Ask HN: I'm reading all the classics, what should I read next? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I'm reading all the classics, what should I read next?

7 pointslando231915 comments

I'm reading all the classics, what should I read next?

As in classic literature.

Since this varies by region, I'm in the US.

What's your top classic literature book you've read?

Washington Irving's "The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon." It's 30 separate pieces -- two of which you've heard of ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip van Winkle.") But the larger work is a collection of essays by a travel-loving man, so even those two stories are cast as rural tales he'd heard during his travels. They're surprisingly modern -- funny, witty -- yet also very personal. (Irving wrote them in England while dearly missing his homeland of America.)

Another interesting book if you're living in California: Two Years Before the Mast. Basically a blog kept by a sailor on a ship in the 1830s -- except he was an educated man who just took the job for his health, so his writing and observations are really succinct and vivid.

Stanisław Lem, The Cyberiad

trad., Nasreddin Hodja stories

I'll stop here, because https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin#Taste_the_same

I studied English Literature in undergrad (among other things), and honestly it depends on how you define “classic”.

I’m a fan of creative nonfiction, so check out “In Cold Blood” for a good introduction to the genre.

If you’re looking for more traditional fiction, “Player Piano” by Vonnegut.

Or if we’re going to go to be overly literal about the definition of “classic”, then go back and reread “Shakespeare”, being sure to pause to search on the web every time you don’t understand a line.

(And don’t let anyone who suggests “Lolita” take you to a secondary location - there’s other Nabokov novels.)

I don't want to translate titles, so you'll have to figure it out yourself. Anyways...

Tolstoi, the 2 most important books. Dostojewski, the 2 most important books. Don Quijote. Umberto Eco is good. Frank Herberts Dune. Hermann Hesse. Lolita. Pinoccio. Frankenstein.

Probably War and Peace. American, probably Moby Dick.

> what should I read next?

What have you read so far and what have you enjoyed the most?

I was trying to avoid mentioning the classics I've read thus far, because I didn't want to bias people towards genres

I'm taking in everything

“The classics” are a limited list of books and we don’t know if you’ve read one of them or fifty. If you’re reading every single one, all that matters is the order. Knowing what you’ve read is important to avoid recommending duplicates.

>Knowing what you’ve read is important to avoid recommending duplicates.

I don't see the issue with OP handling their own deduplication, makes for a better thread overall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_top_book_lists

Moby Dick, by far. Skip the chapter where the Pequod is becalmed, and all the sailors sing.

The Foundation series is considered a classic of science fiction.

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