1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The heroic story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whale ship commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that on this voyage Ahab has one purpose, to seek out a specific whale: Moby Dick, a ferocious white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab’s boat and bit off his leg, which now drives Ahab to take revenge. The book is widely considered to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature.
2. To Build a Fire by Jack London
The great story vividly presents a man’s vain attempts in the freezing wilderness to make a fire to survive, ending up with the protagonist’s death. The story is considered a prime example of the naturalist movement and of a Man vs. Nature conflict.
3. The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
Based on an actual shipwreck incident from Crane’s life while traveling to Cuba to work as a newspaper correspondent at war, the story tells of the travails of four men shipwrecked at sea who must make their way to shore in a dinghy. The story has proved an enduring classic that speaks to the timeless experience of suffering a close call with death.