I've got a hankering to read some good books. However, after making it through all 1000+ pages of The Count of Monte Cristo, unabridged, I'm looking for something shorter . . . 150-page (or less) classics. I've read books fitting this criteria in the past: Ethan Frome and Ang Munting Prinsipe (The Little Prince, in English). Funny thing, even in Tagalog The Little Prince is shorter than 150 pages.
To the point: I want your suggestions. What excellent, but short, books do you know of?
10 comments:
classics? How bout Treasure Island? The Scarlet Letter? not classics but still good? How bout the Alchemist? Seems right up your alley. I haven't checked page numbers, those just strike me as "thin" books.
Longer than 150 pages but still brilliant? Check out Hunger Games. You won't regret it.
How was Count of Monte Cristo? I'm so impressed that you read it!
The Twenty-One Balloons. Oh man, it's so much fun.
A River Runs Through It
Alice's Adventure in Wonderland
Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, Importance of Being Earnest
Portuguese Irregular Verbs (and the other shorter stories done by Alexander McCall Smith)
A Day no Pigs Would Die
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Witch of Blackbird Pond
Mr. Olsen's Salinger Obsession
Travel Books
Anything by Chaim Potok (okay, some are much longer than 150pgs)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and following books (okay, also longer than 150pgs, but they read really fast and are hysterical)
The Pearl of Great Price
If I think of more, I'll give you the heads up.
'Frindle' by Andrew Clements. He actually has a bunch of great books.
The first that comes to my mind is The Diving Bell and The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Excellent book!
Have you read all of The Giver books? There are 3. I wouldn't call it a classic, but it's a quick read and thought provoking :).
By the way, The Count of Monte Cristo is the best book ever.
Oh, if I haven't recommended it yet, or if you haven't read it, the best is Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Also, the Dao de Jing in translation is always great too, of course, not as good as the Chinese, but still great.
Also, Ayn Rand. All are great, but if you are looking for small, go with Anthem. Of course, Atlas Shrugged is the best, but bigger than the Count of Monte Cristo.
I will second "Anthem" if you are going for short. "Of Mice and Men," "The Pearl," and "Animal Farm" are also all very short. Do you like books written for younger audiences? There are some really good short ones like that. Richard Peck has written some good ones, like "The River Between Us," "A Long Way from Chicago," and its sequel, "A Year Down Yonder." I don't know that they are less than 150 pages, but they aren't long, and they are quick to read. You could also try C.S. Lewis books...a lot of those are less than 150 pages. He has written some really great stuff from "The Chronicles of Narnia" to "Mere Christianity" and "The Great Divorce."
I would second the "Siddartha" suggestion. "Night" by Elie Wiesel was suggested by my new sister in law Emma, who has great taste in books. :0)
I don't read short books. It's sad really. I would like a book list from you. I need kids books that are great, because I never ever neverever read a child. I missed that phase and Harry Potter made me realize it is worth going through.
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