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What are the best public domain books you've read? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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What are the best public domain books that you've read? My currently downloaded books include "The Time Machine", "Pride and Prejudice", "Frankenstein", "War and Peace", "On Liberty", "Metamorphosis" (all from Librivox), etc. I especially like "Crime and Punishment" and "Brothers Karamazov" and others by Dostoevsky since they delve deeper into human psychology, values, and morality. Also to add, Librivox is so fucking cool and now I have something to listen to on my daily bus/car rides.

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[–] vhj 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Some favorites of mine:

Salammbô. Probably has the strongest first chapter in any book I've read. Read that and you'll know if you'll love this book. https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/gustave-flaubert/salammbo/j-s-chartres

All Quiet on the Western Front. Not much of a "war" book, completely centered on the human experience as opposed to "heroic deeds" and "epic battles". https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/erich-maria-remarque/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/a-w-wheen

The King in Yellow. I think this one is the first example of what is considered " cosmic horror". Very moody read. Short stories and a couple towards the end are a bit bleh, but still worth to check out the first stories at least. https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/robert-w-chambers/the-king-in-yellow

[–] vhj 1 points 1 week ago

I almost forgot "The Gambler", great way to get into Dostoyevsky. For one it is a short read, and it is surprisingly comical and light (even when it tackles more serious subjects). Even being so short the insight into characters that Dostoyevsky is known for is in full force here. https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/fyodor-dostoevsky/the-gambler/c-j-hogarth