Books...

**monstercojones** · 05-18-2004, 12:27 PM

I thought I’d write up a list of books that I think are amazing, everyone who likes reading should check them out. I’m always looking for new stuff, so please post up your favorites.

Fiction

Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad

The Lord of the Flies- William Golding

1984- George Orwell

A Catcher in the Rye- JD Salinger

Les Miserables- Victor Hugo

The Count of Monte Christo- Alexandre Dumas

A Clockwork Orange- Anthony Burgess

Anything by Chuck Palahniuk- Author of Fight Club, Survivor, etc…

I, Lucifer – Glenn Duncan

A Brave New World- Aldous Huxley

The Death of Ivan Illyich- Leo Tolstoy

Beowulf

Non- Fiction

The Art of War- Sun Tzu

Holy Blood, Holy Grail – Baigent, Leigh, Lincoln

A Brief History of Time- Stephen Hawking

Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed- Jim Al-Khaili

Republic- Plato

Leviathan- Thomas Hobbes

The Illiad- Homer (not sure which to include this in)

**decadbal** · 05-18-2004, 12:32 PM

u should very well know, those books are way over our heads.. i mean come on, beowould and 1984, i dont need to read a book about a year, i was alive then.. i know what all happened...LOL, JK bro, good books..

**inheritmylife** · 05-18-2004, 01:18 PM

Last two I read:

Under the Banner of Heaven

Bowling Alone

Both were very good.

**bad_man** · 05-18-2004, 01:24 PM

Bar none, every single one of these books is in my bookshelf. And yes, i've read them all. Nice list. If you're going to include the Iliad, why not the Odyssey?

**adamw1** · 05-18-2004, 01:39 PM

Last book i read was The Davinci Code by Dan Brown you should check it out if you havnt already

**inheritmylife** · 05-18-2004, 01:46 PM

My all-time favorite is still Catch-22. To this day, I still fall out of my chair laughing when I read it.

**bad_man** · 05-18-2004, 01:53 PM

Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella is one of my alltime favorites. It was the basis of the movie Field of Dreams. If you hated the movie, still give this a shot. If you liked the movie, you'll love the book.

Also by Kinsella, The Iowa Baseball Confederacy is great.

**Wiggum** · 05-18-2004, 01:57 PM

Enders Game is another good one. Can't remember the author.

And besides Catch-22, my other favorite book is On the Road by Karouac.

**monstercojones** · 05-18-2004, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by bad_man

Bar none, every single one of these books is in my bookshelf. And yes, i've read them all. Nice list. If you're going to include the Iliad, why not the Odyssey?

I like the Illiad better as far as the characters and life lessons that it teaches the reader. I tried my best to keep the list short. It sucked that I only included books that I currently possess and happened to see on my bookshelf... I've given alot of books to friends for reading.

I really have to read Catch-22... I think i'll pick that up later this evening.

I'll also check out Shoeless Joe.

AdamW1--- I have read the Da Vinci Code... some of the books that I listed are about the actual facts that the Da Vinci code was based on. The first chapter of The Templar Revelation basically sums up all the questions about Chrisatianity that the Da Vinci code raises.... the rest of the book simply blows your mind. if you liked Dan Brown's thriller adaption, check out the solid facts, they're much better reading imo.

**Speed Trials** · 05-18-2004, 03:20 PM

Like Wiggum said, On The Road is great.

1984 was great, like you said.

A couple others:
Crime And Punishment--Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Picture Of Dorian Gray--Oscar Wilde

**einstein1905** · 05-18-2004, 03:39 PM

I've read most everything mentioned and agree with most.

Just a few more:
The Stranger - Camus
The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky
The Bell Jar - Plath
The Sorrows of Young Werther and Faust - Goethe
Anything by Sinclair Lewis
Steppenwolf - Hesse (everything by Hesse is great)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Pirsig
Everything by Huxley
Letters from the Earth - Twain
So many more I won't list

**adamw1** · 05-18-2004, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by monstercojones

I like the Illiad better as far as the characters and life lessons that it teaches the reader. I tried my best to keep the list short. It sucked that I only included books that I currently possess and happened to see on my bookshelf... I've given alot of books to friends for reading.

I really have to read Catch-22... I think i'll pick that up later this evening.

I'll also check out Shoeless Joe.

AdamW1--- I have read the Da Vinci Code... some of the books that I listed are about the actual facts that the Da Vinci code was based on. The first chapter of The Templar Revelation basically sums up all the questions about Chrisatianity that the Da Vinci code raises.... the rest of the book simply blows your mind. if you liked Dan Brown's thriller adaption, check out the solid facts, they're much better reading imo.

thanks for that have just ordered the book as the davinci code facinated me so am gonna read up on all the theorys

**adamw1** · 05-18-2004, 05:12 PM

also if any one likes readin fantasy and science fiction then i would recommend Magician by Raymond Feist.This book got my imagination so involved a few years ago that i just havnt stopped reading thank you Raymond!

**BigGreen** · 05-18-2004, 07:40 PM

I recall one of these being started last summer with decent results....i'll reiterate some of my picks from then as well as add a few new ones.

Any time I'm asked, I am absolutely compelled to recommend Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. It's quite likely my favorite book. And I try to reread it at least once a year.

Aboslutely *anything* by either Chuck Palahniuk or Nick Hornby...two *extremely* under-appreciated authors whom I believe will be remembered years from now as two of the best of this time period.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen....and if you like that give his collection of essays How to be Alone a read as well - both have a great style to them.

Bertrand Russel....literally anything by him.

Those are just a couple that come to mind

EDIT: Before I forget Franz Kafka's The Trial...the kind of book that stays with you for a long ass time after you finish. Truly frightening in that regard.

**palequail** · 05-18-2004, 08:23 PM

I try not to read so my eyesite stays 20/20...

**Micromonster** · 05-18-2004, 09:39 PM

Hey you guys are forgetting one of the most liverating books ever. "Stranger in a strange land", Robert Heinlein. Who wouldn't want to have a religious cult where you sleep with all sorts of different women.

**RJM03** · 05-19-2004, 08:04 AM

The Charm School is hands down the best book I have ever read. I would recommend it to anyone.

**Speed Trials** · 05-19-2004, 09:25 AM

Oh ****, I forgot about Bukowski. Anyone else here read anything by Charles Bukowski?

**monstercojones** · 05-19-2004, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by BigGreen

I recall one of these being started last summer with decent results....i'll reiterate some of my picks from then as well as add a few new ones.

Any time I'm asked, I am absolutely compelled to recommend Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. It's quite likely my favorite book. And I try to reread it at least once a year.

Aboslutely *anything* by either Chuck Palahniuk or Nick Hornby...two *extremely* under-appreciated authors whom I believe will be remembered years from now as two of the best of this time period.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen....and if you like that give his collection of essays How to be Alone a read as well - both have a great style to them.

Bertrand Russel....literally anything by him.

Those are just a couple that come to mind

EDIT: Before I forget Franz Kafka's The Trial...the kind of book that stays with you for a long ass time after you finish. Truly frightening in that regard.

Einstein--- i love camus, it was my mistake not including him on my list.

biggreen- as always, your input is much appreciated. i will be picking up time's arrow...

and Chuck Palahniuk is veryyyy underappreciated. he sells himself short in interviews by labeling himself 'the only guy who writes books for dudes'. in actuality, his sparse, almost hemmingway-ish style of writing makes for an easy read that contains manyyyy strong messages and sardonic, often humorous, critiques of western culture today.

thanks for the replies everyone... keep em coming!

**rambo** · 05-20-2004, 12:12 AM

Originally Posted by Speed Trials

Oh ****, I forgot about Bukowski. Anyone else here read anything by Charles Bukowski?

Another person I think will help to define this period of literature is Bukowski.

My favorite book? The Prince.

The book I hate the most? Catcher in the Rye. **** YOU Holden, you piece of ****. I really do hate you.

And I will second the Palahniuk references. I definitely dig Camus.

There was a book I read over and over again when I was young called simply "The Seed," where a brilliant man discovers after leaving his family and going into a daze of self discovery that the key to man's existence is merely a cosmic joke, set off as a catalyst. The person who finds me a copy of that book will be the person I name my first born child after.

**einstein1905** · 05-20-2004, 12:24 AM

The Seed

Originally Posted by rambo

Another person I think will help to define this period of literature is Bukowski.

My favorite book? The Prince.

The book I hate the most? Catcher in the Rye. **** YOU Holden, you piece of ****. I really do hate you.

And I will second the Palahniuk references. I definitely dig Camus.

There was a book I read over and over again when I was young called simply "The Seed," where a brilliant man discovers after leaving his family and going into a daze of self discovery that the key to man's existence is merely a cosmic joke, set off as a catalyst. The person who finds me a copy of that book will be the person I name my first born child after.

**rambo** · 05-20-2004, 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by einstein1905

The Seed

That's not it. I was both elated and depressed, but now I can still hope to see monstercojones find it, because I think it would look good with my last name.

**Speed Trials** · 05-20-2004, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by rambo

That's not it. I was both elated and depressed, but now I can still hope to see monstercojones find it, because I think it would look good with my last name.

LMAO! Monstercojones would go well with virtually every last name, but it would be a tough name for a kid to live up to.

**monstercojones** · 05-20-2004, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by Speed Trials

LMAO! Monstercojones would go well with virtually every last name, but it would be a tough name for a kid to live up to.

you're **** right it would... my real name is actually cooler if you can believe it.

**doby48** · 05-20-2004, 10:27 PM

One i read a few months ago that was surprisingly good... "From the Corner of His Eye" by Dean Koontz.

Although can't forget some of the classics...
Mutiny on the Bounty
Little Women
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Pride and Prejudice
Oliver Twist

Where the Red Fern Grows was a good one too.

I'm not much of a poetry person, but love Poe... If you like Poe then a good one is "Complete Storries and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe"

**monstercojones** · 05-20-2004, 10:48 PM

as far as outlandish fiction goes, dean koontz is one of my favs... i have read over 25 of his books since i was around 12. stephen king isnt too bad either.

**doby48** · 05-21-2004, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by monstercojones

as far as outlandish fiction goes, dean koontz is one of my favs... i have read over 25 of his books since i was around 12. stephen king isnt too bad either.

Can't believe I forogt Stephen King, hes one of my favorites, got every book he ever wrote... My favorites by him are Neeful Things, The Stand, and Insomnia.

With regards to Dean Koontz, the first book of his I read was Icebound and I didn't like it very much so I had a tough time picking up another one of his books. From the Corner of His Eye was such a good book though I gave him another shot and he does have some good books.