Favourite Books?

[Gershwin]

That's no easy question. I don't re-read books very often, but if I'd have to swear on it, I'd pick: The Brothers Karamazov, some Amos Oz books, the incidental 50s/60s books/plays by guys like Max Frisch and Eugène Ionesco, part of Willem Frederik Hermans's oeuvre, and everything Milan Kundera ever wrote. And the Book of Job, of course.
Special achievement awards go to Pascal Mercier for writing Perlmanns Schweigen, Dutch writer Anna Blaman for writing Ram Horna and other stories), and Dutch writer Jacq Firmin Vogelaar for writing one of the most emotionally overwhelming books I've ever read: De dood als meisje van acht (translated, that would be something like 'Death showing itself as a Girl of eight years old').

[Cippenham]

I like history and am reading works by Dominic Sandbrook on Britain in the 1970s.

I just noticed this in the news:

New Zealand author Eleanor Catton has, at the age of 28, become the youngest ever winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for her novel The Luminaries.

Her 832-page tale of the 19th-century goldfields is also the longest work to win in the prize's 45-year history.

[Cippenham]

Sometimes if you cannot sleep try listening to talking books on youtube, for example

Early Kings of Norway by Thomas Carlyle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9h4o55dTOM

[Sir Plebeian]

This changes I would say more than my favorite movie (all the time) But as of now I would say
1. Jude the Obscure (Hardy)
2. The Book of Disquiet (Pessoa)
3. Satantango (Krasznahorkai)

[Nuclearplanet]

Just read The Graduate by Charles Webb, it's actually pretty good read and found better then the film despite most people agreeing the other way round.

[Cippenham]

This changes I would say more than my favorite movie (all the time) But as of now I would say
1. Jude the Obscure (Hardy)
2. The Book of Disquiet (Pessoa)
3. Satantango (Krasznahorkai)

I am afraid I particularly dislike Jude the Obscure although I am in Dorset, but do like other works by Hardy.

[Sir Plebeian]

This changes I would say more than my favorite movie (all the time) But as of now I would say
1. Jude the Obscure (Hardy)
2. The Book of Disquiet (Pessoa)
3. Satantango (Krasznahorkai)

I am afraid I particularly dislike Jude the Obscure although I am in Dorset, but do like other works by Hardy.

It's ok, everyone I know dislikes Jude the Obscure over the rest of Hardy's work. When I first read it though, it was at the exact right time in my life where I could relate very well (not the incest part mind you ) so it really worked for me at the time. Would be interesting to re read it now though, I have a feeling I would not like it as much.

[brokenface]

I quite liked Jude. bit depressing, but what Hardy isn't?! maybe Cippenham doesn't like it 'cause it's set in Oxford rather than Dorset

The Book of Disquiet

[Sir Plebeian]

Oh I forgot to throw in The Diary of a Country Priest (Bernanos) such a fantastic book! I am a bit scared to watch the movie though, as I don't want to be disappointed.

[Gershwin]

It's Bresson. How could it not be liked?

[burneyfan]

This changes I would say more than my favorite movie (all the time) But as of now I would say
1. Jude the Obscure (Hardy)
2. The Book of Disquiet (Pessoa)
3. Satantango (Krasznahorkai)

I am afraid I particularly dislike Jude the Obscure although I am in Dorset, but do like other works by Hardy.

It's ok, everyone I know dislikes Jude the Obscure over the rest of Hardy's work. When I first read it though, it was at the exact right time in my life where I could relate very well (not the incest part mind you ) so it really worked for me at the time. Would be interesting to re read it now though, I have a feeling I would not like it as much.

I LOVE Jude the Obscure!! I love Hardy in general, but Jude is my favorite!

[Cippenham]

I always liked Sherlock Holmes and a new story by Conan Doyle has been discovered!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31564442

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 60609.html


READ this as it has the full transcript:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... attic.html

[Carmel1379]

aus

[Nuclearplanet]

Hamlet and Macbeth are on my list for To Read Shakespeare

I just finished reading King Lear for the second time. I think after watching Ian McKellen's performance as Lear, I can appreciate it a lot more, it's truly a masterpiece.

[sebby]

I've read about a dozen books so far this year. All stuff that was new to me. I'm in the mood now to re-read a bunch of stuff that I loved when I was younger to see if it holds up. I'm currently 2/3 through On the Road and I'm bored and annoyed by it. It really is as bad as most people say. I was going to read Dharma Bums after but I might just skip it now. I'll probably grab 1984 next since I have a good feeling I'll still get a lot out of that one. My favorite book is Martin Eden by Jack London, but I don't know if I want to re-read it. It moved me and meant a lot to who I was as a 20 year-old and I don't want to take a chance and diminish that.

[LarsC]

The list is ever changing, but right now I think it looks like this (random order):

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
Ulysses - James Joyce
La Carte et le Territoire - Michel Houellebecq
Drömfakulteten - Sara Stridsberg
The Alexandria Quartet - Lawrence Durrell
Rhinocéros - Eugène Ionesco
Master i Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Samuel Beckett's books, in general.

[Leopardi]

My favorite book is Martin Eden by Jack London, but I don't know if I want to re-read it. It moved me and meant a lot to who I was as a 20 year-old and I don't want to take a chance and diminish that.

I love that book, and I probably recommend it more to people than any other I've read. I can definitely see being afraid to return to it years later, though, it's just that sort of book. If it makes any difference, I read it a little later in life, at the age of 32, and it very much spoke to me then.

Great choice for a favourite.

[Jay Mars]

I'm currently 2/3 through On the Road and I'm bored and annoyed by it. It really is as bad as most people say.

Oh man, don't tell me that. I loved that book way back when. I want to pretend it's as good as I remember it.

[Cippenham]

I was always a fan of the Ladybird Books and the things we learned from them

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-le ... e-30709937



Mini computers are the size of a room

[Cippenham]

"Men did nearly all of the jobs in the 'People at Work' series

Ladybird published a series called People At Work between 1962 and 1973, which Prof Zeegan described as "an absolute time capsule" of jobs from a bygone age.

Men did nearly all of the jobs, with titles including The Fireman, The Policeman, The Farmer, The Postman, The Airman, The Builder and The Soldier.

Ms Day said the exception was a "token" title called The Nurse. In here, we learned that "the doctors tell nurses what to do".

Similarly, in The Customs Officer, we learned that if female customs officers "are not busy, they help with the office work".

Ladybird gradually showed more working women, often referring to them as "girls"."

[sebby]

I'm currently 2/3 through On the Road and I'm bored and annoyed by it. It really is as bad as most people say.

Oh man, don't tell me that. I loved that book way back when. I want to pretend it's as good as I remember it.

Silver lining: I read Big Sur last week and it was really quite good, and am reading Dharma Bums now and it's not too bad (certainly better than On the Road). So it seems Kerouac isn't a hack, but is simply one of those writers who got famous on one of his weakest works.

[Prequel]

Sorry if this is considered off-topic.

I am making a list of FANTASY books I should read. So far my list is:

The Silmarillion
Wheel of Time
Demon Cycle
Mistborn

Can you add anything to that list? I am looking for the best of the best. Not interested in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings for obvious reasons. May consider reading LOTR after reading Silmarillion.

Sci-Fi suggestions are also appreciated but I am not interested in Asimov or 1984 type of sci-fi's. If there are sci-fi books (more likely, series') with their own whole universes and are extremely good, I am interested in those. I consider reading 2061 and 3001 but I have very mixed feelings, don't want to spoil the movie. Also, I very well realize Mass Effect has its books, the same applies to them too.

I dislike politics, religion, social stuff. I like appealing expression of the dark powers, mystery, epic-scaled events, heroism etc. Anything with the similar dark charm of Sauron, give it to me.

[funkybusiness]

http://imgur.com/gallery/kLSI1

did you look at these. I haven't read much fantasy so my opinion is of little help but whoever made that seems to know a few good'ns. + check the comments.


also, the silmarillion is like a textbook if you haven't read and loved lord of the rings + all the appendices first.

[allisoncm]

We should do a poll of favorite books next.

[jgwr]

Sorry if this is considered off-topic.

I am making a list of FANTASY books I should read. So far my list is:

The Silmarillion
Wheel of Time
Demon Cycle
Mistborn

Can you add anything to that list? I am looking for the best of the best. Not interested in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings for obvious reasons. May consider reading LOTR after reading Silmarillion.

Sci-Fi suggestions are also appreciated but I am not interested in Asimov or 1984 type of sci-fi's. If there are sci-fi books (more likely, series') with their own whole universes and are extremely good, I am interested in those. I consider reading 2061 and 3001 but I have very mixed feelings, don't want to spoil the movie. Also, I very well realize Mass Effect has its books, the same applies to them too.

I dislike politics, religion, social stuff. I like appealing expression of the dark powers, mystery, epic-scaled events, heroism etc. Anything with the similar dark charm of Sauron, give it to me.

Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" series. Which is kind of SF/fantasy crossover. It's "Dying Earth" stuff like Jack Vance (and Clark Ashton Smith's "Zothique" stories).

[ChrisReynolds]

I've only just noticed this thread. I've compiled a list of favourite books before so here it is. A poll would be great.

Top ten (in the order I read them):
The Witches - Roald Dahl
Judge Dredd: Judge Death Lives - John Wagner & Brian Bolland
Out of Space and Time - Clark Ashton Smith
The Tragedy of Macbeth - William Shakespeare
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Second Pan Book of Horror Stories - Various

Honourable mentions (no order):
Brighton Rock - Graham Greene
Out of Space and Time - Clark Ashton Smith
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
From Hell - Alan Moore
Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Matilda - Roald Dahl
Gormenghast Trilogy - Mervyn Laurence Peake
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
Best of H.P. Lovecraft - H. P. Lovecraft
The Time Machine - H. G. Wells
I Am Legend - Richard Matherson
The Dying Earth - Jack Vance
Sandman - Neil Gaiman
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
1984 - George Orwell
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Watership Down - Richard Adams
Grendel - John Gardner
Gloriana - Michael Moorcock
Stormbringer - Michael Moorcock
The Alteration - Kingsley Amis
The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
The Once and Future King - T.H. White
Green Tea / Carmilla / Schalken the Painter - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Tales of the Unexpected - Roald Dahl
Lord Of The Flies - William Gerald Golding
Forever Peace - Joe Haldeman
A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Watchmen - Alan Moore
Pyramids / Small Gods / Hogfather / Lords and Ladies / Mort / Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
Preacher - Garth Ennis
Fafrhd and Mouser - Fritz Leiber
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary - M.R. James
Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
Forever War - Joe Haldeman
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
The Nightmare Factory - Thomas Ligotti
Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
Red Dragon - Thomas Harris
The October Country - Ray Bradbury
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Frankenstein - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll And Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
Starmaker - Olaf Stapledon

[ChrisReynolds]

Sorry if this is considered off-topic.

I am making a list of FANTASY books I should read. So far my list is:

The Silmarillion
Wheel of Time
Demon Cycle
Mistborn

Can you add anything to that list? I am looking for the best of the best. Not interested in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings for obvious reasons. May consider reading LOTR after reading Silmarillion.

Sci-Fi suggestions are also appreciated but I am not interested in Asimov or 1984 type of sci-fi's. If there are sci-fi books (more likely, series') with their own whole universes and are extremely good, I am interested in those. I consider reading 2061 and 3001 but I have very mixed feelings, don't want to spoil the movie. Also, I very well realize Mass Effect has its books, the same applies to them too.

I dislike politics, religion, social stuff. I like appealing expression of the dark powers, mystery, epic-scaled events, heroism etc. Anything with the similar dark charm of Sauron, give it to me.

Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" series. Which is kind of SF/fantasy crossover. It's "Dying Earth" stuff like Jack Vance (and Clark Ashton Smith's "Zothique" stories).

Ashton Smith, Vance and Wolfe are all must-reads for fantasy fans. Gollancz put out a 50 book series of "Fantasy Masterworks", and I feel it's a pretty good list of essential fantasy reading.

Gollancz's Fantasy Masterworks

1. The Book of the New Sun, Volume 1: Shadow and Claw (1983) - Gene Wolfe
2. Time and the Gods (1905–1916) - Lord Dunsany
3. The Worm Ouroboros (1922) - E.R. Eddison
4. Tales of the Dying Earth (1950–1984) - Jack Vance
5. Little, Big (1981) - John Crowley
6. The Chronicles of Amber (1970–1978) - Roger Zelazny
7. Viriconium (1971–1985) - M. John Harrison
8. The Conan Chronicles Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle (2000) - Robert E. Howard
9. The Land of Laughs (1980) - Jonathan Carroll
10. The Compleat Enchanter: The Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea (1940–1954) - L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
11. Lud-in-the-Mist (1926) - Hope Mirrlees
12. The Book of the New Sun, Volume 2: Sword and Citadel (1982 & 1983) - Gene Wolfe
13. Fevre Dream (1982) - George R. R. Martin
14. Beauty (1991) - Sheri S. Tepper
15. The King of Elfland's Daughter (1924) - Lord Dunsany
16. The Conan Chronicles Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon (2001) - Robert E. Howard
17. Elric (1961–1965) - Michael Moorcock
18. The First Book of Lankhmar (1968–1970) - Fritz Leiber
19. The Riddle-Master's Game (1976–1979) - Patricia A. McKillip
20. Time and Again (1970) - Jack Finney
21. Mistress of Mistresses (1935) - E.R. Eddison
22. Gloriana (1978) - Michael Moorcock
23. The Well of the Unicorn (1948) - Fletcher Pratt
24. The Second Book of Lankhmar (1968–1988) - Fritz Leiber
25. Voice of Our Shadow (1983) - Jonathan Carroll
26. The Emperor of Dreams (2002) - Clark Ashton Smith
27. Lyonesse I: Suldrun's Garden (1983) - Jack Vance
28. Peace (1975) - Gene Wolfe
29. The Dragon Waiting (1983) - John M. Ford
30. Chronicles of Corum (1977) - Michael Moorcock
31. Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams (1933–1939) - C.L. Moore
32. The Broken Sword (1954) - Poul Anderson
33. The House on the Borderland and Other Novels (1946) - William Hope Hodgson
34. The Drawing of the Dark (1979) - Tim Powers
35. Lyonesse II and III: The Green Pearl and Madouc (1985 & 1989) - Jack Vance
36. The History of the Runestaff (1979) - Michael Moorcock
37. A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) - David Lindsay
38. Darker Than You Think (1948) - Jack Williamson
39. The Mabinogion (2002) - Evangeline Walton
40. Three Hearts & Three Lions (1961) - Poul Anderson
41. Grendel (1971) - John Gardner
42. The Iron Dragon's Daughter (1993) - Michael Swanwick
43. Was (1992) - Geoff Ryman
44. Song of Kali (1985) - Dan Simmons
45. Replay (1986) - Ken Grimwood
46. Sea-Kings of Mars and Otherworldly Stories (2005) - Leigh Brackett
47. The Anubis Gates (1983) - Tim Powers
48. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974) - Patricia A. McKillip
49. Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) - Ray Bradbury
50. The Mark of the Beast and Other Fantastical Tales (2007) - Rudyard Kipling

Also, some additional fantasy that was on my favourites list:
Gormenghast Trilogy - Mervyn Laurence Peake
Sandman - Neil Gaiman
Watership Down - Richard Adams
The Once and Future King - T.H. White
A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Pyramids / Small Gods / Hogfather / Lords and Ladies / Mort - Terry Pratchett (most Pratchett books are good, but I'd say these were the most essential)
The October Country - Ray Bradbury (short stories, only about half are fantasy, but they are some of the most well-known and highly regarded fantasy short stories ever written)
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

I don't think Wheel of Time is in any way essential - it's exactly the sort of thing that gives fantasy a bad name: a second-rate rewriting of Tolkien tropes that got spun out forever until the author died.

[mightysparks]

God I need to read more, I'm so jealous of everyone's long lists I'm struggling with the sci-fi/fantasy list I'm working on, because I hate fantasy and steampunk and that seems to be the majority of it. I can't be bothered too much with most of the 'classics' but I need to give some of them a shot at some point too.

[brokenface]

Sorry if this is considered off-topic.

I am making a list of FANTASY books I should read. So far my list is:

The Silmarillion
Wheel of Time
Demon Cycle
Mistborn

Can you add anything to that list? I am looking for the best of the best. Not interested in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings for obvious reasons. May consider reading LOTR after reading Silmarillion.

Sci-Fi suggestions are also appreciated but I am not interested in Asimov or 1984 type of sci-fi's. If there are sci-fi books (more likely, series') with their own whole universes and are extremely good, I am interested in those. I consider reading 2061 and 3001 but I have very mixed feelings, don't want to spoil the movie. Also, I very well realize Mass Effect has its books, the same applies to them too.

I dislike politics, religion, social stuff. I like appealing expression of the dark powers, mystery, epic-scaled events, heroism etc. Anything with the similar dark charm of Sauron, give it to me.

what's the obvious reason you are not interested in Lord of the Rings and would only consider reading it after Silmarillion?

[Rich]

Silmarillion is more a collection of tales from before The Hobbit and LOTR except for the last part. It is very serious and reads nothing like a novel almost like an encyclopedia.

[Rich]

I would read Children of Hurin at least before The Silmarillion.

[mightysparks]

Sorry if this is considered off-topic.

I am making a list of FANTASY books I should read. So far my list is:

The Silmarillion
Wheel of Time
Demon Cycle
Mistborn

Can you add anything to that list? I am looking for the best of the best. Not interested in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings for obvious reasons. May consider reading LOTR after reading Silmarillion.

Sci-Fi suggestions are also appreciated but I am not interested in Asimov or 1984 type of sci-fi's. If there are sci-fi books (more likely, series') with their own whole universes and are extremely good, I am interested in those. I consider reading 2061 and 3001 but I have very mixed feelings, don't want to spoil the movie. Also, I very well realize Mass Effect has its books, the same applies to them too.

I dislike politics, religion, social stuff. I like appealing expression of the dark powers, mystery, epic-scaled events, heroism etc. Anything with the similar dark charm of Sauron, give it to me.

what's the obvious reason you are not interested in Lord of the Rings and would only consider reading it after Silmarillion?

Especially since LOTR and Game of Thrones are pretty much the only decent fantasy novels/series

[Rich]

Twilight, Sparks, Twilight!

Spoiler: click to toggle

I'm joking, of course. *shudders*

[Rich]

NPR once did a 100 best Sci-Fi/Fantasy list and it's not a bad list:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843 ... tasy-books

[mightysparks]

NPR once did a 100 best Sci-Fi/Fantasy list and it's not a bad list:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843 ... tasy-books

That's the one I'm working on, but there's so much fantasy Unless Leopardi's just been picking all the bad stuff for me

[Leopardi]

NPR once did a 100 best Sci-Fi/Fantasy list and it's not a bad list:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843 ... tasy-books

That's the one I'm working on, but there's so much fantasy Unless Leopardi's just been picking all the bad stuff for me

Wait, was I not supposed to be doing that?

[Rich]

I was bored and made a top 100 of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy books:

Spoiler: click to toggle

1. LOTR
2. Gravity's Rainbow (kind of?)
3. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
4. 1984
5. The Handmaiden's Tale
6. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
7. A Midsummer Night's Dream
8. Paradise Lost
9. Beowulf
10. The Odyssey
11. The Iliad
12. Dracula
13. The Winter's Tale
14. All of Poe's work
15. Doctor Faustus (Marlowe)
16. The Hobbit
17. Le Morte d'Arthur
18. The Once and Future King
19. The Pillowman
20. Hyperion series
21. The Shining
22. Jurassic Park
23. 2001: ASO
24. The Journey to the West
25. Gilgamesh
26. Brave New World
27. The Divine Comedy
28. Fahrenheit 451
29. The Oedipus Cycle
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
31. The Oresteia
32. Watership Down
33. The Master and Margarita
34. The Brothers Grimm's work
35. A Clockwork Orange
36. Ovid's Metamorphosis
37. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
38. Medea (Euripides)
39. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
40. Grendel
41. The Frogs
42. The Tempest
43. Dune
44. The Aeneid
45. Hans Christian Andersen's work
46. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
47. The Mahabharata
48. Gargantua and Pantagruel
49. Gulliver's Travels
50. Frankenstein
51. The Metamorphosis
52. The Foundation Trilogy
53. Around the World in 80 Days
54. Edda
55. Solaris
56. Arabian Nights
57. The Stand
58. The Land That Time Forgot
59. The Trial
60. Neuromancer
61. Njal's Saga
62. The Turn of the Screw
63. The Time Machine
64. The Lathe of Heaven
65. Carrie
66. Troilus and Criseyde (Chauser)
67. Ramayana
68. Salem's Lot
69. Midnight's Children
70. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
71. The Devil and Daniel Webster
72. Electra (Sophocles)
73. I am Legend
74. Perrault's work
75. The Island of Dr. Monroe
76. The Silmarillion
77. Orlando
78. Doctor Faustus (Goethe)
79. The Children of Hurin
80. It
81. The Blind Assassin
82. The Left Hand of Darkness
83. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
84. Congo
85. The War of the Worlds
86. A Wizard of Earthsea
87. Doctor Faustus (Thomas Mann)
88. Treasure Island
89. The Andromeda Strain
90. The Invisible Man
91. Peter Pan
92. Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare)
93. The Day of the Triffids
94. A Canticle for Leibowitz
95. Harry Potter
96. Flowers for Algernon
97. The Wonderful World of Oz
98. Something Wicked This Way Comes
99. Journey to the Center of the Earth
100. American Gods

[Nuclearplanet]

started reading We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson. Really good book so far. Anyone ever read it? thoughts?

[Pretentious Hipster]

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015 ... -textspeak

[sebby]

started reading We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson. Really good book so far. Anyone ever read it? thoughts?

Looks interesting. I'll give it a read this weekend.