What should be the one mandatory book?

[Ostman]

1984 by George Orwell if I had to pick one mandatory book.

Ninja'ed on the first page! Honestly, I can't think of a better book than 1984 if we're really going to narrow it down to one. This is the only piece of written fiction that's ever left me terrified and unable to finish it properly.

I love the irony of 1984 being the one mandatory book that everyone has to read.

But it gets my number 2 vote, right after A Short History Of Nearly Everything, by Bill....Byron? Byson? You know who I mean.

Wuthering Heights needs to be banned immediately; it's almost worth losing our entire literary history for that abortion of a book to go too.

 

[Qmonster]

Some have been saying "The Bible" as a joke, but after thinking about it, that might be a good idea. It should include the Old and New Testaments, and also all the proper footnotes and background material that would be in a proper study Bible. Why? Well, after everyone reads it, no one will be duped by prejudiced or fascist diatribe spouted by people in the name of religion. Everyone could say, "wait, I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't say 'kill the gays and fuck the poor...'"

 

[Sir Rammington Steel]

I'm seeing plenty of books I agree with such as Gatsby, 1984, Mockingbird, and others. For the sake of diversity I'm going to go with either The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, basically something by Hemingway. He has a style that is rare to find in a world that for the most part seems to always think that bigger is better. That long books trump all. And since I've seen some other people branch out, I may as well too.
For movies I'd have to say pretty much anything out of the criterion collection. If I'm forced to pick between a few though I'd choose either The Seven Samurai or Casablanca on the older side of things and for newer films anything in the Pixar library with the exception of the Cars movies and then...I'm actually going to go with the True Grit reboot. Lots of interesting things happening in that film.
Alright then time for television. I can't resist saying Avatar the last airbender as a prime example of what western animation is capable of. On the live action side of things I'll go with Dollhouse because I saw it recently and it's a good example of what can be done with a series that was cut short. To be honest I haven't seen that many conclusive television series so yeah. On the anime then since it counts as tv. I'd say Astro Boy as a good old school example along with some of the older Gundams. The Last Exile and YuYu Hakusho are also pretty high up in my book.
Lastly videogames. I'll pick one or two from each genre. For and fps I'd recommend The first Modern Warfare or of course the Half Life series. Platforming I'll say something from the Sly Cooper universe or Banjo Kazooie for 3d and of course Mario for 2d. For western rpg's The Fallout series along side the Elder Scroll series are obvious picks. As for the JRPG's I love just about anything in the Tales of series especially Symphonia and Vesperia. I'm highly biased but for me Tales of Symphonia is one of the greatest games I've ever played. In terms of action adventures or hackie slashies the God of War games are a good series to look in to and I like both inFamous games. Finally for third person shooters as well as one of my favorites overall Mass Effect is a must.
Well then, there's my two cents do with it what you will.

 

[Slaanesh]

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?

 

[kenu12345]

i dont now if if should be mandatory but im reading the book theif and thats pretty good so far

 

[flaviok79]

The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin. Would do the world a lot of good to just read it already.

 

[Zaverexus]

The Alchemist. It's simple to read and sparks some very interesting discussion, regardless of upbringing or locale. It's a very open book and is already an international seller. I think more people would have direction in their lives because of it. That's probably the biggest issue with modern humanity: lack of direction.

A good book, I actually read it a couple years ago in school, but in that same line of thought I think a similar, but (IMO) better book that I read the next year would be would be Le Petit Prince or
The Little Prince.

 

[The_Echo]

MEIN KAMPF.

Now, that might not be such a bad idea, to be honest. It's a big fucking book, so to do it practically, it'd probably only be selections from the book. Yeah, we all know about how Hitler was really evil and stuff, but reading his book would be a great way to gain some insight on how he got there, how he thought, who he was. However, I'm sure there'd be way too much outcry about it, so it probably wouldn't happen.

Personally, I think the following books or authors should be mandatory (or at least more widely used) in schools:

Of Mice and Men. There's an emphasis on dreams and working towards them that I think anyone could relate to or learn from.
HP Lovecraft. I think he should replace Poe's role in most literature classes.
The Odyssey. Mythology and a classic epic? Two birds with one stone!
A Clockwork Orange, with the final chapter of course. There's a very definite "you're the one who controls you" aspect, I think. There's also probably some political or social theme or criticism, but I'm not exactly well-versed in those spheres so I won't say much on that.
EDIT: I forgot The Divine Comedy. It could serve as a pretty sweet epic and a history lesson. (Dante having used real people in the poem, and many of them not exactly being household names, it'd be another twofer like The Odyssey above.) I'm pretty sure there are about a million other things people can learn from it, but it's been a while since I read it, and it wasn't academic reading so I wasn't looking into it too far, frankly.

 

[Zaverexus]

Some have been saying "The Bible" as a joke, but after thinking about it, that might be a good idea. It should include the Old and New Testaments, and also all the proper footnotes and background material that would be in a proper study Bible. Why? Well, after everyone reads it, no one will be duped by prejudiced or fascist diatribe spouted by people in the name of religion. Everyone could say, "wait, I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't say 'kill the gays and fuck the poor...'"

Would be a great idea if people would read it as what I think is an almost suitable use for it: as a metaphorical guide to decent behavior, not a literal manuscript for how to live life.

 

[CJanders]

Ender's Game

 

[FernandoV]

The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar. Taught me...something, but it was a nice book.

 

[Electrohydra]

Harry Potter.

Seriously, if you want people to learn from books, you first have to make them like books, and Harry Potter is probably the book that most children would find enjoyement from IMO. It's got plenty of action, not too long (the first one at least) but still long enough to be a "full" novel, it's nicely written (not too complex but still well done) and, even if they are not hidden under tones of symbolism and metaphors, pretty good life lessons.

If you can get kids to like reading (with books like Harry Potter), then latter on, when they are ready they will read dozens of the books you all mentioned, and actually try to understand them instead of reading it like a chore.

 

[SD-Fiend]

the dictionary

 

[Thee Prisoner]

These books are USA centric but "A Peoples history of the United States" by Howard Zinn or
"Clarence Darrow For the defense" by Irving Stone.

For scifi/fantasy it would be "The Thomas Covenant" series by Stephen R Donaldson.

 

[WaReloaded]

The Hobbit. I simply cannot extend how much I appreciate this novel, the characters are brilliant as is the setting. J.R.R. Tolkien managed to craft such a breathtaking world, and let's not forget the Lord of the Rings...

 

[boyvirgo666]

starship troopers. government would work much differently.

 

[Kryzantine]

How do we get 5 bloody pages without mentioning "A Study in Scarlet"?

It's the definitive detective novel, and it sets up a fascinating character in Mr. Holmes himself.

 

[Epicspoon]

Green Eggs and Ham

and just so I don't get a warning for low content posting

Green Eggs and Ham. AGAIN.

Edit: I change my mind. "War and Peace"

 

[FalloutJack]

Just one? How about Catch-22 by Joseph Heller?

 

[uzo]

starship troopers. government would work much differently.

Yeah, after Brave New World my next suggestion was going to be Heinlein's Starship Troopers.