Posted on 1st October 2012

Reading List Part 2

Here’s the second part of our ‘must-read classics’ lists.

Let us know what you enjoy reading most.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(There have been lots of new adaptations of Sherlock, but I maintain that the original is still the best.)

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
(Short and spooky.)

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
(There’s a high chance that you’ll study this at school at some point, but if not, then you must read this intense, important novel.)

A Room With a View by E.M.Forster
(A classic coming-of-age novel.)

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
(Some say this is one of the most finely crafted novels of the last century.)

Ulysses by James Joyce
(It’ll probably take you a while to get through, but it is an absolute masterpiece.)

The Trial by Franz Kafka
(A fascinating exploration of justice.)

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
(Read it before the film comes out!)

If you fancy a good page-turner, you can’t beat an Agatha Christie.

Do also make sure you read at least one novel by Virginia Woolf.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
(a futuristic dystopia that gives you an awful lot to think about.)

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
(If you’ve seen and loved the film, then you should absolutely read the novel.)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
(I adored this when I first read it as a teenager. Very compelling.)

If This is a Man by Primo Levi
(If you’re studying the Holocaust at school then this is a must.)

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
(An extraordinary book. Get the annotated one as it will illuminate even more of Nabokov’s brilliance.)

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
(Read it and then book to see Complicite’s production at the Barbican).