And now, here's the third part!
I've heard of the black plague, the white plague and the yellow plague, but never have I heard of the Scarlet Plague. Intriguing.
52. Natur und Geist - Viktor von Weizsäcker
And here is Viktor von Weizsäcker. If the names of Carl Friedrich and Viktor weren't confusing enough, the book titles are practically the same. I wonder if the contents are the same as well.
53. Silas Marner - George Eliot
A classic by Eliot.
I've got nothing. I really have no other reason to put this book on this list other than it was written by George Eliot.
54. Jacob's Room - Virginia Woolf
F*** YEAH VIRGINIA WOOLF
55. Hard Times - Charles Dickens
Let's throw in some Dickens for good measure.
56. The Waves - Virginia Woolf
Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? NOT ME
57. Orlando - Virginia Woolf
YES VIRGINIA WOOLF
58. The Essential Hemingway
Nobody needs to have a reason to read Hemingway.
But you will need a doctor-approved excuse to not read Hemingway.
So if you don't like Hemingway and don't want to read him, you better watch yourself.
59. Monstervortrag über Gerechtigkeit und Recht - Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Justice and law are unfortunately not always synonymous, and Friedrich Dürrenmatt is going to tell us why.
Or, at least, I assume he will.
Either way, law, ethics, justice, politics, society, epistemology - all of these facets that either belong to or are connected to philosophy interest me deeply, because I steadfastly believe that, once you put them all together, you will find the answer to life.
And you might also find out why the answer is so deceptively 42.
Perhaps, by planting into our heads the idea that the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42, Douglas Adams has thereby created the actual answer itself, in a self-fulfilling prophetical sort of way.
Or maybe I'm just thinking too hard about this.
It's a must-read in many German school books lists, so why not read it outside of school?
A compelling adventure of smugglers smuggling things!
Works for me.
I like short novels. In fact, I like short anything. One sentence fiction? Sounds great.
Also, Faulkner was an incredible writer, and he gave incredible advice to those who are aspiring writers.
“Read, read, read. Read everything —trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”
63. Dschamilja - Tschingis Aitmatow
Louis Aragon wrote an introduction to this love story.
Think about it.
I've already read this book, but in German, and a surreal Flaneur story is difficult to understand in German. The novel itself was gripping and fascinating, but German often has the negative side effect of dulling fascination and curiosity.
A satire of Gothic horror, and a hilarious one at that. Austen at her best.
66. Die Frau von Dreissig Jahren - Honore de Balzac
Balzac was so hardcore, when he put something down on paper, it stayed down.
The only reason why I have an electric blanket in my library is because Balzac is too cool.
I am also suffering from a bad cold, because Balzac's works are just so ill.
67. Vetter Pons - Honore de Balzac
Many people think that sunglasses were invented to block sunlight from the eyes. Actually, they were made so that people could look at Balzac's brilliance without blinding themselves.
But when that did not work, they had to build a rocket ship and go into space just to be able to fathom his creative ingenuity.
68. Little French Masterpieces [collection] - Alphonse Daudet
A little collection of masterpieces from the French writer, Daudet. I've had several recommendations to read him, all from my mother, so I will oblige her and read this collection.
69. Aus der einen Tasche in die andere (Antidetektivgeschichten) - Karel Capek
Good gracious me, Capek is hilarious. I've read his travel journal, and it was incredibly funny, especially his illustrations. I can't even begin to imagine how terrific this book is.
Anti-detective story? Hmm, I wonder if it is anything like the Arsene Lupin stories, perhaps.
70. Kalendergeschichten - Bertolt Brecht
Brecht is one of the few German writers who could not write a boring word. He had an astonishing grasp of the German language and of history, and each and every one of his plays is something special. His poetry is absolutely delightful as well as thought-provoking, and it stands to reason that his stories are equally well written.
71. The Grandissimes - George Washington Cable
What a hardcore name.
But that aside, Cable was a recommendation made by Mark Twain, who admired the man as a respectably good writer who wrote about Louisiana as it was when it was still owned by the French. It is an interesting look into an old face of America that is not often discussed in history or literary class.
72. Onkelchens Taum - Fjodr Dostojewksij
Uncle's Dream? I've never heard of this novel before, but as I was rummaging through my book shelves, I found it. And so I thought - okay, I'll read this, because Dostoevsky.
73. Memoirs from the House of the Dead - Fyodr Dostoevsky
This one I've been meaning to read for some time now, but honestly I've been too afraid. I don't know why, because Dostoevsky is one of my favorite authors - Crime and Punishment had an orbital impression on me when I first read it - but there's something about the title of the book and the story behind its writing that scares me, a little, kind of, in a way.
If you are considering the career of a fiction writer, this book could be of very good use. But even if you have no intentions of becoming a fantasy writer or a screenwriter or anything like that, this book is exceedingly interesting, as it describes the famous Monomyth, or the Hero's Journey, a classical type of adventure that is prevalent in many, if not all, forms of fiction, whether in an actual portrayal or in spirit only.
I have just watched the movie - the one that was made in Russia during the early 70's I believe, by Leonid Gaidai - and it was one of the funniest things I've watched in a long time. Ilf and Petrov describe various crooks, both professional and amateur, in a rat race after some diamonds sewn into the seat of one of twelve chairs that had previously belonged to one of the crooks' late mother-in-law. This all occurs as Russia had just turned from Tsarist to Soviet, and times and ideas are in the middle of changing.
And the ending, oh boy, the ending is absolutely fantastic. It is great. It is one of the best endings of any book or work of fiction ever.
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