What to Read - 18 year old male

Fukuyama

Hey Guys,

Hitting a bit of a problem recently! I'm just not interested by any of the novels I come across... as an avid reader this is annoying me to no end.

I'm searching for books where the protagonist is a male teenager going through the trials and tribulations of it all.

I really enjoyed Black Swan Green and Nick Hornby's books such as Slam were good too.

Basically books to do with... growing up! Sounds corny I know but it's what I'm craving right now! Any suggestions?

Cheers.
Dean.

Denerick

Ah... To come of age. Sit my son as I deliver you a grand tale of angst, furious masturbation, and anxiety. Or maybe I'll just give a few recommendations.

You say you've read Nick Hornby, have you read 'Fever Pitch'? Its about his football obsession and the first hundred or so pages deals with his time as a young man following Arsenal. Its quite good.

To Kill a Mockingbird deserves an honourable mention, even though it doesn't really fit your criteria. If your not interested in that, try John Irvings 'Cider House Rules', which follows the life of Homer Wells, an orphan. Its a chunky one, and it deals with a lot of themes, but give it time and some of your patience and you will be enraptured by its web.

Iron Hide

Dean0088 wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Hitting a bit of a problem recently! I'm just not interested by any of the novels I come across... as an avid reader this is annoying me to no end.

I'm searching for books where the protagonist is a male teenager going through the trials and tribulations of it all.

I really enjoyed Black Swan Green and Nick Hornby's books such as Slam were good too.

Basically books to do with... growing up! Sounds corny I know but it's what I'm craving right now! Any suggestions?

Cheers.
Dean.

18 year old male? Playboy Magazine.

Fukuyama

Iron Hide wrote: »

18 year old male? Playboy Magazine.

Playboy is crap...

Flick through FHM when it comes out each month though... it's okay.

Thanks to the poster above or the recommendations!

Anyone any other suggestions?

Callan57

Would 'The Catcher in the Rye' be too obvious?

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

BrianJD

Have you read anything by Stephen King? Sorry, this could be very obvious but i get into him in my teens and his early stuff is unbelievable.

Not sure if it has anything to do with growing up though.

randomguy

Off the top of my head, trying to remember what I liked back then, or would have liked, and skewing a bit towards the dark side...

My Secret History - Paul Theroux
The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis (should be compulsory for every 18 year old)
Eureka Street - Robert McLiam Wilson
The Crow Road - Ian Banks
The Way of All Flesh - Samual Butler
Of Human Bondage - W Somerset Maugham
Portrait of the Artist - Joyce
The World according to Garp -
Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh
Tarry Flynn - Patrick Kavanagh
The Acid House - Irvine Walsh
The Gingerman - JP Dunleavy
Amongst Women - John Mcgahern
The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureishi
The Cement Garden - Ian McEwan
Empire of the Sun - JG Ballard
Less than Zero and The Rules of Attraction - Brett Easton Ellis
Generation X - Douglas Coupland
Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
The Secret History - Donna Tart
Lean on Pete - Willie Vlautin (best thing I've read this year)
The Liar - Stephen Fry
Adrian Mole diaries - Sue Townsend

calex71

I'm very scattered when it comes to books, but of the few that come to mind

The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks - protagonist is a bit younger 13 or 14? well worth a read for the twist at the end :eek:

I'll +1 The Crow Road - Ian Banks as Randomguy suggested while I'm at it.

Currently reading Blood Maridian by Cormac McCarthy (the road, no county for old men) Western set during the 1840's about a 18/19 year old lad who leaves home at 14 to wander the wilds and falls in with a gang of scalp hunters. Might be your thing might not. Violent is the word for this one so far!!!!

As always i'll recommend the dark tower (7 books) by stephan king

Dades

Jack Kerouac On the Road?

Okay so the protagonists aren't 'teenagers' but they were the crazy teens of their day. Sex, drugs, jazz and roadtripping ain't all bad.

SVG

Seeing you've already read some David Mitchell; I'd definitely recommend Number9dream- it's my favourite of his books. The main character is a 19 year old guy who moves to Tokyo to find his Dad. It's a great book- very stylish and re-readable.

Fukuyama

Dades wrote: »

Jack Kerouac On the Road?

Okay so the protagonists aren't 'teenagers' but they were the crazy teens of their day. Sex, drugs, jazz and roadtripping ain't all bad.

Read that cover to cover! Great book.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Will definitely be checking some of them out!

Cheers,
Dean.

mikhail

calex71 wrote: »

The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks - protagonist is a bit younger 13 or 14? well worth a read for the twist at the end :eek:

That book is pretty ****ed up. If that's okay, it's great, if not, avoid like the plague.

calex71

mikhail wrote: »

That book is pretty ****ed up. If that's okay, it's great, if not, avoid like the plague.

Very true, I should have mentioned that

I read it when i was the OP's age, I think if i read it for the 1st time now over 10 years later, it would not have had the same effect with all I have read since

goose2005

Of Human Bondage, definitely. Also Jude the Obscure.

