Classics Without All the Class discussion

For most of my life I've read books but not any you could really call serious. I mostly stick to young adult books about romance and paranormal things. I figure that I need to change that, and quite soon. Can someone please recommend a book to me? Maybe a classic or something profound. I'm in my final year of high school and need to start righting an essay comparing to books and I can't exactly use the Faerie Path series and the House of Night series.

I like romance, mythology, paranormal and stuff like that, so if any of you can tell me about a book that has things like that in it I would be very grateful. It doesn't even have to be related to any of these things, it could just be anything you think I'd benefit from reading.


Thanks in advance


I'm new here so i'm not sure if this is the right folder for this topic.

Catcher in the Rye might be a good place to start. It's one of my all time favorites and I first read it in high school..

Estephanie wrote: "For most of my life I've read books but not any you could really call serious. I mostly stick to young adult books about romance and paranormal things. I figure that I need to change that, and quit..."

The Catcher in the Rye is a good book. However, you might want to consider Of Mice and Men...It offers a lot in having to write an essay and is only six chapters long.

You could compare The Catcher in the Rye with The Bell Jar. Both are fascinating looks into the lives of troubled teens at odds with society's conventional expectations of them.
Wide Sargasso Sea is a different take on Jane Eyre from the viewpoint of "the crazy woman in the attic".
How about some sci-fi? Two great and highly readable titles are Ender's Game and The Giver. Both have themes that lend themselves well to senior school essays. Hope this is helpful.

Jcurtis wrote: "Estephanie wrote: "For most of my life I've read books but not any you could really call serious. I mostly stick to young adult books about romance and paranormal things. I figure that I need to ch..."

Those might be interesting choices to compare and contrast. Cannery Row was probably one of the first serious books I read as a teen--can't go wrong with Steinbeck.

I'll have to agree with Jcurtis: Of Mice and Men. But Donna also gave some great ideas for book comparisons! (And mentioned one I've never heard of but am now going to put on my to-read list! Wide Sargasso Sea)

I'd suggest The Historian for a more adult version of books you typically read. It might not work for school because it isn't a classic or anything but it's a good read.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...

You could do 1984paired with The Handmaid's Tale.
Both deal with dystopian futures. The roles of the genders in each book are interesting. One book shows men and women as completely equal in terms of employment and such, the other puts women of different ages into separate categories with specific roles.

Thank you guys for the suggestions!
I've read the Giver and it is one of my favorite books, which I've had the joy of rereading may times.

The catcher in the rye is...Well I guess you could say I did not enjoy it very much. I read it in tenth grade and found Holden to be insufferable.

I actually have the book Of Mice and Men here at home. Someone lent it to me but I kind of judged it by its cover and did not read it, I'm going to pick it up one of these days and see if I made a mistake.

I'm going to go look up the other books that were suggested, Thanks again and any more suggestions will be welcome!

The Turn of the Screw is worth checking out. It's a classic, but kinda fits in with what you have been reading.

The Lord of the Rings :)

I strongly recommend:
Anna Karenina (Liev Tolstoi)
1984 (George Ornwel)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brönte)
Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is an amazing novel and it was one of the first classics I read and I had been used to what you call easy reading.Like others have said Jane Eyre(Charlotte Bronte)and I agree with Carrie Mansfield Park by Jane Austen is great.As are all her novels.

I recommend Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen,you shan't be disappointed.

I'm not sure what your essay prompt is about, but how about Still Alice and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close?

Its a performance assessment test. I have to write a 7+ paper on two books and my teachers will ask me questions, kinda like a debate.

It's not a classic but maybe you would like The Gift of Rain by Tan Twang Eng. It is beautifully written and emotional.

Northanger Abbey is a Jane Austen romance with hints of the gothic/paranormal and gets quite funny in parts while still being a "serious read."

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is really good. Most all McCarthy books are good; they all have a southern gothic feeling to them.

