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What books do you consider must reads? (beehaw.org)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So basically I was unschooled, and the amount of books I've read in my life is embarrassingly low. It was never emforced like in a school, and with my family's religious hangups, I never tried getting into new things because I never knew what would be deemed "offensive".

But I'm always interested when I hear people talk about both storycraft and also literary criticism, so I want to take an earnest stab at getting into books.

No real criteria, I don't know what I like so I can't tell you what I'm looking for, other than it needs to be in English or have an English translation. Just wanna know what y'all think would make good or important reading.

ETA holy shit thanks for all the suggestions! Definitely gonna make a list

ETA if I reply extremely late it's because it took me this long to get a library card in my new locale.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The only McCarthy book at my library was The Passenger. The librarian told me I was brave and that last time she checked out a McCarthy book, she needed therapy.

Absolutely not what you recommended but I'm in for a treat.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The Passenger is mild… but only half the story. You want to read the companion novel Stella Maris too

Some of his books are fucked up. The Road and Blood Meridian are stomach turning, gut-wrenching explorations of the awful side of humans.

All the Pretty Horses is: young man likes horses. Moves to Mexico to work on a ranch. Young man falls in love with woman. Hijinks. horses. Done

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Ooh OK, good to know! I've read excerpts of The Road that made me cry from descriptions alone. I wasn't wasn't sure how his other works compare.

My friend is obsessed with The Road so I'm sure I'll read it somewhere down the line. I'm just starting with what I can check out for free right now.