached to her: unlike his brothers and sister, he will never be able to leave his mother's house until her death.

46. ​​The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing

The story of Anna Woolf, a talented writer and staunch feminist, who, balancing on the verge of insanity, writes down all her thoughts and experiences in four multi-colored notebooks: black, red, yellow and blue. But over time, a fifth, golden, notebook appears, the entries in which become a real revelation for the heroine and help her find a way out of the impasse.

47. "Magic Mountain" - Thomas Mann ("Der Zauberberg" - Thomas Mann)

Immediately after its release, The Magic Mountain was recognized as the key philosophical novel of German literature of the new century. It is generally accepted that, using the example of a closed microcosm of the sanatorium, Mann gave a panorama of the ideological life of European society on the eve of the World War.

48. "Beloved" - Toni Morrison ("Beloved" - Toni Morrison)

Beloved, the most famous novel by Toni Morrison, was awarded the Pulitzer and later the Nobel Prize. The book is based on real events that took place in Ohio in the 80s of the nineteenth century: the story of a black slave who kills her daughter, saving her from slavery.

49. "Blood Meridian" - Cormac McCarthy ("Blood Meridian" - Cormac McCarthy)

John Banville, Booker Laureate, called the novel "a kind of mixture of Dante's Inferno, Iliad, and Moby Dick." The protagonist of "Blood Meridian", a fourteen-year-old teenager from Tennessee, known only as "the kid", becomes the hero of the latest epic, based on real events and circumstances of the mid-19th century Tex-Mex border, where the Indian scalp market is booming.

50. "A Man Without Qualities" - Robert Musil ("Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften" - Robert Musil)

An ironic panorama of Austria-Hungary on the eve of the First World War, a partly autobiographical "novel of ideas" written by one of the most brilliant European intellectuals of the first half of the 20th century, a phenomenon of grandiose conception and execution.

51. "Fiesta (And the Sun Also Rises)" - Ernest Hemingway ("The Sun Also Rises" - Ernest Hemingway)

The Sun Also Rises is a 1926 novel by Ernest Hemingway. Based on real events that took place in the life of the author.

52. "Gone With the Wind" - Margaret Mitchell ("Gone With the Wind" - Margaret Mitchell)

A novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell set in the southern states of the United States in the 1860s, during (and after) the Civil War. The novel was released on June 30, 1936 and became one of the most famous bestsellers in American literature.

53. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - Lewis Carroll ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - Louis Carroll)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a fairy tale written by the English mathematician, poet and writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells about a girl named Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole into an imaginary world inhabited by strange, anthropomorphic creatures.

54. "Heart of Darkness" - Joseph Conrad ("Heart of Darkness" - Joseph Conrad)

The Heart of Darkness is a 1902 adventure novel by English writer Joseph Conrad. The story is told from the perspective of the protagonist, sailor Marlow, who remembers his journey to Central Africa.

55. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - Ernest Hemingway ("For Whom the Bell Tolls" - Ernest Hemingway)

The novel tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American fighter of the International Brigades, who was sent to the rear of the Francoists, to the partisans, during the Spanish Civil War. As a demolition expert, he is tasked with blowing up the bridge to prevent Francoist reinforcements from approaching Segovia.

56. "An American Tragedy" - Theodore Dreiser ("An American Tragedy" Theodore Dreiser)

In the novel An American Tragedy, Dreiser portrays the tragedy of Clive Griffiths - a young man who has tasted all the charm of the life of the rich, is so eager to establish himself in their society that he commits a crime for this.

57. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow

Captivating, touching, multifaceted, full of philosophical meaning is the story of a boy who was destined to grow up, make discoveries, love and find his place in the world in the most dramatic moments of history.

58. "The Call of the Wild" - Jack London ("The Call of the Wild" - Jack London)

The novel takes place in the Yukon (Canada) during the gold rush. The protagonist dog Back (a cross between a Scottish Shepherd and a St. Bernard), brought from a shepherd ranch in California, falls into harsh reality the life of a sled dog. The novel tells about the difficulties that Buck experiences, trying to survive, despite the harsh treatment of the owners, other dogs and the cruelty of nature.

59. "American Pastoral" - Philip Roth ("American Pastoral" - Philip Roth)

The protagonist - Swede Leyvou - married the beautiful "Miss New Jersey", inherited his father's factory and became the owner of an old mansion in Old Rimrock. It would seem that dreams have come true, but one day the American leaf happiness turns to dust at once...

60. "Deliverance" - James Dickey ("Deliverance" - James Dickey)

The four embark on a journey into the wilderness and wilderness of the Appalachians. They go down the river in two boats. Their intentions are just to relax, unwind and see picturesque places ... But they did not know that they would be ambushed by illiterate local highlanders, thugs and sadists.

61. "Lucky Jim" - Kingsley Amis ("Lucky Jim" - Kingsley Amis)

A young teacher on probation at a provincial university.
The only "living soul" in a world of dull snobbery and meaningless rules of conduct.
Jim Dixon is sick of this, but he wants to get into the state! So, you have to be like everyone else. But one day love invades Jim's life, and all his conformist undertakings fly to hell overnight...

62 Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller

The novel is set in 1930s France (mainly Paris). The novel describes the life of struggling writer Henry Miller in Paris.

63. "Lord of the Flies" - William Golding ("Lord of the Flies" - William Golding)

strange, scary tale boys who, by the will of fate, ended up on a desert island. Boys who played cruelty, hunting, war. A book about the hidden corners of the human soul and the desire for power.

64. Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry

"At the Foot of the Volcano" is a novel set in a small Mexican town during one November day in 1939 - All Souls' Day. This day is the last in the life of Geoffrey Fermin, a former British consul who finds refuge from life in unrestrained drunkenness. Fermin's ex-wife Yvonne, his half-brother Hugh and friend, film director Laruelle, are trying to save the consul, persuade him to stop drinking and start life anew...

65. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh


Fragment of the film based on the book "Return to Brideshead".

The novel, published at the end of the Second World War, subtly depicts the characters of the outgoing era of prosperity of the English aristocracy. The protagonist of the novel, a young artist, Charles Ryder, meets Sebastian Flyte, a representative of a well-known aristocratic family, while studying at Oxford. Upon his arrival in Brideshead, the Flyte ancestral home, Charles enters the whirlpool of bohemian life, and over the next years his fate is inextricably linked with this family.

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American History Reading Room, New York Public Library. Photo: Warren Weinstein. 500px. Creative Commons. (CC).

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7 Bartleby

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