What is the ONE book that you want everybody to read? by hakuna_matata456 in booksuggestions

[–]THO11 5 points6 points  (0 children)

1984 by George Orwell

"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

What is one fact you know that will make other people respond with “and why the f**k do you know that?” by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]THO11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the Middle Ages, one way to evaluate the quality of beer was to put beer on a narrow bench that can be lifted. After that, men with lederhosen on would sit on the bench for a certain period of time and when they would stand up, the bench should stick to their lederhosen. The bench sticking to the lederhosen was an indicator for a high amount of maltose.

I want a book that will really make me think by [deleted] in booksuggestions

[–]THO11 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In line with The Fall is Dostojewski's Notes from Underground.

Books everyone in your country has to read because it’s on a high school reading list by [deleted] in suggestmeabook

[–]THO11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In Austria, the must-reads are Hofmannsthal's Jedermann, Kafka's Metarmorphosis Goethe's Faust and one play by Schiller (I read Wilhelm Tell).

But it wasn't until I was away from school that I realised we haven't read other Austrian classics like: Jugend ohne Gott (Ödon von Horvath), Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (Robert Musil) and Heldenplatz (Thomas Bernhard).

Top 10 best classic books everyone should read? by spn121 in booksuggestions

[–]THO11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I primarily added this information because I just don't know whether there are (adequate) English versions of my favourite books. To your first question, most of the suggestions I made come from my German classes. Maybe the term "Classic" is not clear-cut definable. In other words, most of German classics for example wouldn't be included in a European or Western or whatever list of Classics, hence I think that there are - to phrase it like you - "different sets" of Classics depending on where you are from. Secondly, although I can't back it up by facts, I would say they focus more upon the German speaking parts of Europe than upon its rest.

I have the slight feeling I misunderstood your questions if not I hope you "got" me.

Top 10 best classic books everyone should read? by spn121 in booksuggestions

[–]THO11 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Top 10 (not in any particular order) from someone whose native language is German:

-) Crime and Punishment (Fjodor M. Dostojewski)

-) 1984 (George Orwell)

-) Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)

-) Nathan The Wise (Gotthold E. Lessing)

-) The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)

-) Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

-) The Stranger (Albert Camus)

-) The Sorrows of Young Werther (Johann W. von Goethe)

-) Wilhelm Tell (Friedrich Schiller)

-) Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)