Ireland is the birthplace of dozens of brilliant writers, and if you are asking yourself what book to read, do not hesitate and choose one of the following.
“Dracula” by Bram Stoker
“Once again…welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring.”
The novel introduces the character of the vampire Count Dracula. It was created by Bram Stoker in the dark Gothic ages and perfectly conveys the atmosphere of the times. The book tells us a story about the vampire who traveled to England searching for human’s blood. An uncountable number of various works of art have been created by talented writers, actors, film-makers and artists based on the novel.
“Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift
“Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.”
If you think that “Gulliver’s Travels” is a tale for kids, you are wrong. Actually, it the classic of English moral and political satire, though its abridged editions adapted for children are also very popular. The author laughs at the sins, which exist in our society even today, though he doesn’t “lecture” his readers but gives them the opportunity to create their own interpretation of the story.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a really philosophical novel, which reveals a secret of a beautiful young man who has a lot of dark and even ugly corners in his soul, unseen to the majority of people surrounding him. The story is full of mystics but it narrates about people with quite real emotions and sins.
“Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw
“If you can’t appreciate what you’ve got, you’d better get what you can appreciate.”
It is a play which was named after a Greek mythological figure who fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. Pygmalion’s main character, professor Higgins, who intended to teach a flower girl good manners and impeccable speech, has already become famous all over the world due to the numerous adaptations of the play. It implicitly tells us about what George Bernard Shaw was thinking about women’s independence at that times.
“The Chronicles of Narnia” by Clive Staples Lewis
“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
This is a book for those who look for inspiration in literature. The reader of any age, a child or an adult, will find a mirror of his soul in “The Chronicles of Narnia”. Though the series is considered to be a high fantasy story, it has a lot of philosophical meaning and narrates of the idea of the world itself, hidden by its world full of wonders.