10 to read before the apocalypse?

rogueCBR · 07-07-2006 02:22AM

Good Thread.

After some consisderation...

The Autobiographhy of A Super Tramp, William H. Davies. (Read This.)

Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler.

Thieves in The Night, Arthur Koestler.

The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

De Profundis, Oscar Wilde. (letter.)

The Death of Ivan Ilych. Leo Tolstoy.

And the Ass Saw the Angel, Nick Cave.

A History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera.

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte.

Bigeamo · 11-07-2006 11:23AM

I'm sure that you have all seen the BBC's Big Read, a list of the 100 most popular books as voted for by the public...

I read a lot and have read some awful books, so I decided to read all 100 of these, well at least the 70 or so that I hadn't already, in the hope that the books on the list should be generally of a high standard.

By and large, they were. There are some exceptions for example "Bridget Jones' Diary" is truly awful, "Persuasion" is too much like hard work and I really didn't like "The Magnus".

I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed "Captain Correlli's Mandolin", "Wuthering Heights" and "Memoirs of a Geisha".

Again I can't decide on 10 in any particular order, but books that I would highly recommend, from on and off the list are...

1984 - Orwell
Catch 22 - Heller
The Cather in the Rye - Salinger
Captain Correlli's Mandolin - de Bernieres
Gone With The wind - Mitchell
The Stand - King
Memoirs of a Geisha - Golden
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist - Tressell
Holes - Sachar
2001 - Clarke
Cryptonimicon - Stephenson
Carrion Comfort - Simmons

catlover16 · 20-07-2006 01:53AM

meglome wrote:

I'd say War and Peace, I'd be so pissed off by the end maybe dying wouldn't be so bad .

Really though

Lord of the Rings (which I have read but love)
A load of stuff by Isaac Asimov which I keep meaning to read.
The more recent books by Stephen King and James Herbert
Ullysses

I liked War and Peace, too.

catlover16 · 20-07-2006 01:54AM

Hakumei Naru wrote:

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.

1984 is great! I also loved Animal Farm.

LovelyHurling · 21-07-2006 10:09PM

Thats a very hard question and Im sure I could out no particular order on the following list:

"A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man" (Joyce)
This is a wonderful account of the development of Stephen Daedalus. The religious, the social, the sexual, the artistic all struggling for space in the fledgling independent mind, as he searches to break free to achieve that all elusive oneness with the self. Just amazing. Brilliant references to ancient literature, mind boggling metaphors and imagery, irony, sadness, intrigue, what an amazing book.

"The Scorching Wind" (Walter Macken)
This story speaks volumes about war and its essence of violence, betrayal and dark tendancy to ruin all around it. The idyllic, beautiful west of Ireland setting is offset against the violence, a priest shot in the bog, a pregnant mother murdered, brother pitted against brother "martyrs to the cause of standing one direction to a wall".
Wind That Shakes The Barely *howareya*

"To Kill A Mockingbird"
Right vs wrong, moral values, human bigotry and injustices, great read without being too taxing on the mind.

Macbeth (Shakespeare)
Im with catlover on this one, great stuff. Human ambition and human failure. Power corrupts.

A Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
Witty, at times hilarious and also deeply profound. The idea of the impermanence of the material world, man's idea of himself. I loved it.

Others
The Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
Amongst Women - John McGahern
Waiting for Godot (not really a book I know but a good read if you cant go and see it)
The Master - Colm Toibin
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
And most of all the James Herriott series which on its own inspired me, a townie kid, into 5 years of veterinary!:D

molypiper · 02-08-2006 02:28AM

Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
SHAKESPEARE'S
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Of War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

Samaris · 04-08-2006 11:48PM

I'll try to linmit myself to just ten, but it's going to be hard!

