A
Andromache
Which book, if you had to choose only one book to recommend for all time would you choose? In other words, which book (above religious texts, which are exempted) would you think more important than any other? Why?
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T
Twitch
Watership Down, it's an excellent read for people of any age. I've read it countless times now and each time it's like a new experience.
I honestly don't know. I don't think a lot of my favorites actually say much that is crucial for anyone to understand or know.
T
Twitch
It doesn't compare at all. The movie is a dark children movie but a childrens movie all the same. The book only comes across as a story for kids if you read it as a child. It really evolves and if you want social commentary this book is full of it.
North_Ranger
Staff member
Cannot answer with such draconian parameters. For me there is not just one book over every other book.
A
Andromache
i'm actually just looking for my winter reading list, but dont want crap recommendations, if that's less draconian.
M
Mr. Lawface
Oh those damn draconians.
That does help, and I can understand why you did it that way. I've seen the past book recommendation threads where it's people listing everything they have on their shelves, regardless of what it is.
I guess since you didn't specify, genre is not really an issue.
The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie is one of my favorite books. Much as the protagonist and narrator tries to center his family history down to his own birth and life, it's really about his mother and how she both held and strangled the family. It takes place in India and it's told in a way of family fables and stories, making it feel more mythological than biographical, as if his ancestors are the Greek gods or something. A warning though: of my friends who read this, I'm the only one who liked it.
fade
Staff member
One of the best books I've ever read, hands down, is The Last Unicorn. I was hesitant to pick it up when a friend recommended it to me, because I thought, "Geez, how stupid is this? A book about a unicorn? Pass." But then from the very first line, Beagle hooks you. His writing style is really unique. He writes in a form that comes very close to purple prose, but doesn't cross the line. It's a sad, dark, deep story full of layers of symbolism that leaves you raw at the end.
Also, if you like Beagle's style, I highly recommend Ray Bradbury. He also writes in that poetic-prose style. If you're not feeling depressed enough, then by all means read "Dandelion Wine", which is one of his few non-science fiction works. It's about the changeover from early century to modern car & TV culture in the US, and it will rip your guts out.
Also, if you like Beagle's style, I highly recommend Ray Bradbury. He also writes in that poetic-prose style. If you're not feeling depressed enough, then by all means read "Dandelion Wine", which is one of his few non-science fiction works. It's about the changeover from early century to modern car & TV culture in the US, and it will rip your guts out.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
OR
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
OR
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
North_Ranger
Staff member
Descent by Jeff Long - save that it's set underground and has human off-shoots, it has bubkis to do with the crappy film of the same name.
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer - either in Middle or Modern English, depending on your preference.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer - either in Middle or Modern English, depending on your preference.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
Kurt vonnegut - Sirens of titan. first vonnegut book i ever read.
ElJuski
Staff member
Slaughterhouse Five is probably the most important piece of literature in the past 60 years. So if you haven't read it, do so.
Some other great reads:
-Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno
-American Gods by Neil Gaiman
-Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (non-fic)
-I Know How the Hula Girl Sings by Joe Meno
-Franny and Zoey by J.D. Salinger
-Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
Some other great reads:
-Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno
-American Gods by Neil Gaiman
-Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (non-fic)
-I Know How the Hula Girl Sings by Joe Meno
-Franny and Zoey by J.D. Salinger
-Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
R
redapples
Well probably Moby Dick over all others but plenty of other worthy conteders.
Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks.
Snow Crash - Neil Stephenson
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Underworld - Don Dellelio
The Dispossessed - Ursula K Le Guin
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks.
Snow Crash - Neil Stephenson
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Underworld - Don Dellelio
The Dispossessed - Ursula K Le Guin
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
S
Skinny Santa
Can I go with a series? If so A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.
Its a high fantasy series which has really good characterization, each chapter is from a different characters point of view with around 6 or 7 characters a book usually. Its kind of difficult to explain without giving too much away but its mainly about infighting over control of a kingdom. I'm sure someone else who's read the series so far will have a better description.
Warning: its not completed yet so know going in that you're gonna have to wait for the end of the series. I thought I had the whole thing and was annoyed when i found out I didn't.
PS: When is the next book coming out, arglebargle!
Its a high fantasy series which has really good characterization, each chapter is from a different characters point of view with around 6 or 7 characters a book usually. Its kind of difficult to explain without giving too much away but its mainly about infighting over control of a kingdom. I'm sure someone else who's read the series so far will have a better description.
Warning: its not completed yet so know going in that you're gonna have to wait for the end of the series. I thought I had the whole thing and was annoyed when i found out I didn't.
PS: When is the next book coming out, arglebargle!
R
Rubicon
A Game of Thrones - Book 1 from Song of Ice and Fire
S
Skinny Santa
Hah, I beat Mav, gimme my nerd points.
That's one series I wanna read but won't until it's finished. I'm not yet convinced it will be finished before Martin dies.
That book always depresses me.
To Kill a Mockingbird springs immediately to mind.
I read it when I was 13, and never before had I ever read a book which dealt so intelligently, yet completely without preachiness, with human decency and determination in the face of prejudice, ignorance, and evil.
There are books I read later that were considerably more complex, but none made an impression on me as much as this one.
I read it when I was 13, and never before had I ever read a book which dealt so intelligently, yet completely without preachiness, with human decency and determination in the face of prejudice, ignorance, and evil.
There are books I read later that were considerably more complex, but none made an impression on me as much as this one.
I know I for one can't vouch for any sci-fi fantasy reads, which is usually what you guys are looking for anyway. I'm curious as to what books you're nutshelling away.
I
Iaculus
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay's one of those very good books that slips under a lot of people's radars, on the fantasy side of things. For the famous, 'important' books, though... Flowers for Algernon. Every time.
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It shook me out of a bit of a rut I was in. I was satisfied with living life as a cog in the machine that is society, and though I know I might never be anyone great, it prodded me into at least aspiring to something bigger.
The other two that jump to mind might not meet the criteria, since some would consider them religious texts. But The Dao De Jing and The Book of Zhuangzi both had a profound effect on my worldview. The only problem is that there are a lot of bad translations available for The Dao De Jing, most of which treat it as a mystical text, rather than a philosophical one. So you should be sure what you're getting. It also helps to be reading it with an entire class, since the book is written with the intention to confuse you.
The other two that jump to mind might not meet the criteria, since some would consider them religious texts. But The Dao De Jing and The Book of Zhuangzi both had a profound effect on my worldview. The only problem is that there are a lot of bad translations available for The Dao De Jing, most of which treat it as a mystical text, rather than a philosophical one. So you should be sure what you're getting. It also helps to be reading it with an entire class, since the book is written with the intention to confuse you.
K
Kitty Sinatra
I'd recommend Joyce Carol Oates or Margaret Atwood. Nothing specific, just whichever novels by either of them that grab your attention (and there's a hell of a lot to choose from).
But my number 1 favorite book is Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. EdiT: Why? To start with, it's an enjoyable read. Well, that rather ends it, too as there's no other reason to recommend it. It's a nice little book of fiction.
But my number 1 favorite book is Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. EdiT: Why? To start with, it's an enjoyable read. Well, that rather ends it, too as there's no other reason to recommend it. It's a nice little book of fiction.
That's actually a fantastic suggestion, although most have had to read it in school. But it says so much about so many things by telling an adult story through a child's eyes. Yeah, that is definitely a One Book candidate.
That's actually a fantastic suggestion, although most have had to read it in school. But it says so much about so many things by telling an adult story through a child's eyes. Yeah, that is definitely a One Book candidate.[/QUOTE]
Third-ed.
Just be sure to stay away from Atlas Shrugged, where Ayn Rand reveals that the only people she thinks matters are the artists and visionaries of the world, completely forgetting that it's the "cogs" (as you put it) working towards a great good that makes such dreams possible. That's my biggest criticism of Randian Philosophy; the simple fact that you are regarded as sub-human unless you are a creative, artistic type.
My suggestions for books?
Soon I Will Be Invincible, for portraying a world full of super heroes some what realistically while showing the inner conflicts of both a second string hero and the master villain. It both subverts and follows the usual tropes associated with being a villain in Dr. Impossible, who seems to NEED to act in this manner, while simultaneously questioning if "The world's smartest man" has done the smartest thing he could have with his life. It also has a great twist ending that comes out of nowhere, hanging a lampshade on one of the oldest Super Hero cliches in the book, revealing just how arrogant both Dr. Impossible and Corefire actually are. I really want a sequel/follow-up to this BADLY.
The Graveyard Book - This won the Newberry Award this year. It's basically a retelling of the Jungle Book, but taking place in an English graveyard full of ghosts, ghouls, vampires, and madmen instead of the jungles of India. It has interesting pacing, where each story seems to become less and less fantastic as Bod gets older, eventually culminating in an ending that is both sad and empowering. I'd love to see a sequel to this about Silas, Bod's Guardian during his time in the graveyard, where it goes into more detail about what he was doing during his times away and his life before and after Bod. It's not a long or hard book, but it's worth a look.
Boomsday - Chris Buckley's book dealing with aging Baby Boomers, the incredible selfishness their culture created in America, and how it's going to eventually ruin Social Security for everyone unless something is done about it. It's delivered in the tongue in cheek style that Buckley was famous for in Thank You for Smoking, but does raise some interesting points in the process.
And I forth To Kill A Mockingbird, if only because I've become the resident Boo Radley of my neighborhood.
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