Author Topic: Litfags: I want more books (Read 7244 times)

TakingBackSunday · « **on:** January 21, 2009, 12:49:34 PM »

I haven't been reading a lot lately, and I have to take advantage of my Borders discount sometime here soon, so I'm asking for some recommendations for good books to read. Mostly fiction. On my shelf right now, I have On the Road, Slaughterhouse-Five, Dorian Gray, Brave New World, 1984, Catcher in the Rye, Animal Farm, some Arthur Rimbaud poetry collections, and Tarantula by Dylan. Are there anything you guys can recommend me that are anywhere at all similar to those books?

I know for a fact I need more Vonnegut.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #1 on:** January 21, 2009, 12:51:02 PM »

war with the evil power master

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #2 on:** January 21, 2009, 12:52:34 PM »

Choose Your Own Adventure? omg

TVC15 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 21, 2009, 12:55:36 PM »

For you? Are You There God? It's Me Margaret.

Reb · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2009, 12:55:43 PM »

The Great Gatsby.

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #5 on:** January 21, 2009, 12:58:38 PM »

Quote from: Rebiak on January 21, 2009, 12:55:43 PM

The Great Gatsby.

Read it already. Twas alright.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:00:44 PM »

Some PKD

http://www.amazon.com/Philip-K-Dick-Stigmata-Eldritch/dp/1598530097

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:02:11 PM »

Is that one book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the basis for a semi-recent movie? I coulda swore I read somewhere it was.

Eric P · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:02:57 PM »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/1000novels

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:03:29 PM »

Quote from: BrandNew on January 21, 2009, 01:02:11 PM

Is that one book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the basis for a semi-recent movie? I coulda swore I read somewhere it was.

It's the basis for Blade Runner.

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #10 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:04:04 PM »

YES that was it. That sounds interesting, I'll look for all of those at Borders. Gracias

and I bookmarked that link, Eric P, thanks

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #11 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:05:34 PM »

Quote from: BrandNew on January 21, 2009, 01:04:04 PM

YES that was it. That sounds interesting, I'll look for all of those at Borders. Gracias

Do you mean you'll look for those individual books, or are you saying that to everyone in the thread? You should really buy that particular copy, as it is freaking awesome. 900 pages in such a small, high-quality package.

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #12 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:09:13 PM »

Quote from: CajoleJuice on January 21, 2009, 01:05:34 PM

Quote from: BrandNew on January 21, 2009, 01:04:04 PM
YES that was it. That sounds interesting, I'll look for all of those at Borders. Gracias

Do you mean you'll look for those individual books, or are you saying that to everyone in the thread? You should really buy that particular copy, as it is freaking awesome. 900 pages in such a small, high-quality package.

Well we might have that in store, unless it's a Amazon exclusive or something. I'll check this weekend, I have to go in to work to pick up my paycheck, since I never signed up for direct deposit and they never mailed it to me

ToxicAdam · « **Reply #13 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:11:03 PM »

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates - Tom Robbins

Read the reviews .. people love it. The story is not top notch, but there are passages and chapters in there that will pop your head off.

http://www.amazon.com/Fierce-Invalids-Home-Hot-Climates/dp/055337933X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232561000&sr=8-1

Robo · « **Reply #14 on:** January 21, 2009, 02:02:08 PM »

I am reading Pynchon. You should too.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2009, 02:04:31 PM »

Quote from: RoboJ on January 21, 2009, 02:02:08 PM

I am reading Pynchon. You should too.

Which book? I have a few of his works on my Amazon Wish List, but I'm not sure where to start.

Robo · « **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2009, 02:07:59 PM »

Crying of Lot 49, as stated many times here, is very short and very sweet, and a perfect starting point. If you're into Vonnegut at all, there's a whole hell of a lot to like about it.

I'm about to start Gravity's Rainbow, but I dunno how that's gonna work out given its length and my dimwit attention span.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #17 on:** January 21, 2009, 02:11:26 PM »

I'm not a huge fan of Vonnegut's style, but I'll check that out first. Thanks.

