I thought it would be a good idea to share with you some of my favorite fiction books. It was hard for me to get the list down to just these three best books ever but I have. There are many great books that I haven't mentioned like Lord of the Flies or Dantes Inferno. Anyway here goes:
CANDIDE - VOLTAIRE
First published in 1753: The story of Candide, an illegitimate nephew of a German baron and his travels around the world. Raised in his uncles castle he is banished after he is caught sneaking kisses from the Barons daughter, his own cousin. I don't want to give away too much of the story but its fair to say that he gets around, from Holland to South America, even to the legendary city of El Dorado.
The entire story is littered with misfortune and terrible things repeatedly happen to our hero Candide - earthquakes, syphilis, a brush with the Inquisition even murder . Its a real tragedy but worth a read for sure. So much happens in such a short amount of pages its like bam, bam, bam, stuff is constantly going on. I love Voltaire's sarcastic writing style and the way he ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. If you like reading my blog then I'm sure you will enjoy the work of Voltaire.
Crime and Punishment is one of those books that everybody should read. Its hero Rodion Raskolnikov is an impoverished student living in St. Petersburg. who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash. Raskolnikov argues that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime, while ridding the world of a worthless vermin. He also commits this murder to test his own hypothesis that some people are naturally capable of such things, and even have the right to do them. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov justifies his actions by comparing himself with Napoleon Bonaparte, believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose. The book focuses on the internal dialogue, mental anguish, moral dilemmas and paranoia of Raskolnikov. Its a real insight into the psychology and self justification of murder and crime. I warn you though, this book is dark. There is a chapter where a man beats a horse to death in the street and when he is asked to stop he basically says "its my horse and i'll beat it if i want to"...
Paradise Lost is an epic poem retelling the story of Genesis. Well... its the book of Genesis starting at the point where Lucifer is cast from Heaven into Hell and documents the story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.. I love this book because the devil is kind of cast as the hero. He certainly has all the best lines. There's one part where a demon says to Lucifer "but its so hot down here" and then Lucifer replies "We'll get used to it". The book caused a lot of controversy when it was first published in 1667 mainly because England was so up tight during those days. Its actually very accurate to the Christian story and I urge you all to read it.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT - DOSTOEVSKY
PARADISE LOST - MILTON
So I hope that I've inspired you to read at least one of these books. Have you read any of them yourself? Which one sounds the most interesting to you? I would love to hear your thoughts on this list or any books which you think should have made the list.
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