Beruthiel

Wonderland Avenue by Danny Sugarman?
Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, sex, (lots of) drugs, rock and roll.
Fantastic read.

Paddy Samurai

Sometimes I get to thinking that my mental list of the "Top 5 Books I've Ever Read" is going to remain cast in stone until the day I draw my terminal breath. Then, out of the blue, an accidental discovery like "A Boy's Life" will come along and prove that, while I may consider myself well-read, there's still way too much opportunity for bona fide treasures to remain hidden.

his book is a wondrous thing, a gift to be cherished, and I cannot believe that anyone who was ever young will ever quite shake away the faerie dust which settles during its reading. It's that powerful.

Once in a while you find a rare book which stays in your mind long after your finished it. Boy's Life is just that. The story is simply beautiful and still captures my heart and imagination after reading it the second time, 10 years later. McCammon is famous for his horrors. But in Boy's Life, Mc Cammon has written a brilliant story filled with sensitivity, humanity and emotional depth.

An amazing book according to all the rave reviews.I got a copy myself last week and hope to start it soon. Hope it lives up to all the hype/praise it seems to attract.

The story is set in the early 1960s and makes observations about changes that were happening in America at that time with particular emphasis on The Civil Rights Movement. Several of the characters are connected to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and the segregation of the black community is referred to in some detail. ..........................................................................
Cory's story with its pervading sense of childhood innocence tempered and compromised by experience is reminiscent of the stories of Ray Bradbury, and more recently some of Stephen King's novels; as such it transcends the horror genre despite the understated supernatural elements. At the heart of the story is Cory's relationship with his father which tinges the narrative with a subtle melancholy.

n 1964, 12-year-old Cory Mackenson lives with his parents in Zephyr, Alabama. It is a sleepy, comfortable town. Cory is helping with his father's milk route one morning when a car plunges into the lake before their eyes. His father dives in after the car and finds a dead man handcuffed to the steering wheel. Their world no longer seems so innocent: a vicious killer hides among apparently friendly neighbors. Other, equally unsettling transmogrifications occur: a friend's father becomes a shambling bully under the influence of moonshine, decent men metamorphose into Klan bigots, "responsible" adults flee when faced with danger for the first time. With the aid of unexpected allies, Cory faces hair-raising dangers as he seeks to find the secret of the dead man in the lake. McCammon writes an exciting adventure story. He also gives us an affecting tale of a young man growing out of childhood in a troubled place and time. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/15/91; Literary Guild dual main selection.

http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Life-Robert-McCammon/dp/0671743058

positron

The Power of One by Bryce Courtney.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-One-Novel-Bryce-Courtenay/dp/034541005X

It's an amazing book and will give you a glimpse into life in an entirely different place and time, yet you would feel very connected all the same.

mountain

Denerick wrote: »

Ah...
try John Irvings 'Cider House Rules', which follows the life of Homer Wells, an orphan. Its a chunky one, and it deals with a lot of themes, but give it time and some of your patience and you will be enraptured by its web.

If you try cider house rules and like it, then you should follow up with World According to Garp.

At your age I was reading Fear and Loathing by Hunter S Thompson,
and just to get a view on the world, http://www.johnpilger.com/ was a good choice as well

thenakedanddead

Callan57 wrote: »

Would 'The Catcher in the Rye' be too obvious?

Does enter into one's mind a bit too easily, doesn't it?

Einhard

Deleted User wrote: »

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Even better: Kafka on the Shore. Talk about a tale of a young man coming to terms with the world!!

Einhard

randomguy wrote: »

Off the top of my head, trying to remember what I liked back then, or would have liked, and skewing a bit towards the dark side...

My Secret History - Paul Theroux
The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis (should be compulsory for every 18 year old)
Eureka Street - Robert McLiam Wilson
The Crow Road - Ian Banks
The Way of All Flesh - Samual Butler
Of Human Bondage - W Somerset Maugham
Portrait of the Artist - Joyce
The World according to Garp -
Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh
Tarry Flynn - Patrick Kavanagh
The Acid House - Irvine Walsh
The Gingerman - JP Dunleavy
Amongst Women - John Mcgahern
The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureishi
The Cement Garden - Ian McEwan
Empire of the Sun - JG Ballard
Less than Zero and The Rules of Attraction - Brett Easton Ellis
Generation X - Douglas Coupland
Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
The Secret History - Donna Tart
Lean on Pete - Willie Vlautin (best thing I've read this year)
The Liar - Stephen Fry
Adrian Mole diaries - Sue Townsend

Oi, leave some for the rest of us to recommend!:D

Esel

May not fit your criteria, but back then I read William Faulkner and Jack Kerouac, and loved them.

laurashambles

First thing that popped into my head was Norwegian Wood, but it's already been mentioned. Read it last week, very impressed.

There's this guy called John Green who writes Young Adult books, they're very good and easy to digest but not in a dumbed down way. Most of his protagonists are 16/17 but the one in Paper Towns is your age and I'd say that's his best. My little brother is 18 and keeps robbing all my copies of his books. :P

You should try some more Hornby as well, I really like High Fidelity.