Have To Read

Books and novels to read at least once in a lifetime

There are books, you know, that have to read! Works that are so important to their generation or that have had such an influence on their historical period that they are absolutely must read to understand how our society has become what it is today. Some stories bring to light the most authentic essence of the human being, the feelings that guide us and the primordial instincts that inevitably condition our choices; others, on the other hand, tell of alternative worlds and dystopian futures that have turned out to be almost prophetic for what we are today. A good story is always a natural therapy and bring all the benefits of reading.

There are so many books and novels to read at least once in a lifetime and their choice can be so personal that it is impossible to group them all in one list, but we still tried. Timeless titles that will enrich you and give you an unexpected, sweet, intense, frightening, distressing, enlightening experience … a thousand emotions that explode in the mind impossible to forget.

What are you waiting for?

Choose a book and… Happy Reading!

War and Peace, by Lev Nikolaevic Tolstoy

One of the most important historical novels in literature, a precise portrait of the Russian nobility in the Napoleonic era and an accurate description of the period in which the events unfold. Joys, fears, pains and hopes move historical and invented characters in a complex narrative interweaving driven by an unpredictable destiny that binds the protagonist families in an almost essential way.

The Process, by Franz Kafka

K. is a pragmatic and rational bank employee. One day two government officials show up at his home and declare him under arrest, but without detaining him in any way and without informing him of the prosecution. K. is sure that it is only a misunderstanding and tries to come to the head of the situation with the logic that characterizes him. But everything seems blurred: the court, the interrogation, even his lawyer does not explain the situation or the measures he is taking.

The rampant baron by Italo Calvino

This is the story of Cosimo di Rondò, who lived in Ombrosa, in Liguria, in the second half of the 18th century. The young Cosimo tired of the constant reproaches of his educators decides one day to escape him by hiding in the top of a tree. The problem, however, is that he decides never to get off again.

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

The most famous white whale in the history of literature. Herman Melville recounts Captain Ahab’s epic pursuit of Moby Dick as if it were a cross between the Old Testament, a thriller, a Shakespearean work and a treatise on metaphysical zoology. And it does so with memorable descriptions that remain in the mind for the rest of life. A masterpiece of American and world literature to be read absolutely.

Crime and Punishment, by Fedor Michajlovic Dostoevskij

Is it really a crime to eliminate a person if that death can benefit many and save the lives of many people? The work accompanies us in the psychological process of the young Raskol’nikov, who decides to kill an old loan shark to save his life, thanks to his moral superiority and the idea of being right. A journey into the depths of the human mind on the scenario of Petersburg in the second half of the 19th century.

The desert of the Tartars, by Dino Buzzati

Giovanni Drogo is a young officer who is sent to guard a distant fortress and for several years, every moment is lived in view of the possible attack of the Tartars, who never arrive. One day Drogo is sent home for a promotion and once back he realizes that he has completely lost contact with the real world: all his energies are focused on waiting for the big opportunity, for the battle that does not come, while life is consumes and passes in front of him.

Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain

Hans Castorp leaves for the Berghof sanatorium in Davos, in the Swiss Alps, to visit his cousin hospitalized there. The visit was supposed to last three weeks, but will turn into a seven-year hospitalization when Castorp himself is diagnosed with tuberculosis. In the sanatorium the young man comes into contact with a series of characters who will make him come out transformed and immensely enriched in depth.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez

The Buendía family is told for seven generations starting with its forefather, José Arcadio, founder of the city of Macondo at the end of the 19th century. The lives of the family members intersect and take shape in a universe of solitude evoked by the author’s rich, elaborate and sumptuous prose. One Hundred Years of Solitude becomes Gabriel García Márquez’s greatest success as well as one of the most significant works of the twentieth century.

In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust

The most important work of Marcel Proust, a masterpiece of universal literature for the ambition that the author wants to achieve: to understand the essence of time to escape its constraints. A riot of emotions analyzed by the author’s skilled pen. Marcel recounts his memories, the motions of his soul to make us understand the reality he lives, full of introspection, love, pain and betrayal, in the constant search for the conquest of his literary vocation. The characters are finely analyzed and the company is rendered in its deepest facets.

The Tin Drum, by Gunter Grass

Oskar Matzerath is a young German, dwarf and deformed, gifted with a superior but paranoid intelligence. Oskar tells us his story from the asylum where he is locked up through his inseparable tin drummer. He talks about how at the age of three he refused to continue growing up in protest against his father, his family and the whole hypocritical society. Thanks to his perspective, Oskar sees the world from below and sees its horrors and grossness in an even more marked way, not forgiving anyone’s cowardice and corruption, with ferocity and disenchantment.