8 Great Books You Can Read In A Day

[@luizappicanco]

I would recommend reading two short books together: death of Ivan Ilitch by Tolstoi and hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. The types of relationship each main character establishes with life and death are so different, practically opposite (one had everything in life and is painfully aware of the emptiness he feels; the other has nothing and is heartbreakingly ignorant of how much she is missing), but for some reason I struggle to think of one without remembering the other.

[@vladmyrlemos7911]

Those where my first thoughts! Excellent recommendations

[@mohamedyusuf4777]

I agree. I think the death of Ivan Ilyich is wonderful and sobering work.

[@samanthajones1266]

phenomenal insight on those books!

[@sagradobethgravina]

I'm Brazilian and I love Clarissa.

[@phi1688]

Like to do this with dystopians. 1984 and Brave New World at the same time. To be honest, I didn’t like Brave New World at all, lol

[@guilhermeferrao5968]

Siddartha by Hermann Hesse is a wonderful read. Can be read in under two hours but it's made to be enjoyed and digested for a much longer period. I highly recommend

[@theKobus]

Yes! And then you take your time slowly poring over Glass Bead Game

[@guilhermeferrao5968]

@@theKobus Absolutely. Recently read that one. Amazing piece of literature

[@erina2600]

I’ve got steppenwolf on my shelf waiting to be read, is it something that should be slowly enjoyed or something that could be devoured quickly?

[@rhifri4398]

I’ve had this sitting on my shelf for years and always overlook it…. I might need to give it a go

[@guilhermeferrao5968]

​@@erina2600 I haven't read Steppenwolf, yet, but I've read three of Herman Hesse's books, including his most praised work The Glass Bead Game, and they all seem to follow the same style: read slowly, appreciating every word. He's the perfect author to slow ourselves down from our fast-paced world

[@robertbreaux9330]

Animal Farm is a great one day read. Also deserves multiple reads. Great book.

[@autonomouscollective2599]

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Everything about the book is spot on perfect.

[@destintan7065]

I just finished reading it and it really opened my eyes on the ideas of power and dictatorship. The metaphor at the end really got to me.

[@t0dd000]

One of my absolute favorites.

[@BrandonsBookshelf]

Notes From Underground is so underrated, and yes not as good as crime and punishment or Brothers, but so so good!

[@ElonMuskrat-my8jy]

It's not underrated. It's consistently rated as one of the greatest novellas and most influential philosophical writings of the 19th century.

[@castorphans]

I'd add two books to the list: "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", by Leo Tolstoy, which is about 80 pages long; and "Death in Venice", by Thomas Mann, which is quite the same length. Unforgettable books.

[@ElonMuskrat-my8jy]

Substitute Conrad's Heart of Darkness for Death in Venice. Mann was a creepy pdf file and that story has a creepy pdf file.

[@MAFion]

My short recommendations: Albert Camus's The Stranger, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and Foe by Ian Reid (a terrific philosophical thriller).

[@walkrr3890]

The Stranger took over my life for like 5 hours

[@rhifri4398]

Of mice and men is incredible

[@SpaceAnimalGaming]

I'll tender The Pearl as an alternative Steinbeck book, in case someone has already read Of Mice and Men. Both are excellent in their own right, but I feel like The Pearl is more commonly overlooked.

[@rhifri4398]

@@SpaceAnimalGaming I recently read East of Eden and was absolutely floored. Going to make my way through the rest of Steinbecks work ASAP

[@78TBGAMER]

I love the Stranger, but my personal opinion is that the best Camus work is The Plague. It was written in the aftermath of WW2, and shows more the importance of humanity. The Stranger has, I think, much more of an individualist message. Especially as we have been in an actual pandemic I think The Plague resonates a lot with how the world feels right now. Edit: I should say I think it might sit just outside the 300 page limit, but for me it was still a relatively quick read

[@hopelore]

I loved the Martian Chronicles! I rarely hear people talk about it so hearing you bring it up was a pleasent surprise. It solidified Bradbury as one of my favorite authors.

