Books that have stayed with you

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StinkySocs

Tuesdays With Morrie - very good, but very sad. If you know anyone who was recently diagnosed with an illness, it's very motivating.

Remember Me - It's about a girl whose adopted and I'm adopted so it was interesting.

For a funny factor/chick lit then Viva Las Vegus - you will LOL! Promise!!

siltirocker

Animal Farm by George Orwell
High Fidelity by Nick Nornby
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
At Swim - Two Birds by Flann O'Brien
The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (Yes i know, a comic book/graphic novel).

In the regular occasions in my life where i've nothing new to read and i've no money to buy anything decent, these are the books i also find myself reading again and again and again. As regards a book that changed my whole notions of literature and the simple read definitely Animal Farm.

Valmont

Most of Kafka's work still gives me shivers when I think about it and I still laugh when I think of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books. Lolita is my favourite book of all time and I'm half way through the 1979 limited edition copy I bought over in the UK a few weeks ago. I'd have to say The Wasp Factory because it had been so long since a book really made my jaw drop.

Callan57

Valmont wrote: »

Most of Kafka's work still gives me shivers when I think about it and I still laugh when I think of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books. Lolita is my favourite book of all time and I'm half way through the 1979 limited edition copy I bought over in the UK a few weeks ago. I'd have to say The Wasp Factory because it had been so long since a book really made my jaw drop.

Agree with you .... Lolita is certainly a disturbing read and not easily forgotten.

CorkonianRebel

There are quite a few that comes to my mind that have stayed with me for varying reasons.That is what a good book does in my view.You are left thinking about it and you never forget the joy of reading it,the way it made you feel and how it effected you.Here are just a few of mine.....

Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien- The sheer scope and entertainment of the tale

The Dice Man - Luke Rhinehart - Just think of living your life solely to the die!

American Psycho -Bret Easton Ellis - The vivid details of a psycho

Lord of the Flies- I had to study this in school but loved it.Are we that close to savagery?

All of Philip K Dicks Works seem to stay with me but most notably A Scanner Darkly.He is the only author that after every time I read his books I am left continually thinking about the tale and its themes.

you just read this

The Dark Tower series by Stephan King, mind blowing stuff.


Eh sorry for this WILDLY off topic question but how do you 'thank' posts?:o

siltirocker

you just read this wrote: »

The Dark Tower series by Stephan King, mind blowing stuff.


Eh sorry for this WILDLY off topic question but how do you 'thank' posts?:o

the 'thumbs up' button in the bottom right hand corner of each post.

Giselle

The first 'grown-up' novel I read as a young teen, was Sophies Choice by William Styron It haunted me for years. I was probably too impressionable to read it at that age, the subject was difficult to comprehend completely so young.

The second one I remember most from my teens was one called The Artificial Man by LP Davies, a sci-fi one that I found on a shelf. It wasn't very good, but it sparked an interest in sci-fi that kept me busy for most of my teens.:)

Bearhunter

The Borstal Boy - Brendan Behan - I read this every year and I still get great joy out of it.

Clancy's Bulba - Michael O'Gormon - A magnificent book, packed with wit, insight, piles and cockfighting. An absolute treasure.

The Tain - Thomas Kinsella - Probably the greatest saga of them all after the Iliad.

Those in Peril - Russell Braddon. An odd book, quite simple and even predictable, but a beautifully constructed story.

Stay Me With Flagons - Maurice Healy - Probably the best wine book ever written.

Dracula - Bram Stoker - The archetypal horror novel.

The Criminal History of Mankind - Colin Wilson - Utterly fascinating look at the development of civilisation as seen through crime.

Padraic Colum's Treasury of Irish Folklore is another I keep dipping into, although to label it simply folklore would be a sin.

I. Claudius by Robert Graves is a constant companion as well.

sponsoredwalk

fergywergy wrote: »

Anthony Kiedis Autobiography is a keeper if ur into that sort of thing.

What a crazy book, I've read it about 10 times

What sticks in my mind right now is Tolstoy's Anna Karenina,
Susskind's The Pigeon, Chekov's Uncle Vanya, Salinger's Franny & Zooey
& Gogol's The Overcoat. All these books contain literary stitches from the
same ball of thought-wool are really worth the time if you have it.

angelxx

Anna Karenina is one of my all time favourites. It is often counted as one of the best novels ever written.

