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10 to read before the apocalypse?

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  • #572
    PADRAGON
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 71 ✭✭PADRAGON


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    Its a joint collaboration with Peter Straub. Sort of an Odyssey very much in the mode of the Stand. But very magical as well. Was definitely one of my favourite books growing up and the last of the books I think i read. Like i said the four short stories from Different seasons i thought were really excellent and a nice departure for him.


    Cant argue with Shawshank and Stand By Me.
    I'll give talisman a go.
    Cheers


  • #573
    turgon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,762 ✭✭✭turgon


    Added to my list is Slaughterhause 5 by Kurt Vonnegut.


  • #574
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    PADRAGON wrote: »
    Cant argue with Shawshank and Stand By Me.
    I'll give talisman a go.
    Cheers
    No problem. Read it quite awhile ago but don't know how it translates day particularly with an older generation. But enjoyed it immensely.


  • #575
    Paddy Samurai
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,015 ✭✭✭Paddy Samurai


    PADRAGON wrote: »
    Hey Paddy Samurai.Have to ask,which Gemmel book did'nt cut the mustard?

    Echoes of the Great Song was the one i always felt was'nt up to his usual standard.Always intended to give it a second read,but with so many books to read never got a chance.


  • #576
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    Paddy Samurai wrote: »
    Echoes of the Great Song was the one i always felt was'nt up to his usual standard.Always intended to give it a second read,but with so many books to read never got a chance.
    On the same vein, do you feel any readers feel books they read in their youths have dated a bit on second readings?


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  • #577
    Paddy Samurai
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,015 ✭✭✭Paddy Samurai


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    On the same vein, do you feel any readers feel books they read in their youths have dated a bit on second readings?
    Apart from gemmels "legend" i have never read a book twice.Just never have the time ..too many new books to read.I have 40+ books lined up for future reading.
    However i do know that there are books I thought were brilliant at the time ,that i would love to read again with a view to including them on my top 10 list.One that i read over 10 years ago and is still stuck in my head is Bernard King's Trilogy" Chronicles of the Keeper".
    Because i have'nt read it in years i am reluctant to include it as i have no idea how well it has dated.
    But it is one trilogy that i will never forget,i remember checking the shadows and under the bed while reading them LOL.
    Alot of the reviews i see say it has'nt dated well.


  • #578
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    In no particular order.

    The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    On The Road - Jack Kerouac
    Matamorphosis - Franz Kafka
    Collected Poems 1947-1997 - Allen Ginsberg
    Post Office - Charles Bukowski
    Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
    Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman
    Why I am not a Christian - Bertrand Russell
    If This is a Man - Primo Levi


  • #579
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    minusorange wrote: »
    The Brother Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    On The Road - Jack Kerouac
    Matamorphosis - Franz Kafka
    Collected Poems 1947-1997 - Allen Ginsberg
    Post Office - Charles Bukowski
    Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - Kai Bird and martin J. Sherwin
    Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman
    Why I am not a Christian - Bertrand Russell
    If This is a Man - Primo Levi
    Yes an interesting selection there. read a bit of that Post office book by Bukowski. Some strange stuff in there.


  • #580
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    Yes an interesting selection there. read a bit of that Post office book by Bukowski. Some strange stuff in there.

    It's just a really raw but ultimately refreshing read.

    I read Factotum last week, his second novel. No particular structure, no story as such, 87 'chapters' in a 163 page large print book. Largely autobiographical. The dreaded 'anti-novel'.

    Love him or hate him there is a truth to Bukowski that is untouchable.


  • #581
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    minusorange wrote: »
    It's just a really raw but ultimately refreshing read.

    I read Factotum last week, his second novel. No particular structure, no story as such, 87 'chapters' in a 163 page large print book. Largely autobiographical. The dreaded 'anti-novel'.

    Love him or hate him there is a truth to Bukowski that is untouchable.
    Wasnt he a civil servant. Saying this because I know Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan) worked there too. Maybe its a good way for cultivating your imagination.


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  • #582
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    Wasnt he a civil servant. Saying this because I know Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan) worked there too. Maybe its a good way for cultivating your imagination.

    He sure was. Post Office is actually his account of this period in his life if you haven't already read it.

    The civil servant/clerk pops up quiet a bit as a character actually.

    You'll find him in Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground as the unnamed narrator.

    In Dostoyevsky's The Double as Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin.

    In Orwell's 1984 as Winston Smith.

