Book suggestions
Book suggestions
Looking for a good book, who isn't(?)!
Well, I'd like it if people shared any special books that they've read throughout their lives. Certainly there are books that are sort of run of the mill, most Michael Crichton novels for example, but every now and again you'll read a book that is so distinct from others that it pushes itself into something that is beyond a simple genre boundry, "House of Leaves" for example. This thread is not just limited to books of that nature, I would like to hear about books that are either distinct in their prose, subject matter or their obscurity:quality ratio(I'm a big fan of books that are rare and great).
I'll list a few that I've come across that are fantastic on so many levels.
"House of Leaves", Mark Z. Danielewski: Previously listed, I'll admit, but so great as to warrant it. I wish I could describe it, but it really is impossible to do so in less than four pages.
"Invisible Man", Ralph Ellison: Fantastic book, great prose and very memorable characters. Probably the best book I've seen that deals with race.
"Song of Solomon", Toni Morrison: Surrealist piece at times, but primarily grounded in reality.
"Player Piano", Kurt Vonnegut: Even if everything else in this book was terrible, which it isn't, the ending alone warrants complete absorption of the pages.
"Faust", Goethe: It's kind of hard to read a play mind you, but if you don't mind doing so then this is a fantastic character study.
I've got more, but I don't want the list to be too long as it would just become pointless as many would likely skip over it. So, does anyone have any good reccomendations?
Well, I'd like it if people shared any special books that they've read throughout their lives. Certainly there are books that are sort of run of the mill, most Michael Crichton novels for example, but every now and again you'll read a book that is so distinct from others that it pushes itself into something that is beyond a simple genre boundry, "House of Leaves" for example. This thread is not just limited to books of that nature, I would like to hear about books that are either distinct in their prose, subject matter or their obscurity:quality ratio(I'm a big fan of books that are rare and great).
I'll list a few that I've come across that are fantastic on so many levels.
"House of Leaves", Mark Z. Danielewski: Previously listed, I'll admit, but so great as to warrant it. I wish I could describe it, but it really is impossible to do so in less than four pages.
"Invisible Man", Ralph Ellison: Fantastic book, great prose and very memorable characters. Probably the best book I've seen that deals with race.
"Song of Solomon", Toni Morrison: Surrealist piece at times, but primarily grounded in reality.
"Player Piano", Kurt Vonnegut: Even if everything else in this book was terrible, which it isn't, the ending alone warrants complete absorption of the pages.
"Faust", Goethe: It's kind of hard to read a play mind you, but if you don't mind doing so then this is a fantastic character study.
I've got more, but I don't want the list to be too long as it would just become pointless as many would likely skip over it. So, does anyone have any good reccomendations?
Hell has frozen over...
I've read six or seven Feist novels and found them to be good light reading, maybe a bit too much like following someone's D&D campaign. I sure can't place them in the 'must read' category. But to each his own.stefan.urlus wrote:i tend to stick to the fantasy genre
some of my fav's are:
Most things by Raymond E Feist (excluding collaborations, except when collaborating with Janny Wurts)
If you want some truly mind bending fantasy, try the Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson. You will never be the same.
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Here you can find a thread very similar to this one.
That being said, I agree with DaemianLucifer: anything written by Asimov is a great read, IMO. I especially like Nemesis. The Rama series by A. C. Clarke and Gentry Lee is great too (Nicole's one of my favourite characters). Tuf Voyaging, by G. R. R. Martin is also a very good book.
From Tolkien, I liked The Silmarillion more than the other two.
Other authors:
Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist and The Fifth Mountain)
P. L. Travers (Mary Poppins -- a wonderful read! Seriously!)
Frank Herbert (Dune series -- duh! )
Romanian authors you probably never heard of, but anyhow:
Marin Preda (Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni -- roughly "The most beloved man on earth")
Mircea Eliade (La ţigănci -- "At the gypsies", short story)
Mihail Sadoveanu (lots of historical novels)
That being said, I agree with DaemianLucifer: anything written by Asimov is a great read, IMO. I especially like Nemesis. The Rama series by A. C. Clarke and Gentry Lee is great too (Nicole's one of my favourite characters). Tuf Voyaging, by G. R. R. Martin is also a very good book.
From Tolkien, I liked The Silmarillion more than the other two.
