[EnOYiN]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Comedy and fiction. The books shouldn't be too hard to read. The only thing which might be slightly harder to understand is the underlying nihilism. Definitely a great book though.

 

[utilisateur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some great suggestions. I can personally vouch for Farenheit 451; truly a stirring work. And, given the current attitude toward reading books in this culture, more than a little frightening. I've also read a lot of Huxley (been meaning to get a copy of Eyeless in Gaza). Brave New World is a masterpiece, and any of his essay collections are also worth reading; I can particluarly recommend Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

I'd also recommend Brave New World revisited ,to anyone who read BNW and especialy those new to it.

DrBenway did you read Those Barren Leaves?
Its really not what i expected, i keep grabbing for it to read through but i just cant stick to it for more than a few dozen pages.
I think Ape and Essence is another great work i lost my copy though so i couldn`t read much of it
Many more books by Huxley that are said to be great , i'm slightly reluctant looking at how i dont realy enjoy reading Those Barren Leaves although it seems like an interesting study so far ..


I can thoroughly recommend "WE" by Evgenij Zamjatin [size=xx-small](spelling might vary)[/size]
if you enjoyed 1984 A Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451


Quote:

Originally Posted by Solan Try to look around on the net and see if you can find his poems translated by Barnes and Mezey instead; they are stellar poets in their own right, and their translations are superb.

About Borges , which translations would you recommend for his other works?
I think i might end picking up some of his works and just learn spanish but if there are any outstanding translations
to english french or german i'd rather pick them up for a first impression

Some random recommendations in no special order

Neuromancer (William Gibson)
Otherland (Tad Gibson)
The Wall (J.P Sartre)
Rhinocéros (Ionesco)
Anything by Stanislav Lem
Anything by Isaac Asimov
Anything by Martin Suter
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
more Sartre !..
Albert Camus !

 

[Solan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by utilisateur /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can thoroughly recommend "WE" by Evgenij Zamjatin [size=xx-small](spelling might vary)[/size] if you enjoyed 1984 A Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451

Seconded, and I would recommend it even if he didn't enjoy 1984. It's a forgotten masterpiece!

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by utilisateur /img/forum/go_quote.gif DrBenway did you read Those Barren Leaves?

Can't say that I have read that one, sounds intriguing...

Quote:

I think Ape and Essence is another great work i lost my copy though so i couldn`t read much of it

That's one of my favorites. It's such a thoroughly ugly dystopia, and it plays on the deep fear of a nuclear holocaust that people my age grew up with. Not to mention the inverted morality: Satan rather than God as the almighty. Yikes. If I ever do see a mushroom cloud, I'm going to run toward it, not away from it.

Quote:

I can thoroughly recommend "WE" by Evgenij Zamjatin [size=xx-small](spelling might vary)[/size] if you enjoyed 1984 A Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451.

I don't know about the OP, but I'm getting all kinds of great suggestions in this thread.

Quote:

Neuromancer (William Gibson)

I couldn't put that one down. A dystopia of a different sort, but a dystopia nonetheless. I read it around '94 or '95, and I kept checking the copyright date in disbelief at how on-target his predictions about future technology were. I particularly liked his ideas about the need for new metaphors/user interfaces into the data world. He is, after all, the guy who coined the term "cyberspace." All that and space-Rastas, too. Great choice.

Quote:

Anything by Isaac Asimov

I was mildly disappointed by the Foundation trilogy, to be honest. I enjoyed it, but I had already read the Dune trilogy and the Ring trilogy, both of which I preferred. I've always wondered if I would have liked the Foundation series more if I had read it first.

My favorite Asimov work is a chilling short story called "Nightfall," which is basically about society's tendency toward self destructive chaos (noticing a pattern here?).

 

[utilisateur]

I just read a short conclusion about those barren leaves
Quote:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia Those Barren Leaves is a satirical novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1925. Stripping the pretensions of those who claim a spot among the culturally elite, it is the story of Mrs. Aldwinkle and her entourage, who are gathered in an Italian palace to relive the glories of the Renaissance. For all their supposed sophistication, they are nothing but sad and superficial individuals in the final analysis.

and that nails it, thing is reading ~320pages about superficial individuals is not that pleasing

interesting nevertheless

While reading ape and essence i was reading "Memoirs found in a bathtub" by Lem although i didnt get far into ape and essence (physicaly lost it) i think it sports a similar atmosphere

Unfortunately i dont know that many of Asimovs books but atm i like the foundation trilogy i have not read the dune though and i'm not sure wich ring trilogy you mean?

I think either 'Caves of steel' or 'Nightfall' was my introduction

A few more i'm not shure edactly HOW nice they were but i'd have a look in case you see one of them
Long After Midnigth (shortstories ray bradbury)
The Mind Net (Herbert w. Franke)
Star Maker (Olaf Stepledon)

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by utilisateur /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have not read the dune though and i'm not sure wich ring trilogy you mean?

My fault; that was a sloppy reference. I meant Tolkien's four part Lord of the Rings series, which actually begins with The Hobbit.

The Hobbit

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Two Towers

Return of the King

Looks like I got my Tolkien mixed up with my Wagner. Oh well, they were both epic...

 

[Happy Camper]

If its fantasy fiction:

Robert Jordan (some good reading in between the clothing descriptions)
Steven Donaldson
Sara Douglass
David Eddings
Terry Goodkind

 

[TheRobbStory]

I just got back from the bookstore on my lunch hour. I picked up John Berryman's "The Dream Songs" and Bret Easton Ellis' "Lunar Park"

 

[freckling]

The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand...hopefully those books don't put everyoen to sleep...lol

 

[Warhawk]

1984

Sorry if someone else posted it already.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Another inspirational and wonderful read, although not in keeping in the vein of the direction perhaps requested, Frasey; Might I suggest: McWilliams, LIFE 101 (pretty cool series of his too)...

LIFE 101 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Something you can pick up and not want to put down as well as read snipets from anytime, which will provoke stimulated thinking...

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRobbStory /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just got back from the bookstore on my lunch hour. I picked up John Berryman's "The Dream Songs" and Bret Easton Ellis' "Lunar Park"

I really enjoyed Ellis's Less Than Zero, which I think was his debut. A really chilling narrative about growing up in the L.A. fast lane. A quick, absorbing read.

 

[fraseyboy]

Lots more great suggestions... I really have no idea which one to get though

I saw the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy movie and meant to read the book some time. The amount of people reccomending 1984 however, makes me lean towards that.

 

[Solan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lots more great suggestions... I really have no idea which one to get though I saw the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy movie and meant to read the book some time. The amount of people reccomending 1984 however, makes me lean towards that.

Get all of them! As for 1984, I would recommend "we" over it.

 

[blessingx]

Read one of these.

100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library | The Art of Manliness