    In Kafka's The Trial as Josef K.

    He's the subject of Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comic strip American Splendor.

    In Dickens' A Christmas Carol as Bob Cratchit

    And I bet there are loads more....


  • #583
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    Some more to add to this list
    Schindlers Ark-Thomas Keneally (infinitely better than the film from which it was adapted from)
    The Dark-John McGahern
    The Assasin-Liam O'Flaherty
    Animal Farm-George Orwell


  • #584
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    Some more to add to this list
    Schindlers Ark-Thomas Keneally (infinitely better than the film from which it was adapted from)
    The Dark-John McGahern
    The Assasin-Liam O'Flaherty
    Animal Farm-George Orwell


    To my shame I haven read enough Irish fiction. The Dark sounds great. Thanks for the tip.


  • #585
    banshee_bones
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,160 ✭✭✭✭banshee_bones


    in no particular order...


    Siddartha - Hesse
    The Alchemist - Coelho
    Shantaram - Gregory D Roberts
    A Walk in The Woods - Bryson
    At Swim-Two-Birds - O Brien
    L.O.T.R Trilogy - Tolkien
    Harry Potter Series - rowling
    The Butcher Boy - Mc Cabe
    His Dark Materials - Pullman


  • #586
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    banshee_bones wrote: »
    in no particular order...


    Siddartha - Hesse
    The Alchemist - Coelho
    Shantaram - Gregory D Roberts
    A Walk in The Woods - Bryson
    At Swim-Two-Birds - O Brien
    L.O.T.R Trilogy - Tolkien
    Harry Potter Series - rowling
    The Butcher Boy - Mc Cabe
    His Dark Materials - Pullman

    Jesus I think The Alchemist is so over-rated. What do you get from it? I don't mean to sound rude.

    Shantaram is pure magic. I read on the web he said it was the first of three books but I haven't heard anything about the second..


  • #587
    banshee_bones
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,160 ✭✭✭✭banshee_bones


    minusorange wrote: »
    Jesus I think The Alchemist is so over-rated. What do you get from it? I don't mean to sound rude.

    Shantaram is pure magic. I read on the web he said it was the first of three books but I haven't heard anything about the second..

    No your not being rude your grand, well i dunno I guess it just spoke to me on a personal level!not to sound corny!
    I could say the same about catcher in the rye? if there was something to "get" i didnt "get" it, i think its a pretencious book that people like to put in their top 10, i myself didnt get anything from it.

    Shantaram is being made into a film i hear.... really really hope they dont bastardize it...which i think they may have done is johnny depp is being cast as Lin... so not how i had him pictured!


  • #588
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    banshee_bones wrote: »
    No your not being rude your grand, well i dunno I guess it just spoke to me on a personal level!not to sound corny!
    I could say the same about catcher in the rye? if there was something to "get" i didnt "get" it, i think its a pretencious book that people like to put in their top 10, i myself didnt get anything from it.

    Shantaram is being made into a film i hear.... really really hope they dont bastardize it...which i think they may have done is johnny depp is being cast as Lin... so not how i had him pictured!
    Re Shantaram that film has "been in development" for ages now. Yes interested to hear he is considering a follow up to it. Liked the book but thought it was a bit long. Maybe could have done with a small bit of editing. But very engaging for the most part.


  • #589
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    banshee_bones wrote: »
    No your not being rude your grand, well i dunno I guess it just spoke to me on a personal level!not to sound corny!
    I could say the same about catcher in the rye? if there was something to "get" i didnt "get" it, i think its a pretencious book that people like to put in their top 10, i myself didnt get anything from it.

    Shantaram is being made into a film i hear.... really really hope they dont bastardize it...which i think they may have done is johnny depp is being cast as Lin... so not how i had him pictured!

    Yeah that's not how I pictured him either. I took him for being much more rugged. More Australian really. But I suppose if having a big name like Depp helps the thing finally get made then I'm all for it. But I've been hearing about it for ages and still haven't heard or seen anything substantial.


  • #590
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    banshee_bones wrote: »
    No your not being rude your grand, well i dunno I guess it just spoke to me on a personal level!not to sound corny!
    I could say the same about catcher in the rye? if there was something to "get" i didnt "get" it, i think its a pretencious book that people like to put in their top 10, i myself didnt get anything from it.

    Shantaram is being made into a film i hear.... really really hope they dont bastardize it...which i think they may have done is johnny depp is being cast as Lin... so not how i had him pictured!