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #18 on:** January 21, 2009, 03:07:59 PM »

Twilight

dammitmattt · « **Reply #19 on:** January 21, 2009, 03:09:58 PM »

Chasing Harry Winston

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #20 on:** January 21, 2009, 03:51:28 PM »

Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

CajoleJuice · « **Reply #21 on:** January 21, 2009, 03:53:08 PM »

Quote from: Great Rumbler on January 21, 2009, 03:51:28 PM

Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

Great book. Well, it's more like a collection of short stories strung together, but still awesome. It's like a bunch of Twilight Zone episodes.

drew · « **Reply #22 on:** January 21, 2009, 03:54:45 PM »

world war z is pretty good

i cant get through more than a story at a time tho

plus youve probably already read it

TVC15 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 21, 2009, 03:55:31 PM »

As far as style goes, Pynchon writes circles around Vonnegut. I understand comparing the two authors, but if it's Vonnegut's style that turns you off, Pynchon is a much better writer in terms of nitty gritty writing quality.

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #24 on:** January 21, 2009, 03:58:15 PM »

Great suggestions, all.

Actually I HAVEN'T read World War Z, but all my friends have. I don't know, zombie fiction doesn't really strike me as a good read, but maybe I'll bite sometime soon.

I've read things about Martian Chronicles, and I like Bradbury, so I'll give that a shot.

I think I'll be buying that, Crying of Lot 49, and some of the others scattered around this thread.

So if I really LIKE Vonnegut's style (Slaughterhouse being one of my favorites ever), will I like Pynchon more or less?

TVC15 · « **Reply #25 on:** January 21, 2009, 04:02:08 PM »

Quote from: BrandNew on January 21, 2009, 03:58:15 PM

So if I really LIKE Vonnegut's style (Slaughterhouse being one of my favorites ever), will I like Pynchon more or less?

I dunno. They are just very different styles. Vonnegut's style feels like having a nice conversation with someone. Pynchon's writing is a lot more dense. For whatever reason, I want to call it kind of baroque.

With that in mind, The Crying of Lot 49 is the easiest thing to read in his catlog. It's still really dense, though.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #26 on:** January 21, 2009, 04:03:31 PM »

Quote from: BrandNew on January 21, 2009, 03:58:15 PM

I've read things about Martian Chronicles, and I like Bradbury, so I'll give that a shot.

Just don't go in expecting it to be realistic scifi like 2001. It's much more steeped in fantasy and what-if's [and Twilight Zone-esque mystique] than trying to accurately portray what the universe is like.

drew · « **Reply #27 on:** January 21, 2009, 04:09:13 PM »

Quote from: BrandNew on January 21, 2009, 03:58:15 PM

Actually I HAVEN'T read World War Z, but all my friends have. I don't know, zombie fiction doesn't really strike me as a good read, but maybe I'll bite sometime soon.

so far it hasnt really been zombie fiction but a lot of talk about the politics and "personal stories" about what would happen if an outbreak like this did happen as well as the days and weeks leading up to panic. pretty interesting stuff so far. its not as believable a situation as 28 days later imo, but its also not campy nerd porn like Dawn of the Dead either. i guess what im trying to say is it focuses more on the people, not the undead

you should pick it up, its only $15 @ Borders

easy to read in 5-10 min chunks here and there

as well as put down for a month and be fine

demi · « **Reply #28 on:** January 21, 2009, 04:11:38 PM »

Goosebumps

Barry Egan · « **Reply #29 on:** January 21, 2009, 04:11:53 PM »

Quote from: CajoleJuice on January 21, 2009, 02:11:26 PM

I'm not a huge fan of Vonnegut's style, but I'll check that out first. Thanks.

gtfo

edit: also to the OP, I suggest you read

Julia Kristeva's "Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection"

drew · « **Reply #30 on:** January 21, 2009, 04:13:34 PM »

Quote from: demi on January 21, 2009, 04:11:38 PM

Goosebumps

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

are you afraid of the dark killed it

videokilledtheradiostar.mp3 etc etc

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #31 on:** January 21, 2009, 08:53:58 PM »

Quote from: CajoleJuice on January 21, 2009, 02:04:31 PM

Quote from: RoboJ on January 21, 2009, 02:02:08 PM
I am reading Pynchon. You should too.

