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10 to read before the apocalypse?

Caesar_Bojangle

What ten books would you consider as a must, to be read in ones lifetime?

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Venivici

1. Foundation series by Asimov
2. The Winter of our Discontent by Steinbeck
3. One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch by Dosteskevy
4. The Three Musketeers by Dumas
5. The Oddssey by Homer

try reading history, great stories and all true!

sadie06

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman....lose yourself, and a couple of weeks, and your job...its that engrossing.

The Wasp Factory....one of the only books that made me feel uneasy, which is not a bad result, and surely what Iain Banks was hoping for in his controversial debut.

A Prayer For Owen Meaney...A fantastic character by the creative genius John Irving. You can hear his voice in your head for weeks afterwards.

So hard to chose when you are not at home looking at your books!!

kyp_durron

1. Cather in the rye - Salinger
2. Brave new world - huxley
3. War of the flies - golding
4. Nine stories - Salinger
5. Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy - Adams
6. Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut
7. Anything by Flann O'Brien
8. Everything by Joyce
9. Catch 22 - Heller
10. Homage to Catalonia - Orwell

That was tough, there was so much I left out. oh well.

Demetrius

Here are some of the books I think should go in the top ten. Master and Commander(or any of the other Aubry/Maturin stories) by Patrick O Brian. Im a huge fan of these books which have some of the most memorable characters ever created.
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller-one of the funniest books ever written.
Another series of books that are brilliant are the Discworld Books by Terry Pratchett
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukinowski(spelt incorrectly-sorry)-part autobiographical, can be a bit strange at times but worth reading
The Commitments by Roddy Doyle

Pazaz 21

Anything in the James Bond series by Ian Fleming but especially Casino Royle and From Russia With Love.

sherkowski

Atomised by Michel Houelebecq
The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen
Ask the Dust by John Fante
The Old Man and the Sea by Old Papa
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
1984 by George Orwell
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
On The Road by Kerouac
Dubliners (The Dead) by Joyce
American Psycho by Easton Ellis (purely for shock value)

lilmissprincess

Well:
10.Animal Fram ( Orwell)
9. DaVinci Code
8. Anything Jacqueline Wilson
7. Anything Marion Keyes.
6. Stereotype- Claire Hennessy
5. Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry ( Mildred Taylor)
4.To kill a mockingbird.
3.Charlie and The chocolate Fatcory
2. Matilda
1. Ballet Shoes, Noel Streatfield

DriftingRain

There are some pretty good books out right now....

The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King

Valiant and Tithe by Holly black(teen novels but VERY cute)

InkSpell and InkHeart by Cornelia Funke (awaiting the third book GREAT READS)

Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini (again awaiting third book...hes a good young author...hope to see tons more form him)

Anyhow....thats what I've been reading lately...:rolleyes:

~DR~

bertebug

where to books you have read go? Do they die or just fade away? Is there a graveyard for books? I am beginning to build up a book cemetry of my own. May have to think about a mass cremation as am runnig out of space.
East of Eden was a good book

DriftingRain

*laughs*
You dont want em...send em my way....I've got a ton of room...

mise

if everyone read "The Weather Makers" by Tim Flannery and took something positive from it, then there might not be any armageddon!

But seriously, its a great book, very accessible and intelligently written.
Definitely recommended

MrSquishSquash

Orwell, Asimov and Stephen King as already mentioned. Northern lights by Philip Pullmann, BattleField Earth by L Ron Howard + Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke(1st book but well worth it the read)

Misty Moon

bertebug wrote:

where to books you have read go? Do they die or just fade away? Is there a graveyard for books? I am beginning to build up a book cemetry of my own. May have to think about a mass cremation as am runnig out of space.

LOL - sure this kind of situation is what they invented freecycling for - check http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LeinsterFreecycle/

spongebœb

Read "Jacques le Fataliste et son Maître" from Diderot and then tell me your life is bad. Then I'll believe ya.

I got ot as a present when I was a kid, and it didn't make any sense to me.
Now it does.

joseph dawton

This only takes 20 minutes to read but had a lasting effect on me.
http://www.electricpublications.com/journey.html

Bodhidharma

The autobiography of Malcolm X
The Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving
1984 - George Orwell
Bolivian Diary - Ernesto Guevara
Catcher in the Rye - JD Sallinger
The Dhammapada
Love all the People - Bill Hicks
The Diary of Adrien Mole aged 13 &3/4 - Sue Townsend
Watership Down - Richard Adams
The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy

[Deleted User]

10) Nightwatch - Terry Pratchett
9) Green Mile - Stephen King
8) The Time Machine - H.G Wells
7) Time Quake - Kurt Vonegut
6) War of the Worlds - H.G Wells
5) The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
4) Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
3) 1984 - George Orwell
2) Slaughter House Five - Kurt Vonegut
1) Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo

Tristram

Remember folks the apocalypse is coming, you are going to die, understanding and knowledge aint gonna count for much.Go mad, have some fun, read something silly!

