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Awesome books...

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:04 am
by theshoegazer
So I've just started reading again after a long hiatus from the literary world. I'm not particularly well read to be honest. The last time a read a novel was more than a few years ago and I was into hilariously nerdy fantasy literature. Now I'm filled with the overwhelming desire to read just about anything that I can get my hands on that interests me. What are some good books I need to read?

On the list:
The Brother Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
One, No One and One Hundred Thousand - Luigi Pirandello
Note From the Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Yeah, I like existentialism....

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:02 am
by smile_man
I too have recently jumped back into the literary world.

I enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction type stuff, particularly The Road by Cormac McCarthy (a movie was recently made on this) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (this book was the inspiration for Bladerunner). Maybe try Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:04 pm
by theshoegazer
smile_man wrote:I too have recently jumped back into the literary world.

I enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction type stuff, particularly The Road by Cormac McCarthy (a movie was recently made on this) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (this book was the inspiration for Bladerunner). Maybe try Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.


I'm definitely into post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction as well. The Road is on my buy list :thumb: I'm actually reading Galapagos by Vonnegut right now.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:30 pm
by futuresailors
If you want to get all existential I've liked everything Camus has done, and Candide by Voltaire is great.

I think Cat's Cradle was my favourite Vonnegut book. I've been on a Haruki Murakami bender myself, so I would recommend after the quake if you're into quirky short stories.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:46 pm
by Gunner Recall
I'm on a Pynchon kick at the moment, I'm reading reading V. (which has been absolutely brilliant so far).
Next up is either infinite jest or the screwtape letters, probably both since IJ is too heavy to lug around to work.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:21 pm
by Seizurema
Everything Lovecraft has ever written,
The Stand by King,
The Sprawl Trilogy by Gibson,
Any collection of Harlan Ellison or John Shirley short stories,
The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (Trilogy) by Adams,
1984 obv.
The Stranger, if you haven't read it already,
Snow Crash by Stephenson ..er.. anything by Stephenson.

Will update when I remember things I'm forgetting.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:43 pm
by theshoegazer
Nice suggestions. Thanks guys.

I just started reading Naked Lunch. I'll be honest, I'm sure what the big deal is. The write style is so broken and rambling it renders the text nearly unintelligible. Its still quite fascinating but not really my cup of tea. Meh?

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:52 pm
by CBGB
If you like existentialism and Russians, maybe try...

Alexander Herzen - From the Other Shore
Evgeny Zamyatin - We
Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master & Margarita
Viktor Pelevin - Omon Ra

The best thing I've read recently is Borges' short story collection Labyrinths. Mindblowing.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:09 pm
by smile_man
The Authors Note in A Scanner Darkly is one of the most moving things I've ever read.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:39 am
by bubstance
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Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 4:15 am
by dorfmeister
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Anything by J.D. Salinger
Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
Ernest Hemingway
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Raymond Carver

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 4:19 am
by Jenesis
As far as fiction goes, pretty much the only author I read is Stephen King. :bob: / :facepalm:

The vast majority of books I read are non-fiction. History, nature, war etc.

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:03 am
by sevenSHARPnine
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Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:40 am
by iblamesummers
man. i'm not trying to be an elitist snob or nuthin' cuz i spend my fair share of being lobotomized-out on video games and the INTERNET and watching professional sports and stuff but this thread is mega-depressing.

:picard:

Re: Awesome books...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:44 am
by Gunner Recall
Books (or tits) or gtfo :omg: