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shinmai posted:My favorite sci-fi author is Fredric Brown (I mean dude has a short story about a printing press that's achieved satori) but only because Douglas Adams didn't write too much, I'm deeply in love with Pratchett and Neil Gaimann, the last non-Pratchett book I read was Danielewski's House of Leaves, and I enjoyed it. Just to get in ahead of everyone: read Bridge of Birds. No matter what anyone asks in this thread, the answer will always eventually be "read Bridge of Birds." You might also enjoy David Wong (John Dies at the End et al) and Matt Ruff (I'd recommend Sewer, Gas, and Electric or Fool on the Hill.)
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Apr 30, 2016 05:17
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Selachian posted:Just to get in ahead of everyone: read Bridge of Birds. No matter what anyone asks in this thread, the answer will always eventually be "read Bridge of Birds." You might also want to try Kraken by China Miéville - a bit of warning, though: it's a case of good writer who's way up his own rear end trying to do pulp urban fantasy. Amazing ideas and some really funny scenes, but the writing may take some getting used to. Still his most accessible book, though.
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Apr 30, 2016 09:10
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Selachian posted:Just to get in ahead of everyone: read Bridge of Birds. No matter what anyone asks in this thread, the answer will always eventually be "read Bridge of Birds." Just so everyone who wants to get Bridge of Birds knows, it's available on Kindle, but only as part of The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. I don't know if The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen are as beloved or good as the first book, though.
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Apr 30, 2016 15:14
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Solitair posted:Just so everyone who wants to get Bridge of Birds knows, it's available on Kindle, but only as part of The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. I don't know if The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen are as beloved or good as the first book, though. They would be decent books on their own but everyone reads them after reading Bridge of Birds and they just aren't the same
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Apr 30, 2016 15:23
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:They would be decent books on their own but everyone reads them after reading Bridge of Birds and they just aren't the same Makes sense. Instead of having a blurb summarizing what the books are about, the Amazon page has the author giving a short autobiography and admitting that he didn't want to keep writing the same series for the rest of his life. I'm sure some people here wished he came to that epiphany sooner.
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Apr 30, 2016 15:40
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Solitair posted:Makes sense. Instead of having a blurb summarizing what the books are about, the Amazon page has the author giving a short autobiography and admitting that he didn't want to keep writing the same series for the rest of his life. I'm sure some people here wished he came to that epiphany sooner. Still kinda miffed he stopped writing completely, though.
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Apr 30, 2016 17:02
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https://archive.org/stream/ScannersLiveInVain/SmithCordwainer-ScannersLiveInVain.txt a classic
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Apr 30, 2016 17:49
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I read some books once. I read Broca's Brain, Demon Haunted World, and Contact by Carl Sagan. I like to read the Hagakure on occasion, along with Bruce Lee's Tao of jeet kun do. I also enjoy reading about ancient civilizations in books like Ambivalent Conquests: The Maya and the Spaniards in Yucatan and Assyrians: the first writers.
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Apr 30, 2016 19:23
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anilEhilated posted:I don't know; while there's a definite downward slope in the quality of those books, there's still a long way down to go. That author blurb is amazing, though: using the book as a security blanket on dark and stormy nights is exactly what I've been doing - and recommending it to people for, just a little bundle of joy you can always take with you. What I don't get is why the second and third books are available on their own as Kindle ebooks, but Bridge of Birds isn't. Can anyone tell me why?
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Apr 30, 2016 19:36
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Matoi Ryuko posted:I read some books once. I read Broca's Brain, Demon Haunted World, and Contact by Carl Sagan. I like to read the Hagakure on occasion, along with Bruce Lee's Tao of jeet kun do. I also enjoy reading about ancient civilizations in books like Ambivalent Conquests: The Maya and the Spaniards in Yucatan and Assyrians: the first writers. There is a book titled 1491 about the Americas immediately before Columbus that you might like
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Apr 30, 2016 20:27
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The last book I read was a picture book about star wars
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May 1, 2016 00:45
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beofre that, a book wihch is called the satanic verses. hope that doesnt make a poser
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May 1, 2016 00:45
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blaise rascal posted:I don't know when this thread will be here next, and I don't venture outside of BYOB much, so may I have another? read this book about the aacm: http://www.amazon.com/Power-Stronger-Than-Itself-Experimental/dp/0226476960
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May 1, 2016 05:12
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as far as fiction featuring jazz prominently goes, take a look at Škvorecký. The Bass Saxophone should be a good intro, or The Swell Season.