JohnMearsheimer

I read This Boys Life when I was 16 and I still go back to it now 10 years later. It really struck a chord with my teenage self. American Psycho was a fantastic insight into the mind of a total loon. The Remains of the Day taught me to live my life with as few regrets as possible.

guineapig1975

Here's my list in no particular order (and they're only my faves at the mo'):

• The Mistress of Silence by Jacqueline Harpmann
• Spares by Michael Marshall Smith
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Children of Men by P.D. James
• It by Stephen King
• Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes
• Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (A children's book but no less fabulous. I still have the copy I got when I was ten!)
• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

I have so many others that I re-read again and again.

todolist

Is that it? ............Bob Geldof
Tarry Flynn...........Patrick Kavanagh.
Terrific reads.

Denerick

I second Tarry Flynn

Censorsh!t

American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis - I read this when I was quite young (around 12 or 13) so no wonder it had such an affect on me. I just remember it as being disturbing, not only for the graphic violence, but the way it was written.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides - I absolutely loved this book. So many times there were lines where I just nodded my head and couldn't help smiling because it was such a perfect way of describing something.

Animal Farm by George Orwell - Especially the very last line. Very powerful

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - So many clever lines and a great story

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - At first I was a bit baffled by the nadsat language, but once I got the hang of it, it totally made the story. Great book

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - A short story. It really creeped me out, but in a good way.

NatWW

'Writings from Prison' by Bobby Sands

I read it 10 years ago when I was a student. It put everything back into perspective.

Denerick

Censorsh!t wrote: »

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilmore - A short story. It really creeped me out, but in a good way.

I've been trying to get my hands on this for some time but its long out of print. Is it worthwhile paying a little extra for it? (A costly second hand edition)

Callan57

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang

and recently The Help by Kathryn Stockett
and many, many more

Censorsh!t

Denerick wrote: »

I've been trying to get my hands on this for some time but its long out of print. Is it worthwhile paying a little extra for it? (A costly second hand edition)

I bought it last year for just a few euros in the college bookshop. it's with a collection of other stories

http://www.cdwow.ie/books/charlotte-perkins-gillman-yellow-wallpaper/dp/1717715#bc=1f8e

And oops, I meant Gilman, not Gilmore:p

lordgoat

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - HST.

Made me start reading again.


Kafka - Murakami.

Same reason.

Klingon Hamlet

The Road, by Cormac Maccarthy

Lightning, by Dean Koontz

Faherenheit 457, by Ray Bradbury

FruitLover

+1 each to 1984, A Clockwork Orange and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

I'll add to this: William Gibson's Neuromancer. The writing style and language are dated, but reading this in my formative years stirred up a passion for technological fantasy. This is The Matrix for the '80s generation.

Also: Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. Apart from the interesting insight into the world of part-time junkies, I found the writing style very interesting (written from multiple first-person perspectives, with accent and writing style differing from person to person).

Seaneh

Haruki Murakam - After the quake (collection of 5 short stories).
Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita.
C.S. Lewis - The Pilgrim's Regress.


I'll add a few more later when I'm fully awake and my brain is functioning.

Whippersnapper

Crime and Punishment
Catch 22
Cloud Atlas
Anything by Ian McEwan or Nick Hornby.

stiffler123

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.
Lord Of The rings by J.R.R.Tolkien
Running With The Demon by Terry Brooks.
Henry IV Part 1 and 2, Henry V and Richard II by William Shakespeare.
Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Magic Eight Ball

Bret Easton Ellis seems to pop up alot here. I just finished 'American Psycho, anyone want to recommend another book of his?

HalloweenJack

Magic Eight Ball wrote: »

I just finished 'American Psycho, anyone want to recommend another book of his?

I loved American Psycho, it was one of the books I was going to note here. I've read Less Than Zero, Glamorama and Rules of Attraction. I'd rate them: ROA, LTZ and Glamorama.

I just never got into Glamorama, it seemed too far-fetched (not that AP is too believable). LTZ and ROA were interesting but didn't hold my attention as much as AP.

Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn (sp) is a great book. When I finish the book I'm currently reading, I'll re-read this. It's just brilliant. It's a great book to read if you feel demotivated or depressed.

The LA Quartet by James Ellroy have stuck with me because of their graphic nature. They are well-written, confusing plots and the detail level is incredible. While graphic, it's not in an exploitative way.

The Shining by Stephen King. I read this a few times when I was a teen and enjoyed it. I recently re-read and was blown away by it. There's so much going on in there that I'd never picked up on before or fully appreciated. I can never forget it now.

Fragglefur

Times Arrow Martin Amis, 1984 George Orwell and Slaughterhouse 5 Kurt Vonnegut

All fairly grim I suppose :eek: