Book suggestions

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Derek
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Book suggestions

Unread postby Derek » 21 Jun 2006, 02:38

Looking for a good book, who isn't(?)! :hoo:

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?
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Unread postby asandir » 21 Jun 2006, 02:43

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)

Janny Wurts "The Curse of the Mistwraith" and sequels

they are my fav's, there are plenty of other decent one's around

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Unread postby Caradoc » 21 Jun 2006, 04:44

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)
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.

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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Unread postby asandir » 21 Jun 2006, 05:22

one man's trash .... :D

might look into that one

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Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 21 Jun 2006, 10:46

The lord of the rings,obviously :devil:

Any asimov book.Especially the foundation and the robot trilogies.

Clarkes odisseys,both the space and time ones.And the rama series.

The fourth circle by Z.Zivkovic(or any other of his books).

Amber chronicles by R.Zelazny.

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Unread postby theLuckyDragon » 21 Jun 2006, 11:44

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)
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Unread postby Corribus » 21 Jun 2006, 13:22

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
Caradoc wrote:If you want some truly mind bending fantasy, try the Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson. You will never be the same.
I recall buying this book on your advice at one point several years ago, and then throwing it away after reading about 25 pages. ;)
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Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 21 Jun 2006, 13:50

Corribus wrote:I recall buying this book on your advice at one point several years ago, and then throwing it away after reading about 25 pages. ;)
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Unread postby Milla aka. the Slayer » 21 Jun 2006, 14:56

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 8| It's phenomenal.. :tsup:
This minor magical charm captures the viewer's attention and distra... ooo, pretty...
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Unread postby Ethric » 21 Jun 2006, 15:00

Pretty much anything by Terry Pratcett. I for one consider him a genius :)
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Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 21 Jun 2006, 15:02

Ethric wrote:Pretty much anything by Terry Pratcett. I for one consider him a genius :)
How could I forgot about the master of comedy?His books are marvelous and funny on so many levels.

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Unread postby Marzhin » 21 Jun 2006, 15:05

I would recommand anything from Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson...

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Unread postby Kalah » 21 Jun 2006, 21:55

Don't forget the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... :D
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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 21 Jun 2006, 22:02

DUNE series, by Frank Herbert.
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Unread postby theLuckyDragon » 21 Jun 2006, 22:04

Kalah wrote:Don't forget the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... :D
Amen!
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Unread postby Derek » 21 Jun 2006, 22:27

Kalah wrote:Don't forget the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... :D
On my "to read list", though to be fair I haven't read the list in some time.

@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. :D

@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...
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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 21 Jun 2006, 22:31

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.
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Unread postby Corribus » 21 Jun 2006, 23:20

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.
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Unread postby reynaert » 22 Jun 2006, 07:24

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.
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Unread postby theLuckyDragon » 22 Jun 2006, 13:17

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.
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