Greatest book you've ever read?

[Ancient Ways]

QUOTE (JohnnyBlaze @ Aug 2 2011, 10:27 PM)

QUOTE (sonictheplumber @ Aug 2 2011, 03:18 PM) QUOTE (The_Necromancer_77 @ Aug 1 2011, 01:34 AM) QUOTE (JohnnyBlaze @ Apr 9 2011, 05:59 AM) QUOTE (ReRushed @ Mar 8 2011, 12:28 PM) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess These! Especially A Clockwork Orange...must've read it a dozen times. Kerouac's On The Road was mentioned earlier. But I'd go with the original version where none of the names were changed...just seemed a bit more realistic that way. I'd add [possibly] my favorite writer Hunter S. Thompson. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is superb but The Rum Diary and Hell's Angels should always be mentioned when talking about his work. It always seem like I'm right in the action when reading his stuff. I couldn't get into On The Road. The plot is really weak, and I didn't like the mood, writing style or characters.   I'm not sure how it's considered such a classic while I didn't really enjoy the book either ("we drank beer and rode in a jalopy" for 300 pages) the reason it is considered a classic is really all the reasons you disliked it. for its time, it was pretty groundbreaking and there hadn't ever been a book written like it.   plus, it earns extra cool points for inspiring cool folk like bob dylan and jim morrison. Well said. The influence and importance of that book reaches into practically every layer of 20th century American culture. And yeah, beer drinking aimlessly wandering road trips are a part of that. I haven't read it in a couple of years but I think On The road is fantastic. I never really so much looked for a plot in the book in that it does deal with a sort of aimless wanderer dealing with a second lost generation - a plot would have actually meant Jack needed to get something done.

[hunter]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. All 5 in the Trilogy by DNA.

[sonictheplumber]

yeah I mean a beatnik novel isn't really supposed to have a plot

[JohnnyBlaze]

QUOTE (sonictheplumber @ Aug 4 2011, 04:39 AM)

yeah I mean a beatnik novel isn't really supposed to have a plot

Exactly right...spontaneous prose and all that. This makes it easy to understand why many wouldn't like it.

[sonictheplumber]

yet despite not being a big kerouac guy, I really like burroughs

[Rick N. Backer]

QUOTE (summer_sky @ Mar 6 2011, 02:19 PM)

Stephen King's 'The Stand'

Mine too. I read this while home from school with the flu back in 1982 or so. Anyone who dismisses King as "that horror book writer" is missing out on one of the greatest storytellers ever. No one is better at describing what's going on in a character's mind, or creating entirely ordinary characters thrust into unbelievable circumstances and making it work.

[sonictheplumber]

there's nothing worse than some wannabe-intellectual going around pretending to read Balzac and shit who likes to diss on stephen king

 

he writes entertaining page turners and he's damn good at it. make fun of james patterson if you want to call someone out on being a shit writer

[CMWriter]

QUOTE (Rick N. Backer @ Aug 5 2011, 08:03 AM)

QUOTE (summer_sky @ Mar 6 2011, 02:19 PM) Stephen King's 'The Stand' Mine too. I read this while home from school with the flu back in 1982 or so. Anyone who dismisses King as "that horror book writer" is missing out on one of the greatest storytellers ever. No one is better at describing what's going on in a character's mind, or creating entirely ordinary characters thrust into unbelievable circumstances and making it work. He is a fantastic story teller. But in terms of modern writing, he's also a very talented author. Oh sure, people dismiss him and many, many other writers as "mediocre" just because writing has changed over the centuries, and thus they are not "as talented" as classics like Shakespeare and Homer.. but like I said, writing changes. Language changes and evolves. I think it's wonderful.   I love his ordinary characters -- because you can kind of relate to them and then he throws them into this really bizarre plot and somehow it just.. works. He's so great.

[sonictheplumber]

shakespeare is boring as hell

[burgeranacoke]

I have not read many Stephen King books but I have read his early short stories, which I enjoyed, and have read two novels The Stand, and The Shining. The Stand started out so well and I really liked the first part of the book, but then it just all goes to cheese, just terrible I thought. I wish i would have put it down at the halfway point and imagined a better ending.

 

 

[Rick N. Backer]

QUOTE (burgeranacoke @ Aug 5 2011, 03:52 PM)

I have not read many Stephen King books but I have read his early short stories, which I enjoyed, and have read two novels  The Stand,  and The Shining.  The Stand started out so well and I really liked the first part of the book, but then it just all goes to cheese, just terrible I thought.  I wish i would have put it down at the halfway point and imagined a better ending.

That's too bad. Give 'Salem's Lot a try. Or, for something more recent, Duma Key. If you don't care for the Shining either, but do like the short stories, I'd recommend Nightmares and Dreamscapes or Everything's Eventual, two more recent collections of short stories. I assume you're referring to Night Shift as the collection you read.

[Mara]

QUOTE (CMWriter @ Aug 1 2011, 12:56 AM)

QUOTE (GrandDesigner @ Jul 31 2011, 11:57 AM) Very tough. I'd say All But My Life by Gerda Weissman Klein It's a Holocaust survivor's memoir, and it just tears me apart every time I read it.  I'm deeply drawn to learning about the Holocaust and how humanity could've f*cked it up so horribly during that time.  There's tons of others that I might have put as well, but this one stands out for some reason. At last! Someone else who's read it! It really is an incredible read, so I'll more or less second the above comments. It's not quite as heavy, at least for me, as Night or certainly Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account (which is chilling and I'd say important to read but not extremely well-written, as it is a memoir more than anything) but I'd definitely mark it as a must-read. It is heartbreaking but with that glimmer of hope as well (if you've read the ending you know what I mean).   On a side note, it makes me so sad when I see parents trying to shield their kids from reading Holocaust literature, especially when they are in middle/high school and certainly old enough to handle it. With all the crap in the media and on television we're all exposed to anyways, a little bit of truth and history, no matter how agonizing, is -- or should be -- welcome. Okay, both of you need to read Willy Peter Reese's A Stranger To Myself: The Inhumanity of War: Russia, 1941-1944 .   It's not exactly Holocaust literature, but it will leave an impression on you. Reese was a banker, drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1941 to fight on the Eastern Front. He left his memoirs with his mother when on leave, but it was decades before they were published, as Reese died on the Russian front in 1944 at age 23.   It's not straightforward prose, but it is quite effective, especially considering the circumstances under which he was writing. His opening poem:   I have burned all the cities Strangled all the women Brained all the children Plundered all the land. I have shot a million enemies, laid waste the fields, destroyed the churches, ravaged the souls of the inhabitants, spilled the blood and tears of all the mothers. I did it, all me. I did nothing. But I was a soldier.

[go2wrk@95974]

It was a book on the life of Albert Einstein

and his theories...fascinating book.

Edited August 6, 2011 by go2wrk@95974

[GrandDesigner]

QUOTE (Mara @ Aug 5 2011, 07:28 PM)

Okay, both of you need to read Willy Peter Reese's A Stranger To Myself: The Inhumanity of War: Russia, 1941-1944 . It's not exactly Holocaust literature, but it will leave an impression on you. Reese was a banker, drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1941 to fight on the Eastern Front. He left his memoirs with his mother when on leave, but it was decades before they were published, as Reese died on the Russian front in 1944 at age 23. It's not straightforward prose, but it is quite effective, especially considering the circumstances under which he was writing. His opening poem: I have burned all the cities Strangled all the women Brained all the children Plundered all the land. I have shot a million enemies, laid waste the fields, destroyed the churches, ravaged the souls of the inhabitants, spilled the blood and tears of all the mothers. I did it, all me. I did nothing. But I was a soldier.

That definitely sounds like something I'd be interested in. I love reading war memoirs and anything dealing with WW1 or WW2 really. It's on the list now

[CMWriter]

QUOTE (GrandDesigner @ Aug 6 2011, 07:41 AM)

QUOTE (Mara @ Aug 5 2011, 07:28 PM) Okay, both of you need to read Willy Peter Reese's A Stranger To Myself: The Inhumanity of War: Russia, 1941-1944 .  It's not exactly Holocaust literature, but it will leave an impression on you.  Reese was a banker, drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1941 to fight on the Eastern Front.  He left his memoirs with his mother when on leave, but it was decades before they were published, as Reese died on the Russian front in 1944 at age 23.  It's not straightforward prose, but it is quite effective, especially considering the circumstances under which he was writing.  His opening poem: I have burned all the cities Strangled all the women Brained all the children Plundered all the land. I have shot a million enemies, laid waste the fields, destroyed the churches, ravaged the souls of the inhabitants, spilled the blood and tears of all the mothers. I did it, all me. I did nothing. But I was a soldier. That definitely sounds like something I'd be interested in. I love reading war memoirs and anything dealing with WW1 or WW2 really. It's on the list now Seconded. If it's in the university library I'll check it out... unless I can get it now and finish it before move-in. But thank you very much for the recommendation! (:

[Tick]

QUOTE (tel @ Mar 6 2011, 03:01 PM)

The holy bible......laughed all the way through it

Always a dick in the crowd.

[tangy]

QUOTE (Hatchetaxe&saw @ Mar 8 2011, 09:17 AM)

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Mar 8 2011, 03:28 AM) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole Amongst many, many others, I forgot this steel-forged classic. Probably the funniest book I've ever read. you guys have it right! that book was required reading for a creativity course i took in college.   great, great book that is laugh out loud funny.   other than that i love the catcher in the rye but i have to say that Walden by Thoreau (and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience) is that most thought provoking book ever IMO.

[tkdryan]

I really enjoyed Treasure Island,, and The Brave

[Fred Star]

Must fess-up to "not being very well read". Although i have read in my opinion some good uns.. Joseph Wambaugh's - The Choirboys always brings a smile and a chuckle to my miserable chops. Joseph Heller's - Something Happened, another.

[GuitarKid 1880]

Man, I thought I already posted in this thread! Let's see what I can think of for favorite books:

 

Mirror Dance: I remember reading this about a year ago, this book was VERY good, very difficult to put down; By Lois McMaster Bujold

 

1984: Amazing book, got it for a holiday gift last year, honestly one of my favorite books of all time. By George Orwell

 

Animal Farm: Actually, this was in a bundle book with 1984, amazing book, I feel this book delivers the best message on my list of books. By George Orwell

 

Enders Game: It's a great Sci-Fi book, really is my personal favorite off of my list.

 

Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit: I actually read the Lord of the Rings of my own free will over the course of the 7th grade. I find The Two Towers as my favorite book of them all, but these books are epic.

 

To Kill a Mockingbird: Probably my 2nd favorite book. Read this at the end of last year. Truly is one of the greatest books of all time.

 

Eldest: I remember reading the series when I was younger, this was my favorite book of the series. It's a great book, very good writing, easy for a 9 year old to read, but still great!

 

 

My To Read list:

Inheritance: I plan on getting this for the Holidays, I'll read it over the break.

 

Dune: When I have down time, I plan on picking this up.

 

Remainer of Ender books: When I have down time, I plan on picking this up.

More to come...

 

Lolita: Don't know if I should get it for the Holidays or to get it over the summer... But I plan on reading it.

Edited September 22, 2011 by GuitarKid 1880

[Maverick]

To Kill A Mockingbird.

[H. P. L.]

Master and Margarita by Bulgakov has become, over many years, my favourite novel...

 

For anyone interested in Holocaust literature, I can only suggest national glory Primo Levi's books.

[apetersvt]

Books that have been impactful to me:

 

Rush Complete Vol 1 and Vol 2 - so it's sheet music and I could barely read it, but because of these books, I can play most Rush songs.

 

Atlas Shrugged - I have been a supporter of the Libertarian party since reading this back in '92.

 

Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas. Had to read this for a class in college (Satire). What an excellent book. It was hard to believe that I could enjoy a book that I HAD to read.

 

A Brief History Of Time - gotta love astronomy/nerd stuff.

 

Transport Processes and Unit Operations - by C. Geankopolis. No way I could have made it through college (chemical engineering) without this book. I think I referenced this book more than the rest of my books combined.

[goose]

I'd have to put them in phases...

 

Early Childhood: Stewart Little, JAWS, Poe collection

 

+/- 5th/6th Grade: Catch 22, Anthem, Please Understand Me

 

Junior High: Drum and Candle, Screwtape Letters, Lord of the Rings

 

HS: Quixote, Collection of short stories by Borges (hooked me on Latin Am Fiction)

 

Univ: Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Hooked me on Garcia Marquez); Dubliners (James Joyce), Why Bad Things Happen to Good People, Federalist Papers

 

Adulthood: 100 Years of Solitude, Widow for One Year, Poisonwood Bible, Owen Meany

[goose]

QUOTE (Fred Star @ Sep 18 2011, 03:28 PM)

Must fess-up to "not being very well read". Although i have read in my opinion some good uns.. Joseph Wambaugh's - The Choirboys always brings a smile and a chuckle to my miserable chops. Joseph Heller's - Something Happened, another.

Choirboys...yes, loved that one. Read it when I was pretty young, and remember the movie (tv movie?).