A Tale of Two Cities and Macbeth would be interesting to compare/contrast (themes, main characters, etc...).
I would recommend the No Fear Shakespeare version of Macbeth (the left page is Shakespeare and the right page is the modern English interpretation) and read the right pages first then go back and read the left page with the right page interpretation as needed. According to Google, Macbeth is less than 20,000 words which is 100,000 less than Twilight so you could read it a couple of times easily.
Also, the first 30 pages of A Tale of Two Cities is hard to get through IMO but then the story is great (once you meet the cobbler). The first 30 pages are good to reread after you finish it because there is so much foreshadowing.
You might even read Sparknotes (free on my android)or something similar after you finish both to look at themes, motifs, etc and they have fun quizzes to get you ready for the oral part of your final.

Read the original 'Dracula' which is an excellent story, with some challenging passages. This would enable you to contrast with some of the many contemporary books concerning the vampire genre.

Catcher in the Rye is a great book about teen angst and the hypocrisy of the adult world. Another great book I read recently in a similar vein is Kafka On the Shore by the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It may fit each of the criteria you listed of "romance, mythology, paranormal and stuff like that...." and it's a lot more contemporary.
The other book mentioned above is Wuthering Heights which I agree is pretty gothic and romantic.
I've heard John Green also writes some good stuff for young adults though probably not anything paranormal - Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars etc.

Estephanie wrote: "For most of my life I've read books but not any you could really call serious. I mostly stick to young adult books about romance and paranormal things. I figure that I need to change that, and quit..."

Based from your interests, I'd recommend Midnight's Children for a classic, and The Hunger Games trilogy for contemporary.

I don't know if you're still looking for suggestions, but I can second a lot of these recommendations, especially:

Ender's Game: Futuristic, post-semi apocalyptic story about Ender's experience in a war school for children.

The Historian: Quasi-historical quest of a young woman digging into her father's research and finding a lot more than old books.

Jane Eyre: Hauntingly beautiful gothic romance that digs into the truth about people under the acceptable, presentable facade.

Jane Austen: I love her, but it's mostly about how rich, chivalrous men are an awesome remedy for money problems.

Dracula: The vampire story that started it all, but not in the way most people think. It's -the- must read for any lover of vampire fiction.

While we're in the horror territory, I'll add Frankenstein: A man pursues knowledge and achievement at the expense of common sense and decency. I enjoyed Dracula more, but the two of them would make for a very interesting comparison on different types of horror stories.

Some more works that I thoroughly enjoyed but would also lend well to serious paper writing are:
Anne Rice: Everything she writes is genius, but I'd definitely start with Interview with the Vampire. After Dracula, this is the next must read for lovers of vampire fiction.

Swarm, by BV Larson: Apocalyptic scifi where aliens invade the earth and win, from the point of view of a survivor.

The Greyfriar, by Clay and Susan Griffith: Steampunk apocalyptic adventure, with a little romance. Vampires are real, and they "came out" at the beginning of the industrial revolution, putting a halt on human advances and splitting the earth by hot and cold climates.

And that's all I've got for now. Hope I'm not too late to help! Or that you'll enjoy the recommendations anyway. =)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Silver Linings Playbook would be two contemporary titles that would be very easily comparable. I just read them both in the last week.

I agree with Tanya...
1984 would be a really good option

Ken Follett's Fall of Giants

Pride and Prejudice its a great start! ;)

Based on what I remember from being in High school combined with similar taste as you, at that point in my life. I suggest the following:

Jane Eyere by Charlotte Bronte
TO Kill a Mockingbitrd by Harper Lee
The Lord of the Flies by James Aubrey
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
The Hobbit by Tolkien

To this day, those are still some of my favorite books and they are the ones I had to read for high school English classes. Pride and Prejudice is a thought as well.

As for books not in the classic literature category:

You might enjoy The Strain trilogy by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro, if you like creepy vampire stuff. Great trilogy and an interesting take on vampires.
If you like fantasy genres:
Patrick Rothfuss and George R.R. Martin are great authors to test out.

Hope all of our suggestions help you out. I am curious to know what you will end up writing your paper on. Please share what books you chose after you write the paper. :) Good luck!

Estephanie wrote: "For most of my life I've read books but not any you could really call serious. I mostly stick to young adult books about romance and paranormal things. I figure that I need to change that, and quit..."

I recommend The Book Thief - it's both very good and not hard or tiresome to read. It's the story of a young girl (the book thief) growing up in Nazi Germany, and the story is told by Death itself. Be warned that the author doesn't sugarcoat.

Around the world in 80 days bu Jules Verne is a nice way to ease in.