i don't know that i'd pick Invisible Monsters from Chuck Palahniuk over some of his other works. Survivor is a bit more solid i think.
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List of Books Everyone Should Read at Least Once...
- Thread starter Stridder44
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i don't know that i'd pick Invisible Monsters from Chuck Palahniuk over some of his other works. Survivor is a bit more solid i think.
Yes, especially if the humour is quite dated or even difficult to understand. Delivery is everything.
I know it gets the purists grumbling, but some productions of tragedies I have seen recently have allowed room for improvisation in the light-relief moments. There's always a debate about which is more important: sticking firmly to the original text, or getting the audience laughing by adapting the humour.
I have to agree 110%. Absolutely fantastic read. I was very amazed by it.
A few good reads
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The White Plague by Frank Herbert
The Stand by Stephen King
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The World According to Garp by John Irving
I don't think there's a book on that list that I haven't read at least three times.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The White Plague by Frank Herbert
The Stand by Stephen King
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The World According to Garp by John Irving
I don't think there's a book on that list that I haven't read at least three times.
My vote for the best tragedy would have been King Lear. It's not as popular as MacBeth or Hamlet, but it's my favorite -- strikes a cord with a family man
. My vote for best comedy would be Taming of the Shrew, unless my wife is reading this, then it's Much Ado About Nothing.
Psh, Dr. Seuss? You mean the best books ever written? Seriously though, they were my favorite as a kid.
I can't believe that with this group no one has mentioned:
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Level 7 - by Mordecai Roshwald should be required reading for any high school student
The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay - Michael Chabon (they don't give the Pulitzer for nothing...)
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Level 7 - by Mordecai Roshwald should be required reading for any high school student
The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay - Michael Chabon (they don't give the Pulitzer for nothing...)
Best ever written? No. But that's not the thread you started. You said the list of books everyone should read at least once. If more people read or at least revisited these books, they just might learn a thing or two. The Starbellyed Sneetches are just as relevant today as they were when they were written.
Midnight's Children - Salmon Rushdie
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
Also, not at all well known, but a 'should-read': Imaginary Maps - Mahasweta Devi (a Bengali writer).
(I'm taking books to mean 'fiction')
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
Also, not at all well known, but a 'should-read': Imaginary Maps - Mahasweta Devi (a Bengali writer).
(I'm taking books to mean 'fiction')
Where's the love for the literary works of John Grisham or Tom Clancy?
I think Grisham's work - in basically all aspects - has gone downhill his last few books. The best ones were the first 5 or so - sharp, funny (in places that is), and had a good story.
you want to discuss the bard? you haven't asked me,
Finally!
Yeah, I've never read that one.
I think the one line in Midsummer that always gets to me because it's so true and yet so funny is Puck's, "Oh what fools these mortals be."
Not a truer phrase spoken!
Yup. Othello really did a nice job of that.
It also highlights what can happen when you aren't confident in yourself and those whom you love (ie Othello himself).
Macbeth was f***ing brilliant because you assume from the beginning that the witches' prophecy can never come true, but sure enough, good old William has a plan!
I also liked Lady MacBeth's insanity; I rate it second best to Ophelia in Hamlet.
@ harry potter comment: I just think that it really is a fun book and whenever I feel down, it always seems to raise me up just because it takes me to another place and it just helps me forget about the stresses I'm in.
That's a good reason.
My reason is because I think Harry Potter can accomplish what other works can't; it teaches important moral and life lessons to kids because unlike other literature, kids will actually want to read it.
You beat me to it! Electric poetry it is!
Childhoods End
Starship Troopers
1984
Ringworld
Dune
You gotta read some Bukowski. Try Post Office or Ham on Rye for his novels and Tales of Ordinary Madness for a compilation his poetry. Think poetry ain't for you? Read some Bukowski.
Biographies:
Life on Air by David Attenborough
The Moon's a Balloon or Bring on the Empty Horses by David Niven
Fiction:
This Book Will Save Your Life - A.M. Homes
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Biographies:
Life on Air by David Attenborough
The Moon's a Balloon or Bring on the Empty Horses by David Niven
Fiction:
This Book Will Save Your Life - A.M. Homes
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
in no particular order
1984
Animal Farm
2001: A Space Odyssey
and in more modern times
The DaVinci Code
Angels and Demons
Lord of the Rings series
1984
Animal Farm
2001: A Space Odyssey
and in more modern times
The DaVinci Code
Angels and Demons
Lord of the Rings series
i liked angel mass by timothy zahn
its a good sci fi
Amazon.com
How does Hugo-winner Timothy Zahn turn an otherwise straightforward SF page-turner into something truly interesting? With one of the oldest shticks in the book: the good ol' black-hole-that-spits-out-quantum-particles-of-human-goodness trick.
Of course, that's not exactly an old sci-fi shtick, but the essence of it (and its effect) is: the ever-clever Zahn has taken a very cool idea--what if there were quantum particles (or whatever) that compelled people to act ethically--and then explored the impact that might have, in this case on a society and its internal and external interactions. The particles in question are called "angels," and the interstellar alliance known as the Empyrean has been blessed with Angelmass, the eponymous black hole that emits them. The greedy, Earth-based Pax empire sees these angels as a brainwashing alien invasion and threatens to invade the Empyrean itself to set things straight. Thrown into the fray to explicate the implications are a bumbling but earnest Pax scientist-spy, a pretty young grifter, a brother-sister pair of grizzled space vets, and an Empyrean High Senator who fears the complacency that angels have bred into his society.
its a good sci fi
Amazon.com
How does Hugo-winner Timothy Zahn turn an otherwise straightforward SF page-turner into something truly interesting? With one of the oldest shticks in the book: the good ol' black-hole-that-spits-out-quantum-particles-of-human-goodness trick.
Of course, that's not exactly an old sci-fi shtick, but the essence of it (and its effect) is: the ever-clever Zahn has taken a very cool idea--what if there were quantum particles (or whatever) that compelled people to act ethically--and then explored the impact that might have, in this case on a society and its internal and external interactions. The particles in question are called "angels," and the interstellar alliance known as the Empyrean has been blessed with Angelmass, the eponymous black hole that emits them. The greedy, Earth-based Pax empire sees these angels as a brainwashing alien invasion and threatens to invade the Empyrean itself to set things straight. Thrown into the fray to explicate the implications are a bumbling but earnest Pax scientist-spy, a pretty young grifter, a brother-sister pair of grizzled space vets, and an Empyrean High Senator who fears the complacency that angels have bred into his society.
Oh wow, I'm not touching that.
I heard neuromancer was great, I'll have to pick it up. I still do need to finish the Foundation series (Asimov) and then Dune (Herbert) before though...
Where's the love for the literary works of John Grisham or Tom Clancy?
While somewhat talented, I don't think these authors fall into the category of must reads. Just my opinion.
As for other Mississippi authors, check out Larry Brown.
all three are a quality read, i don't see any problem with 'em. i even listed the second one earlier. history is a good thing to learn about.
1984
The Great Gatsby
Animal Farm
The Stranger
The Pearl
All Kafka
Do plays written in down in book form count? Then Definitely add Shakespeare's "MacBeth" and "King Lear" to the list.
The Great Gatsby
Animal Farm
The Stranger
The Pearl
All Kafka
Do plays written in down in book form count? Then Definitely add Shakespeare's "MacBeth" and "King Lear" to the list.