I took Lit Hum. at Columbia. It was basically about the books everyone should read (this was decades ago so they may have changed their list). What I remember: epic of gilgamesh, war and peace, Iliad and Odyssey, The Essays by Montaigne, Certain books of the Bible (here’s the actual list: [https://www.college.columbia.edu/core-curriculum/classes/literature-humanities](https://www.college.columbia.edu/core-curriculum/classes/literature-humanities)
Unlikely_March_5173 on
Great Gatsby
I like lots of books, but this one is important, engaging and brief ( and popular; sells many copies, second the the Bible, iirc)
Ignore the awful movies and spend time with careful and poetic prose.
NANNYNEGLEY on
Try some of these:
GAVIN DE BECKER –
“The gift of fear : survival signals that protect us from violence”
ROSE GEORGE –
“Nine pints : a journey through the money, medicine, and mysteries of blood”
“Ninety percent of everything : inside shipping, the invisible industry that puts clothes on your back, gas in your car, and food on your plate”
“The big necessity : the unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters”
JUDY MELINEK –
“Working stiff : two years, 262 bodies, and the making of a medical examiner”
MARY ROACH –
“Fuzz : when nature breaks the law”
“Grunt : the curious science of humans at war”
“Gulp : adventures on the alimentary canal”
“Bonk : the curious coupling of science and sex”
“Stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers”
“Packing for Mars : the curious science of life in the void” “Spook : science tackles the afterlife”
CAITLIN DOUGHTY
“Will my cat eat my eyeballs? : big questions from tiny mortals about death”
“From here to eternity : traveling the world to find the good death”
“Smoke gets in your eyes : and other lessons from the crematory”
But really anything by any of these authors is good.
Also “Five days at Memorial : life and death in a storm-ravaged hospital” by Sheri Fink. This one is rough, but very well written, and has haunted me for many years.
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Don Quixote
This had been asked just a couple of days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/1mujh1o/must_read_books_in_your_opinion/
Lonesome Dove
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
I took Lit Hum. at Columbia. It was basically about the books everyone should read (this was decades ago so they may have changed their list). What I remember: epic of gilgamesh, war and peace, Iliad and Odyssey, The Essays by Montaigne, Certain books of the Bible (here’s the actual list: [https://www.college.columbia.edu/core-curriculum/classes/literature-humanities](https://www.college.columbia.edu/core-curriculum/classes/literature-humanities)
Great Gatsby
I like lots of books, but this one is important, engaging and brief ( and popular; sells many copies, second the the Bible, iirc)
Ignore the awful movies and spend time with careful and poetic prose.
Try some of these:
GAVIN DE BECKER –
“The gift of fear : survival signals that protect us from violence”
ROSE GEORGE –
“Nine pints : a journey through the money, medicine, and mysteries of blood”
“Ninety percent of everything : inside shipping, the invisible industry that puts clothes on your back, gas in your car, and food on your plate”
“The big necessity : the unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters”
JUDY MELINEK –
“Working stiff : two years, 262 bodies, and the making of a medical examiner”
MARY ROACH –
“Fuzz : when nature breaks the law”
“Grunt : the curious science of humans at war”
“Gulp : adventures on the alimentary canal”
“Bonk : the curious coupling of science and sex”
“Stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers”
“Packing for Mars : the curious science of life in the void” “Spook : science tackles the afterlife”
CAITLIN DOUGHTY
“Will my cat eat my eyeballs? : big questions from tiny mortals about death”
“From here to eternity : traveling the world to find the good death”
“Smoke gets in your eyes : and other lessons from the crematory”
But really anything by any of these authors is good.
Also “Five days at Memorial : life and death in a storm-ravaged hospital” by Sheri Fink. This one is rough, but very well written, and has haunted me for many years.
Ghost World by Daniel Clowes