Forging Down 200 Books

Forging my way Down 200 Banned Books

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“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger

“The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel by J.D. Salinger, published in 1951. It tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a teenage boy who has been expelled from his prep school, and his journey through New York City as he tries to make sense of the world around him. The novel explores themes of alienation, identity, and the struggles of adolescence.

  1. The novel begins with Holden being kicked out of his prep school, Pencey, and deciding not to go home.
  2. Holden travels to New York City and stays in a hotel, where he meets a prostitute named Sunny. He also visits his old friend, a former classmate named Sally Hayes.
  3. Holden becomes disillusioned with the adult world and with the phoniness and hypocrisy he perceives in the people around him. He has several encounters with various characters, including his roommate at the hotel, a museum worker, and a former teacher.
  4. Holden’s younger brother, Allie, who died of leukemia, is a significant presence in the novel and serves as a reminder of Holden’s own mortality.
  5. Holden becomes increasingly isolated and depressed, and eventually decides to leave New York and go to California.
  6. On his way out of the city, Holden has a series of encounters with people who help him begin to understand and accept the world around him, including a nun and a former classmate named Phoebe.
  7. The novel ends with Holden returning home and being admitted to a mental hospital, where he begins to confront his own issues and make progress in his emotional development.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is a novel by Harper Lee, published in 1960. Set in the 1930s in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the novel tells the story of the young girl Scout Finch and her experiences growing up in a racist and prejudiced society. The novel explores themes of race, prejudice, and coming of age.

  1. The novel begins with Scout introducing herself and her family, including her brother Jem and her father Atticus, a lawyer.
  2. Scout and Jem become friends with a boy named Dill, and the three of them spend the summer trying to draw Boo Radley, a mysterious recluse who lives next door, out of his house.
  3. In the fall, Scout starts school and becomes friends with a boy named Walter Cunningham. However, she also experiences prejudice and racism for the first time.
  4. Atticus is appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Atticus tries to defend Tom in a fair and just manner, but he is ultimately unsuccessful and Tom is found guilty.
  5. The trial and its aftermath have a profound effect on Scout, Jem, and Dill, and they begin to understand more about the complexities of race and prejudice.
  6. Near the end of the novel, Scout, Jem, and Dill are attacked by Bob Ewell, the father of the woman Tom was accused of raping. Boo Radley comes to their rescue and ultimately kills Ewell in self-defense.
  7. The novel ends with Scout reflecting on the events of the year and the lessons she has learned about the world and about herself.

“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Summary

“The Great Gatsby” is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925. It tells the story of the wealthy young man Jay Gatsby and his tumultuous relationship with the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Set in New York in the summer of 1922, the novel explores themes of love, obsession, and the decline of the American Dream.

  • The novel opens with the narrator, Nick Carraway, moving to a house on Long Island where he becomes neighbors with Gatsby.
  • Nick is drawn into Gatsby’s lavish lifestyle and becomes friends with him, although he remains somewhat suspicious of Gatsby’s mysterious past.
  • Nick is also introduced to Daisy Buchanan, his cousin, and her husband Tom, who are part of the wealthy elite of New York society.
  • It is revealed that Gatsby and Daisy had a relationship before the war, but Gatsby left to fight and Daisy married Tom. Gatsby has been trying to win Daisy back ever since.
  • As the summer progresses, tensions rise between Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom, and a series of events leads to a tragic accident.
  • Gatsby is ultimately killed by Tom’s mistress, and Daisy and Tom flee to the West Coast.
  • The novel ends with Nick reflecting on the events of the summer and the lessons he has learned about the corrupting influence of wealth and the decline of the American Dream.

First 50 Books List

  1. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  2. “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
  3. “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger
  4. “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
  5. “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut
  6. “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov
  7. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
  8. “1984” by George Orwell
  9. “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
  10. “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath
  11. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez
  12. “To Kill a Kingdom” by Alexandra Christo
  13. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
  14. “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
  15. “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie
  16. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
  17. “The Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli
  18. “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri
  19. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrew
  20. “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
  21. “The Book of Mormon”
  22. “The Talmud”
  23. “The Bhagavad Gita”
  24. “The Analects of Confucius”
  25. “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu
  26. “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler
  27. “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe
  28. “The Feminine Mystique” by Betty Friedan
  29. “The Second Sex” by Simone de Beauvoir
  30. “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
  31. “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan
  32. “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
  33. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
  34. “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London
  35. “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  36. “The Red Badge of Courage” by Stephen Crane
  37. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain
  38. “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
  39. “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams
  40. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy
  41. “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy
  42. “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy
  43. “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  44. “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  45. “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  46. “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad
  47. “The Invisible Man” by H.G. Wells
  48. “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells
  49. “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells
  50. “Dracula” by Bram Stoker
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