[@babybuntin1]

I’ve never ever been able to read a book in a day, and I love to read. I generally reread passages and sentences as I’m going through a book to make sure I processed the language properly before continuing - should I do this, or is it not necessary? To me, reading is as thorough intellectual work as writing. Should I have this philosophy or should I not put quite as much time into going over the same excerpts again and again? As much as I appreciate this channels refreshing approach to reading quality instead of quantity, I still think that the prospect of wolfing down a 300 page book of any genre in a day is a bit ambitious, especially to those of us with ADHD. Love the content tho man, keep it up x

[@caedengoering]

I don’t think there is a “right” way to read. I don’t really speed read. I read pretty normally. My wife reads slower (what she tells me normal reading is - she says I’m a fast reader) but she eclipses me on number of books read every month because she does a much better job making time for it. If you enjoy the process in which you’re reading - that’s great! Enjoy the process. Should is a judgmental word. It carries a lot of guilt with it. There is no way you should read. There are many ways that you can read. If you have never tried to speed read, I recommend it. It’s worth trying it out to see if you like it. For me, I’m not a huge fan, so I read my way. I find that I comprehend much better. Enjoy your reading journey, my friend. I hope you are able to read as many books as you desire, but that you enjoy doing it.

[@ravenly_studios6009]

I reread sentences, paragraphs, and even whole pages sometimes. I absolutely agree that I’d rather understand and appreciate exactly what is written and how the author intended the reader to feel while reading rather than rush and miss entire thoughts. I also have bad ADHD so often times I’ll realize that I went through 2-5 pages while thinking of something entirely causing me to miss everything that happened. Whenever that happens, I absolutely go back. I also read at the same speed as I talk naturally due to that being the most comfortable for me despite me being able to read faster.

[@siriusradheoff8361]

Depends on what you're reading. An Agatha Christie mystery like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is doable in a day. Some short books meanwhile are extremely dense.

[@RAyLV17]

I was surprised to see that most people agree a 300 page book can be read in a day! The most I was able to read in a single day was just 50 to 60 pages.

[@hansolo989]

John Steinbeck’s The Pearl is an excellent short piece you could read in a couple of hours

[@ruimanel3199]

I recommend for a day read the Overcoat by Gogol. It has around 80 pages but the amout of themes and the depth of how each are explored as mindblowing. As Dostoievsky mentioned once "we are all sons of the overcoat".

[@annamariacurrivan6142]

I love hearing people talk about books they love. The comments this podcast are amazing, full of ideas about great books to read in a day! Thanks!

[@forgetmeoknotok]

i hope your channel gets really big one day. your content is fresh and very educational. thank you

[@sublime8728]

Love, love, love the Martian Chronicles, and everything by Ray Bradbury, got me hooked on sci-fi when I was a teenager and am still a fan of sci-fi at 66 yrs of age.

[@jfarmerswatermelon6061]

Interesting list🤩I would recommend 1.The stranger by Albert Camus 2. Cain by Jose Saramago 3. The trial by Franz Kafka 4. The blind owl by Sadegh Hedayat 5. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse 6. Persuasion by Jane Austen 7. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

[@elisazouza]

Thank you for actually talking about the books and their impacts!!!! I’m tired of the book community just dodging the books 😅 and thinking about numbers and I love notes from underground!

[@tfpp1]

I’d recommend Flatland, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Both are super short, definitely day-reads.

[@zenosaibam99]

I would like to suggest the short stories collections from J. L. Borges as The Aleph and Ficciones, the Metamorphosis from Kafka and Reunion from Fred Uhlman

[@StoicTheGeek]

There is a collection of Borges called Labryinths that I thought of straight away, although it may be a little long. It has other classics like the Library of Babel and The Author of the Quixote as well

[@phi1688]

@@StoicTheGeekpenguin house also publishes a collection of… all of his short stories, no joke. It’s fun to flip to a random page and read that story.

[@BrazilianPride22041]

Might I suggest "The Abolition of Man"? Only 80 or so pages, but they pack a punch

[@theKobus]

Lewis has some VERY punchy short works. Screwtape. Grief Observed.

[@richardrose2606]

@@theKobus I really like his The Great Divorce. In the same vein, The Third Peacock by Robert Capon is short and very good.

[@lelouchvibritannia8172]

I'm Italian and I think Calvino's ability to mix realism, surrealism and fantasy is incredibile, an italian Borges

My recommendations are The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Chinatown by Thuan, The Autography of Red by Anne Carson, The Metamorphosis by Kafka…

[@andrewkuzik5008]

I’m so happy you included “Invisible Cities.” I’ve read it over 3 times and still do not fully understand it.

