winston000smith on 28 July 2012
| non-gravity said: George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four I consider this novel so important for a young person to understand, I read the entire thing out loud to my dyslexic teenage son a few years ago. Orwell had a unique understanding of the political future planned for the world by powers we're not supposed to know about. He put this picture together in his horrifying novel about a society gone mad with control. The characters want to live normal lives, but are prevented at every turn by "Big Brother" - the eye of the government. Orwell also wrote Animal Farm - a much shorter novel about how power corrupts. The characters are all animals - a strange thing in a novel intended for adults. I consider both his books to be VITAL reading for informed citizens. |
Have to second this suggestion. Nineteen Eighty Four is probably my all-time favourite book and although it's far from a laugh riot, there is some dark humour in there. You will marvel at how relevant the story is, considering how long ago it was written.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens is a great classic, with lots of interesting characters. It's a bit heavy but less so than his other stuff.
If you're after more modern books then I'd find it difficult to recommend something 'cos there's so many that spring to mind I wouldn't know where to start.
Too much planning, and you'll never get anything done.
Karl Pilkington.
