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Favorite Books

post #1 of 57
3/5/02 at 9:31pm
Thread Starter 
What are some of your favorite books that you think everyone should read?
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post #2 of 57
3/5/02 at 9:38pm
"The Alienist" by Caleb Carr, great book, lots of twists and turns, i loved the characters and the way they were protrayed. Plus the author is has a lot of knowledge with the time period the story takes place (late 1800's) making it easy to picture the landscape and living conditions. Oh, some people might find some parts repulsive though as it deals with a serial killer.
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post #3 of 57
3/5/02 at 9:40pm
"Master and Commander" Patrick O'Brian
"The Wind in the Willows" Kenneth Graeme
"The Ginger Man" J. P. Donleavy
"Dune" Frank Herbert
"Moby Dick" Herman Melville
"A Scanner Darkly" Phillip K. Dick
"Never Too Late" John Holt

The last just squeaks onto the list. The first will suck you in to read the other nineteen in the series, careful.
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post #4 of 57
3/5/02 at 9:50pm
Thread Starter 
"1984" George Orwell
Becoming very relevant.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Stephen Chbosky
Great book for anyone in highschool.
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post #5 of 57
3/5/02 at 10:00pm
A couple I can think of off the top of my head:

A Song of Ice and Fire (series) - George R. R. Martin
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stephenson
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
American Gods - Neil Gaiman

There are so many others . . .
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post #6 of 57
3/5/02 at 10:13pm
I never read novels, just non-fiction.

Pick a subject matter and I'll name some.
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post #7 of 57
3/5/02 at 10:27pm
I like reading fantasy books. In that sense, the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan receives my absolute highest recommendation. I've re-read the whole series well over 10 times now, and it just never gets old to me.
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post #8 of 57
3/6/02 at 2:44am
Quote:
Originally posted by aeberbach
"Master and Commander" Patrick O'Brian
Ahh, the 32 gun Xebec. I've read the whole series--three times. Letter Of Marque is another good one.

Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa. It's an historical novel about Miyamoto Musashi, the most accomplished swordsman of 16th century Japan. Estimates are that he may have fought over 60 duels, many against swordsman of considerable renown. After a while he just took to using a wooden sword. Many duels ended in a melee in which he was pitted against multiply opponents. He never lost. If you know what a Japanese sword is capable of, then you might have some idea of his skill.
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post #9 of 57
3/6/02 at 3:14am
Notes From Underground, Dostoevsky
Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway
(sort of non-fiction) Letters to a Young Poet, Rilke
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post #10 of 57
3/6/02 at 3:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
I never read novels, just non-fiction.
Pick a subject matter, and I'll name some.
Ok, how about pschology and philosophy. And why don't you read novels?
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post #11 of 57
3/6/02 at 3:57am
Fiction:
*Any and all of the Sackett series by Louis L'Amour (Preferably in chronological order.)
*Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Non Fiction:
*American Historical Documents from the Harvard Classics 5-foot shelf of books.
*Nicholas & Alexandria - biography of the last Czar of Russia
*The Bible - so often talked about, so rarely read.
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post #12 of 57
3/6/02 at 8:24am
The Lord Of The Rings - Tolkien, obviously a must read.
Rainbow Six - Tom Clancy, it's long, I thought the story was incredibly good. great action moments.
also anything Ludlum, he builds em up kinda slow, but there's always the point of no-return, where you just have to read it through to the end
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post #13 of 57
3/6/02 at 8:33am
Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov
The funniest book I have ever read -- a surreal book on the absurdity of totalitarianism.

Nine Stories J.D. Salinger
Short Stories are fun. Salinger's are masterful.

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Even though everyone has read it, it still is fantastic.

Arcadia, a play by Tom Stoppard, is really funny, and it is also fun to think about it in the context of Chaos theory and postmodern historiography.
Those are just the tip of the iceberg...reading is pretty much my profession. No one has mentioned the Lord of the Rings, which is kind of interesting, as it is one of the better adventure stories ever written, and Tolkein has certainly played the role of Homer to the modern genre of sci-fi/fantasy.

edit: looks like Braver beat me to it....I had a feeling that it would not take long.
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post #14 of 57
3/6/02 at 8:37am
As for putting the Bible in non-fiction, that is a huge argument waiting to happen...no matter how you feel about the matter.
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post #15 of 57
3/6/02 at 8:50am
I don't if these are books everyone should read but I enjoy Russian authors like Tolstoi and Dostojewski. Some of my favourites:

- "War and Peace" Tolstoi
- "The Brothers Karamzow" Dostojewski
- "The Idiot" Dostojewski
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