What is your favorite piece of literary text?

Basically, the question is:

What is your favorite literary text?

What I mean by this is.. what is your favorite piece of classical text (fiction or non-fiction) and why? It doesn't have to be a lengthy 900 page book, an 8 page short story can be just as good.

My personal favorite is "The Scarlet Ibis".

I read this story in 9th grade but it really caught my attention. I loved the way the author left the narrator/protagonist un-named throughout the story and the element of great symbolism depicted. They story itself is mediocre but I really liked the way the author did what he did in the way the story is written. He made me feel like I was suddenly in the shoes of the main character and many of events were very realistic and relate-able.

 

What I was referring to is, that the sad sob story is a story seen oh, too often in the world of literary. Though the story has some creativity, it is way too simple. There are only a few details and events elaborated in the text. The narrator states: "I trained with Doodle to get him ready for school" and it is followed by "... by the end of the summer, he was nowhere ready for school" (somewhat along these lines). It leaves out an entire section of probably the most important information in the text. Other stories like "The Da Vinci Code" has much more elaborated, small details as well as easily mentally- visualized bigger scenes in comparison but it must be taken account for the fact that it is a short story.

Within society, it's pretty common to see general problems like physical disabilities. It's not rare to see other siblings/family members being ashamed of such things. In current and past times, these motivational and miraculous stories are seen too often in the media.

As for the mediocre level- I really think many of the details and story should be much more elaborate. I would have enjoyed reading about Doodle's daily struggles and successes/failures as he trained with his older brother/sister in a race against time (school).

I enjoy this story as my favorite to read in my spare time but I do not think it's best literary text.

On a lighter note: I am interested in reading a variety of selections. I am an avid reader. I do not, however, spend a lot of time analyzing a lot of the texts critically. I am slowly developing the habit but I get distracted too easily by new texts.

 

Honestly, my favorite "classical" piece had to be "The Three Musketeers"

 

I never liked the scarlet Ibis. It seemed too... idk. Just didn't interest me.

The Odyssey - That was a great Epic. I've probably read it around ten to twelve hundred times. It never gets old. And I'd read it to my sister when she was little, and act the whole story out with her toys. (She loved it when I acted out Romeo and Juliet with her toys.) Even she has read it a couple times now that she is older, though I had to explain a lot of it to her the first time. I've never read the other two by Homer though, I don't think they would compare to the Odyssey anyways.

 

HORACE.... lol, since your name is Carpe Diem....

actually, I'm translating/reading Vergil's Aeneid

 

The Godfather is a great novel for its entertainment value and the way Puzo romanticizes the criminal organizations.

 

To kill a mockingbird- I liked the plot of the book, dragged me into the story.

 

That book is about the boy who had alot of problems and died in the end right? That's a really sad book.. short story i mean.

My favorite book was Macbeth. I'm not a shakespeare-fag but i didn't mind reading this in 10th grade a couple years ago.