I am trying to get into reading and I started with Brave New World, I have been reading the book for a year and have about 60 pages remaining. Before anyone mentions I am aware it is a small book that can be finished in a week, I am not used to reading. I normally read short stories, comics, and manga. I finshed the machine stops quickly, but I couldn’t get into Brave New World, it has a lot of boring parts.
After finishing Brave New World should I read the Tempest, the main character made me interested in the story. I only read one other shakespeare book Romeo and Juliet the sparksnote version, it was great.
I am very good at english, I spend my time reading comics, manga, webtoons, and short stories in english. I won’t say I am shakespeare level though.
What are your goals, though? Do you want to understand more idioms and references? Learn more history? See other people’s perspectives? Read weird stuff?
If you want a goal, I guess I want to read the classics for example the brothers Karamazov, Fahrenheit, tempest, Othello, etc.
I don’t know if the tempest is really top of the charts for classics. I doubt most adults have read it or even know it.
The Lord of the rings is probably a good one if you like fiction. It’s hugely influential on fantasy. 1984 is also a classic and timely. Lord of the flies, too.
There’s probably a lot of lists out there if you do some searching. Some of the options I’m seeing there aren’t my jam though.
As much as I don’t care for Tolkien’s voice I would second the recommendation for LOTR simply because after you read it you’ll see how many other writers, movies, and games pretty much pulled from the genre that he defined with his writing.
If it’s taken you a year just to read BNW, you’ll read Karamazovs until the end of your life (and who knows if you’ll even like it). Definitely focus on easier and shorter reads for now, I’d second the guy who recommended Hobbit and Poe (try his poetry too).