Classic Books
For Whom The Bell Tolls
By Ernest Hemingway
1940
Robert Jordan is an American ex-patriot fighting in the Spanish Civil
War in this fast-paced war novel. Jordan, a demolition expert, joins
a band of armed gypsies in the heavily forested mountains of Spain.
This novel is hard to put down as Hemingway constructs a vortex of
suspense, danger and love which surges forward to a heart-pounding,
climatic conclusion.
The Grapes of Wrath
By John Steinbeck
1939
"Every moving thing lifted the dust into the air: a walking man
lifted a thin layer as high as his waist, and a wagon lifted the dust
as high as the fence tops, and an automobile boiled a cloud behind
it. The dust was long in settling back again." This piece of
historical fiction tells the story of an Oklahoma family, the Joads,
pushed off their land during the draught of the 1930s. The Joads go
to California, along with thousands of others, looking for work and
trying to make a fresh start. Against incredible odds and poor
working conditions, the Joads struggle to keep their family together.
Steinbeck's other novels include Of Mice and Men, East of Eden
and Travels with Charley.
Dracula
By Bram Stoker
1897
Forget the movies; the greatest horror story ever invented must be
experienced in its original form. Crucifix. Wolves. Van Helsing.
Garlic. Stake. Mina. Un-Dead. Seward. Lips. Fear. Transylvania.
Blood. Fire. Howling. Lucy. Night. Heart. Pity. Harker. Nosferatu.
Blessings. Mist. Throat. Blood. Vampire. Count Dracula!
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
By Ken Kesey
1962
The tale of Randle Patrick McMurphy, Chief Broom Bromden and Big
Nurse Ratched is one of love, struggle and pain. Kesey's masterpiece
about a hospital mental ward is a wonderful piece of American
fiction.
The Future of an Illusion
By Sigmund Freud
1927
This thin book is Freud's explanation about the beginnings of
organized religion. Freud digs deep into the "Why" of religion --
what part of the mind are people satisfying by creating an
all-powerful God? Anyone interested in religion or psychology may
find this to be a thought-provoking perspective.
A Farewell To Arms
By Ernest Hemingway
1929
When I finished this book, I felt like my heart was ripped out of my
chest. This is one of Hemingway's most touching stories. This is
about a wounded soldier who falls in love with a nurse at the army
hospital. Though Hollywood movies have taken this premise and
perverted it many times, only Hemingway's written words truly capture
the intensity.
Crime and Punishment
By Fyodor Dostoyevsky
1866
This book left me in a daze, truly unable to do anything else
besides read and try to soak up everything that was occurring.
This book is about a young man, an intellectual named
Raskolnikov. To fulfill his idea of a superman who is beyond
the law he commits murder but his true self and human frailties are
revealed when he finds himself suffering tremendous guilt. This
novel illustrates the battle between good and evil quite dramatically
and would recommend it to anyone interested in great literature.
Dear Kaufman@netreach.net, I read this book for the first
time almost a year ago and have recommended it to all of the people I
know who enjoy reading (although most of the kids in my high school
prefer TV and video games, sigh...) I have heard that they
produced this book for television, but I just do not think that
anything can compare to reading it, so I do hope you place my review
on your page.
Thank you, Lauren
Do you have a favorite book that you would like to review? Submit
one-paragraph book reviews to
kaufman@netreach.net.
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