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May 1, 2016 06:28
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Who writes the best sex scenes? Recommend me some really sexy books (I am a woman, if that makes a difference in what you're going to recommend me).
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May 1, 2016 20:07
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misty mountaintop posted:Who writes the best sex scenes? Recommend me some really sexy books (I am a woman, if that makes a difference in what you're going to recommend me). I generally suggest Tom O'Finland for these requests, but since you identify as female I'll recommend _My Secret Garden_ by Nancy Friday
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May 1, 2016 20:11
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I want to know after reading Crime and Punishment what should I read after by Doystoevsky?
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May 1, 2016 23:02
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brothers karamazov? have you read anything else by him? it's pretty much all quality
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May 1, 2016 23:59
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December Octopodes posted:brothers karamazov? have you read anything else by him? it's pretty much all quality The Underground man. ----------------
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May 2, 2016 00:26
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December Octopodes posted:brothers karamazov? have you read anything else by him? it's pretty much all quality Yeah if you've read 2 works by him brothers K is ready to be tackled. Once you finish that try the modernized The Brothers K, which is actually decent
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May 2, 2016 05:26
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:Yeah if you've read 2 works by him brothers K is ready to be tackled. Once you finish that try the modernized The Brothers K, which is actually decent It took me several years and a few attempts to get through The Brothers Karamazov, but once I finally got past the first three parts (out of twelve) I couldn't put it down. I don't know what edition of the book I read, though.
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May 2, 2016 14:43
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BYOB you should do the Book Club this month its a real good book it has the Mel Mudkiper seal of approval
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May 2, 2016 16:01
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Mel Mudkiper posted:BYOB you should do the Book Club this month its a real good book it has the Mel Mudkiper seal of approval thread for it isn't up yet but this is what it's gonna be: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temple_of_the_Golden_Pavilion The author straight up committed seppuku after a coup seriously this is the author  quote:On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of his militia entered the headquarters of the Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) in Tokyo. Previously Mishima had used his privileged position to secure permission for his group to go on maneuvers with the army. He was well known to the high command and readily admitted to the building. His men immediately captured, bound, and gagged the commandant, General Masuda, and barricaded his office. They threatened to execute him with a sword if he did not order his eight hundred soldiers to gather in the courtyard of the building to hear Mishima’s speech. He would exhort them on the need to revive, in what he considered the spineless postwar democracy, the noble samurai spirit of ancient Japan that had been extinguished after the humiliating defeat in World War II. (This same spirit, which had inspired the disastrous militarism of the 1930s, also led to the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March, and, finally, to the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.) His planned half-hour speech did not go over well, and after seven minutes he was jeered and shouted down by the angry troops.
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May 2, 2016 16:13
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I;m gonna write a real cool post about recurring themes in Mishima look forward to it its gonna be v. good imho
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May 2, 2016 16:54
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I've got that one lying about on my kindle actually. I might just have to dive into that one after voices from chernobyl
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May 2, 2016 20:26
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Also worth noting that the guy who took three tries to cut off Yukio Mishima's head was so ashamed he asked someone else in the room to then cut off his own head afterwards. Fortunately that guy managed it in one swing because otherwise it would have been the world's most morbid daisy chain.
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May 2, 2016 20:58
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So if I liked Don Delillo's White Noise a lot, what else should I read? I loved the writing style and how it focused on mundane things but talked about them in a weird, almost spiritual way. I tried looking at other books termed postmodern but they were only OK
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May 3, 2016 19:53
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bog pixie posted:So if I liked Don Delillo's White Noise a lot, what else should I read? I loved the writing style and how it focused on mundane things but talked about them in a weird, almost spiritual way. I tried looking at other books termed postmodern but they were only OK Does "other books termed post-modern" include Thomas Pynchon? Because this is a big part of his appeal. If you haven't tried him, I recommend The Crying of Lot 49 and Inherent Vice. Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Daniel Handler, Vladimir Nabakov, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, and Jack Kerouac all come to mind as well. None of them are post-modern; some inspired the post-modern era, others were inspired by it.
