I was lucky, the required reading books at my school actuially required some thought.
Pedro Paramo and Ficciones were both required reading, and to this day are still two of my favorite books. Ficciones (by bourges) is just mind blowing . . . if you ever have a chance to read it you won't be dissapointed. It's ~20 short stories divided into two sections, and they tie together in really interesting ways. They cover everything from a scathing criticism of the Argentienan critics to "The Three Versions of Judas" which is a very interesting view of the death and rebirth of christ, and Judas' role (I won't ruin it). Also some of the stories are almost purely abstract views of reality, the most famous of these being "The Library of Babel" which if you ever have to take higher division college courses in english or philosophy is probably going to be referenced indirectly.
Pedro Paramo and Ficciones were both required reading, and to this day are still two of my favorite books. Ficciones (by bourges) is just mind blowing . . . if you ever have a chance to read it you won't be dissapointed. It's ~20 short stories divided into two sections, and they tie together in really interesting ways. They cover everything from a scathing criticism of the Argentienan critics to "The Three Versions of Judas" which is a very interesting view of the death and rebirth of christ, and Judas' role (I won't ruin it). Also some of the stories are almost purely abstract views of reality, the most famous of these being "The Library of Babel" which if you ever have to take higher division college courses in english or philosophy is probably going to be referenced indirectly.