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10 to read before the apocalypse?

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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,263 ✭✭✭Caesar_Bojangle


    As i was denied admission (well, tbh I was just to lazy to apply) to the ninja board. I feel its my obligation to go samurai on their ass. All i need is a Master to dote upon and a loyal apprentice to educate in the way of the samurai.

    Potential candidates should p.m me with their curriculum vitae.

    Closing Time Joseph heller.
    I reckon to be a superior novel to catch 22, so if you enjoyed the original, you should definitely give the sequel a read.

    Also The Motorcycle Diaries - Che Guevara is well worth a read


  • Registered Users Posts: 394 ✭✭colster


    How about

    Narcissus and Goldmund - Herman Hesse
    Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
    The Hobbit - Tolkien
    1984 - Orwell
    A Clockwork Orange - Burgess
    To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
    The Old Man and the Sea - Hemmingway
    The Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo
    Foucalts Pendulum - Eco
    The Ender Series - Orson Scott Card
    Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
    The World according to Garp - Irving
    The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 61 ✭✭mavedic


    Thats a very good list indeed. I've read the majority of them, but will make sure to read the ones I haven't yet because it looks like you've got similar taste to myself!


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,514 ✭✭✭Sleipnir


    Papillion - An amazing story of an amazing life.

    Band Of Brothers - life in hell.

    Schott's Original Miscellany- A tome of the most useless information known to man. a brilliant book.

    The Art Of War by Sun Tzu.

    The Lord of The Rings.

    Lord of the Flies

    The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth - Brilliantly written.

    The 4th Protocol - Frederick Forsyth - another excellent one.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,489 ✭✭✭Clintons Cat


    Japanese Literature

    "An Artist of the Floating World." By Kazuo Ishiguro

    Still with the japanese flavour i would go for "The Sun Goes Down"by Jean Larteguy, as pimped over on the H&H board.

    "Mushashi"by Eiji Yoshikawa based on the life of Miyamoto Musashi.Legendary swordsman and developer of of the five rings fighting style style.
    His writings were serialised throughout the twenties in various syndications and introduced,idealised and popularised the Bushido Code to a generation of young japanese men .

    .......
    US Books

    Double Cross by Sam (jnr)And Chuck Giancana,The life and violent death of the west coasts most notorious don,Friend of the stars and Cia Fixer Sam Giancana.Its Mario Puzo's Godfather on steriods.

    "Soledad Brother"The Prison Letters of George Jackson,

    "Sieze The Time" By Bobby Seale,the history of the Black panther party.

    "Autobiography of a Pimp" by Iceberg slim,Practically invented the Blaxploitation Genre and whose writings alongside Gil Scott Heron has had the most influence upon the development and direction of hip hop music.

    "one flew over the cockoos nest" by ken kessy,Mandatory inclusion in any film/book list thread
    "
    Sci Fi

    "The Planet that wasnt there " by Isaac Asimov,Science Fact from the master storyteller.

    ....
    South American

    Kingdom Of the Sun God by Ian Cameroon, History of the Andes 101


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭Excelsior


    1. The Bible - God*

    2. The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis

    3. The Koran - God*

    4. The Lord of the Rings - Tolkein

    5. Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky

    6. The First Circle - Solzenhitsyn

    7. The Republic - Plato

    8. The Everlasting Man - Chesterton

    9. The Complete Works - Shakespeare

    10. Origin of Species - Darwin


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 88 ✭✭Pumpkinhead


    Well...

    10 books would have to be as follows..

    01. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
    02. Dubliners - Joyce
    03. Ulysses - Joyce
    04. 1984 - George Orwell
    05. Fury - Salman Rushdie
    06. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
    07. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
    08. Writing and Difference - Jaques Derrida
    09. Dissemination - Jaques Derrida
    10. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien


    of course its ever changing...

    :(


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,537 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    The Epic of Gilgamesh
    The Prince - very misquoted
    All quiet on the western front (a must read for Sven Hessel fans)
    A book containing all of Arther C Clarke stuff.
    Middle Ages : An Economic History (can't remember exact title)

    Sovet Encyclopedia of Space
    Richards Bicycle Book
    Magician
    All you Zombies (Ok it's only a short story)

    Two books at the other end of the scale (used to be in DCU library)
    a) one million random digits (maybe use for lotto numbers ?)
    b) an atlas of finite groups


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 88 ✭✭TeenStar


    has anyone read the cosmic trilogy by C.S Lewis????

    like your opinions please


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 353 ✭✭IgnatiusJRiley


    Survivor (Chuck Palahniuk) - READ IT!!
    A Confedaracy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole)
    Choke (also by Chuck)
    All Families are Psychotic (Douglas Coupland)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    1. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
    (first book to make me cry)
    2. The Pearl - John Steinbeck
    (traditional tale beautifully rewritten by steinbeck)
    3. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
    (so funny, the ultimate anti-hero)
    4. Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald
    5. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
    6. Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh
    (Superlative satire)
    7. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
    (need anything be said)
    8. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman
    (definitive sci-fi)
    9. Hamlet - Shakespeare
    (best play ever.)
    10. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Caroll
    (Best children's book, completely written for kids minds)

    Had some trouble leaving some out
    The Go-Between - Hartley
    Posession - A.S. Byatt
    Slaughterhouse 5 and Galapagos- Vonnegut
    and many more


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7 Jaymac23


    Anything by Robert Rankin...
    Start with the Armegeddon series...
    Sort of a Flann O'Brien for the chemical generation.
    The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursala K LeGuin.
    Pretty much anything by Hunter S Thompson.
    The Shining by Stephen King in a class of its own.
    His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
    Pratchett's Oeuvre
    The Assassins Trilogy by Robin Hobb.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 51 ✭✭Eden


    I don't know if I can come up with ten but here goes...
    Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
    Life of Pi-Yann Martel
    The Turn of the Screw- Henry James
    His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
    Alice in Wonderland-Lewis Carroll
    Animal Farm-George Orwell
    A Lifes Work- Rachel Cusk
    Tales of the Unexpected- Roald Dahl
    The Chocolate War- Robert Cormier
    The Butcher Boy- Pat McCabe
    The Bible+The Koran


  • Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 3,129 ✭✭✭Samson


    There are some great recommendations here.
    Any chance this thread could be stickied?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 47 The Devil


    my 10

    lord of the rings
    the hobbit
    it
    moby dick
    the great gatsby
    war and peace
    crime and punishment
    ulysses
    hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
    wuthering heights


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,055 ✭✭✭✭Tusky


    Filth - irvene welsh
    The Beach - Alex Garland
    The Lord Of The Rings - J.R.R Tolkien
    A Song Of Ice And Fire(series) - George R.R Martin
    A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

    they are my favourite books ( the ones that come to mind anyway )


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 128 ✭✭Q_Elexra


    I'd have to say

    Oedipus Rex (Not a book I know but it's a great play)
    Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
    The Truth - Terry Pratchett
    The Elder Gods - David & Leigh Eddings
    The Eye Of The World - Robert Jordan
    An Evil Cradling - Brian Keane
    Macbeth - William Shakespear
    How Many Miles To Babylon - Jennifer Johnston
    Pawn Of Prophesy - David Eddings
    Empire Of The Sun - JG Ballard

    COULD YOU PLESE DELETE THIS ONE


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 128 ✭✭Q_Elexra


    I'd have to say

    Oedipus Rex (Not a book I know but it's a great play)
    Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
    The Truth - Terry Pratchett
    The Elder Gods - David & Leigh Eddings
    The Eye Of The World - Robert Jordan
    An Evil Cradling - Brian Keenan
    Macbeth - William Shakespear
    How Many Miles To Babylon - Jennifer Johnston
    Pawn Of Prophesy - David Eddings
    Empire Of The Sun - JG Ballard


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,592 ✭✭✭Ancient1


    Salman Rushdie - all of his books are essential reading.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 693 ✭✭✭The Beer Baron


    The Lost World- that being Arthur Conan Doyle not the Jurassic Park sequel.
    1984- I see everyone has it here
    Stand on Zanzibar
    The Sheep Look Up
    The Old Man and the Sea
    One flew over the cuckoos nest
    Alice in Wonderland
    Burning Chrome
    2001
    Rama
    The Forever War
    The War of the Worlds
    Steppenwolf


    and eh...The Cat in the Hat


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  • Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 3,129 ✭✭✭Samson


    My 12 (sorry, could not bring myself to leave any of these out) recommendations, at the present juncture are:

    Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg (top of the list intentionally, best book I've read in years).
    American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.
    Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk.
    Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.
    The Stand by Stephen King.
    The Day of The Jackal by Frederick Forsyth.
    Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (read it in one sitting).
    Man and Boy by Tony Parsons.
    'Tis by Frank McCourt.
    Chickenhawk by Robert Mason (funniest war book since Catch 22).
    Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre.
    One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

    Much to my shame, I have read (or finished) few of the accepted "classics", hence most of my faves being comtemporary works.
    Thankfully this thread is reminding me.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 188 ✭✭jerenaugrim


    In no particular order-

    A Goat's Song, Dermot Healy
    The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
    Where I'm Calling From, Raymond Carver
    Journals, John Cheever
    This Side of Brightness, Colum McCann
    Candide, Voltaire (really funny!)
    Short Stories, Anton Chekov (Norton or Wordsworth edition )
    His Dark Materials, Philip Pulman (God is dissolute)
    A Prayer for Owen Meaney, John Irving
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey.

    Any thoughts on any of these, anyone?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,564 ✭✭✭Typedef


    1984 - George Orwell.
    American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis.
    High Rise - JG Ballard.
    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson.
    The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje.
    A Brave New World - Aldos Huxley.
    Less then Zero - Bret Easton Ellis.
    At the Mountains of Madness - HP Lovecraft.
    The telltale heart - Edgar Allen Poe.
    (Foundation (series) - Isaac Asimov or Lord of the Flies - William Golding or A Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger).

    It's a bit difficult to read the last two outside of the box of 'school' (where I had to read them), which is crap.

    *bump*


    Maybe some more I can't think of.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 188 ✭✭jerenaugrim


    Is The English Patient any good? 'Cause the film was vacant rubbish. Pretty, but vacant.:dunno:


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,604 ✭✭✭blondie83


    Fantastic Mr Fox - Roald Dahl
    Harry Potter - all of them, but especially the goblet of fire. It was really scary!
    1984 - bleak book, but brilliant.
    Brotherhood of the rose - David Morrell - favourite book of all time.
    Remote Control - Andy McNab book, 1st in a series, but in my opinion better than
    the rest of them. I just like the way it creates the character
    Nick Stone, and shows all his frailities despite the whole
    "SAS tough guy" thing
    All Quiet on the Western Front - depressingly realistic veiw of war

    can't think of any more at the moment, will update later


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,564 ✭✭✭Typedef


    Originally posted by jerenaugrim
    Is The English Patient any good? 'Cause the film was vacant rubbish. Pretty, but vacant.:dunno:



    I *know* you didn't just diss Ralph Fiennes.....


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2 sue123


    Now this is very hard

    Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll
    Wild Swans by Jung Chang
    Mila 18 by Leon Uris
    Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
    Bel Canto by Anne Patchett
    Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
    In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

    Oh can't decide between 4 others will have a think and come back :rolleyes:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 188 ✭✭jerenaugrim


    Originally posted by Typedef
    I *know* you didn't just diss Ralph Fiennes.....

    No, just none of the characters were at all sympathetic...except the guy that was being cheated on. Morally empty, if aesthetically pleasant...:rolleyes:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,564 ✭✭✭Typedef


    The only guy who I wasn't sympathetic to was.. the guy getting cheated on.

    Which film did you watch?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 35 graciek


    1) Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger
    2) Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
    3) Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
    4) The Hours - Michael Cunningham
    5) Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen
    6) The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

    in no particular order.........
    So many I'm forgetting!! Each has a unique quality, for example Kaysen's style is incredible, a really different way of writing, 1984- I don't need to explain, the same with the Salinger books...... The Hours is beautifully written, and Plath's book is well.....just intoxicating!


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