[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gjg /img/forum/go_quote.gif No love here for Ayn Rand?

indeed.

 

[Fallen]

Ayn Rand was a forceful writer, but I think she made manifestos more than novels.

Her work made an impact on me when I was young, but it's amazing how much I disagree with my teenage self nowadays. Her libertarian, objectivist point of view seemed so right back then. Now I favor Vonnegut's worldview- Life is hard and short enough, why don't we try to be kind?

 

[milkweg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subjekt32 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not even going to bother listing many of the classics... they are just too obvious!

Only to those that actually read them. Most people read popular fiction and not "the classics". The masses popular taste in literature is just as awful as their taste in music and movies.

 

[subjekt32]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Only to those that actually read them. Most people read popular fiction and not "the classics". The masses popular taste in literature is just as awful as their taste in music and movies.

I agree 100%

 

[Ttvetjanu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif The masses popular taste in literature is just as awful as their taste in music and movies.

Somehow this just seems wierd. I do partially agree with you, however does not this make your taste by average "worse" than most of the people (when compared)?

 

[jonathanjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif wonder if we should be discussing the authors/books in this thread?

Am I making the rules? Yes. Discussion is permissible. Muahhaaha. The power! The power!

 

[Uncle Erik]

In no particular order:

Evelyn Waugh
T. Coraghessan Boyle
Charles Portis
John Barth
Hermann Hesse

There are more favorites, but I love just about everything these guys have written.

 

[smrtby123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Only to those that actually read them. Most people read popular fiction and not "the classics". The masses popular taste in literature is just as awful as their taste in music and movies.

This is 100% true, but I feel better saying "At least they are reading" than saying "At least they are listening to music". I give people a hard time sometimes about the crap they read, but I still say that the fact they read at all is great. Reading does so much for you intellectually (except for your usual political bs propaganda *cough*anncoulter*cough*). I think no music might be better than some of the crap is out there.

 

[chadbang]

edit: didn't realize I should recommend books.

Kurt Vonnegut - he's funny - Cat's Cradle, Sirens of Titan, and of course Slaughterhouse
Graham Green - he's cynical - A Burnt Out Case, The Heart of the Matter,Brighton Rock
Flannery O'Conner - she's bizzare - Wise Blood and every damn short story she's written
Ernest Hemmingway - he can write - For whom the bells toll, old man and the sea, the short stories... with "The Short Happy Life of Francis McComber" being my all-time favorite.

Steven King - I love good pulp -- The Stand, The Gunslinger

 

[jonathanjong]

Recommendations chadbang?

 

[jeffreyj900]

Jack Kerouac - On The Road
George Orwell - Animal Farm
Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Golding - Lord of the Flies

 

[earwicker7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smrtby123 /img/forum/go_quote.gif bs propaganda *cough*anncoulter*cough*

I saw that (M)ann Coulter has a book called "If Liberals Had Any Brains They'd Be Republican."

I've also heard there may a sequel out called "If Ann Coulter Had Any Estrogen She'd Be A Woman."

 

[smrtby123]

I think sometimes that books are going the way of music now. Since it seems like any schmoe can write/publish a book the market is saturated with absolute rubbish so anything that is new or exceptional gets hidden, except for a few industry darlings that get some press.

 

[johangrb]

My picks:

1. 100 years of solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2. Hemingway - everything.
3. The curious incident of the dog.. - Mark Haddon
4. The road - Cormack McCarthy
5. Lit - Mary Kay.
6. Philip Roth - everything.
....

That said - I've read almost a book every two months for the past 20 yrs. Can recommend working through some of the prize lists if you're short on ideas for new material. E.g. Booker man prize winners (and runners-up) always makes for something interesting. Pulitzer, Faulkner & Nobel for more serious reading.

Me thinks that a well written book (i.e. compelling story plus skilled craftsmanship) provides pleasures on the same level as well crafted music, wine or other/visceral experiences.

 

[jax]

John Irving - A Prayer for Owen Meany
Jerzy Kosinski - The Painted Bird
Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated
Nick Hornby - High Fidelity