100 Public Domain Classics Every Student of Humanity Should Read

reply to post by The All Seeing I


Thank you for the religious works list! Where did you find it?

Glad you like... that one i had to manually piece together.

I tried to include everyone, but i couldn't find english translations for all.

Some may argue that some of these are more of a philosophy or cult in status but what i was after was a list of the most current and popular moral/belief systems from around the world.

Originally posted by The All Seeing I
Some may argue that some of these are more of a philosophy or cult in status but what i was after was a list of the most current and popular moral/belief systems from around the world.

I think your stated goal is reasonable. Whether or not a document is part of a formal religion seems irrelevant, wouldn't you say?

The Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism deserve inclusion; much of Chinese and East Asian culture is reliant upon them. I have located an English translation: www.sacred-texts.com...

If you follow the link, I recommend using each of the individual Four Books rather than the aggregate Canon contained in the first link, which is a very large file and awkwardly formatted.

Thanks pp... i made an edit as you prescribed.

Awesome lists

Thank you for taking the time!

Our guilty secrets: the books we only say we've read

This article is brilliant. One day i shall read it.

[edit on 5-3-2009 by The All Seeing I]

Came across this interesting site, Banned-Books.com, that has a list of titles with an explanation on why each was banned, censored or challenge at sometime, somewhere by someone. Most noteworthy, is how many of these books are considered classics today and required reads in high school and college english courses.

Books A - I

Books J - Z

Is it OK to run an illegal library from my locker at school?

Let me explain.

I go to a private school that is rather strict. Recently, the principal and school teacher council released a (very long) list of books we're not allowed to read. I was absolutely appalled, because a large number of the books were classics and others that are my favorites. One of my personal favorites, The Catcher in the Rye, was on the list, so I decided to bring it to school to see if I would really get in trouble. Well... I did but not too much. Then (surprise!) a boy in my English class asked if he could borrow the book, because he heard it was very good AND it was banned! This happened a lot and my locker got to overflowing with the banned books, so I decided to put the unoccupied locker next to me to a good use. I now have 62 books in that locker, about half of what was on the list. I took care only to bring the books with literary quality. Some of these books are...

Hey there! Thanks for the list and links. I'm a little sad because I've only read 5 on the list. Looks like I've got some catching up to do. Oh well.

I'd like to add Jean M. Auel's Earth Children Series for its historical account presented in a fictional setting. I have personally read the 5 books, 8 times each! Like most of her fans, I'm enthusiastically and impatiently awaiting the 6th book in the series. Link