Favorite Books

[Thread Killer]

The Count of Monte Cristo - DUmas

Brave New World - Huxley

1984 - Orwell

A Hero of Our Time -Lermantov

 

[rocky00753]

Dark Materials,
David Eddings - redemption of athalus (all his books)
terry brooks
Fantasy in general (currently my own novel in progress)

Holy Blood Holy Grail
Hiram Key

(Anything abot the past truths, conspiracy....)

 

[Raison D'etre]

Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie

 

[severus]

You Don't Know Me by David Klass

Has anyone read The Road? I would be interested to hear your thoughts on that. I have to read it for school, and it's killing me slowly. It just drags on and on with no plot to carry it.

 

[grrreg]

KURT VONNEGUT...anything
Terry Prachett-most things
Dean Koontz-nothing

 

[Friar Pug Rush]

This thread is has been alright for awhile... but I love books. So I don't care. ::Grinn::
The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
It should be required reading for life, IMO.
Stephenson also wrote Diamond Age, another great piece of fiction that really messed with my head.
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Anything, anything ANYTHING by the author/poet/second-coming, Ray Bradbury. Everytime I re-read his books, it freaks me out... In particular, everytime I read Fahrenheit 451, my life changes drastically.
H.P Lovecraft wrote some amazing short stories, though I never did get around to The Mountains of Madness...
Resume with Monsters and Zodwallop by William Browning Spencer I remember as being pretty entertaining and thoughtful, a combination I haven't seen very often, though I haven't been able to find a copy for years...
Finally, there's a book by Suzanne Clarke called Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, that I bought at random one day, and blew my mind. I think that's the best part of books... It's like russian roulette. Never know if you'll be the same person at the end of them.

 

[Decaf]

My favorite book (series): Horatio Hornblower by C. S. Forester

(was that brief enough? I can try harder :P)

 

[Wisp]

I just started reading the cronicles of Thomas covenant, etc. etc., and it's slightly epic.

 

[loveofreason]

...slightly epic...

Excellently understated.

Stick to the first three books. There's a second and third (being written) trilogy, but the essence of Thomas Covenant is in the first.

May not be relevant to others, but I found the workings of the (INTP, I'm convinced) mind, with the self-loathing, the social anguish, the rejection of redemption - all set in a fantasy world under the shadow of evil... I found it all compelling.

As to whether the Bane is without or within, or both? Actually it is not good versus evil, more like wretched versus uber-wretched.

If you can't get through the story I'd be interested to know. Maybe the torment of the human soul is just a personal obsession of mine ;-)

 

[Wisp]

I'm just reading slowly, but I'm, say, 150 pages in.

Slightly epic was meant as sarcasm, and caused by my disdain of utter enthusiasm.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

All time favorite: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I've read it five times so far and sometime again I will forgo a night's sleep to read it again.

Also like:
Life of Pi by Yan Partel
The Rama series by Arthur C Clarke
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Anything CJ Cherryh
Anything Peter F Hamilton (the Night's Dawn Trilogy proved to me I am capable of a comittment as the total page count was around 4,000 pages)
Otherland series by Tad Williams
Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant chronicles (America's best fatasy)
The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven (all Niven is worth it)
All Alistar Reynolds books
The nutritional information on the side of my Cheerios box. I'm not a morning person.

 

[Waterstiller]

I favor:

Brave New World
Crime and Punishment
The Illustrated Man
Zhuangzi
Ender's Game
A Grief Observed - CS Lewis
Sandman: A game of you - Gaiman
Being and Time - Heidegger
The Conscious Mind - Chalmers
The Road - McCarthy

 

[stercusaccidit]

Let's see...

Brave New World: someone mentioned that they thought it was better than 1984. I agree.
1984: even though I like Brave New World better.
ANYTHING by Salinger or Vonnegut
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (of course)
Life of Pi
Down and Out in Paris and London
Siddhartha: I'm a big Hesse fan.
Calculating God, or anything else by Robert J. Sawyer. For those of you into sci-fi, I highly recommend him.
The Bell Jar: I also like Sylvia Plath's poetry
Into the Wild: book and movie are both good

Nostalgic favorites:

The Phantom Tollbooth
A Wrinkle in Time
Anything Garth Nix
Anything Ursula K Le Guin
Anything Anne McCaffrey

I like, but don't love, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Right now I'm in the middle of reading Crime and Punishment, Flatland (promising sci-fi), and Czechs and Balances (history of the Czech Republic). I like to read multiple books at once... It keeps me balanced.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

I like to read multiple books at once... It keeps me balanced.

