Short Impressive Book

[expatriot]

I have a very intimidating professor who has asked us to read a book outside of class every month. I have so much work that I do not have time to read a long book. What's a short book that will impress my scary professor?

[Yinzer]

Ray Bradbury always made interesting reading for me - Farenheit 451 or the Martian Chronicles. George Orwell is nice too. The Animal Farm... you probably have read these already. Other books I like are Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson,Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, the Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut,This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolf, and any thing by Isaac Asimov or Madeline L'engle. Sorry I'm not very well read, but I suppose this is a good start for fiction books.

[zgma]

Try anything by Milan Kundera - mostly short, but excellent and will also impress your professor.

[zgma]

Hi Yinzer - we're on at the same time again.

[zgma]

Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha. Someone just mentioned it in another thread here and reminded me of it. Also, the thread was about The Alchemist by Cuelho - another great book.

[Shipstabber]

I found Catcher in the Rye to be quite a fast read.

[Lal]

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach - takes about an hour. Also the sequal to it Illusions is fantastic, I highly recommend it.

[Hebejebe]

Of Mice and Men  - John Steinbeck, very short and totally unforgettable.

[rekstout]

Why not avail yourself of reading guides which give synopses, character profiles and the like.  They are available from major bookshops with the study guides and should provide you with enough information to sound knowledgable about great works of literature without having to read them in full.  "Cliff Notes" rings a bell and I think Letts do a series of guides.

[expatriot]

Thanks so much to eveyone who gave suggestions - very helpful!!!

[thewillow]

Being There by Jerzy Kosinski.  A very short book which was made into a very long film.

[Didwot]

Hermann Hesse: Steppenwolf Alain Fournier: Le Grand Meaulnes Andre Gide: The Immoralist John Steinbeck: The Old Man & The Sea Alexander Solzhenitsyn: One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Thomas Hardy: Under The Greenwood Tree Hugh De Selincourt: TheCricket Match Jerome K Jerome: Three Men in a Boat Joseph Conrad: Heart of darkness Spike Milligan: Puckoon I could go on and on

[mimigreen]

I HAD THE SAME THOUGHT AS SHIPSTABBER, CATCHER IN THE RYE IS RELATIVELY SHORT AND EASY TO READ YOU SHOULD GET THROUGH IT IN ABOUT 3 DAYS.

[raindog]

The Mezzanine, by Nicholson Barker and 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' by Solzenitzin (not a hope tha's spelled right) are both good, impressive and not too far past 100 pages. Enjoy.

[Didwot]

Thomas Mann: Death in Venice. John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat