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Also Robinson Crusoe, which was surprisingly fun to read, and if you're willing to overlook the "english" part slightly there's Candide by Voltaire, but really Frankenstein is the best book of that period. It's a fuckin' novel with millions of levels, written by a teenager who hung out with fuckin' Lord Goddamn Byron, that is still better than poo poo people with doctorates in literature create today.
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May 3, 2014 23:22
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I'm looking for some science fiction novels with tense, creepy atmospheres similar to Solaris, Blindsight, Ship of Fools, or Inverted World. For some reason, books like these tend to stick with me for years after reading them.
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May 4, 2014 04:41
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Fleedar posted:I'm looking for some science fiction novels with tense, creepy atmospheres similar to Solaris, Blindsight, Ship of Fools, or Inverted World. For some reason, books like these tend to stick with me for years after reading them. I hope you don't mind if I pimp my blog post on books of this ilk.
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May 4, 2014 08:10
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Fleedar posted:I'm looking for some science fiction novels with tense, creepy atmospheres similar to Solaris, Blindsight, Ship of Fools, or Inverted World. For some reason, books like these tend to stick with me for years after reading them. You've probably read it already if you've read all those others, but Chasm City is one of my favorites for this type of thing. Man, that book has some truly creepy poo poo go down on the generation ship.
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May 4, 2014 09:44
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Sir John Feelgood posted:Hey, looking for your favorite British novels from the eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Besides the heavy hitters like Dickens and Austen, don't overlook Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy: it's a great, rambling read that's a lot of fun, especially when Uncle Toby's hanging around. Matthew Lewis' The Monk is a fun, dark read about sex and violence and unlike some other gothic stuff, I think it's aged pretty well.
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May 4, 2014 15:22
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Thanks for the recommendations. I have read Frankenstein and Robinson Crusoe and Candide, but I haven't read the others. I've also read Guy Mannering, but not Ivanhoe or Waverley (so thank you DirtyRobot), and I've read A Sentimental Journey, but not Tristram Shandy (so thank you barkingclaims). And the enthusiasm you guys have for Austen means I'll read her sooner than I imagined. And all the other books you guys said. Anything else? I'll take more.
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May 4, 2014 18:45
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Sir John Feelgood posted:Hey, looking for your favorite British novels from the eighteenth or early nineteenth century. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. If you have never read any Sherlock Holmes, you should, and this is the best.
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May 4, 2014 18:58
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Namirsolo posted:The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. If you have never read any Sherlock Holmes, you should, and this is the best. Twentieth century, though -- published 1902. He's asking for early 19th. Even someone like Dickens (and yeah, read David Copperfield) is a bit too late. For Austen, I cannot recommend Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey highly enough. The main issue though with reading Austen is that she presupposes you have what today would be an encyclopedic knowledge of 18th century British society -- she was writing for her social peers and contemporaries and not remotely for anyone else at all. There are extended multi-page running gags that turn entirely on the reader knowing what the differences are between a curricle, a gig, and a barouche-landau are. If you know the relevant details, she's hilarious; if you don't, huge swathes of her work will be utterly impenetrable. Get an annotated edition of any novel you read by her if possible, and it doesn't hurt anything to watch a film or television version either, just to help get the context. One useful resource might be What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens Knew, which helps fit together a lot of the background detail.
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May 4, 2014 19:28
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Twentieth century, though -- published 1902. He's asking for early 19th. Even someone like Dickens (and yeah, read David Copperfield) is a bit too late. That'll teach me to read fast, haha. Try Gulliver's Travels. Anything by Jonathan Swift, really. A Modest Proposal is amazing.
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May 4, 2014 23:39
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Hedrigall posted:I hope you don't mind if I pimp my blog post on books of this ilk. savinhill posted:You've probably read it already if you've read all those others, but Chasm City is one of my favorites for this type of thing. Man, that book has some truly creepy poo poo go down on the generation ship. Sweet, thanks! I hadn't heard of Chasm City. I'll add all of those to my to-read list.
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May 5, 2014 01:17
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Looking for a book that involves the sea in some way. Can be more or less important, but should play a reasonably large role. Contemporary-ish (last 50 years or so). Not Old Man and the Sea. Thanks a lot folks.
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May 6, 2014 22:15
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nomadologique posted:Looking for a book that involves the sea in some way. Can be more or less important, but should play a reasonably large role. Contemporary-ish (last 50 years or so). Not Old Man and the Sea. Does modern weird fantasy work for you? China Mieville's Scar is really good and it's all about the sea in that book.
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May 6, 2014 22:23
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nomadologique posted:Looking for a book that involves the sea in some way. Can be more or less important, but should play a reasonably large role. Contemporary-ish (last 50 years or so). Not Old Man and the Sea. I haven't read it yet but apparently Far Tortuga is the poo poo in that regard and it is currently on my list.
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May 6, 2014 22:44
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nomadologique posted:Looking for a book that involves the sea in some way. Can be more or less important, but should play a reasonably large role. Contemporary-ish (last 50 years or so). Not Old Man and the Sea. For an obvious suggestion, Life of Pi (though, if one were to be pedantic, it involves the ocean rather than the sea). Much, much better than the movie.
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May 7, 2014 00:05
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nomadologique posted:Looking for a book that involves the sea in some way. Can be more or less important, but should play a reasonably large role. Contemporary-ish (last 50 years or so). Some of it is a little older, but the Everyman's Library Stories of the Sea is great (as are many of their other collections). Simon Winchester's Atlantic is awesome if you want some non-fiction, and a few that I haven't read myself but have sold and/or heard good things about are Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea, Greenberg's Four Fish, and Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World.
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May 7, 2014 00:18
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regulargonzalez posted:For an obvious suggestion, Life of Pi (though, if one were to be pedantic, it involves the ocean rather than the sea). Oh yeah sorry I meant to exclude Life of Pi as well. Great recs so far, thanks!
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May 7, 2014 00:25
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nomadologique posted:Looking for a book that involves the sea in some way. Can be more or less important, but should play a reasonably large role. Contemporary-ish (last 50 years or so). How about Pym by Mat Johnson.
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May 7, 2014 01:31
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Would Pym even make sense without reading Poe's Narrative first? Great book though (Johnson's, not Poe's).
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May 7, 2014 02:33
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nomadologique posted:Looking for a book that involves the sea in some way. Can be more or less important, but should play a reasonably large role. Contemporary-ish (last 50 years or so). Not Old Man and the Sea. Frank Schätzings The Swarm if you don't mind the SF/Horror story.
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May 7, 2014 05:48
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Anyone know of something like the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry? Love the mix of thriller action and comedy/smart-rear end'ty.
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May 7, 2014 12:44
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Time Cowboy posted:Would Pym even make sense without reading Poe's Narrative first? Great book though (Johnson's, not Poe's). 50% of Pym takes place in the sea/is related to the sea. ....and it was the only contemporary sea book I could think of other than "V".
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May 7, 2014 13:02
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Fenrra posted:Anyone know of something like the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry? Love the mix of thriller action and comedy/smart-rear end'ty. Josh Bazell's Beat the Reaper, Don Winslow's Savages, Charles Stross' Laundry Files series and The Android's Dream, Simon Morden's Petrovich books, Mike Carey's Felix Castor series, Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard books, maybe Scott Sigler's Infected series
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May 7, 2014 14:02
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Maybe someone can help me with a hopefully simple request. I'm looking for a book (or series preferably) that has a big looming mystery throughout, and then at the end has an amazing payoff. Something along the lines of Lost if the ending was mindblowing (even though I love the ending of Lost). It can be magic realism, sci-fi, fantasy, whatever, preferably some supernatural slant to it.
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May 8, 2014 03:46
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Years ago, I read a couple of books titled "The Two Space War" and "The Guns of Two Space" that had a pretty rad "what if we put a Hornblower naval adventure in space and throw in dnd and tolkien races for aliens?" concept. The books were okay but mainly they gave me a hankering for more of the same or similar. Not looking for hard science space operas or tacticool space commandos just more scifi swashbucking adventure. Anybody have any ideas?
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May 8, 2014 03:50
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Cast No Engine posted:Maybe someone can help me with a hopefully simple request. I'm looking for a book (or series preferably) that has a big looming mystery throughout, and then at the end has an amazing payoff. Something along the lines of Lost if the ending was mindblowing (even though I love the ending of Lost). The Magus by John Fowles The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
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May 8, 2014 04:11
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regulargonzalez posted:The Magus by John Fowles Declare and Anubis Gate by Tim Powers. Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, it's even more weird and mysterious than The Name of the Rose.
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May 8, 2014 06:43
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I'm not sure it has that big reveal / payoff type of moment that he was looking for
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May 8, 2014 08:05
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regulargonzalez posted:I'm not sure it has that big reveal / payoff type of moment that he was looking for The payoff was, he got to play the trumpet once. Good enough for me. 
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May 8, 2014 08:30
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What's a good, fairly famous book for moms? Mothers day is coming up and she's been saying she has nothing to read lately.
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May 9, 2014 13:47
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The Vosgian Beast posted:What's a good, fairly famous book for moms? Mothers day is coming up and she's been saying she has nothing to read lately. Asking what's "a good book for moms" is like asking what's "a good book for guys". What kind of books does she like to read, and what has she read before?
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May 9, 2014 14:42
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The Vosgian Beast posted:What's a good, fairly famous book for moms? Mothers day is coming up and she's been saying she has nothing to read lately. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
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May 9, 2014 14:44
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ulvir posted:Asking what's "a good book for moms" is like asking what's "a good book for guys". What kind of books does she like to read, and what has she read before? Sorry, I just want something touching that's a classic that isn't hugely raunchy or weird. She liked The Book Thief, Catcher In The Rye, and The Poisonwood Bible.
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May 9, 2014 14:46
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The Vosgian Beast posted:Sorry, I just want something touching that's a classic that isn't hugely raunchy or weird. She liked The Book Thief, Catcher In The Rye, and The Poisonwood Bible. The Kite Runner
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May 9, 2014 14:47
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The Vosgian Beast posted:Sorry, I just want something touching that's a classic that isn't hugely raunchy or weird. She liked The Book Thief, Catcher In The Rye, and The Poisonwood Bible. Cutting for Stone, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Birds of a Lesser Paradise, pretty much anything by Stewart O'Nan
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May 9, 2014 14:53
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The Vosgian Beast posted:Sorry, I just want something touching that's a classic that isn't hugely raunchy or weird. She liked The Book Thief, Catcher In The Rye, and The Poisonwood Bible. OK, serious recommendation: The All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriott. They're the perfect book for moms. There are four books in the series, each one is a collection of short stories, all semi-autobiographical. Herriott was a country veterinarian in Yorkshire from the 1930's to the 1960's and each book covers roughly ten years. They're all stories about funny or poignant local characters and saving sick animals. Usually he saves the sick animal but sometimes he doesn't; when he doesn't he usually says something afterwards like "ten years later the antibiotics were invented that would have saved little Molly's pony" or whatever. They're all great stories, they're all very touching, they're about as far from raunchy or weird as you can get (except possibly for the story about the invention of the Artificial Bovine Vagina, but that's pretty late in the series).
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May 9, 2014 14:54
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The Vosgian Beast posted:What's a good, fairly famous book for moms? Mothers day is coming up and she's been saying she has nothing to read lately. Oedipus Rex
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May 9, 2014 15:32
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Thanks for all the suggestions but I have settled on 120 Days of Sodom. Does anyone know where to get the finished version? There's a lot of the edition I got that's just a bunch of summaries of what happens at the end.
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May 9, 2014 16:17
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Looking for a decent Sci-fi novel. Preferably something recent. Catch is that it has to have an audiobook version.
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May 9, 2014 16:36
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Hey, I'm sort of in the mood for a good folklore collection. Something not European and not insanely expensive. Any recommendations?
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May 10, 2014 02:00
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Ezzum posted:Hey, I'm sort of in the mood for a good folklore collection. Something not European and not insanely expensive. Any recommendations? My personal recommendation would be Best Loved Folk Tales of the World, edited by Joanna Cole. It's got a good selection of folklore from all over the world, including Polynesia, South America, Native American, China, etc. I've read a lot of different folklore collections and very often I find that in each new collection I read, the best stories in it are already familiar to me because I read them before in this one.
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May 10, 2014 02:37
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