Topic: Books

[ren]

I want to read some stories. I don't have any specific genre in mind. All I want is to read something original. I don't want to read a very familiar book, something where I can  sympathize with the characters all the way through. I want to read something new, something I haven't thought of before.

These are the books on my list so far.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The Sparrow I'm getting because I heard it's the sequel to Children of God, and the trailer for that looked cool. Animal Farm is just a famous book so I figured I should be familiar with it. Me Talk Pretty One Day I found through random google searches and it seemed interesting. I don't have much of a frame of reference with books, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Quemaqua]

So I'm to understand you want fiction where you... don't identify with the characters at all?  Want to make sure I'm getting it right before I start suggesting anything.

[ren]

No, I just worded that badly. I just want to read something that makes me think, or shows me something that I haven't seen or thought of before. basically original and not generic.

I'd be happy if you just recommended some good books, and I can look into them and see if they're what I'm looking for.

[iPPi]

Animal Farm is an interesting book.  I remember reading it for my Grade 8 English class.

I personally like books by Dean Koontz.

[TheOtherBelmont]

All of Chuck Palahniuk's stuff is good (the author of Fight Club), some of my favorites by him are Choke, Lullaby, and Fight Club of course.

Anthony Burgess writes a lot of cool stuff, most notably A Clockwork Orange.

Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series (2001, 2010, 2068, and 3001) is a good sci-fi read.

Those are some that come to mind right now, I might add some more later.

[ren]

Added to the list:

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter m. Miller Jr.
Survivor: Chuck Palahnuik
Manhattan Loverboy - Arthur Nersesian
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick

These were mostly found through reading lists on amazon.

I've heard about Dean Koontz so I'll be sure to check that out at somepoint. I've read A Clockwork Orange so that's done. I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi so I'll get to Space Odyssey eventually.

If only I could read as fast as I could watch movies.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Good call on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Survivor.

[Quemaqua]

Eh, I've never been much on Koontz.

Latest thing I've been reading and loving is Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet.  Kind of a... Hitchhiker's Guide meets religious apocalypse kind of thing.  Incredibly funny.  If you've never read Moby Dick, that's one of the best ever written.  Has some of my favorite scenes ever in either book, movie, or game.  I've been reading The Trial by Franz Kafka as well... pretty much anything by him is guaranteed to get your mind going.  I also highly recommend picking up a copy of the Dictionary of Imaginary Places and just perusing.  It's wonderful.

[Cools]

What about Brave New World or 1984?

[idolminds]

You have to read this book! I'm about half way through...the suspense is killing me.

[ren]

I've read both of those Cools.

Que, all of those suggestions seem awesome, and have been added. Good Omens seems especially interesting, hopefully my limited knowledge of religion doesn't make the book go completely over my head. Dictionary of Imaginary Places seems like an awesome coffee table type book.

[Quemaqua]

I wouldn't worry about Good Omens.  The religious stuff is reeeally broad.  The Antichrist, demons, angels, four horsemen of the apocalypse, that kind of thing.  It's mostly just very funny.

[ender]

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers (it's non-fiction but it's amazing)

The Ice Storm - Rick Moody (non-fiction but amazing, sorry again!)

Pale Fire - Vladamir Nabokov

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Just a few there...

[Xessive]

I don't read much fiction, but a friend of mine recommended The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike. From what I've heard about it so far it sounds like a great read.

[poomcgoo]

Crime and Punishment sucks.  Wait, let me rephrase that.  Crime and Punishment is too much work.  Good luck trying to decipher between 30 russian names that all look the same.  I almost resorted to taking notes during that book.  Granted, the story is great, but it can be a huge pain in the ass.

Regrettably, I don't read.  The last thing I read was in 10th grade -- 5 years ago.  Coincidentally, this week I actually began looking for good books to read in an attempt to be more educated.

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Check that place out.  It's a place to download free ebooks of classic stories.  They have over 19,000 books for download, they're making a project out of it. To get the most or something.  Who cares, free books.  I actually just began reading The Count of Monte Cristo, Unabridged.

[ren]

I've read the first chapter of The Trial and so far it's great.

Poom, that's an awesome site I see myself visiting often.

[Quemaqua]

Glad you're liking it, ren.  Kafka was strange, but amazing in his own way.  Very celebrated either way.

[TheOtherBelmont]

That site rocks Poom, I'll be there quite often now.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I meant to mention that too.  I could go nuts with that if I had a better way to read ebooks.  My PSP is nice with the reader, but the battery life is just too short.

[ren]

I'm exactly halfway through the book now, and not liking it as much. It's really dragging on, nothing is happening. Based on what I've read, I can't see why this book is given so much praise. There's still a good 140 pages left though, so maybe in the next day or two I'll find out.

[Antares]

Fahrenheight 451 - Ray Bradbury
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
and if you're in the mood for some good non-fiction. All of Carl Sagan's books are awesome.

[poomcgoo]

I also just stumbled across this guy:

http://wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page

Seems like the same idea as project Gutenberg, they may have other titles here though, plus it's a little more readable than a .txt file.

[Ghandi]

I was going to start a "what are you reading" thread but I'll just bump this instead. 

I just finished reading City of Thieves by David Benioff and it was excellent. It's set in Russia during WW2 and follows two people as they are sent on a mission to find eggs. Sounds strange, but its a great story (and a national bestseller). Highly recommended.

Also, Ren, you need to read Catch22 if you haven't already. Its my favorite book of all time.

[TheOtherBelmont]

Right now when I'm not reading various trades of comics, I'm reading Frank Herbert's Chapterhouse: Dune which is the 6th and final Dune book that Frank Herbert was able to finish before his death.  I plan on reading the two sequels his son wrote afterwards.  I also plan on reading Chuck Palahnuik's Rant afterwards since I haven't read anything of his since Haunted.

[gpw11]

The World According to Garp and Catch 22 are both good fiction novels with hard to identify with main characters.

Oh, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Catcher in the Rye are all books I was supposed to read in highschool, didn't and ended up being very impressed with later in life.