10 Underrated But Brilliant Books Everyone Should Read
Miscellaneous / / August 18, 2022
An epic family saga, a banned social drama, an Agatha Christie-style detective story and more await you.
Anna Danilina
1. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
A short but powerful tale of the Great Depression. Two vagrants, George and Lenny, travel across California looking for work. The first one is thoughtful and responsible. The second is very strong, but does not exceed the intelligence of a five-year-old child. Because of Lenny, friends are driven from every place: he does not realize his strength and harms people. The poor fellow also loves fluffy, for example, mice, but he also strangles them in a fit of tenderness.
"Of Mice and Men" - book about friendship in spite of everything, about caring, believing in the best and the severity of the choice, when the only way to protect a loved one is to harm him with his own hand. If you appreciatedThe Grapes of Wrath"You'll love the story. The plot is based on the experience of Steinbeck, who himself worked in agriculture in the 1920s. The book was published in 1937 and was banned for "promoting euthanasia."
Buy a book2. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
The English playwright, Nobel Prize winner, showed in his multi-volume work the life of the bourgeoisie during the reign of the Queen Victoria, the rise and fall of the era, the snobbery of the class, the commitment of its representatives to property contrary to common sense and happiness loved ones.
It all begins in June 1886 at a reception with old Jolyon Forsythe. One of the main storylines is about a married couple, Soames and Irene. He is a tyrant, she is a sensitive nature. It is difficult for them to get along, because Soames limits his wife's communication with everyone, he even decided to transport her to a mansion in the wilderness. When Irene fell in love with the architect, Soames' rage knew no bounds. The fates of the heroes diverged: Irene tore apart a disgusting marriage in memory of a lost love... The saga ends in 1920, when Soames and Irene are already at an advanced age, their children from other marriages have grown up. But past grievances are not forgotten, and son Irene and daughter Soames will pay for them ...
Buy a book3. “Who did not hide. The history of one company, Yana Wagner
The glory of the Russian writer Yana Wagner brought a fantastic novel "Vongozero", which formed the basis of the Netflix series "Epidemic». But besides him, Wagner has something to read, for example, a hermetic thriller in the best traditions of Agatha Christie. “Who did not hide. The story of a company" is suitable for those who have been fascinated by the plot twists in the film adaptation of "Death on the Nile" or the best-selling modern writer Lucy Foley "hunting house».
Nine old friends work in the film industry. Before the next shooting, the heroes decide to relax in a small Eastern European mountain hotel. They have known each other for 20 years. During this time, a lot of unspoken reproaches, discontent and envy have accumulated. What will happen if people get stuck without communication in this ice-covered house from a snowstorm? Irreparable. Someone pierces Sonya with a ski stick... The rest have no choice but to suspect each other, because everyone had a motive.
Buy a book4. Barry Lyndon Papers by William Thackeray
The novel is set in the 18th century. In the center of the plot is the fate of the Irishman Redmond Barry. He was born and raised in poverty. Joined the army but deserted. He made money by cheating, traveling around Europe. His dreams are a title and a place in aristocratic society. For this, he even marries without love. His chosen one is the Countess of Lindon, the wealthy widow of the English ambassador. But it is not enough to get a high position, you need to live up to it and maintain a reputation. Redmond, who after marriage took double surname and become Barry Lyndon, is not capable of it. He continued his wild life and almost squandered someone else's fortune, until the heir to the deceased lord made him an offer that the shameless and greedy Barry could not refuse.
This is Thackeray's debut novel, which is familiar to everyone from "Vanity Fair». But if the confidence and fortitude of the cunning Becky Sharp can be sympathized with, then the author treated Lyndon more harshly: here he denounces the vices of a society that strives for consumption without working on itself.