Me too. I have 5 going myself. Cyteen, The Road to Verdun, Deliverer, a few pages into Animal Farm and LifeTypes. People ask how I don't get confused having so many going at one time and I tell them it's just like watching soaps or other serial tv shows. Why would changing from one book to another be any more difficult?

Has anyone read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn? Anyone at all? Like? Dislike?

 

[saorsa]

Has anyone read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn? Anyone at all? Like? Dislike?

yeah, I read it at a friend's request a couple years ago. I thought the fictional elements and the philosophical elements fought each other a little...it is extremely difficult to strike a good balance between those things, though. I thought of the book as an excellent execution of a mediocre plan. it's definitely a solid book, and I do respect Quinn for the effort, but in the end I don't think a serious call for comprehensive revision of our philosophical concepts of humanity and nature can be effectively packaged into a work of narrative fiction...

 

[Sylzarra]

Well lets see right now I'm in a Sci fi genre mood soo my favorite for now is The Algebraist by Ian M Banks.

If I was in a optimistically philosophical mood it would be The Alchemist by Paulo Coleho ( or anything else by him)

If I was in a realistically philosophical mood my favorite would be The Fountainhead (this is also the only book in my library that frustrated me so much that I found my self smashing a mirror with it. Mostly though I take care of my books as if they were priceless.)

When I have a fantasy mood I like Lord of the Rings (it was an evangelical experience reading that series, I was so sad that i had to finish it )

In classic books it would have to be a tie between The Sorrows of Young Werther and Venus in Furs (I know someone mentioned that before)

When I am attempting to get back to my roots I like The Sea of Poppies which is about the lives of a few individuals near India during the Opium war (the Opium war was a conflict between Britain and China over the right to sell the opium Britain had Indian farmers produce in Bengal. It is a much glossed over war in the British histories.) The book is very well written and is coming to UK and the US soon, I would advise you to pick it up.

On my two hundred page must read in the future when I finally have free time list, The most popular books would have to be 1984, Matter, Brisngr, Atlas Shrugged and Dracula.

 

[Sylzarra]

Ishmael? Cronicles of Thomas Covenant? Summary please?

Also does anyone else find that they like a book less if they are forced to read it for a class and witness it's crude dissection and dispassionate butchering courtesy of your I-only-do-this-for-the-paycheck English teacher?

 

[Ogion]

Ignoring all the rest of your books i simply gotta ask why you like "The sorrows of Young Werther"?? You see, i am from Germany and we read it in German classes and i just found it so awful. It was the only book (for school) that i never did read to the end, because i just coulnd't force myslef to it. (Of course i was just aged some 14 or so, perhaps i just missed the point?)

Ogion

 

[Jesin]

Discworld!

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Sylzarra
Ishmael? Cronicles of Thomas Covenant? Summary please?

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (I'm aware of 7 books but there may be more) is considered America's best fantasy by many (me included). It may be just a notch below The Lord of the Rings. I found it to be darker and thus more interesting but that's how I am.

Ishmael is a lot harder to describe. It's a novel but as a novel it doesn't tell much of a story and is not intended to. Rather the story is just a premise in order to give the reader a unique view of the world. If you are interested in looking at the world in a different way than you perhaps have before, then the book may be for you. It's not long and can be read in one sitting if you can sit for 5 to 6 hours reading. Interest in enviromentalism, philosophy and some history are indicators of finding the book interesting.

Beyond that, I won't say any more. It's sometimes best to find some things out for oneself. Covenant and Ishmael are worth the time they take to read them.

 

[Sylzarra]

Ignoring all the rest of your books i simply gotta ask why you like "The sorrows of Young Werther"?? You see, i am from Germany and we read it in German classes and i just found it so awful. It was the only book (for school) that i never did read to the end, because i just coulnd't force myslef to it. (Of course i was just aged some 14 or so, perhaps i just missed the point?)

Ogion

Well it seems like you are a victim of disinterested-teacheritis as well. Perhaps you did miss the point? It is a bit complex and took me a while to actually comprehend. Also the themes are for adults. I might also have liked the book because it helped me understand a friend of mine. You see he was suicidal and depressed and as an INTP i couldn't really understand him. But The Sorrows of Young Werther gave me something I could analyze and refer to. In addition the book is largely autobiographical, if you have no connection with any of the ideas in the book you won't be able to enjoy it.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (I'm aware of 7 books but there may be more) is considered America's best fantasy by many (me included). It may be just a notch below The Lord of the Rings. I found it to be darker and thus more interesting but that's how I am.

Ishmael is a lot harder to describe. It's a novel but as a novel it doesn't tell much of a story and is not intended to. Rather the story is just a premise in order to give the reader a unique view of the world. If you are interested in looking at the world in a different way than you perhaps have before, then the book may be for you. It's not long and can be read in one sitting if you can sit for 5 to 6 hours reading. Interest in environmentalism, philosophy and some history are indicators of finding the book interesting.

