Greatest book you've ever read?

[bathory]

unfortunately I havent

[kkdalloway]

unfortunately I havent

 

They're amazing. If you like scifi and fantasy and have any interest in Celtic and Irish mythology then you will love them!! The series is called The Keltiad, Fantastic books! The Celtic mythology aspect is so well done! She uses so many Gaelic words and phrases in the story that there's a glossary in the back of the books so you can follow. I absolutely adored them!! Found the Gaelic stuff so fascinating that I bought a set of language tapes and tried to teach myself conversational Gaelic.

[bathory]

ohhhh I've heard of those books actually, never read em though, I'll check em out at some point

[TheAccountant]

The greatest book I have ever read??

 

For a long time I would have possible mentioned The Lord of The Rings series, or The Silmarillion (liked it more than LOTR actually), or C.S. Lewis's Narnia series or Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Or perhaps The Rise and Fall of The Great Powers by Paul Kennedy. Or perhaps The Assault on Reason by Al Gore. Or perhaps Nemesis: The Last Days of The American Republic by Chalmers Johnson. Someday I will get around to reading The Blowback Trilogy (actually their are 4 books in the series) by him.

 

In the last couple of years however all of those fine books have been pushed to the side by 2 fantasy books and then by another book that is definitely not fantasy. The 2 fantasy books are by Patrick Rothfuss. They are titled "The Name of The Wind" & "The Wise Man's Fear". Both are tremendous and are NOT in the J.R.R. Tolkien / C.. S. Lewis / Robert Jordan fantasy line. Not as I read them anyway. Try them - I highly recommend them.

 

The other book, which I recommend even more highly, is titled "The Better Angles of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" and it is by Steven Pinker. Mr. Pinker's book makes the argument that we live in relatively peaceful times and that we (the human race - although most notably western Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, the "blue states" in the US and Australia and New Zealand) are steadily becoming still less violent. He then spends a great deal more time look at the factors that are making us more peaceful, and yes - he does explain why its the blue states in the US that are more peaceful than the red states. That has to do with how the US was settled. But their is soooo much more to the book than that. I wont even try to explain it - wayyy to complicated. Try it - read the darn book!!! Its about 700+ pages long and reads like a college textbook at times. Their is a lot of history in it and some religion (Pinker is Canadian, a Harvard professor, of Jewish background with family who survived the death camps in WW2 and is an Atheist). Sounds sort of like some guys in a band we all like.

 

This book really got me thinking about other cultures and why they are the way they are. It got me looking at them and asking myself a lot of questions and thinking about what makes me different from them. It got me thinking about how they must see me and why I can be more (for lack of a better phrase) open and why I can change and some of them just can't seem to change / grow and become more tolerant and more forgiving. It made me think about things I had never thought about before and put a lot of historical / religious / cultural / philosophical pieces together in ways i would never had dreamed of. It got me reading other books i would never thought of reading. Heck, it helped me supervise the Indian's and Arab Muslims that I supervise in a more efficient and effective manner since it helped me (indirectly) understand what made them tick as it got me thinking about their cultures and how things i took for granted impacted them and vice versa.

 

Read the darn book!! That is by far the best book I have ever read.

 

Sorry for the long post - just try the darn book!!!

[bathory]

I read eye of the world and wasn't into it, it was alright but way too reliant on tolkien for most of its inspiration

[Aikenrooster]

Did Pinker write "How The Mind Works"? I got that book...great read.

"Democracy:The God That Failed," by Hans Herman-Hoppe is one of the best books, if not the best, I have ever read. Huge eye opener for me.

[rushgoober]

For a long time I would have possible mentioned The Lord of The Rings series, or The Silmarillion (liked it more than LOTR actually), or C.S. Lewis's Narnia series or Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Or perhaps The Rise and Fall of The Great Powers by Paul Kennedy.

 

I was actually best friends with Paul Kennedy's son for a couple years growing up. :)

[TheAccountant]

I read eye of the world and wasn't into it, it was alright but way too reliant on tolkien for most of its inspiration

 

Agreed that Eye of the World does rely on Tolkien (nothing wrong with that!!!). Once you get past that book however the series starts to go off on its own (IMHO). The further you get into the series and the more you get away from the Eye of the World the more the series gets its own life (again, IMO).

[TheAccountant]

Did Pinker write "How The Mind Works"? I got that book...great read.

 

Yes - I believe he did write that (if memory serves me correctly). Never read it. Based on your comments I will have to pick it up. Thanks for the recommendation.

[MusicalAbby2112]

I hardly ever read! :P

[Rhyta]

Try reading one of Neil's books, they may inspire you to read others.

[Blue J]

Too difficult to answer, but I would have to say that The Count of Monte Cristo is up there for me. Also would put Humboldt's Gift, by Saul Bellow, up near the top of the list.

[crimsonfrippy]

Brave New World by Huxley. A masterpiece.

[By Tor]

I have only ever read a book twice and that was Misery - Stephen King .

So I guess that must be my greatest .

 

But

Shout - Philip Norman , Helter Skelter... Davinci Code ... Armagedden The Musical ..... Dear Boy ...... .

[drbirdsong]

The Bible

[goose]

Brave New World by Huxley. A masterpiece.

Still poignant today...perhaps more so, as many of his dystopic musings have come to fruition.

[calirush]

http://venezky.stanford.edu/images/modern/full-resolution/DickandJanePlayDadandMom.jpg

[HomesickAlien]

http://venezky.stanford.edu/images/modern/full-resolution/DickandJanePlayDadandMom.jpg

 

:eyeroll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:P

[HomesickAlien]

Brave New World by Huxley. A masterpiece.

 

You should also read Huxley's last novel, Island. The utopian society it depicts is a refreshing read after Brave New World. Unfortunately, it's one of his lesser known works.

[crimsonfrippy]

Brave New World by Huxley. A masterpiece.

 

You should also read Huxley's last novel, Island. The utopian society it depicts is a refreshing read after Brave New World. Unfortunately, it's one of his lesser known works.

 

Thanks for the recommendation; I will definitely look into it.

 

Cheers,

 

frippy

[ILSnwdog]

I've read this one 6 times. :)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QJG0HXGML._SY300_.jpg

[barney_rebel]

IT by Stephen King

 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is close second.

[Ancient Ways]

As far as a non fiction book I found Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" to be a fantastic read. It describes his therapeutic methods (he was a psychiatrist) and uses his experience at auschwitz to more or less demonstrate how it helped him.

 

As far as fiction goes I'm a pretty big fan of Hemingway. A farewell to arms, the sun also rises, for whom the bell tolls, and to have and have not are favorites.

[Cygnus 2112]

I'm going to have to go with Harry Potter. The whole series is amazing and I've read it 15+ times. The best book in the series is The Deathly Hallows. I love the buildup to the war at Hogwarts and then the 200 page fight. Such an epic battle.

[Blue J]

I've only posted a title or two in this thread, so I'm not worried about double or multi-posting...another that I just thought of yesterday is The Beautiful and Damned, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It's ceaselessly heartbreaking and fantastic.