Buy a book5. "Smoke", Ivan Turgenev
The protagonist - 30-year-old landowner Grigory Litvinov - is resting in the German city of Baden-Baden. He is waiting for his bride Tatyana, whom he has known since childhood and considered a good match. In parallel, he meets representatives of the Russian elite, but Litvinov is not interested in their empty talk. Suddenly he meets his first love — Irina. Once upon a time, the beauty broke Grigory's heart and chose to move to St. Petersburg to rich relatives. Being married to a general, she flirts with Litvinov, gives him hope. The hero gives in to the impulse, breaks off the engagement with the respectable and faithful Tatyana, and almost immediately realizes that Irina's feelings for him are just smoke... Will Tatyana accept him? Is marital happiness possible on the ruins of past feelings?
Interestingly, after reading Leo Tolstoy criticized "Smoke", but literary critics saw the influence of this work on his later "Anna Karenina».
Buy a book6. The Pianist, Elfrida Jelinek
Erika Kohut - 36. She gives piano lessons, sleeps in the same bed with her mother and puts up with her discontent: her daughter did not live up to expectations and did not become a musician like Schubert. But the matter is not limited to this. Mother tirelessly controls Erica's personal life and movements, finds fault with her and criticizes for any reason. The woman seemed to be frozen in the rules imposed by her mother, and in order to feel something, cuts himself razor. A breath of freedom becomes a connection with a student, a young student Walter Klemmer, but this strange relationship brings Erica to suicidal thoughts.
In an interview, Nobel Prize winner Jelinek said that The Pianist is largely autobiographical, and the ending is inspired by "process» Kafka. The film adaptation of 2001 won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
Buy a book7. "Night Circus", Erin Morgenstern
Welcome to the Circus of Dreams! The troupe moves in inconspicuous wagons. Her arrival is not foreshadowed by posters. Artists work only from dusk to dawn. But if they have already arrived, it is impossible not to go. The reason for this is the rumor about the wonders of the circus: a garden of flowers made of ice, acrobats working without insurance, a cloud maze and even ghosts. Rival conjurers are in charge of everything: the mysterious Mr. X. and the Wizard Prospero.
This book will appeal to those who love magical realism. Marquez and fairy tales in the spirit of Harry Potter. The editors of the British version of Esquire magazine made "Night Circus" in the top 50 of the best fantasy of all time, although the book was published in 2011.
Buy a book8. Petersburg, Andrey Bely
In the center of the plot are two heroes: Apollo and his son Nikolai. They are very different. The first is a responsible dignitary, loves order in everything. The second leads the idle Lifestyle. One day, a secret terrorist organization requires Nikolai Apollonovich to kill his own father. For this, the negligent son is given a sardine bomb and paper with instructions. Will Nikolai become a parricide? What links him to the terrorists? About this - in the book, which Vladimir Nabokov put on a par with "Ulysses» Joyce.
Buy a book9. "Professor Dowell's Head", Alexander Belyaev
A fantasy novel about an incredible experiment in the spirit of "Frankenstein» Shelly. Surgeon Kern revives the heads. Helped him (against his will) Professor Dowell. The scientist and former boss of Kern died under mysterious circumstances and now "lives" without a body in his laboratory. Kern revives several more heads of dead people, one - a former singer from the bar - sews on the body, and she runs away. When acquaintances recognize the recently deceased, Kern is threatened with exposure ...
Belyaev is called the Russian Jules Verne. Founder of the Russian fiction, he was the first Soviet writer who worked exclusively in this genre. At the age of 30, he fell ill and lost the ability to walk. "Professor Dowell's Head" - including reflections on how a person feels when the body is motionless, as if it does not exist.
Buy a book10. Alien Face, Kobo Abe
Before you is a novel-parable of a Japanese playwright. The nameless hero tells in his diaries what happened to him. He worked in a chemical laboratory and injured his face in the explosion. Now the character shy go out into the street, even withdraws from his wife and arranges a "refuge" in another city. There he makes himself a mask, surprisingly similar to a real face. But the more a man hides under it, the deeper his personality splits. He is real - an insecure outcast, but the "mask" is a dandy with glasses and a beard, ready for strange tricks to fulfill secret desires. Who will prevail in this subconscious struggle?
Buy a bookBy the way, with a special promo code LIFEHACK15 on the website "LitRes" you can get a book from a special selection as a gift, as well as a 15% discount on almost the entire range.
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