Other authors:
Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist and The Fifth Mountain)
P. L. Travers (Mary Poppins -- a wonderful read! Seriously!)
Frank Herbert (Dune series -- duh! )
Romanian authors you probably never heard of, but anyhow:
Marin Preda (Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni -- roughly "The most beloved man on earth")
Mircea Eliade (La ţigănci -- "At the gypsies", short story)
Mihail Sadoveanu (lots of historical novels)
"Not all those who wander are lost." -- JRRT
Ten off the top of my head, of all Genres:
Lord of the Flies - Golding
Brave New World - Huxley
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - Shirer
I, Claudius - Graves
Don Quixote - Cervantes
Aztec - Jennings
Guns, Germs and Steel - Diamond
Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Luó Guànzhōng
Lolita - Nabokov
In Cold Blood - Capote
Lord of the Flies - Golding
Brave New World - Huxley
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - Shirer
I, Claudius - Graves
Don Quixote - Cervantes
Aztec - Jennings
Guns, Germs and Steel - Diamond
Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Luó Guànzhōng
Lolita - Nabokov
In Cold Blood - Capote
I recall buying this book on your advice at one point several years ago, and then throwing it away after reading about 25 pages.Caradoc wrote:If you want some truly mind bending fantasy, try the Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson. You will never be the same.
"What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were like a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?" - Richard P. Feynman
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I'm currently reading a book called The Third Twin and I strongly recommend it. It's a story about genetics and how being criminal is a thing you can "inherit" from your parents and their genes It's phenomenal..
This minor magical charm captures the viewer's attention and distra... ooo, pretty...
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On my "to read list", though to be fair I haven't read the list in some time.Kalah wrote:Don't forget the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
@Corribus
Brave New World? Erm...I thought the book was kind of iffy at best. Sort of a lesser 1984 in my mind.
@DL
Before making this thread I knew you were going to say that about LOTR.
@TT
I haven't heard good things about the Dune series, especially the later books. Do you reccomend the earlier ones(read: the first one) or do you reccomend them all? 6 books is a huge read...
Hell has frozen over...
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Depends on ur preferences. But i suggest trying the first one (which might be separated in 2), and if you like it read the rest. It's self contained enough to not require reading the rest.
Stay away from the prequels though.
Oh, and the Foundation series by Asimov is interesting.
Stay away from the prequels though.
Oh, and the Foundation series by Asimov is interesting.
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Dune (the original) is maybe worth the read just because of its originality. It was not a fantastic work of literature but it is novel enough (particularly for its time) to be an interesting read. If it's any indication of how good I thought the book was, I never felt motivated enough to read any of the other ones.
"What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were like a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?" - Richard P. Feynman
Brave new world had some strange floating viewpoint (changing the answer to the question 'who's the main character' ad random- at some times, you get elaborate views on a character, in a storyline that is not connected to the other storylines, just to elaborate 'more'?)
anyway, don't forget Brave new world was written before WW2, and 1984 after. It's fun to see in the 'history part' of brave new world how they're talking about gassing people, and poisoning (which was one of the horrors of the 1st WW)- but don't use our most feared weapon, the nuclear bomb.
Anyway, right at the moment.
-Catullus and Martialis (both classical authors, but not yet aged)
-Joe Haldeman (ze forever war)
anyway, don't forget Brave new world was written before WW2, and 1984 after. It's fun to see in the 'history part' of brave new world how they're talking about gassing people, and poisoning (which was one of the horrors of the 1st WW)- but don't use our most feared weapon, the nuclear bomb.
Anyway, right at the moment.
-Catullus and Martialis (both classical authors, but not yet aged)
-Joe Haldeman (ze forever war)
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The thing with the Dune series is that it has lots of philosophy in it, at least that's how I percieved it. The books that I think have more 'action' are the first one and the third one, Children of Dune. Probably God-Emperor of Dune too (not sure about the title).
The books of this series aren't something you just read and see what happens; the manner they're written in kinda makes you think about the character's decisions; the action is also filled with intrigue and you always have to be careful with the details, the possible meanings of the character's replies... you never know what might happen. There's always a sort of 'tension' in the atmosphere.
IMHO.
The books of this series aren't something you just read and see what happens; the manner they're written in kinda makes you think about the character's decisions; the action is also filled with intrigue and you always have to be careful with the details, the possible meanings of the character's replies... you never know what might happen. There's always a sort of 'tension' in the atmosphere.
IMHO.
"Not all those who wander are lost." -- JRRT
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