Which book? I have a few of his works on my Amazon Wish List, but I'm not sure where to start.

Vineland is very accessible - it has ninjas and pachinko!

(and everything else including the kitchen sink. A minimalist he is not).

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #32 on:** January 21, 2009, 08:58:14 PM »

Anyone read Shutter Island? Sounds awesome, plus I want to read it before the movie comes out

Madrun Badrun · « **Reply #33 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:03:13 PM »

no connection to any of the books you listed but Great Expectations is awesome.

Guybrush Threepwood · « **Reply #34 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:04:58 PM »

If you have already read 1984 and Brave New World, then you have to read this

Eric P · « **Reply #35 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:12:11 PM »

god NO that is one of the most pedantic overwrought and flat out condescending books i've ever tried to read.

i made it to page 30 before i just threw it away.

i wish i were more versed in media theory to give people an alternative track to the same conclusions, but I just don't have the knowledge there.

the book just drove me absolutely mad

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021502901_pf.html

read that. it's cantankerous and up to date in that "waving your cane at kids" way but it's shorter and free

Eric P · « **Reply #36 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:13:07 PM »

also, Moorcock on popular literature

Quote

The realities are that literary fiction, except where it is highly publicised through such corrupted methods as the Booker Prize, never sells as well as popular fiction and popular fiction obeys certain rules. The closer literary fiction mirrors those same rules, the better it does. It doesn't much rock the conventional boat, it reflects the pieties and values of the day, it makes people feel good about themselves, it makes them, perhaps, feel superior, it delivers a hefty dose of escapism and reader-flattery. You, says the middle brow writer, are as smart as me. Middle brow writers like Kingsley Amis, for instance, also manage to get away, rather like his son, with reflecting the prejudices and snobberies of the day in a way which further flatters the reader or at least makes them feel comfortable
about their prejudices. This is why such writers are bought in large numbers, why they understandably become self-impressed, though it is probable, of course, that the kind of advance offered to Amis reflects the publisher's wish to enhance his prestige rather than his bank account, whereas advances paid to the likes of J.K.Rowling are recovered almost immediately.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #37 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:15:47 PM »

Listen, I have great respect for Moorcock, but you don't just dismiss Kingsley AND Martin Amis in a handful of words like that and expect to get taken seriously. The latter is genuinely high-brow in the scope and ambition of his fiction; he's only middle-brow in terms of sales.

Eric P · « **Reply #38 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:18:31 PM »

personally i love Martin Amis, or did until he hit on kookoo muslim hatred

Money is pretty awesome and comes highly recommended.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_(novel)

(don't start with london fields as i did)

Eric P · « **Reply #39 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:23:39 PM »

whoops, i actually started with Night Train which was interesting but not really great, then i went to london fields and damn near gave up until my friend, a certified Amis maniac, told me to read Money which set me on the proper path

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #40 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:25:57 PM »

I loved London Fields, but then again, I guess it relies a lot on observation of UK life. Try Time's Arrow if you haven't already - there's nothing else like it out there that I know of.

Eric P · « **Reply #41 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:27:07 PM »

it's on "the list"

tragically, the list is so very long

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #42 on:** January 21, 2009, 09:29:57 PM »

better than it being too short!

It's a fast read, waaaaaaay faster than London Fields or The Information etc. It's utterly harrowing and unnerving though.

The Rachel Papers is also very light and fun. He was a totally different writer back then.

Rman · « **Reply #43 on:** January 21, 2009, 10:05:09 PM »

Quote from: Eric P on January 21, 2009, 09:18:31 PM

personally i love Martin Amis, or did until he hit on kookoo muslim hatred

Money is pretty awesome and comes highly recommended.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_(novel)

(don't start with london fields as i did)

I love Money. One my favorite novels.

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #44 on:** January 21, 2009, 10:08:16 PM »

I'd personally take Money alone over Eric P's enormo-box of Moorcock but YMMV.

