Top 5 Thursday: Novels or Short Stories Written By Dead Guys

I was inspired by Cate's post on her phobia of the books we should read, but do not: Moby Dick, Ulysses, etc. Being a huge book (most most types of art) snob even I have to admit I haven't read a lot of them, and the ones I did try I generall didn't finish. So here are my top five novels or short story collections written by dead guys to show that I do in fact read other things besides old school muder mysteries and blogs.

1. C.S. Lewis - The Narnia Chronicles: In my mind it is one long book. These are the stories I have loved since I was a little kid. When I saw they made a movie I was so excited to see the characters I love brought to life. Lewis knew how to write in such a compelling way you felt you were a part of the story. I re-reard The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and found myself on more than one occassion cheering!
2. James Joyce - The Dubliners: A book that digs deep into the life of an Irish city. He holds no punches and it made him despised by his neighbors. But how he captured their lives! There were times I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His writing was beautiful and so deep with poetic language the words ring in your ears for months.
3. Ernest Hemingway - Old Man And The Sea: Hemingway is the Man, probably the greatest writer who actually lived what he wrote about. You felt the pain and frustration of everything the main character went through. Many people thought it was an allegory about the critics who trashed his previous novel. I do not know if that's the case, but it was this novel that re-launched his career.
4. Truman Capote - Other Voices Other Rooms: He wrote the book at the age of 22. The prose is so old and wise you'd think it was written by an elderly man in his declining years. In a book club I attended we argued for hours over whether this book was really about his own life, but couldn't come up with a consensus. Either way, it's frickin' brilliant.
5. Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome: This is such a heart breaking story. I had it on my shelf for years and finally set down and couldn't put it down. I had to know what happened to the characters. When they are written so convincingly that you find yourself loving or hating them to such an extreme manner you want to throw the book across the room is very rare.