Daniel's Picks
The Modern Classicist
(In no particular order)
Reading Style
I go through long periods of time with no reading, alternating with intense short periods of excessive reading; Quality of writing is important to me.
Literary Likes
01
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Genres: Philosophical Fiction, Classic Literature, Romance
This modern classic is the story of intransigent young architect Howard Roark, whose integrity was as unyielding as granite...of Dominique Francon, the exquisitely beautiful woman who loved Roark passionately, but married his worst enemy...and of the fanatic denunciation unleashed by an enraged society against a great creator. Rand’s provocative novel presents one of the most challenging ideas in all of fiction—that man’s ego is the fountainhead of human progress...
02
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Genres: Fiction, Roman à Clef, Classic Literature, Travel
A fictionalised account of his own journeys across America with his friend Neal Cassady, Kerouac’s beatnik odyssey captured the soul of a generation and changed the landscape of American fiction for ever. Adrift from conventional society, they experience America in the raw: a place where living is hard, but ‘life is holy and every moment is precious’. With its smoky, jazz-filled atmosphere and its restless, yearning spirit of adventure, On the Road left its mark on the culture of the late 20th century, influencing countless books, films and songs. Kerouac’s prose is remarkable both for its colloquial swing and for the pure lyricism inspired by the American landscape.
03
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Genres: Fiction, Erotic Literature, Classic Literature
Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Lolita Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs. Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.
fiction, fantastic writing, things that are mind-expanding, modern classics
Literary Dislikes
bad writing, nonfiction, things that are not captivating
What's on my bookshelf
Books on deck to read next
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities by Dossie Easton & Janet Hardy
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
04
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by
Milan Kundera
Genres: Fiction, Classic Literature, Romance, Philosophy
In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Kundera tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover. This magnificent novel juxtaposes geographically distant places, brilliant and playful reflections, and a variety of styles, to take its place as perhaps the major achievement of one of the world’s truly great writers.
05
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Classic Literature, Saga
The brilliant, bestselling, landmark novel that tells the story of the Buendia family, and chronicles the irreconcilable conflict between the desire for solitude and the need for love—in rich, imaginative prose that has come to define an entire genre known as "magical realism."
06
Dune by Frank Herbert
Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Classic Literature, Series
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the "spice" melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul's family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream. Dune is a stunning blend of adventure, mysticism, environmentalism, and politics, and the first in the Dune series.