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May 3, 2016 20:41
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The last book I read that had a big effect on me was The Road, but as one might understand that effect was a hugely negative one. The book was obviously bleak and hopeless, but more than anything else the . What made me mad about it was that it had the motherfucking gall to pretend in the last like five pages that there was actually some sort of hope in the bleak, shitheap of a world that the novel presented, and that just made me loving pissed. It was totally unearned and gross and exploitative and just, like, bullshit. So what I'm looking for is a novel that is basically the polar opposite of that. I'd like any recommendations for a novel that presents a dark, even dystopian world, but one where there is actually some kind of hope for the protagonists, that is constant and foreshadowed and, well, earned. I'm not asking for something where everything is sunshine and rainbows, but just something where the protagonists have a chance, or where good, likable people survive in a super lovely situation without it turning them lovely.
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May 3, 2016 20:51
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Jolyne Cujoh posted:The last book I read that had a big effect on me was The Road, but as one might understand that effect was a hugely negative one. The book was obviously bleak and hopeless, but more than anything else the . What made me mad about it was that it had the motherfucking gall to pretend in the last like five pages that there was actually some sort of hope in the bleak, shitheap of a world that the novel presented, and that just made me loving pissed. It was totally unearned and gross and exploitative and just, like, bullshit. The Road to Wigan Pier
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May 3, 2016 20:55
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Jolyne Cujoh posted:The last book I read that had a big effect on me was The Road, but as one might understand that effect was a hugely negative one. The book was obviously bleak and hopeless, but more than anything else the . What made me mad about it was that it had the motherfucking gall to pretend in the last like five pages that there was actually some sort of hope in the bleak, shitheap of a world that the novel presented, and that just made me loving pissed. It was totally unearned and gross and exploitative and just, like, bullshit. Station Eleven by Emily St.John-Mandel The Dog Stars by Peter Heller They are also both very much in "literary" vein like The Road so it doesn't come off as to genre-fictiony
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May 3, 2016 20:56
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1984
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May 3, 2016 20:57
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Station Eleven by Emily St.John-Mandel I enjoyed Station Eleven but if its considered Literary then I'm a monkeys uncle.
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May 3, 2016 21:08
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Dirty Frank posted:I enjoyed Station Eleven but if its considered Literary then I'm a monkeys uncle. I have a banana for your nephew
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May 3, 2016 21:08
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I have a banana for your nephew Thanks, he's a big fan
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May 3, 2016 21:17
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Station Eleven by Emily St.John-Mandel Seconding these recommendations and I'd add The Last Policeman, with the caveat that it's not literary and also is the first in a trilogy.
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May 3, 2016 21:46
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Thank y'all for the suggestions! I'll head to the library tomorrow and check some of them out. I've already read 1984 (hello, I took AP English courses) and, uhh, it's not exactly what I'm looking for but I appreciate it nonetheless! I also wouldn't mind genre fiction suggestions, considering that Pratchett is my favorite author and I play in (or run) 3 games of Dungeons and Dragons games. I am not above trashy romance or the softest of scifi.
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May 4, 2016 01:45
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Not sure if y'all are into non-fiction, but I recently read a book on the life of different people in 90's North Korea, and I've been wanting to read something else like that. If there's anything out there on Soviet Russia, that would be killer, but I haven't been able to find anything.
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May 4, 2016 03:12
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Jolyne Cujoh posted:Thank y'all for the suggestions! I'll head to the library tomorrow and check some of them out. I've already read 1984 (hello, I took AP English courses) and, uhh, it's not exactly what I'm looking for but I appreciate it nonetheless! If you're Catholic or at least not anti-religious, A Canticle for Liebowitz is very well done post-apoc.
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May 4, 2016 03:15
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Thingyman posted:Not sure if y'all are into non-fiction, but I recently read a book on the life of different people in 90's North Korea, and I've been wanting to read something else like that. If there's anything out there on Soviet Russia, that would be killer, but I haven't been able to find anything. Voices from Chernobyl?
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May 4, 2016 03:15
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