    I liked the Catcher in the Rye to be honest with you but i don't know how it always appears so high in reader polls. It's good but not that good.

    As for The Alchemist, you don't sound corny at all. If books didn't speak to me on one level or another I wouldn't read so much. I think I'll give it another go actually, I still have it on the shelf. It's years since I read it. As people change, books change. Now that is corny :)


  • #591
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    minusorange wrote: »
    I liked the Catcher in the Rye to be honest with you but i don't know how it always appears so high in reader polls. It's good but not that good.

    As for The Alchemist, you don't sound corny at all. If books didn't speak to me on one level or another I wouldn't read so much. I think I'll give it another go actually, I still have it on the shelf. It's years since I read it. As people change, books change. Now that is corny :)
    lets not turn this into a personal debate over who likes what and whether one book should make a list or not. Keep the contributions coming.


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  • #592
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    lets not turn this into a personal debate over who likes what and whether one book should make a list or not. Keep the contributions coming.

    You seem to have mistaken the concept of having a debate with just asking a question.

    I didn't realise I was sacrificing the integrity of this thread by just quickly asking someone their opinion.

    You and I had a similarly innocent exchange earlier today that didn't seem to trouble anybody.

    In future I'll only speak when spoken to. Sir.


  • #593
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    minusorange wrote: »
    You seem to have mistaken the concept of having a debate with just asking a question.

    I didn't realise I was sacrificing the integrity of this thread by just quickly asking someone their opinion.

    You and I had a similarly innocent exchange earlier today that didn't seem to trouble anybody.

    In future I'll only speak when spoken to. Sir.
    Just making the point that whenever someone puts something on the list like Ulysses or Catcher in the Rye its assumed that people are trying to be arty. Can posters not just take a book on its merits and instead accentuate the positive


  • #594
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    Just making the point that whenever someone puts something on the list like Ulysses or Catcher in the Rye its assumed that people are trying to be arty. Can posters not just take a book on its merits and instead accentuate the positive

    I was a bit heavy handed last night. No excuse really. My apologies.

    Your right though, let's keep the recommendations coming in and not break the flow of this thread.


  • #595
    cathysworld
    Closed Accounts Posts: 378 ✭✭cathysworld


    justlurking wrote: »
    Only book you need to read is Naive.Super by Erlend Loe. Genius Norweigan writer. Nuff said.

    I didnt enjoy that book at all!!


  • #596
    Spiritoftheseventies
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,082 ✭✭✭✭Spiritoftheseventies


    minusorange wrote: »
    I was a bit heavy handed last night. No excuse really. My apologies.

    Your right though, let's keep the recommendations coming in and not break the flow of this thread.
    No worries dude. Things can get a bit heated at times on these boards!


  • #597
    minusorange
    Closed Accounts Posts: 127 ✭✭minusorange


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    No worries dude. Things can get a bit heated at times on these boards!
    :):):)


  • #598
    meenmore
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 152 ✭✭meenmore


    The Picture of Dorian Gray.


  • #599
    MickBeth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 43 ✭MickBeth


    For the love of giddy-goat G-od!!!!


    YOU MUST read Naked lunch.....it's not perverse or disgusting like is said by manny it's just.......A hint if matriarchrical mamalade on a Silenced sliced tounge.


  • #600
    Damian Duffy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 266 ✭✭Damian Duffy


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    And not because its a good book?

    Not gonna keep harping on with this one, i don't want to argue with you as you seem an intelligent reader who knows what they like. I have read Ulysses and i enjoyed it, although i thought it was difficult. I was just simply suprised that so many people on here had read it. I don't think they are lying or saying they have read it just for the sake if it, obviously they are recommending it because they feel its a damn good book. But alot of people do say they have read and watched certain books and films so they can appear smarter which is what the poster above was saying.

    But anyway, interesting thread and i've already made 3 or 4 purchases on the back of reading posters top tens. Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance is the most recent i've picked up and i hadn't heard of that one before i read this thread so good stuff, keep it up.


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  • #601
    Damian Duffy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 266 ✭✭Damian Duffy


    bayviewclose wrote: »
    lets not turn this into a personal debate over who likes what and whether one book should make a list or not. Keep the contributions coming.

    Well said.

    Anyone here read alot of Faulkner? Finished Light in August recently and thought it was brilliant.


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