a book I love
- Thread starter conchis
- Start date
Never heard of such nonsensecome on guys/girls, books... you know, those things made of paper and full of small black printed letters...
What's a book again?
The Canterbury Tales - to me the rather spiteful sense of humour of Chaucer is there on every page, if you can get to grips with middle English the language is charming.
The Last Gladiator - Richard Ben Sapir Starts off with the rather unlikely event of a gladiator being reanimated, but it's really an examination of ancient morals against modern ones.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Stephen Donaldson, a fantasy novel but a rather more grown up one than LOTR, the entire thing is two trilogies so it's something I could really get my teeth into.
The Canterbury Tales - to me the rather spiteful sense of humour of Chaucer is there on every page, if you can get to grips with middle English the language is charming.
The Last Gladiator - Richard Ben Sapir Starts off with the rather unlikely event of a gladiator being reanimated, but it's really an examination of ancient morals against modern ones.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Stephen Donaldson, a fantasy novel but a rather more grown up one than LOTR, the entire thing is two trilogies so it's something I could really get my teeth into.
I love The Hotel New Hampshire too!
Other favourites include:
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg
The 'His Dark Materials' series - Phillip Pullman
...I also love a good Pratchett, but I think he's gone off the boil a bit in recent years.
Other favourites include:
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg
The 'His Dark Materials' series - Phillip Pullman
...I also love a good Pratchett, but I think he's gone off the boil a bit in recent years.
Job: A Comedy of Justice - Robert Heinlein
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
Isaac Asimov's Robot, Empire, and Foundation series
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
Isaac Asimov's Robot, Empire, and Foundation series
B_Think_Kink
Sexy Member
Good call, a must read, if you ask me - even for those who don't normally enjoy fantasy.
Catch 22 - Heller
The Sound and the Fury - Faulkner
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five - Lessing
Written on the Body - Winterson
Against a Dark Background - Banks
Ah, it's been a while since I read those! I went through all six books just wanting to slap some sense into the protagonist!
huw ginnit
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Love biographies personally, reading and learning all in one, that said I list reading as a hobby. I do; honestly, I have three books on the go at once.
I highly recommend, "Infinite Variety" about the Marchesa Casati-by Ryersson and Yaccarino; haute camp and so interesting, and presently enjoying "Misia" about Misia Sert, by Gold and Fizdale about the greatest artistic muse of the twentieth century.
Pullman's "Dark materials" books engaged me on a fiction level, but left me feeling annoyed- can't wait for the film tho, I hope they don't gut it.
I highly recommend, "Infinite Variety" about the Marchesa Casati-by Ryersson and Yaccarino; haute camp and so interesting, and presently enjoying "Misia" about Misia Sert, by Gold and Fizdale about the greatest artistic muse of the twentieth century.
Pullman's "Dark materials" books engaged me on a fiction level, but left me feeling annoyed- can't wait for the film tho, I hope they don't gut it.
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, terrific author, though his ramblings on his website have become increasingly insane as time passes.
Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk, though the movie is just as good if not better
a couple of my favorites
Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk, though the movie is just as good if not better
a couple of my favorites
B_ScaredLittleBoy
Experimental Member
The Adventures of Don Quixote. I have both parts one and two.
"What the devil vengeance can we take," answered Sancho, "if they are more than twenty, and we no more than two, or, indeed, perhaps not more than one and a half?"
"I count for a hundred," replied Don Quixote.
Love that 16th Century humour
"What the devil vengeance can we take," answered Sancho, "if they are more than twenty, and we no more than two, or, indeed, perhaps not more than one and a half?"
"I count for a hundred," replied Don Quixote.
Love that 16th Century humour
whatireallywant
Sexy Member
I have more of favorite authors than favorite books, but here goes some of them:
Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
Earth's Children series by Jean Auel (first 3 books, and ESPECIALLY "The Valley of Horses" because it contains the verbalization of my ultimate sexual fantasy! :smile: )
Valdemar and Bedlam's Bard series by Mercedes Lackey
The Book of Words trilogy by J.V. Jones
Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz
Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Many more...especially science fiction and fantasy stuff.
Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
Earth's Children series by Jean Auel (first 3 books, and ESPECIALLY "The Valley of Horses" because it contains the verbalization of my ultimate sexual fantasy! :smile: )
Valdemar and Bedlam's Bard series by Mercedes Lackey
The Book of Words trilogy by J.V. Jones
Deryni series by Katherine Kurtz
Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Many more...especially science fiction and fantasy stuff.
Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (Characters. Characters characters characters)
Stephen King's The Stand and Lisey's Story (his character development is phenomenal in these, no matter how strange the plot can seem at times)
Mark Haddon's the curious incident of the dog in the night-time (knocked me off my feet the first time I read it. I was expecting a light book for a rainy day)
George Orwell's Animal Farm (the concept is brilliant, the execution of the concept even more so)
Dante's Divine Comedy (my favorite thing to read, really. I'm slightly obsessed with it and actually own it in 3 translations)
Stephen King's The Stand and Lisey's Story (his character development is phenomenal in these, no matter how strange the plot can seem at times)
Mark Haddon's the curious incident of the dog in the night-time (knocked me off my feet the first time I read it. I was expecting a light book for a rainy day)
George Orwell's Animal Farm (the concept is brilliant, the execution of the concept even more so)
Dante's Divine Comedy (my favorite thing to read, really. I'm slightly obsessed with it and actually own it in 3 translations)
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Better than any movie version I've ever seen. It use of diary entries to narrate events is a brilliant way to build suspense. The book is rife with symbolism and, I think, is highly relevant in these times.