[@t0dd000]

I recommend short story collections. My #1 recommendation is T Kingfisher's Jackalope Wives And Other Stories. Outstanding. Plus, short stories are generally more carefully crafted than longer works. And poetry: you nailed the Wendell Berry recommendation. Outstanding. But other poetry is wonderful as well.

[@KitagumaIgen]

For a "read in one day" books you cannot omit "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" - it is in the *title* and one very reason to understand what one day is and the meaning of the book...

[@StoicTheGeek]

I’d like to recommend Wise Blood, by Flannery O’Conner. I’ve only read it a few times, but I will never get those characters out of my head

[@justsomeboyprobablydressed9579]

Thanks for the list! Some of my favorite short books: The Colossus and other Poems by Sylvia Plath, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe, The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy, The Log of the S.S. the Mrs. Unguentine by Stanley Crawford, The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, The Stranger by Albert Camus, O Pioneers! by Willa Cather, The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Day It Rained Forever by Ray Bradbury, Cup of Gold by John Steinbeck, Tenth of December by George Saunders, and Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler.

[@laurenhahn101]

Nice suggestions.

[@shiningyoonie]

I’d recommend And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman. Just so calming and heart-touching.

[@cthoadmin7458]

Giuseppe Di Lampedusa. "The Leopard". Gorgeous evocation, of Sicily, the passing of an age, of death and rebirth, shot through with passion, intensity, beauty and a wicked sense of humour... I found this book on a London Bus, and it changed my life.

[@gennaroconnors9304]

Cannery Row is surprisingly good and you can knock it out in a day. I read slow and read it in a day.

[@MCJSA]

Dude! I went through a period of never buying a book more than 1/4 inch thick. It made it so much easier to choose in the bookshop. I followed Descartes' apology that if he had had more time, he would have written a lot less.

[@JonStallings]

Added the Fredick Douglass book to my to read list. Always looking for more history books.

[@edmundplamowski8527]

I would put The Quiet American and Heart of Darkness on my fast read list.

[@jerryrichardson2799]

Both are excellent.

[@djo-dji6018]

A Clockwork Orange is a great little book. After reading it, I had to reconsider some of my appreciation for Kubrik's film.

[@Raventooth]

I read Cujo in a day. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket and Clockwork Orange (w/ 21st chapter) is readable in a day. Very fun. Perfume also is probably a day-read. Great list Thank you!!

[@dhixon1]

My favorite short book is The Great Divorce by Lewis

[@andypayne4002]

Love your videos... Great content. Side note....your voice is sooooo relaxing!

[@jerryrichardson2799]

_The Heart of Darkness, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, Civilization and it's Discontents, The Prince, A Moveable Feast, At the Mountains of Madness, The 39 Steps, The Powerhouse, Satori in Paris, The Last Tycoon, In Our Time, Wylding Hall, Utz, On Liberty, The Present Age(SK), The Doors of Perception, Truth Imagined, Running Wild_ by J G Ballard.

[@jasonsanders8091]

I'd strongly recommend "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russian literature. Wonderful love story, and poetry to die for. Takes about 6 hours. Translation must be right though. James Falun's is the best.

[@scp240]

I read Beowulf in the translation by Seamus Heaney and I loved it! Next up in this genre is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I'm currently reading long short stories/novellas. Just finished Daisy Miller in about a day, and I really enjoyed it up until the ending, which was disappointing, but I don't regret spending a day with this book.

[@theKobus]

I assume you've heard but JRR Tolkien actually did a quite good version of Gawain and the Green Knight

[@jamesvalvis1131]

Tracy’s Tiger by William Saroyan. Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. Discourses of Epictetus.

[@ryan-cee]

I’ve recently read Invisible Cities while on vacation, and found it to be a super quick, fun read! I know it’s a reading yt channel; but if you know someone that doesn’t read much, I highly recommend this book!

[@asteroefstathiou5407]

Thank you very much for the content. Just a small suggestion for us non english speaking natives, pls hold the books enough time so to understand the titles.

[@asteroefstathiou5407]

Thanks a lot. Usually if it is something i like i try to find it in my language (greek)

[@PeculiarNotions]

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. Le Guin Thief by Fuminori Nakamura.

[@LeanneModenPoet]

Piranesi is my favourite book I read in 2021. I also read it in a day. Wonderful stuff!