BossArky

Tristram wrote:

Remember folks the apocalypse is coming, you are going to die, understanding and knowledge aint gonna count for much.Go mad, have some fun, read something silly!

Ok we are all going to read your post and then go back to the serious stuff.

Tristram

Say what?

nollaig

My ten in no particular order would be:

Animal Farm - George Orwell
LOTR - JRR Tokien
Keane - Eamon Dunphy
Michael Collins - TP Coogan
Strumpet City - James Plunkett
Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
The Silent People - Walter Macken
Catcher in the Rye - (Cant think of the authors name)
And from my childhood,
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - R.Dahl

nollaig

Actually, take out Catcher in the rye. I'd have Ireland since the Famine in there

Hakumei Naru

I don't know if I can name ten....but I'll try...

"The Farseer Trilogy" ~ Robin Hobb
Haha, three books down already. This trilogy is written in first person. Every other book I read that was written in that format has been a disgrace so I was very sceptical about The Farseer Trilogy. I decided to give it a try. It's the second best series I ever read.

"The Liveship Traders" ~ Robin Hobb
Yet another trilogy. Almost finished the second book. This is the best series I ever read. Robin Hobb has an uncanny talent for conveying emotions realisitcally in every situation while still maintaining a fantastic story. I recommend books by her because her understanding of human nature teaches her readers alot.

"Macbeth" ~ Shakespeare
What can I say? It's a play about the many faces of manipulation written by a genius.

"Legend" ~ David Gemmel
This story not only has wonderful characters, but it shows war in it's three stages; the brewing, the battle and the aftermath. Of course including all the lovely essential elements such as heroes, lovers, betrayal, facades, brothers in arms and the understandings and common ground that the leaders of both alliances often come to whether they realise it or not.

"Through the Looking Glass" ~ Lewis Carol
I have a very old edition of this book. It's a gorgeously surreal tale.

"Endless Quest Books" ~ Various Dungeons and Dragons authors
Everybody loves a good story, what's even better is one that you can control. Well, to a point at least. You can choose to either go left or right in the cave or choose to trust or distrust a wandering mage. Great fun though.

"1984" ~ George Orwell
Spooky, horrible at times, nerve racking yet undeniably gripping. Sometimes the best stories are set in the dreaiest of settings.

Okay, didn't exactly name ten....but I tried. I essentially recommended over thirty books, hahaha, so it should do.

helles belles

pride and prejudice
im read it so many times and bought the bbc dvd i even went to the crap new version with kiera knightley
it just cant be beat

RonMexico

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is my all time favourite book. I am currently doing my Masters Thesis in English on the Good Doctor, if you are going to read any book this summer then pick up this classic, it is a masterpiece. Two crazy bastards take a car stocked full of the most dangerous drugs known to mankind to Las Vegas for the weekend and run amok like savage beasts. Hilariously funny and if this post doesn't make sense then I might point out that I am stoned out of my brain...:D

emeraldstar

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jeeves & Wooster series by PG Wodehouse
James Herriot's series
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

pixielady

persuasion-austen
lotr
captain correlli's mandolin
the phantom of the opera- weber destroyed what was such an amazing story
his dark materials - phillip pullman
villette
i am david-anne holm
the mists of avalon
last chance saloon-keyes
anne of green gables series
north and south-gaskell

litirspam

The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Twits - Roald Dahl
Rama - Arthur C Clarke

Cant think of any more off the top of my head but these three are great!!!!

PeterM

The Handmaids Tale by Maragret Atwood
The Rule of Four by Dustin Thomason

tattykitty

The novels:

The Outsider - Albert Camus
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
The Tortilla Curtain - T. C. Boyle
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

The plays:

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Edward Albee (love this!)
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

The short story collections (the first three are, I admit, collections of collections):

Where I'm Calling From - Raymond Carver
Burning Your Boats - Angela Carter
Stories - Anton Chekov
After the Plague - T.C. Boyle
The Whole Story and Other Stories - Ali Smith