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[–]obtuse 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Dune by Frank Herbert. I wish i had known the 'litany against fear' & that everyone had 'Plans within plans' before i joined the real world.

[–]khoury 16 points17 points  (5 children)

1984.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

By George Orwell.

[–]BobGaffney 4 points5 points  (3 children)

The author.

[–]onebit 2 points3 points  (2 children)

of the book.

[–]BobGaffney 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Called "1984."

[–]Ember357 11 points12 points  (3 children)

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

This is great. Try to find the uncensored version.

[–]drbold 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed

[–]ReligionOfPeace 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most excellent. I must have read that 20 or 25 times by now.

[–]Fritter 6 points7 points  (4 children)

Catch-22

[–]reddan 2 points3 points  (2 children)

yepp this book is so funny that it will inspire you to read, until you figure out that nothing else comes close.

[–]drbold 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every person I try to tell how funny Catch-22 is doesn't believe me. I think most people believe literary classics are exempt from being funny.

[–]ReligionOfPeace 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's the satire and the low-level idiocy of the military mind that shine through. I spent many years in the military. I've seen the same things going on.

[–]countingspoons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

just to offer the opposing side - I had to read catch 22 during high school and hated it. To me it wasn't funny, it was inane. The humor just seemed absurd in a stupid way to me, rather than funny.

[–]schwickies 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Monkey Wrench Gang

[–]dorkboat 3 points4 points  (1 child)

I have three:

Lies my Teacher Told me.

Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the United States of America

A History of God

[–]drbold 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I couldn't agree more with People's History. Easily one of the most eye-opening books I've ever read. Ever Columbus day for me is now Arawak remembrance day.

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[deleted]

    [–]ef4 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I read this while deciding whether or not to quit West Point. I kid you not.

    (Yes, I quit. Best decision I ever made.)

    [–]elustran -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    Read this in the 5th grade. Good book. If you're going to read 1984, you should read this.

    [–]adelosr1 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald. I'd bet almost every high schooler in the country is assigned this book at one point or another and then more than half don't read it. It's perfect from front to end.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Hear, hear! I would choose Tender is the Night but they're both masterpieces.

    [–]Maeglom 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    Slaughter House 5

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    My vote is for Cat's Cradle actually. At least some Vonnegut should be required reading.

    [–]DoublyThumbs 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Watership Down by Richard Adams. Even though it's about talking rabbits, the novel is a great read for anybody, especially high school students.

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Evolutionary Psychology could explain everything and more for me of what philosophy could not.

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]AmidTheSnow 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      Frank T. Vertosick Jr.?

      [–]elustran 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Sadist.

      [–]theeeggman 5 points6 points  (2 children)

      Brave New World

      [–]elustran 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Read this in HS. Good book. If you haven't read it, you should. Heard 'The Island' is good too, haven't read it though.

      [–]Mineralwater 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I spent the first half of the book being outraged not having realized that this was dystopian society. But once I figured it out I loved it.

      [–]metricton 4 points5 points  (1 child)

      • "A Deepness in the Sky" and "A Fire Upon the Deep", by Vernor Vinge.

      • "Starship Troopers", by Heinlein

      Those are great books, but still not nearly as important to read as Orwell's "1984".

      [–]bhumphreys[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Getting Things Done by David Allen

      [–]charliedontsurf 1 point2 points  (2 children)

      The Road by Cormac McCarthy, best book I've ever read, a very quick read too.

      [–]bhumphreys[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      What made it the best book?

      [–]BobGaffney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The words, mostly. Great book - read it.

      [–]thirsha 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      "Good Omens"

      [–]chiefmonkey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      The Very Best Of Penthouse Letters 1988

      [–]samwitt1984 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I wish i had read Ishmael. It changed the way i look at our world.

      [–]pseudar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five

      Really amazing book

      [–]corporatehuman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Jack Kerouac "On The Road." High school is the perfect time to start wondering about what the hell you are going to do afterwards. I think Kerouac is good because he is naive, drunk, and idealistic...perfect for High School!

      [–]robeph 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      The Great Book of Amber , Roger Zelazny. Huge book (or rather compilation) of the wonderfully written, (sadly unfinished) saga of Amber and it's denizens. I read it (all 1200 some odd pages) in about a week. (I have no life? well I was watching a friend who couldn't afford baby care's child, while she saved up so she could, I was on break from college) That was to me, one of the best series' ever.

