What should be the one mandatory book?

[MoeTheMonk]

I would have said the Bible, since it's an amazing book that changed my life for the better.
But since that's unavailable... As far as a mandatory book, 1984 should definitely be required, as there are legions of people who would happily sacrifice freedoms on the altar of safety.

Simply in terms of excellent books however, I'd have to go with basically anything that Tolkien or Tolstoy wrote, especially The Hobbit and War and Peace.

 

[Nouw]

Fahrenheit 451. A brilliant book about a dystopia where books are evil.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Stephen King's IT. This book teaches you the very important lesson that if you believe in yourself, you can overcome your fears

Spoiler

and defeat a sewer clown in a duel by biting him in the tongue, telling a joke, and making him laugh.

Seriously King, where in the fuck did that come from?

And that you should totally have sex when you're a kid. I mean, serously, that was pretty fucked up...

 

[AlphaEcho]

1984 pretty much teaches you a lot of things everyone should know about freedom of speech and such.

Soldier Boys is pretty good since it teaches kids that the Germans in WWII were not all evil Nazi hailing bastards who raped your mother and enjoyed tearing off children testicals while Americans were the bad asses who came in all buff and muscular and tore apart the wimpy Germans.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

well it was tough but read six pages and my books not here (and with it popping up in heavy metal lyrics consistently i'm surprised a gaming site missed it)

Perfume by Patrick Suskind (its german but i had no problems with a translated version)
because it is a book which deals so primarily with the concept of scent it challenged so much of my world so much. And it isn't shy about any of its subject matter (murdering 14 virgins and distilling them into the prefect perfume) but nor is it gratuitous. it just reveals so much stuff that just dosn't occur to you as a person in modern society. it truly feels unique and it is ferociously engrossing (i didn't have trouble reading it but i was studying john Donne at the time who gets my honourable mention for poetry along with Keats)

runner up is The Pushman and other stories by Tatsumi Yoshihiro, if you hate manga or comics read this. then read Scott Mcleods understanding comics, then read it again. then read The Pushman and other stories again but as if you were studying poetry. It astounded me

 

[kidd25]

To Kill a Mockingbird
This is a book that is able to put forth a lot of information and symbolism without being to heavily saturated like Heart of Darkness(my personal all-time favorite) or too wordy like LotR(never read it, never saw it, played the "Hobbit" video game though). It is a great introduction to symbolism as the book drips with symbolism. There are also some surprisingly subtle details that can be of interest, such as Bob Ewell's incestuous relationship with his underage daughter.

I'm seeing this a lot, maybe I should read it.
I liked the heart of darkness but it was way too saturated for my taste, so maybe this will be more to my liking.

So...

The Art of War.
2 novels by George Orwell.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. (and I assume the other books too)
Sophie's World

Anything else that I need to go buy?

I know, this will cost me several trips to my local library.

why ask us to post any book, then say Oh except these aren't we allowed to post what we want? also i say lets not do that because nothing should be forced on people.

I stated my reasons for not wanting scripture. I'm sorry if you don't agree with them.

yeah, also its fine. but why do you think it would be a great idea that we should enforce a book on people to be read.

 

[GeorgW]

To Kill a Mockingbird
This is a book that is able to put forth a lot of information and symbolism without being to heavily saturated like Heart of Darkness(my personal all-time favorite) or too wordy like LotR(never read it, never saw it, played the "Hobbit" video game though). It is a great introduction to symbolism as the book drips with symbolism. There are also some surprisingly subtle details that can be of interest, such as Bob Ewell's incestuous relationship with his underage daughter.

I'm seeing this a lot, maybe I should read it.
I liked the heart of darkness but it was way too saturated for my taste, so maybe this will be more to my liking.

So...

The Art of War.
2 novels by George Orwell.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. (and I assume the other books too)
Sophie's World

Anything else that I need to go buy?

I know, this will cost me several trips to my local library.

why ask us to post any book, then say Oh except these aren't we allowed to post what we want? also i say lets not do that because nothing should be forced on people.

I stated my reasons for not wanting scripture. I'm sorry if you don't agree with them.

yeah, also its fine. but why do you think it would be a great idea that we should enforce a book on people to be read.

I don't, it's just a thought experiment.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, or The Great Gatsby. One of those 4 or all of them.


