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

by John Irving
I was surprised to see that you have no John Irving on your list of great books. Most of his books are intriguing, poignant, and and extremely engaging. Once I pick one up, I usually can't put it down again until it is finished. The best of his that I have read are The World According to Garp, A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Cider House Rules, A Widow for One Year, and The Hotel New Hampshire. If you are looking for something that will stick with you for life, read John Irving!
-- reviewed by Caudles


Anne of Green Gables
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Anne, a young orphan, is shuffled around until she finds a home on Prince Edward Island. Anne is witty and intelligent as the book follows her adventures at school and home. The whole series of Anne books is wonderful. They are probably for younger readers, but my friends and I are in our late 20's and we love them!
-- reviewed by A. Adamchak

To Kill A Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
This is a wonderful classic book exploring racial inequality. It is written from the point of view of Scout, the local lawyer's daughter. She and her brother, Jem, deal with understanding prejudice. Their father, Atticus, is asked to defend a black man accused of rape. Atticus courageously takes a stand for his own beliefs.
-- reviewed by A. Adamchak

Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
Written in 1847, Jane Eyre is a wonderful romantic book. Jane is a governess and orphan who goes to work for Mr. Rochester. He is a brooding, mysterious man with a temper. According to a review, the story 'revolutionized the scope of romantic fiction'.
-- reviewed by A. Adamchak

Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte
A classic novel, Wuthering Heights, is the only novel by Emily Bronte. The book was printed one year before her death. This is a story about Heathcliff, an orphan who falls in love with a girl above his class. He loses her and devotes his life to wreaking revenge on her family.
-- reviewed by A. Adamchak

Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
A powerful tale of a society that determines the fate of their children at the time they are ‘decanted’ from a test tube, and assigned their role in life. The world is maintained by the use of propganda and a mind-numbing drug, Soma, which dulls free thought and encourages rote work and life. In a day where cloning is a reality, this novel lays out the threat to the indivudual and life as we know it from uncontrolled scientic and political power.

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