Moby-Dick (Bantam Classics)326 reviews Herman Melville Bantam Classics, 1981 Classic for a reason + Very Deep + a challenge to read and understand; requires some pondering... + Get back to the Pequad please!             Lolita449 reviews Vladimir Nabokov Vintage, 1989 A road movie of the mind + Beautiful writing confronts crude subject matter--A masterpiece + Upends your preconceptions and prejudices + Which book did you read? + The Most Beautiful Novel Ever Written             Ulysses395 reviews James Joyce Vintage, 1990 Ten Reasons to Re-read Ulysses + Amazon Recommends I: James Joyce's Ulysses + Mount Everest for Readers 1. When you tried it in college, it was a task, a challenge, an intellectual mountain to climb, a test of your literary mettle. Perhaps if you read it apart from any course, as I did, you felt you failed. 2. In the intervening time you've read perhaps hundreds of Modernist and post-modernist ...             The Complete Stories44 reviews Franz Kafka Schocken, 1995 A Treasure of Madness + The best place to start with Kafka. + Excellent introduction to Kafka unique style Kafka is still "the rage," one supposes, but it is hard to see how, now that he has become an icon. This is a fabulous collection. Updike is right that these stories are excellent. Kafka has had enormous influence on modern fiction. He may be one of a handful of highly important authors. Reading ...             The Book of Job (Pocket Canon) Grove Press, 1999 The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The ...             Zorba the Greek70 reviews Nikos Kazantzakis Touchstone, 1996 Hey Everyman, This is for You Too + Editorial Spoiler + good book + astounding, a discovery of vitality + The raw truth and the meaning of life             Pedro Paramo56 reviews Juan Rulfo Grove Press, 1994 Rulfo's Pedro Paramo + 5 for the story in the original, 3 for translating it + Confusing, yet one have to appreciate its narrative style In this 1955 Mexican novella, a young man, Juan Preciado, promises his dying mother that he will find his father, the Pedro Páramo of the title, and claim his birthright. Juan has no independent memories of his father. His mother fled her abusive and loveless marriage shortly after Juan's birth and ...             The Bostan of Saadi (The Orchard), Books I and II1 review Sheikh Muslihu-d-Din Sa'adi of Shiraz, Barlas Mirza Aqil-Hussain, ... Octagon Press, Limited, 1984 Some trees are missing from this Orchard "The Orchard" and "The Rose Garden" are the major works of a Persian mystic of the 13th century who called himself Saadi of Shiraz. In Iran (what once was Persia) Saadi is revered as one of the foremost poets of Persian culture. His works are part of world literature and have inspired Western ...             Diary of a Madman (Paper)4 reviews Lu Xun University of Hawaii Press, 1990 A master piece of translation + My favorite author + Application in the classroom + Chinese masterpiece!             The Trial168 reviews Franz Kafka Schocken, 1995 The Fear, Despondency, and Despair of A Soul. + An eternal cry against oppression, and of the quiet, unseen struggle waged by ordinary people + Great Read + hauntingly prescient             Independent People71 reviews Halldor Laxness Vintage, 1997 one of the best books ever + The flower of my life. + Don't read the introduction + I thought my grandfather was stubborn. + MY FAVORITE BOOK, EVER. HAUNTING CHARACTERS. HAUNTING EVERYTHING.             Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family35 reviews Thomas Mann Vintage, 1994 Genetics As A Sieve + Decline and fall of a bourgeois family + Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) + A realistic story of a family and the ordinary wear and tear of life             Pippi Longstocking (Puffin Modern Classics)50 reviews Astrid Lindgren Puffin, 2005 classic + Good Fun + Pippi Longstocking (not cut out for a 1st grader) + Kids shoudl love Pippi             Blindness (Harvest Book)363 reviews Jose Saramago Harvest Books, 1999 Book In Perfect Condition With Prompt Delivery + the white sickness + Very strong and disturbing story I was very satisfied with my purchase of this book because it was in perfect condition and it was delivered in a prompt manner.             The Mathnawi: The Spiritual Couplets of Maulana Jalalu-D-Din Mahammad I Rumi Watkins Publishing Ltd, 2002 This great work by Rumi, who has been called 'the greatest mystical poet of any age', was forty-three years in the writing. During the past seven hundred years, this book, called by Iranians 'The Koran in Persian' - a tribute paid to no other book - has occupied a central place in Sufism. Rumi's name is associated with the founding of the Order known in Europe as the 'Whirling Dervishes', and ...             Sons and Lovers (Modern Library Classics)80 reviews D.H. Lawrence Modern Library, 1999 Touched by genius... + indescribable + A remarkable examination of relationships D.H. Lawrence was a guy that came out of the womb knowing how to write. You read his prose and his innate genius quickly becomes self-evident--this is an artist for whom the creative act of literature is akin to a Mozart symphony--airtight, beautiful, logical, NATURAL. Floooooowing. Compare ...             The Recognition of Sakuntala: A Play in Seven Acts (Oxford World's Classics)2 reviews Kalidasa Oxford University Press, USA, 2001 A Most Beautiful Play + A hit in Europe around 1789 Kalidasa is India's greatest Sanskrit poet and playwright. Many centuries later, his commitment has not flinched to remain India's most respected bard. When you've read world's greatest plays, you must then read him for the proverbial dessert. For most people, drama was invented in Greece, yet ...             Beloved87 reviews Toni Morrison Vintage, 2004 Raw & Powerful + Oh My God! Are You Kidding Me? Toni's Morrison's Beloved is a hard, frustrating, and emotionally draining piece of literary art. Saying this, her prose is written like something I've never read. She throws you in the middle of the narrative and does not tell you why her characters are saying or acting like they are. It is a ...             Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics)6 reviews Ovid Penguin Classics, 2004 Excellent edition and translation + I am a changed man after reading Ovid + THE MORE THINGS CHANGE.... + Beautiful             A Doll's House (Dover Thrift Editions)72 reviews Henrik Ibsen Dover Publications, 1992 somaia n. A Doll's House + Irish playwright McGuiness interpretation of the Charlotte Barslund literal translation LIVES! + Excellent shape + A pleasant surprise! + Functional edition of _A Doll's House_