I might go in so far as to suggest Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged since it scarily reminds me of parts of society......

 

[kidd25]

To Kill a Mockingbird
This is a book that is able to put forth a lot of information and symbolism without being to heavily saturated like Heart of Darkness(my personal all-time favorite) or too wordy like LotR(never read it, never saw it, played the "Hobbit" video game though). It is a great introduction to symbolism as the book drips with symbolism. There are also some surprisingly subtle details that can be of interest, such as Bob Ewell's incestuous relationship with his underage daughter.

I'm seeing this a lot, maybe I should read it.
I liked the heart of darkness but it was way too saturated for my taste, so maybe this will be more to my liking.

So...

The Art of War.
2 novels by George Orwell.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. (and I assume the other books too)
Sophie's World

Anything else that I need to go buy?

I know, this will cost me several trips to my local library.

why ask us to post any book, then say Oh except these aren't we allowed to post what we want? also i say lets not do that because nothing should be forced on people.

I stated my reasons for not wanting scripture. I'm sorry if you don't agree with them.

yeah, also its fine. but why do you think it would be a great idea that we should enforce a book on people to be read.

I don't, it's just a thought experiment.

i wonder how many people would be pissed or if people would even be pissed if the U.S.A or wherever passed a law which required them to read a book. also i've been reading books about logic so i might be looking into this way to deeply.

 

[blankedboy]

I'm gonna say Of Mice and Men. I know alot of people will disagree, but it seems like a good choice to me.

 

[rayen020]

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Joffe Numeroff

He will be wanting some milk to go with it...

 

[V8 Ninja]

As other people have said, I'm going with The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. While I like it, it also shows that books can be entertaining to those who don't generally regards books as entertainment. Yes, I was once a believer that books could not be truly "Entertaining". Douglass Adams proved me wrong.

 

[Jourdan Cameron]

The Hunger Games.

 

[GeorgW]

To Kill a Mockingbird
This is a book that is able to put forth a lot of information and symbolism without being to heavily saturated like Heart of Darkness(my personal all-time favorite) or too wordy like LotR(never read it, never saw it, played the "Hobbit" video game though). It is a great introduction to symbolism as the book drips with symbolism. There are also some surprisingly subtle details that can be of interest, such as Bob Ewell's incestuous relationship with his underage daughter.

I'm seeing this a lot, maybe I should read it.
I liked the heart of darkness but it was way too saturated for my taste, so maybe this will be more to my liking.

So...

The Art of War.
2 novels by George Orwell.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. (and I assume the other books too)
Sophie's World

Anything else that I need to go buy?

I know, this will cost me several trips to my local library.

why ask us to post any book, then say Oh except these aren't we allowed to post what we want? also i say lets not do that because nothing should be forced on people.

I stated my reasons for not wanting scripture. I'm sorry if you don't agree with them.

yeah, also its fine. but why do you think it would be a great idea that we should enforce a book on people to be read.

I don't, it's just a thought experiment.

i wonder how many people would be pissed or if people would even be pissed if the U.S.A or wherever passed a law which required them to read a book. also i've been reading books about logic so i might be looking into this way to deeply.

I don't know, depending on the book it could help society quite a bit. Still, I love the irony if it'd be the apparent winner of this thread, 1984.

 

[McShizzle]

I was gonna say the Bible, though not for religious purposes. Arguably, no piece of literature or any other work of human hands has influenced the entire world (yes WORLD, not just human culture) as it.

Ya, what he said kind of. I'm not religious at all, but western literature derived a great deal from the bible and even up to today it's constantly referencing it. You don't have to believe all that gobbledygook in there (or any sacred text for that matter, I don't) but you should be aware of what's in there if you're gettin all literary serious.

My pick for a book averyone should have to read? How about some children's books, Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, and Where the Wild Things Are.

 

[Heronblade]

Picking a single book is an exercise in futility. In my personal opinion there are dozens of books that should be read by all. From LOTR to Hitchhiker's guide toBrave New World.

Once one gets past that list, there's another composed of books that should be read according to one's interests, for instance I would include Mein Kampf and Animal Farm for anyone with a serious interest in history/politics, and several different religious texts for those exploring the spiritual side of life. (whether or not from the point of view of a believer)