[@dreadpersephone]

the only book I've ever read in one sitting: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. I LOVE the way he plays with language, and I really do mean literally playing with it. I refuse to spoil anything 😤😤

[@srs1659]

I’d recommend ‘Self Reliance’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson (48 pages) and ‘Simple Passion’ by Annie Ernaux (80 pages)

[@jasonluis8895]

Siddhartha by Herman Hess An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro Lord of the Flies by William Golding Ham on a Rye by Charles Bukowski Metamorphosis by Kafka Silence by Shusaku Endo Slaughter house v by Kurt Vonnegut

[@SM-vr8dz]

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is one of my favourite short-ish books.

[@randywaldron2715]

A good one, but her other great novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, is better.

[@jamespower5165]

@@randywaldron2715 Shirley Jackson was probably the greatest horror novelist ever. While we have always lived in the castle is more wringing because of its realism, The Haunting of Hill House has to be the greatest ghost story. What is wonderful is that nothing really physical happens. The ghosts are in the minds of the people,specifically just one person. Anything physical, some actual person does it, just not of their own influence. And of course the reason the one person is picked and the explanation of the opening(as well as closing) lines of the book is brilliant. On this head the longish short stories of Daphne Du Maurier have to be mentioned. Those are ethereal and chilling. The best I've ever read in literary horror

[@michaelcatalanotto7354]

I’m going to recommend “In Watermelon Sugar” by Richard Brautigan. It’s a laconic, post apocalyptic story of a small commune told in the first person. It’s south of 200 pages, and a very interesting read.

[@brizhammer]

I've had this on my list for 2 years.

[@GBV1436]

Thanks for sharing these. I've had Martian Chronicles on my 'to read' list forever and I haven't read Invisible Cities, but loved The Non-existent Knight

[@andoanderson51]

As far as Bradbury i love The Illustrated Man. I also particularly love Stienbeck's Of Mice and Men, so few words so much story so much to love! A great one day yarn is City of Thieves by Benioff. Thanks for your vid, I'm always looking for new reads and think ill try Piranesi as well as the Colvino.

[@sandraelder1101]

Bradbury is awesome! My favs: Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Fahrenheit 451. MC is good too, I totally agree.

[@niraakara]

Although not an old time classic, it’s a great book and this kid will write a classic for sure… highly recommend for anyone and a must read for the younger generation who’s growing up with a multitude of challenges… Diary of a young naturalist by Dará Mcanulty, so poignant, it shouldn’t be a quick read, but definitely an immersive one and on the shorter side. Letters to a young poet by Rilke is also short but one to be digested slowly, not really for poets, but for anyone who’s facing challenges in life. Mary Oliver’s poetry books are also short books but something one can relish slowly and read over a week or such. Also recommend Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata, a novel that’s sheer poetry!

[@sushma150690]

The picture of Dorian Grey and The Convenience store woman are two that I would recommend.

[@altayebyousif8469]

Wonderful list 💕 I think The Strange by Albert Camus can be add as well.

[@danilo6992]

The Stranger was also my first thought when I saw this video.

[@alex_greco_sc]

Oh yes, definitely

[@sagradobethgravina]

I recommend Chesterton. It was a great surprise!

[@EyeLean5280]

The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis is about 160 pages and very entertaining, even if you're not Christian.

[@niraakara]

Piranesi is a book you can’t help reading in a day (well, there’s work to get to the next morning so one has to force oneself to put it down in the night and continue!) Even if fantasy or metaphysical/science fiction is not your genre! I’ve been trying to find some re-training wheels to get back to my voracious reading habits and this was a blast to start! I hope I can continue! I can’t believe I hadn’t read it sooner! The hype’s real folks! Just get past a few pages and you can’t be stopped! Well, I’d rather not say too much as I find anything could be a spoiler. I have to come back to the comments again to add more to my list! Thanks all!

[@wonderwoman5528]

Really happy I subscribed to your channel. You have the exact type of content I’m after :)

[@maceocortezz9384]

I'd like to recommend Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West. One of the most rewarding books i've read in a while. I am already feeling pulled to dive back into it and I only read it a few weeks ago.

[@caivail4614]

Yes! I just finished Miss Lonelyhearts last week and already miss it’s frenetic style. Not my usual fodder at all but so enjoyable. Great book.

[@trevorreads]

LET’S GO! Thanks for the list!

[@thomasrockhoff]

Just discovered the channel with this video and was very pleased with the list. The ones Im familiar with were all good and that makes me want to check out the others, but I was happy to not just see the most expected answers (Old Man and the Sea, Of Mice and Men, The Stranger). Looking forward to checking out the rest of the channel

[@rebasloop8635]

Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck is an easy read less than 200 pages and it is an amazing story. It will make you feel all the feels.

[@jonathanmarcelthome]

Oh my God I was totally gonna recommend Piranesi and then I got to the end of your video!

[@DeanCowan]

At least two of my choices would be "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. Less than 100 pages it is the classical morality tale about the Russian Revolution. "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch" by Solzhenitsyn, along similar lines but told from the pov of a prisoner of the gulags. "Prater Violet" by Christopher Isherwood. I read this many years ago but is a powerful tale about an emigre film director in Hollywood.

[@JO-bq9tz]

Lord of the Flies. Read it in one sitting. One of only two books I've done that with, the other being the non-literary Long Walk by Stephen King/Richard Bachman. Dang that Stebbins! Just pulled me right in.

[@positiveandstrong]

I really enjoy reading Hilary Mantel's Wolfhall series. I read the first of the series thrice; the second, twice; and the third (the Mirror & the Light) once. I'm looking forward to reading Mirror for a second time this holiday season. Mantel's literary technique in the Wolfhall series is groundbreaking and utterly spellbinding. I also find a couple of finely written novels with the Vietnam war as backdrop. Marlantes's Matterhorn, Johnson's The Tree of Smoke,and Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer are wonderful masterpieces for all americans or even for non-americans.

[@jeabou_]

A great little list! I'd add Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

[@sraddhapadharmacari5898]

Maria Dahvana Headley's translation of Beowulf is incredible. I'm trained as a literary translator myself, and I think this might be the best translation that I've read - of anything.

[@warrenhapke2091]

I looked at the opening two pages of this translation in the Amazon preview, and I must strongly disagree with your assessment. I'm not trained as a literary translator, but I can (and have) read Beowulf in Old English.

[@sraddhapadharmacari5898]

@@warrenhapke2091 I can totally see how some people would dislike it. My assessment of it is only my subjective opinion (although it's informed by my experience of translating ancient texts myself...)

[@stuartdmt]

I just subscribed after watching a few of your videos. So happy to see the love you give to "Frankenstein," one of my all time favorite books. Then "Invisible Cities," so good. In one of your other videos I think I saw a copy The Collected Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges - another favorite. I want to do more exploring, but I thought I'd mention two authors that I wish would get more attention - maybe you've encountered them... first is Fernando Pessoa, early 20th century Portuguese poet with a few excellent books of prose. There are some surprises about Pessoa that make him all the more interesting. The other author is Milorad Pavic, a Serbian author whose works completely turned things upside down for me. Thanks for the encouraging videos and I look forward to more content and also reading some of your suggestions. Cheers!

[@ecthelion1735]

My absolute favorite "short book" and top recommendation for this list is "Meditations on the Peaks" by Julius Evola. It kind of fuses a naturalistic pre-Nietschean spiritualism with more esoteric transcendentalism.

[@babadook4404]

Piranesi is so beautiful. I was surprised how it affected me. At the end of the book, I had tears in my eyes. Clarke is an excellent writer and I wish I could read it fresh again. As far as reading in a day. I read Small Things Like These by Keegan recently which was pretty great. I devoured The Color Purple one lazy Sunday which was almost perfect. Also, The Emissary by Towada is also great.

[@LiterateTexan]

I'm delighted to see Wendell Berry getting some love here. He's great!

[@Cath38639]

Loved seeing Invisible Cities and Piranesi - Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics is wonderful as well!

[@daryared2808]

Thank you for the lovely recommendations!

[@alfredpiro8918]

I would add Thomas Merton's Zen and the Birds of Appetite. I'm surprised that The Great Gatsby is not on the list. Notes from the Underground is a favorite of mine.

[@daithi1966]

My Top 10 Short Classic Books (ordered by year)--- 1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843) 2. Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1864) 3. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy (1886) 4. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899) 5. The Dead by James Joyce (1914) 6. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915) 7. A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner (1930) 8. Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck (1937) 9. Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945) 10. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (1952)

[@jordanm2984]

'The Medium is the Massage' & 'War and Peace in the Global Village' by Marshall McLuhan. Very small engaging books filled with insights about the modern world, technology, and social change.