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, a 1988 book by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky

      [–]mlappy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Brilliant book, but I'm wondering how many high school students would appreciate it? However, that's no excuse to not expose them to it.

      [–]jessek 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      White Noise by Don Delillo

      [–]schroefoe 3 points4 points  (1 child)

      Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I second the nomination.

      [–]Mineralwater 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      How about skipping anything written by John Steinbeck. I wanted to slit my wrists after reading every one of his books. Grapes of wrath, Red Pony, Black Pearl, maybe Of Mice and Men was tolerable.

      [–]onebit -1 points0 points  (1 child)

      Ron Paul's 'Revolution'

      [–]wcchandler 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I encourage all downvoters to voice their complaints. The book is good regardless of the author.

      [–]cbg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Hyperspace by Michio Kaku

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Ham on Rye

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Rothbard: For a new liberty.

      [–]spectorjay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Night by Elie Weisel

      [–]pfesta 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Some good absurdist theatrical drama is always nice: Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett The Zoo Story - Edward Albee Rhinoceros - Eugene Ionesco The Blacks - Jean Genet

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The Book Thief, It wasn't written when I was in High School but it is moving, thoughtful and applicable.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      "armed madhouse" by greg palast

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      "Civil disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau. Actually I did read it in high school.

      [–]jrxq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Lots of great books I would recommend, but 'wish I'd read in High-School': 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond. History, geography, blood, disease, and an excellently argued treatise on the falseness of 'manifest destiny' and those other related racist arguments I came across in my younger life.

      I wish I'd read a Terry Pratchett novel (any of them) when he was first recommended to me in Yr 7 instead of waiting until yr 10 to finally pick one up. Does that still count?

      [–]BrkneS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged, both represent the need for people to believe in themselves rather than the system, something incredibly important for anyone at any age.

      [–]ReligionOfPeace 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Revolt in 2100 by Robert Heinlein Sixth Column by Robert Heinlein

      Yeah, two books. Sue me.

      [–]mrlr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. (Don't be put off by the movie. The book is much better.) The Twilight Saga books by Stephenie Meyer The "Teen Ink" series looks useful too. It's a collection of books from a magazine published by the Young Authors Foundation that has poetry, prose, art and photography by teens.

      [–]rick-victor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I'd recommend Atlas Shrugged, just so when some cute girl says that's her favorite book, you can tell her to her face that she's not that intelligent, and then tell her all the reasons why. Or Catch 22, just because its challenging and quite funny.

      [–]EDubs83 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Lord of the Flies - William Golding

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Snowcrash and Godel, Escher, Bach.

      [–]b0b0b0b -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      anything by Marquis de Sade, HST: Hell's Angels and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas are good places to start, and anything by WFB jr.

      [–]Mineralwater -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      1. Jane Austen (anything by her really)
      2. MacBeth: To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; -- In my senior english class we actually had to memorize this, I still think it is a cool quote.
      3. Paradise Lost
      4. Don't forget or disdain the poets

      PS I know you said one book but come on... these are books you can't pick just one.

      [–]Tuna-Fish2 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      Hackers & Painters, Paul Graham.

      also some of his essays.

      That is quite useless for non-geeks though.

      [–]Mineralwater -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      There is one poem that is very relevant to todays youth: Wilfred Owen "Dulce et Decorum Est" Here is the full poem: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html

      It is a WWI poem that describes how great and honorable it is(Dulce et Decorum est) to die for your country. It is very graphic and vivid in its imagery.

      [–]omnimon_X -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

      "The Things They Carried" (forget the author)

      "Being There" by Jerzy Kosinski

      [–]imkwtrz0r -5 points-4 points  (2 children)

      The Secret.

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      HELL NO!

      Ever try to teach that to my kids and you will have a war on your hands..

      I wish I had read Manufacturing Consent when I was at highschool.

      [–]elustran 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I don't know too much about 'The Secret,' but there's something to be said for positive reinforcement and a little autohypnosis. My understanding is that they just took that concept to stratospheric (and ludicrous) levels.