The Red Book of Westmarch - J.R.R. Tolkien
Vastly more than the cliche choice of the generally illiterate, Tolkien's romance is a powerful tale of myth illustrating the importance of doing what is right when all hope is lost. While modern scholars scoff at the complete lack of irony, I find their complaints deficient because their assertion implies that sincerity is of no value. These books are something less than myth and something more than a morality play. I have yet to meet someone who isn't a better person for reading them.
Bonjour Tristesse - Francoise Sagan
The woman had an extraordinary talent for creating the lushest metaphors. If read only for this, the book would be satisfying. Sagan illuminates adolescent life better than Catcher In the Rye ever did. Bonjour Tristesse is not as forced, nor as naive.
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
I love this because it's filled with characters based upon people I've actually known. The Fitzgeralds spent a lot of time here in Warwick with the Fowlers attending the most outrageous parties. Some of the people who were alive at the time were (or are) my oldest relatives and the events in The Great Gatsby are all essentially true with only slight changes to places and people. In this, it's a great book made greater for me by my unique insights into the events and characters.
All Quiet on the Western Front - by Erich Maria Remarque
The greatest pacifist book ever written. The writing is brilliant. German translates to English very well and this book is spare, concise, yet the characters stand out like flesh and blood. It's a book apparently never read by the current occupant of the White House.
History of the Peloponnesian War - by Thucydides
I love reading the ancient historians and Thucydides is my favorite. There's a wide misconception that any author worthy of becoming a marble bust must be dry and boring yet that isn't true at all. Thucydides' humorous asides and writing style are engaging, giving the reader a real sense of events playing out with tension. It almost has a plot. Wonderful!
The Republic - Plato with Socrates
The first book that taught me to think! I love it dearly. Without it I doubt I would be able to see what so many others cannot. I count philosophy as the single most valuable course of study in school as it illuminates every other subject and teaches us how to think critically.
Prolegomena To Any Future Metaphysics - Immanuel Kant
Took everything I knew from Plato and stood it on its head. Taught me reality is subjective.
Gardener's Art Through the Ages - Richard Tansey et al.
Art history and philosophy go hand-in-hand. Each radically changes our perceptions of the world around us and brings us understanding of why and how things the way they are. My goal in education was to learn to see and think as objectively as possible and nothing illuminates art like this bible of art.
Better than any movie version I've ever seen. It use of diary entries to narrate events is a brilliant way to build suspense. The book is rife with symbolism and, I think, is highly relevant in these times.
The Red Book of Westmarch - J.R.R. Tolkien
Vastly more than the cliche choice of the generally illiterate, Tolkien's romance is a powerful tale of myth illustrating the importance of doing what is right when all hope is lost. While modern scholars scoff at the complete lack of irony, I find their complaints deficient because their assertion implies that sincerity is of no value. These books are something less than myth and something more than a morality play. I have yet to meet someone who isn't a better person for reading them.
Bonjour Tristesse - Francoise Sagan
The woman had an extraordinary talent for creating the lushest metaphors. If read only for this, the book would be satisfying. Sagan illuminates adolescent life better than Catcher In the Rye ever did. Bonjour Tristesse is not as forced, nor as naive.
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
I love this because it's filled with characters based upon people I've actually known. The Fitzgeralds spent a lot of time here in Warwick with the Fowlers attending the most outrageous parties. Some of the people who were alive at the time were (or are) my oldest relatives and the events in The Great Gatsby are all essentially true with only slight changes to places and people. In this, it's a great book made greater for me by my unique insights into the events and characters.
All Quiet on the Western Front - by Erich Maria Remarque
The greatest pacifist book ever written. The writing is brilliant. German translates to English very well and this book is spare, concise, yet the characters stand out like flesh and blood. It's a book apparently never read by the current occupant of the White House.
History of the Peloponnesian War - by Thucydides
I love reading the ancient historians and Thucydides is my favorite. There's a wide misconception that any author worthy of becoming a marble bust must be dry and boring yet that isn't true at all. Thucydides' humorous asides and writing style are engaging, giving the reader a real sense of events playing out with tension. It almost has a plot. Wonderful!
The Republic - Plato with Socrates
The first book that taught me to think! I love it dearly. Without it I doubt I would be able to see what so many others cannot. I count philosophy as the single most valuable course of study in school as it illuminates every other subject and teaches us how to think critically.
Prolegomena To Any Future Metaphysics - Immanuel Kant
Took everything I knew from Plato and stood it on its head. Taught me reality is subjective.
Gardener's Art Through the Ages - Richard Tansey et al.
Art history and philosophy go hand-in-hand. Each radically changes our perceptions of the world around us and brings us understanding of why and how things the way they are. My goal in education was to learn to see and think as objectively as possible and nothing illuminates art like this bible of art.
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Les grandes personnes ne comprennent jamais rien toutes seules, et c'est fatigant, pour les enfants, de toujours et toujous leur donner des explications."
"Les grandes personnes ne comprennent jamais rien toutes seules, et c'est fatigant, pour les enfants, de toujours et toujous leur donner des explications."