Money

Eric P · « **Reply #45 on:** January 21, 2009, 10:09:13 PM »

Quote from: Cormacaroni on January 21, 2009, 10:08:16 PM

I'd personally take Money alone over Eric P's enormo-box of Moorcock but YMMV.

Money

ask your wife, there is nothing better than a box full of 'cock.

i've actually been upgrading and rotating out many of the books in that collection so now i have quite a bit more than i did in better editions.

there is a series of all his works out in AU but the shipping costs scare me

Cormacaroni · « **Reply #46 on:** January 21, 2009, 10:12:37 PM »

Eric P · « **Reply #47 on:** January 22, 2009, 12:12:43 PM »

today's 1000 books update is sci-fi/fantasy/horror

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/22/1000-novels-science-fiction-fantasy-part-one

TakingBackSunday · « **Reply #48 on:** January 22, 2009, 12:21:40 PM »

Those Iain Banks books sound awesome

Eric P · « **Reply #49 on:** January 22, 2009, 12:22:38 PM »

Quote from: BrandNew on January 22, 2009, 12:21:40 PM

Those Iain Banks books sound awesome

i've only read wasp factory but i have like 5 of the culture books just waiting for me to get to them

Robo · « **Reply #50 on:** January 22, 2009, 12:30:43 PM »

Quote from: Eric P on January 22, 2009, 12:12:43 PM

today's 1000 books update is sci-fi/fantasy/horror

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/22/1000-novels-science-fiction-fantasy-part-one

Well, I've read the dust jackets on a lot of those. I guess that's better than nothing.

TVC15 · « **Reply #51 on:** January 22, 2009, 12:34:38 PM »

The Wasp Factory is

Eric P · « **Reply #52 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:06:58 PM »

Quote from: Genghis Cohen on January 22, 2009, 02:56:03 PM

Quote from: BrandNew on January 22, 2009, 12:21:40 PM
Those Iain Banks books sound awesome
Iain Banks is hot buttery sex. His non-genre stuff is good (wasp factory , although patel disagrees), and his genre stuff is amazing.

i hereby banish patel from evilbore

from now on, he may go violet.

Eric P · « **Reply #53 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:09:17 PM »

Quote from: Genghis Cohen on January 22, 2009, 03:07:53 PM

patel doesn't hate, he just thinks it is a bit overrated.

if he wants a truly shocking debut novel dealing with man's curious nature and relationship to society, there is always Off Season by Jack Ketchum

or Red

elektrikluv · « **Reply #54 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:12:06 PM »

The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Trial - Franz Kafka
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

elektrikluv · « **Reply #55 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:19:49 PM »

dance dance dance is a good one. Norwegian Wood is also a good intro novel, it was the first one I read.

Eric P · « **Reply #56 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:20:38 PM »

lolita is a great choice

read it once, then go back over it with a guide so you can get the allusions

it's called "use your allusion" so just use an allusion to like poe or something, but not poe because i'm doing poe

elektrikluv · « **Reply #57 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:27:49 PM »

Quote from: Genghis Cohen on January 22, 2009, 03:22:57 PM

Quote from: elektrikluv on January 22, 2009, 03:19:49 PM
dance dance dance is a good one. Norwegian Wood is also a good intro novel, it was the first one I read.
I didn't particularly like Norwegian Wood. It's almost like he abandoned his style for a novel to say something sentimental and personal, when his style suits that mode anyway. dancedancedance is my absolute favorite, with Hard Boiled Wonderland and Wind up Bird next.

I love murakami, but the only problem is although i've found the books to be really touching and memorable right after i've read them, they leave their impression, but once i've read like 5 or 6 of his books it becomes hard to distinguish plots and characters as they just merge into one.

Himu · « **Reply #58 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:41:04 PM »

been reading song of ice and fire series, and half of man is woman

Read Lolita, Battle Royale, and a bunch of other stuff last month

Himu · « **Reply #59 on:** January 22, 2009, 03:41:43 PM »

eric p i love you for that 1000 books link

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Author Topic: Litfags: I want more books (Read 7244 times)