War and Peace -Leo Tolstoy
Hounds of the Morrigan -Patricia...not sure of surname
Polgara the Sorceress - (endpoint to a series so I'm essentially recommending Belgariad/Mallorean) Davied and Leigh Eddings
Lord of the Rings (but of course!) Tolkein
Blue Moon Rising Simon R. Green. Not, perhaps, very well known, but a very entertaining writer with a great style. This is perhaps the best of his books. Original, funny, paced and smart.
The Iliad
Chronicles of Narnia (esp. Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawntreader) C.S. Lewis
The Bible It's a good read whether you're religious or not and the Old Testement has some great stories in it.
Guests of the Emperor Janice Young Brooks
Notes From A Big Country. Bill Bryson. Who thought travel-writing could be so entertaining?

metrovelvet · 07-09-2006 10:42PM

The Little Prince

The Scarlet Letter

Wuthering Heights

Love in the Time of Cholera

One Hundred Years of Solitude

His Dark Materials

Lolita

Invisible Cities

White Noise

To Kill A Mockingbird

Native Son

Invisible Man

A Midsummer Night's Dream

sceptre · 07-09-2006 11:50PM

metrovelvet wrote:

The Little Prince

The Scarlet Letter

Wuthering Heights

Love in the Time of Cholera

One Hundred Years of Solitude

His Dark Materials

Lolita

Invisible Cities

White Noise

To Kill A Mockingbird

Native Son

Invisible Man

A Midsummer Night's Dream

That's a pretty good list. Nice mix.

Attractive Nun · 08-09-2006 01:39PM

Of the books I have read to date:

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Probably the best novel I've ever read. The building of tension and suspense during some parts of this book is phenomenal, and the murder scene is the most gripping few pages of literature I can recall reading.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
A wonderful book, Steinbeck's creation of character is excellent and there are so many layers to the story. Truly uplifting.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Anyone interested in both history and literature will love this book. If it's just the latter, then I assure you that it's a powerful and emotional experience in itself.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
A mouthwatering taste of what life should be like.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta." The language in this book astounds me - that it was written by a native Russian speaker depresses me.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
It's difficult to explain, but this book is just somehow refreshing. It is written with such verve and originality that, while challenging at first, will ultimately compell you.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The most hilarious dialogue I've ever read, brilliantly readable book.

The Van by Roddy Doyle
The entire trilogy is superb, but this is its pinnacle. Without question the most enjoyable book I've ever read, if not, perhaps, the most lastingly memorable.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Excellent portrait of children, a surprisingly credible and compelling read.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Another portrayal of a fantastic scenario that is somehow made credible. I don't know how Martel manages to maintain the reader's interest, but he does so easily. Great book.

Well, not a very original list there...

AnBealBocht · 09-09-2006 05:43PM

" Wind in the Willows "----Graham.

AnBealBocht · 09-09-2006 05:51PM

At Swim-Two-Birds---Flann O'Brien.

OK. Found it on p. 8 and thereafter.

Where's Graves " Goodbye to All That "?.
&
Wodehouse's " Jeeves "?.
&
" The Little World of Don Camillo "?.

Ah!. Who cares about the ' end of time ' or ' death ' when there's so much to read.

AnBealBocht · 09-09-2006 07:19PM

Hakumei Naru wrote:

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.

Ah!. ' The Scottish Play '. Go read & ' break a leg '.

AnBealBocht · 09-09-2006 07:47PM

RonMexico wrote:

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

We should not wait for your Master's thesis to be finished, then, before the Apocalypse?

AnBealBocht · 09-09-2006 08:00PM

Humblebee wrote:

East of Eden--Steinbeck
anything/everything by PG Wodehouse
Frannie and Zooey (way better than Catcher in the Rye)--Salinger
The Changeover (way better than Harry Pisser)--Margaret Mahy
Far from the Madding Crowd--Hardy
The Last Unicorn (nothing like the cartoon film)--Peter S Beagle
The Pickwick Papers--Dickens
Don Quixote--Cervantes
The Old and New Testaments and the Koran (you must have a great and forgiving sense of humor to read these) (as literature...not great; but as examples of superb marketing...they don't don't make 'em like this anymore...at least not recently)--authors: some very crazy, strange men
The Time Machine--Wells
Crime and Punishment--Dostoevsky

oops...that's 11...hopefully the apocalypse will hold out long enough...

Of more recent vintage---here on this side of the Atlantic Pond---is " The Book of Mormon ", which has received a good press in Utah. So, there, THEY ( the very crazy, strange men) are still making & suberbly marketing them!.

AnBealBocht · 09-09-2006 10:17PM

1) The Dead & Other Body Parts---Mary Bish Skelly,
2) Anam Cara Mio---Benedict IlPapa,
3) Passages: Your Colon---( Dr.) Christopher Galeforce Sheehy,
4) Winter of My Discontent---Richard Theturd,
5) Paradise Misplaced---John Morte...,
6) The Princess: Diane---Nick MacIavelli,
7) The Rise & Autumn of The American Empire---Martha Washington ( The Rise) & G. Wanker Bushes ( The Fall),
8) Imitations of Christos Re---Billy Grantham
9) The Bible by I Am and You Can Be Too
10) The End of History: Apocalypse Soon---David Messiah Curushall.;)

galactus · 10-09-2006 03:52PM

Just came across this thread. My favourites have been mentioned, you lot have good taste ;-)

Lolita - Nabakov
The Hobbit - Tolkien
Paradise Lost - Milton
The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald
Alice in Wonderland - Carroll
Cryponomicon - Stephenson
The Third Policeman - naGopaleen ;-)
The Big Sleep - Chandler (in fact anything by Chandler)
Cannery Row, and its sequel, Sweet Thursday - Steinbeck

For my 10th book I'd choose something by Greg Egan, Diaspora or Permutation City. Asimov is on the subs bench.

fasterkitten · 10-09-2006 05:40PM

Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart
Isabel Allende The House of the Spirits
John Fowles The Magus
Peter Carey True History of the Carey Gang
Donna Tartt The Secret History
George and Weedon Grossmith Diary of a Nobody
Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible
Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca
JM Coetzee Disgrace

metrovelvet · 10-09-2006 08:00PM

Oh John Fowels I forgot all about him. I loooooove his stuff.

fasterkitten · 11-09-2006 11:08PM

I found the French Lieutenant's Woman hard to get into but I loved The Magus. It was quite confusing but I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks

AnBealBocht · 19-09-2006 04:29PM

Fergal Keane's ' All of These People '. A riviting, interesting read.

DanteMancino · 19-09-2006 04:39PM

Ray Bradbury wrote a book of short stories called "the illustrated man" that posed some pretty philosophical questions when I read it at 15yo. Of course most of the themes have found they're way into low budget sci-fi films over the years but still a good read and a good present for the bitter teenager in all our lives.

DanteMancino · 19-09-2006 04:51PM

Some of these are pretty common choices for favourite books but whatever:
"The resevoir dogs" - NOT THE FILM!! VERY DIFFERENT
"Catcher in the Rye" - J. D. Salinger
"Shadow of a gunman" - Sean O'Casey
"The Informer" - Sean O'Casey
"The Detainees" - Sean Hughes
"Endgame" - Samuel Beckett
"Duncton Wood" - William Horwood
"The Silmarillion" - J.R.R Tolkein
"Animal Farm" - George Orwell

And that completes my ten

buck65 · 20-09-2006 12:32PM

Life of Pi - Yann Martel
The Most Beautiful woman in this town (Stories)- Charles Bukowski
Where I'm Calling From (Stories ) - Raymond Carver
The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky
Dubliners - James Joyce
Hunters in the Snow (STories) - Tobias Wolf
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
The Sea - John Banville
Ms Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg

nitrogen · 22-09-2006 12:47PM

Here's five that I think are most reads:

Post Office - Charles Bukowski
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks (Can anyone recommend another book as dark and addictive, besides Banks, as I've consumed them all?)
The Blind Watchmaker - Richard Dawkins
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The Van - Roddy Doyle

luckat · 29-09-2006 05:43PM

Anything by Philip K Dick, especially The Man in the High Castle.

Anaiyela · 29-09-2006 05:57PM

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
A great set of books

Sephroith477 · 30-09-2006 09:35PM

OK now i know i'll probably be lynched for doing this , but i'm going to choose 12, but at least they are all by the same author; Robert Jordan. I'd have to choose his entire Wheel of Time Series. (11 + the next, and probably final book)

Sorry, but if ur going to have one, u might as well have all.

"Death is as light as a feather, Duty as heavy as a Mountain.":cool:

mox54 · 12-10-2006 01:50PM

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: H S THOMPSON - I'm surprised it's not had a mention and it's a must, the others are predictable enuf ok but not this:D

It's such a funny book and a bit of a trip but it reads well!

Sysiphus · 15-10-2006 10:52PM

I stand by my earlier list.....

But woulsd add the following......

Rogue States - Chompsky
The God Delusuion - Dawkins
And You Shall Know Our Velocity - Eggers
A Secret Country - Pilger
Big Bang - Singh
Strumpet City - Plunket

There are so many others!!!! Not enough time to list them all!!!

10 to read before the apocalypse?

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