Beyond that, I won't say any more. It's sometimes best to find some things out for oneself. Covenant and Ishmael are worth the time they take to read them.

Sounds really interesting. Just a notch below Lord of the Rings you say? I think i should read it. Ill tell you what it think of it when I finish ^^.

 

[Ogion]

Well, ok, in that case it might be interesting, but i didn't have any connection as i read it and found it just ridiculously (and for me uncomprehensible in that regard) emotional.

Ogion

 

[Spud147]

I'm not into fantasy or sci fi as much but I love to read books especially fiction that has strong character development. A few of my favorites:

To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kid
Gilead - Marilynne Robinson

3 of the most beautifully written books I've ever read.

 

[Anling]

I like so many books. I think a lot of the books they have us read in school are a bad idea. Not that they're not good books, but that they are more adult than most school kids are going to get. I had to read Great Expectations for my freshmen year of high school and I hated it. Now I think it's not so bad. Anyway...
I like books by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Anne McCaffrey, JRR Tolken, etc.
I'm currently reading 1776 and The Fabric of the Cosmos.
And then there are the books I just raided from my brother-in-law's library:
A collection of Kurt Vonnegut books
A collection of Ray Bradbury's stories (does not contain Fahrenheit 451)
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

 

[Ogion]

I just read an interesting young Scifi ("Spin" by Robert Charles Wilson). He has some really interesting concepts in there. It's worth a read for scifi-fans, i think.

Ogion

 

[stercusaccidit]

I just read an interesting young Scifi ("Spin" by Robert Charles Wilson). He has some really interesting concepts in there. It's worth a read for scifi-fans, i think.

I have that book... Someone bought it for me when they found out I liked Robert J. Sawyer. Haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Looks interesting, though.

 

[Ogion]

It is. I could of course explain what i mean by interesting concepts and such, but i don't want to be a spoiler Let's just say he plays with time, frames of different time...(And there is a sequel, i don't have it yet though).

Ogion

 

[Chronomar]

To Kill A Mockingbird, Ivanhoe, Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrel, Harry Potter, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Age of Fable, The Chronicles of Chrestomancy, Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People, Slaughterhouse 5, Artemis Fowl, Inkheart, Inkspell, Lord of the Rings, Farenhiet 451, Principles of Modern Genetics, A Raisin in the Sun, The Old Man and the Sea, Descartes, The Iliad, The Odessy, Greek Mythology, Anthropology of Mexican Cultures, Catalyst, Primates and Philosophers, What are People For?, Niezchie, The Masque of the Red Death, anything by the Poe, The Gold Bug, The South & Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha, A Rose For Emily, Frankenstein (the real Frankenstein book, by Mary Shelley), The Meaning of Everything (<this is the history if the english language), The Gospell According to Larry, Ember, anything by Vonnegut, 1984, and many many more... I think I read a lot.

 

[Melkor]

Favourite book/books?

I myself read too much to do any good, so I wondered if anyone else is the same.

I myself am mostly a fantasy person-

Lord of the rings
His dark materials
Discworld
Alice in wonderland(no laughing!)
H2G2
Etc.

but I also have a few classic favourites.

e.g

Frankenstein
1984
Animal farm
Of mice and men
To kill a mocking bird.

What say you?

 

[loveofreason]

Merged your thread here Melkor, as many have already had their say.


And I take this moment to once again sing the praises of Thomas Covenant, though I haven't ventured into the seventh book (the first of the third set of three - two more being written) as I fear Donaldson may just be cashing in on the perfection of the first trilogy and I don't want my memories tarnished by lesser work.

 

[Melkor]

Nice work.
-mutters wildly to self-

 

[stercusaccidit]

I think I'm the only one in the world who didn't particularly like To Kill a Mockingbird...

 

[Derada]

Two science texts I have enjoyed recently:
1. Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick
2. The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Ishmael's main flaw was its overgeneralization. Humans are the ONLY ones to do these certain things. Humans are BOUND to destroy the earth. These, I think, are deliberately narrow views, if not outright lies, designed to accentuate the urgency of Quinn's message. I think the core of it is still valuable. Much of civilization does share a common set of assumptions and diversity is a good goal, but Quinn's meta-narrative is itself ethnocentric in viewing humans as so exceptional. It also confuses its values. Is survival the goal? Is helping out other species in evolving? Is equilibrium the goal?

I can very well see our species leaving Earth to whatever destruction we have created and expanding among the stars. Why would Quinn not approve of this?

 

[acd]

The Sound and the Fury, Siddhartha, Tropic of Capricorn, Heart of Darkness, Breakfast of Champions, The Road, 1984, Plato's Republic... off the top.

 

[Jordan~]

Perhaps this should be under movies rather than books, since I've not finished reading it, but I just watched the film adaptation, but: Atonement, by Ian McEwan. Brilliant book, I highly recommend it.

 

[bdubs]

Right now I'd say my favorite authors are Stephen King and Douglas Adams. From those two my favorite books are "The Shining", "Dead Zone", and the whole five part trillogy of hitchhiker's guide.

 

[Barachai]

Is manga OK? I like Chobits and Chibi Vampire a lot...
The Silmarillion is really cool.
I also like both of John Stossel's books, its like a breath of fresh air

 

[groundzero]

The Road To Reality By Roger Penrose

 

[Jesin]

Right now I'd say my favorite authors are Stephen King and Douglas Adams.

Terry Pratchett is not on that list. That means you haven't read any Discworld books. You should fix that.

If you're wondering where to start, Guards! Guards! is as good a place as any.

 

[Bufferkiller]

I watched Naked Lunch last night. It was a film, written by William S. Burroughs, one of my favorite authors.

'Junkie' is a favorite too.

It was a book first.

Anything by William S. Burroughs, Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams, David Sedaris and Tiffanie DeBartolo.

Others:

Generation X
Snow Crash
The Zombie Survival Guide
John Dies At The End
Kill Me Please! An Oral History Of Punk
The Holy Barbarians
The Lathe of Heaven
Catch 22
The Perks of Being a Wallflower


and I could go on for days.

 

[Anticitizen]

Nobody has mentioned the works of William Gibson? My favorite author... Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, etc.

 

[Nightingale]

Catcher in the Rye anyone?

Yes. Though I think I may have liked Franny and Zooey even more.

Reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time was a downright painful experience for me, in large part because I identified with it so deeply. I point-blank refused to participate in the class project on the book, but fortunately I had a compassionate instructor who allowed me to choose another assignment instead of failing me for non-compliance.

I also really like The Hours by Michael Cunningham and T.H. White's take on Arthurian legend.

 

[Perseus]

GENERAL LIBRARY (under construction)

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Some recommended books for general reading and specialist subjects written in style:[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Please Understand Me II" by David Keirsey (Psychology)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Inner World of Choice" by Barbara Wicks (Psychology)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson (Environmental)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Sweet Thursday" by John Steinbeck (Fiction: Novel)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Island" by Aldous Huxley (Fiction: Novel)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Xiccarph" by Clark Ashton-Smith (Fiction: Short Stories)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Steppenwolf" by Hermann Hesse (Fiction)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"Marine Aquarium Keeping" by Stephen Spotte (Aquariology)[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]"The Spy who Loved Me" by Ian Fleming (Fiction: Novel)[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[Madoness]

Uhmm...
As a kid, I loved fiction and adventure books..... Jules Verne most notably as a writer as my parents had many books written by him
The Mysterious Island,
Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon,
Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen,
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Captain Grant's Children

From Karl May
Winnetou I, II, and III

Now
Orwell's "1984" and "Down and you in Paris and London"
Aldous Huxley "Brave New World"
Hubert Selby, Jr. "Requiem for a Dream"
and some ideas from "The Room", but I wouldn't really recommend it:P
the same goes for "The Demon"

Recently read Pierre Boulle's "Planet of the Apes" again, and still loved it.

 

[aahzombies]

Yes. Though I think I may have liked Franny and Zooey even more.

Reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time was a downright painful experience for me, in large part because I identified with it so deeply.

I agree. I liked the Cather in the Rye but I loved Franny and Zooey. I read them in one sitting each and then spent the next few hours just sitting there thinking about what they said.

 

[Ancalion]

Fave books of mine

Dune Series - Frank Herbert (Emperor-God of Dune is my all time fave)
Do androids dream of electric sheep? - Phillip K. Dick
Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Almost all books by Isaac Asimov

 

[ejames]

Some of my favourite books are:

Forrest Gump - Winston Groom
The Republic - Plato
Winnie the Pooh - A. A. Milne
Tao Te Ching - Laoste
the Holy Bible - God?
Peanuts - Charles Schultz
Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Waterson

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Flann O'Brien - The Third Policeman
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, first three books

 

[LucasM]

Enigma by Michael P. Kube - McDowell was a good science fiction book. I think you INTP folk could relate with the main character.

 

[hopefulmonster]

My two favorite books right now are Eon and Darwin's radio by Greg Bear. Mainly because the images they evoked were practically orgasmic. My all time favorite book is a Short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson.