book reccomendations! - Page 2

diaphorrhoea · #26 (**permalink**) Jan 10, 05

You can't go wrong with Kurt Vonnegut. I recommend starting with Slaughterhouse Five and then Breakfast of Champions.

Also definitely check out Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, and if you like it move on to Steppenwolf. It sounds corny and stupid, but Siddhartha changed my life.

filipmaj · #27 (**permalink**) Jan 10, 05

My favourite book of all time is without a doubt Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Not only is it one of the funniest pieces of literature ever written but it's also pretty insightful.

sidekick · #28 (**permalink**) Jan 10, 05

^fuck, that book is awesome. my favourite character is Major Major Major Major. hehe.

Cdn_Brdr · #29 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

It's hard to make recommendations when you aren't giving us some insight into what you like to read Myra Ann!!!! :)

I really enjoy biographies myself. I just recently finished reading Anthony Kiedis' 'Scar Tissue". WOW!

The Cobain Diaries is amazing even though it is invasive. I felt wrong reading it but I couldn't NOT read it. I have that one if you would like to read it.

Someone mentioned Motley Crue's 'The Dirt'. That is the best example of debauchery ever put on paper! hahaha

sidekick · #30 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cdn_Brdr

The Cobain Diaries is amazing even though it is invasive. I felt wrong reading it but I couldn't NOT read it. I have that one if you would like to read it.

haha, i was exactly the same way. i've kept a journal since i was 8 years old and know that i would NEVER EVER want anyone under any circumstances to read anything in there.

buuuuuuut i couldn't stop myself from buying kurt's journals and reading them all in one sitting. he's such an interesting character, and although i really felt like i was spying on him while i was reading them, i pushed the feeling deep down and away because the journals were so good.

does this make us bad people?

Cdn_Brdr · #31 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Yes.... we are both going to Hell Jake. If I get there first I'll save you a seat beside me and Martin Scorsece. :)

Gusto · #32 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by filipmaj

My favourite book of all time is without a doubt Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Not only is it one of the funniest pieces of literature ever written but it's also pretty insightful.

i need a new book too, i'll pick this up today.

sidekick · #33 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cdn_Brdr

Yes.... we are both going to Hell Jake. If I get there first I'll save you a seat beside me and Martin Scorsece. :)

make sure stanley kubrick is there, i've always wanted to meet him.

oh, and hitler too, but just so i can flick him in the nose.

stringbeans · #34 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Developing Java Enterprise Applications

BEST BOOK EVER

stringbeans · #35 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

ps. reading's for chumps

Gusto · #36 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

you're for chumps!

Cdn_Brdr · #37 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sidekick

make sure stanley kubrick is there, i've always wanted to meet him.

oh, and hitler too, but just so i can flick him in the nose.

We can thank Kubrick for "A Clockwork Orange". Picture Wayne's World when they meet Alice Cooper.

WE'RE NOT WORTHY! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!

sidekick · #38 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

^that is exactly what i was thinking. we should get the naked indian from wayne's world 2 to show us the ropes in hell. i'm sure he's kicking around there somewhere.

Senior · #39 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

For pure debauchery read the Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mack's biographies!

sidekick · #40 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senior

For pure debauchery read the Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mack's biographies!

i would love to read a Rolling Stones biography. i'm assuming there is more than one, do you have any suggestions?

decypher · #41 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Tom clancy - without remorse is good

im currently reading the da vinci code, then i'm moving onto the hunter s. thompson the gonzo papers series

lithe · #42 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

i really didn't like the corrections. it was depressing for the clear purpose of being depressing.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo. my fave book. it's a witty, character-driven story about blue-collar, small town america. it's amazing.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. breathtaking, fascinating, depressing.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. one of the finest indian lit books i've read, and i've read a lot.

Perfume by Patrick Suskind. not as 'great' as the others, but fascinatingly morbid.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Lolita by Nabokov

The Master & Margarita by Bulgakov

Disgrace by JM Coetzee

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

and although you've probably read them all: A Clockwork Orange (Burgess), 1984 & Animal Farm (Orwell), Life of Pi (Martel), Mists of Avalon (Bradley), One Hundred Years of Solitude (Garcia Marquez).

... all are great books. i'll add more as they come to me.

sidekick · #43 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by lithe

i really didn't like the corrections. it was depressing for the clear purpose of being depressing.

i'm only on page 80ish, so i'll have to inform you what i think when i'm done. :)

miss.myra · #44 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

picked up a copy of hey nostradamus yesterday, but i should be done that within a week or so, that is why i love coupland, i can't stop reading his books once i pick them up

lithe · #45 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

please do. people seem to either love it or hate it. i should give it a re-read though, to be fair, because i read it in about 5 hours straight in a hotel room in lisbon, because i had to return it that night.

re: Oryx & Crake, i read that book yesterday, and was quite impressed, especially considering it's a *cringe* Atwood, but did anyone else feel like they were missing something when they came to the end? not so much about what snowman would do, but rather what were crake's motives?

lithe · #46 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

^^ i read Microserfs a few days ago, and started off super into it, but wasn't overly impressed when i finished. are all couplands so anticlimatic? i haven't read any in years. i don't think i'm nearly post-post-modern enough, i keep on expecting stuff to HAPPEN. monster's ball was quite a disappointment. :|

Cdn_Brdr · #47 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by lithe

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

That's a great book. I was also in a theatre production of that book. I played Katchinsky. :) It was a great time playing the part where my best friend is dying in my arms and I get to go all insane. You get a certain amount of satisfaction by making an audience cry from your performance. It was awesome.

lithe · #48 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

i think i cried about 50 times when i was reading it. it's just so simple and honest. some of the passages... god. *sniff*

interloper · #49 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Ermmm...

I love Issiac Asminov, His short stories are really good. I have recently finished Salt Fish Girl, which is a sci-fi book which predicts what the world may become (in respect to globalization and corporations). It is a really cool book, talks about the Genome project and other stuff. It is one of those books that you can actually delve deep into. I have a copy if you want to borrow it.

Lets see.. other than that. I am assuming you have read neuromancer and snowcrash.

OH CRAP I FORGOT. K the best book I have ever read is The Englishmans Boy by Guy Vanderhauge. By far the deepest and richest book I have ever read. If you dont get it then thats ok. There are soooo many themes and meanings in that book it is crazy. I spent a month doing a study on it. And best of all its Canadian, so if you like thought provoking books, The Englishman's Boy if for you.

If you liked the god of small things and like essays, or should I say very long rants then I would suggest Power Politics by Arundhati Roy.

Something that I want to read that I have not had the chance to is The Catcher in the Rye , Dante's Inferno.

Other than that, je ne sais pas.

-Preet

Wood · #50 (**permalink**) Jan 11, 05

Quote:

Originally Posted by axion

'kitchen confidential' by anthony bourdain.

Second that, it's a very enjoyable read. Kurt Vonnegut was also mentioned, his books are some of my favorites. 'Cat's Cradle' stood out to me as one of his best.

I've also enjoyed Gore Vidal's satirical novels (like 'Kalki' and 'Live From Golgotha'), he takes some well placed jabs at organized religion which are both hilarious and very smart. I've tried reading some of his more serious works but couldn't get into them.

Frank Herbert has been a long time favorite of mine, although i'm sure a lot of people would shrug him off as being just another sci-fi author. His books (particularly the 'Dune' series) show some pretty intense insight on human society, the picture he paints of the future is is incredibly vivid and believable. The series does slow down a fair bit towards the middle (ie 'Children' and 'God Emporor') but the reward if you make it through is the last 2 novels, which i found absolutely stunning. just be sure to steer clear of the prequels his son has written, unless you're a fan of Star Wars novels!