1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Via en.wikipedia.org
A love story within a love story. It takes the American dream, amplifies it, and then tears it apart in every way possible.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Washington Post / Getty Images
It blends innocence and triumph in a way that makes you learn something without actually feeling like you’re learning. Also, you will fall in love with Atticus Finch.
3. Night by Elie Wiesel
Night by Elie Wiesel
Via amazon.com
The Jewish author was sent to Auschwitz at 15-years-old. This is his story of personal struggle, heartbreak, and passion. At barely 100 pages, you can’t afford to not read this book.
4. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Via amazon.com
Lord of the Flies reveals the true nature of humans and will even make you question your own morality.
5. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Via amazon.com
This novel is the inspiration for Apocalypse Now. Need I say more? (The answer to that question is no.)
6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
MANDEL NGAN / Getty Images
The protagonist’s fear for adulthood will make this one of the most relatable books you will ever read.
7. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Via thestudentroom.co.uk
It gives new meaning to the American dream, focusing on power and a friendship that will enrage you with jealousy (but in a good way).
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Via behance.net
This novel will scare the crap out of you, and you will love it. Besides, Big Brother is watching, so it’s not like you even have a choice now…
9. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Via bannedbooks.world.edu
It incorporates time travel and porn stars. Enough said.
10. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Via amazon.com
Mary Shelley bet her husband that she could write a better horror story than him. She did.
11. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Via utc.iath.virginia.edu
Because everyone’s in need of a good cry.
12. Animal Farm by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Via trenchperspective.com
This book is basically a satirical puppet show about a revolution. If anything, you should read it for this quote: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
13. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Via thenewdirectionoftime.com
It’s a play about two characters who wait for something that never comes, but it’s never dull, just thought-provoking.
14. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Via slate.com
Virginia Woolf will show you how disconnected you are from society, and you will thank her for doing so.
15. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Via npr.org
Because you’ve always wondered what the world would be like without religion.
16. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Via amazon.com
Everyone in this novel is pretty messed up, and that’s refreshing. Also, James Franco is releasing a film adaption of the book, so you have to read it before that comes out, too.
17. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Via heathcates.com
This is the only book that will make you feel OK about American politics. It’s basically a novel version of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
18. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
Via en.wikipedia.org
It uses literature’s greatest heroes and villains to make you question authority, freedom, and reality. And Ken Kesey is an LSD-tripping, counter-cultural genius.
19. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Via thejanedough.com
Its bleak honesty and dark humor will teach you to not sweat the small stuff.
20. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Via en.wikipedia.org
Miller uncovers the reality of the American dream in a way that will make you question your own desire for success.
21. Beowulf by Anonymous
Beowulf by Anonymous
Via blog.enotes.com
Action, adventure, monsters, dragons, heroism, fame.
22. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Via eastwing.co.uk
It will single-handedly change the way you treat people.
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Via schlowlibrary.org
It will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about love.
Gatsby was a stupid book, as was of Mice and Men.
What about Orwell’s ‘1984’?
Oh wait. Forgot. We’re living that one.
I was assigned most of those in high school, and some of them are good reading. The list is biased towards the new stuff. Shakespeare and Dickens don’t make the list?
They included two from Orwell and “Brave New World” (Huxley’s only decent book), so that helps.
However, two I did read, “The Bell Jar” and “Waiting for Godot” promote despair and nihilism, respectively.
I hope Plath’s poetry is better than her awful book. In “The Bell Jar”, Plath stated that during her depression she liked to pick up those little saddle-stitched (stapled) pocket books at the grocery store check-out (often of the self-help variety). If you followed her advice, you’d likely have a better read than “The Bell Jar”.
“Waiting for Godot” is a great high school book because you can figure out the whole thing if you haven’t read it yet in about 30 seconds of class discussion. Absurdism is best written by someone who isn’t so self-indulgent as a writer.
Recommended only for those who want to pick up a 60s vibe. It is already quite dated even as Dickens enjoys a renaissance.
I’ve read 13 from that list.
I read 14 of those in high school.
Well, I’ve read every one of them, except “My Eyes were Watching God.” They were all certainly significant books, and worth reading.
But if I had to recommend a list of books that probably aren’t read in school any longer, I’d start first with Homer, Virgil, Sophocles, Dante, Chaucer, Milton, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Racine, Goethe, and that sort of thing.
And Jane Austen.
I read most of those in high school. I wonder what students today are reading instead if not those classics?
Ok. I read Animal Farm...liked it. The Great Gatsby was ok. Beowulf absolutely hated it. And I did read Lord of the Flies it was ok.
Not me.
I am very rarely pleased by a film adaptation.
I would much rather see the movie first. That way I can enjoy both.
This list is much better than a lot of “you should read lists” or great books lists.
If you missed this list, then you didn’t miss much.
Wow, I’ve read about half of these.
A few of those either weren’t published yet or were not on our HS’s approved reading lists. I cleared the senior English list in my jr year well before Christmas allowing me the time to read material of practical and immediate use to me; Hot Rod magazine, Rod and Custom magazine, and the J.C. Whitney catalog. Ripped through the Ace Double sci-fi paperbacks and sci-fi mags during the summers
A lot of the lines they give the books are pretty insipid, though. When books become assimilated into the culture they may not really make people "question" much of anything. Catch-22 is hardly likely to make anybody feel good about US politics. Are you really going to be jealous of George and Lenny's friendship in Of Mice and Men? Is reading Kafka really going to make you change how you treat people?
I’d add The Sun Also Rises and The Scarlet Letter, which I teach. Great novels.