[@grazbo1]

Thank you for this video - will definitely check out a couple of these! I would recommend The Leopard by Lampedusa, a wonderful book. Short enough to read in a day, but you may then find yourself reading it once every subsequent year!

[@raneshrai6385]

Your content is exactly what I needed . Thank you

[@akumal1985]

«The House on Mango Street», by Sandra Cisneros and «The Little Prince», by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

[@geoffreyfaust3443]

"Pedro Paramo" by Juan Rulfo is 120 fantastic pages long. The 1st time Garcia Marquez read it, he stayed up all night to read it a second time. Don't miss it!

[@darianstewart8827]

It's scary how every ad I got while watching this video were all about social medial and pushing the narrative of social growth through using these media's. When reading multiple genres of books makes you a way more deep and interesting individual. Almost like pushing away a lifetime of self development through reading for pleasing another person for a few seconds. I just found your page, it's great, I will most definitely be listening to the podcast. Thanks!

[@coconuts2361]

'Address Unknown' by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, a very short novel first published in 1938. An absolute masterpiece and today just as relevant as it was back then. Takes about an hour to read. Shows how ideology changes decent, well-educated, 'normal' people into beasts.

[@socialswine3656]

Really loving this channel dude keep up the good work

[@paolaemma1620]

A wonderful 360 pages book, bit longer than the ones in your list, but hard to put down, therefore easy to read in a day (and night...): 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' by Carson McCullers. This book was also made into a memorable 1968 movie, available for free on KZbin.

[@gcummings88]

Wendell Berry super choice. S. Clark and Calvino also...I would suggest Art of Writing by Lu Chi.

[@franciscafarfallina]

Just another short story by Dostoïevsky "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" and Stefan Zweig's "Chess Player" my favourite short stories

[@SSNewberry]

A number of good suggestions, I would add: C.S. Lewis, W.H. Auden , TS Eliot , Carl Sagan Franz Kafka George Orwell , Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Sylvia PlathMillayKantSappho

[@pattube]

Here are some of my favorite short reads. Not necessarily able to be finished in one day, since that's person-variable; some can finish in one day, others might take a little longer, which is perfectly fine. 😊 * The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain). Twain wrote many divertfully entertaining books, but he never wrote anything as fine as Huck Finn. It's widely and rightly considered a contender for the Great American Novel (GAN), not only for its themes about our long-standing struggle with race, but also for its quintessentially American character, its plot and setting along the Mississippi, and Twain's use of our vernacular voice to tell the tale. * Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll). Almost a nonsense book, which is no surprise considering it's from the same author as the poem The Jabberwocky. Yet what delightful nonsense it is! It adapts itself to diverse interpretations, which is somewhat ironic considering the mathematical mind behind it. And, in a sense, not unike computer code, one gets out of it what one puts into it. * Animal Farm (George Orwell). I agree with C.S. Lewis's review (I found it online for free) which argues Animal Farm is better than 1984 if primarily considered as a work of literary art, though as Lewis likewise points out 1984's appendix on doublespeak is itself an inspired work. In any case, sometimes it is more persuasive to tell the truth via story (allegory) than to tell the truth plainly, and Animal Farm is one of the very best examples of this. * Beowulf (Seamus Heaney translation). A stunning work in its own right, of course, and a stunning achievement in translation. It mixes and meshes well our earliest ancestral English themes with Judeo-Christian ones (e.g. the monster Grendel and its mother trace their own to the line of Cain). Furthermore, translators could learn from Heaney's translation. Indeed as a scholar has pointed out: “One thinks, by analogy, of the brilliant recent translation of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney. Within the constraints of terms and idioms that simply must be preserved, Heaney manages to bring to life an astonishingly ‘contemporary’ translation that nevertheless pulsates with the life of ancient Scandinavian mythological heroes.” * The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Leo Tolstoy). Among other things, the novella encapsulates what Blaise Pascal once said: "As men are not able to fight against death, misery, ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, not to think of them at all." * The Four Quartets (T.S. Eliot). Time and memory. Echoes of eternity. The still-point of the turning world in the word made flesh. In a sense Eliot is autobiographical in his writings, for he moved from a bleak nihilism in The Waste Land to a sacramental high church faith in The Four Quartets. * Frankenstein (Mary Shelley). I prefer the 1818 version to the 1831 version, but both are great. A Gothic tale in the Romantic era. Dark, moody. Grim. Arguably the first science fiction novel and one of the first modern horror novels. Explores many themes, not least of which is the Promethean rebellion of the created against their creator. Atheistic to the core. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. * The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry). In my view, the stand-out quotation is: “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” That goes for many truths in life, but perhaps most especially love. That is, love should be deep, not merely skin deep. * Long Journey Home (Os Guinness). Modern existential writing at its best. Speaks to heart and mind. As an interesting aside, the author is a direct descendant of the founders of Guinness beer. * Lord of the Flies (William Golding). Beautifully, vividly written, well developed atmosphere, one feels present alongside the school boys on a hot and humid tropical island. Yet it is about the depths of human depravity to which we might all sink if placed in similar circumstances. Children are sweet and innocent in many respects, but not in all respects, and as this book illustrates not in the most fundamental respects. * Miracles (C.S. Lewis). Surprisingly the parts I found most interesting weren't the parts about miracles as such, but the parts about more ultimate things. The book contrasts naturalism with supernaturalism; as such it points to a world which is ultimately impersonal or one which is ultimately personal. Given naturalism and materialism (popularly "atheism"), one must ask how can the personal or personhood arise from the impersonal or impersonhood? Does it make more sense that the impersonal arises from the personal or vice versa? * Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen). Austen is delightfully amusing in most of her works, except perhaps her more mature and autumnal tinted Persuasion, but here in Northanger Abbey she is at her most consistently hilarious. It's a satire or parody of Gothic literature. I think it was Agatha Christie who once described the book as "Austen in high spirits." * Notes from Underground (Fyodor Dostoevsky). I think Dostoevsky's greatest works are Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, but Notes from Underground is considered one of his five best works (along with The Demons and The Idiot) which are collectively known as Dostoevsky's "Pentateuch". Notes from Underground is also the shortest of his works if we don't consider his short stories (e.g. White Nights and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, both of which are well worth reading too). Notes from Underground begins with the first person narrative of a "spiteful" man, and it encapsulates several of the themes which obsess Dostoevsky in later works. It's a bit of a challenge to read, for various reasons, but it is also a good port of entry into Dostoevsky. To be honest, I think Crime and Punishment is a better entry point to Dostoevsky for most people, but it's not a short read. * The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde). I believe it's the only novel, not play, that Wilde ever wrote. About art and aesthetic, about beauty and its decline with age. Wilde's preface to the book that "art is useless" is itself an ironically useful framework in which to appreciate Dorian Gray. * The Plague (Albert Camus). Camus was of course most famous for his atheism and existentialism. In this story, the priest first preaches that the plague is God's judgment, but later after the death of an innocent child the priest preaches the plague is meant to test the faith of the faithful. So which is it? How can it be both? And if it's God's will to send the plague, should humans seek to alleviate suffering? Camus wrestles with such tensions in the novel, which ultimately comes down to questions of theodicy. Perhaps more relevant than ever in the aftermath of our recent pandemic. * The Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan). The British paper The Guardian ranks it as one of the top 100 novels of all time. In essence, it is a book about life mapped out in allegorical vignettes, as the protagonist named Christian journeys from the city of destruction toward the celestial city. * The Rediscovery of Man (Cordwainer Smith aka Paul Linebarger). It's not super short as a whole, since it's a collection of short stories belatedly tied together by Smith's own hand according to particular themes he had in mind near the end of his life. Nevertheless one can easily dip into it here and there, one doesn't necessarily need to read all of it (though it's hard to resist!), and I find quite a bit of stylistic enjoyment as well as intellectual stimulation. It's some of the most underrated science fiction of which I'm aware. * The Road (Cormac McCarthy). Not his greatest novel, that honor belongs to Blood Meridian according to literary critics like the late Harold Bloom, but perhaps his most optimistic novel if any McCarthy novel can be said to be optimistic. It's still intense and violent and full of horrific scenes, but it ends on more hope than one might normally expect from the author. And yes, it is a comparatively short book, though not necessarily a short read, depending on one's tolerance for reading its horrific scenes. 1/2

[@pattube]

* Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury). Several other Bradbury works - like The Martian Chronicles or a collection of short stories - could've been chosen as excellent short reads. But since Something Wicked doesn't seem as often mentioned, and since the book seems to have appeal across different genres, I thought I'd choose it here. Bradbury is a secular humanist who sometimes or oftentimes uses biblical symbolism as well as Shakespearean themes as vehicles by which to express his longings and yearnings. The title of the book comes from the witches in Macbeth: "Double, double, toil and trouble: fire burn, and cauldron bubble! By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." And Bradbury's story has supernatural elements, closer to horror than hard science fiction, including a Satanic figure. Yet it reads like an enchantment, by turns lulling one with Bradbury's spellbinding beauty in language and impishly seducing one to keep turning the page with one fantastic moment after another. And for all that there's a good lesson to be learned too, which should be apparent to those who read it. * Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson). Very short, yet literarily better than Treasure Island and Kidnapped. The novella is also not like what most film and television adaptations might lead one to believe. Its central theme is somewhat a matter of debate, to a degree. Stevenson said it was about the conflict between living in and by Victorian moral standards vs. being true to one's own life (or something to that effect). I think that's true as far as it goes, but it likewise merely scratches the surface, for Stevenson was raised in a devout Calvinist Christian family, but subsequently left his Christianity, which he reports (rather wryly) how it deeply hurt his pious parents, and doubtless affected him as well. I suspect this conflict with his familial faith and his departure from it might hit nearer the book's cental theme. * Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K. Jerome). Perhaps the funniest book I've ever read. A Victorian counterpart to the Edwardian P.G. Wodehouse in terms of comedy. * The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame). A father (Kenneth Grahame) writes bedtime stories to tell his only child, a sickly son (Alastair Grahame) who would die in his youth. These stories are set along the river Thames, in Edwardian England. Several heartachingly moving stories. A nostalgic voice in a nostalgic time. Beautifully told. Poetic. * A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle). On the one hand, the book has a healthy respect for the intelligence of children. On the other hand, the book isn't very intelligent despite attempts to say otherwise. It's a syncretic mishmash of eclectic philosophy and pop science. It's very entertaining in the moment, yet, like a trip to the local fair, the fizzy drinks and cotton candy only go so far. Still it's sometimes fun to go. 2/2

[@AdrianasWonderland]

great video, thank you very much for the recs!

[@rach1496]

Frankenstein is only 160-ish pages, and the prose flows quite well even for younger readers.

[@jamespower5165]

Indeed. A good read alongside it is David Morrell's First Blood. The original Rambo was really a Frankenstein figure with war instead of unthinking technocracy as the culprit

[@hktk3626]

i want to know what’s your top5 books 😊 the crime and punishment is also my favorite book .

[@Revjonbeadle]

It's so good to see you creating this kind of content.

[@Revjonbeadle]

@@_jared I was wondering where you had snuck off to, so when the algorithm promoted one of your videos to me, I was excited to see. I hope you and your wife are doing well.

[@Revjonbeadle]

Thought you might like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3yXp6SAotmepcU

[@starshiplazyboy475]

I have three suggestions, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (I like the Tolkein translation), Hemingway's the Old Man and the Sea, and The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. The last one would be a bit of a stretch (it's ~180 pages) but I burned through it in two days and I'm a pretty slow reader.

[@EyeLean5280]

Also, you can get "The Grand Inquisitor" by Dostoevsky as a stand-alone short story - definitely worth an evening's read!

[@ElonMuskrat-my8jy]

More than that, the book on Elder Zosima is a great one day read and life time meditation and application.

[@TheOracleofOttawa]

cant wait for this channel to blow up like crazy

[@jamespower5165]

Three Men On A Boat and The Golden Age are also excellent reads if you are nostalgic about a simpler time. Also Diary of a Nobody. These are part satirical but primarily they just emphasize a simple good life

[@poppypalais3108]

Haven't heard of the Golden Age. Any chance you could say the author, because google turns up a dozen books with that name, none of which seem to fit. Thanks.

[@jamespower5165]

Kenneth Grahame, same guy who wrote the Wind in the Willows

[@poppypalais3108]

@@jamespower5165 Thank you.

[@lunar-ix9vu]

250 pages is a one day read? really??

[@Bookspine5]

More like 2,500 pages. Yuppers.

[@charold3]

All great books! I like the mix, from standard sf (Bradbury) to postmodern (Calvino) to early modern philosophy (Descartes). The Clarke is on my read-soon list.