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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Voices from Chernobyl? Oh, whoa. I was thinking something more about everyday life and culture, but this looks really interesting too, thanks.
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May 4, 2016 03:32
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The Whisperers by Orlando Figes is the same thing, but with regular people that got purged by Stalin.
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May 4, 2016 05:55
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Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. It's a historical novel series about men on big boats. It's also really good as audiobooks. Link to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series ----------------
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May 4, 2016 07:10
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:If you're Catholic or at least not anti-religious, A Canticle for Liebowitz is very well done post-apoc. I'm an angry atheist who grew up in the UK (so protestant culture rather than catholic) and I enjoyed A Canticle for Liebowitz a lot, its an excellent book  .
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May 4, 2016 07:54
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Luvcow posted:I really loved reading Salt and Cod by Mark Kurlansky because i could read them in small installments when i had some down time and everything inside was interesting. Its been years (a decade? 20 years??) since i read them but i'm always looking for a nice bathroom reading book that i don't have to fully commit to. Any ideas? you might like Mary Roach's books, perhaps Stiff or Packing for Mars
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May 4, 2016 12:54
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Franchescanado posted: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. I honestly hadn't even heard of Thomas Pynchon, so I'll definitely check out those books! Thanks for the suggestions.
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May 4, 2016 17:46
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Hieronymous Alloy posted: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 17:46
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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 open to comic books or graphic novels, you might pick up the first trades of Saga or Low, which are both science-fantasy set in very (VERY) violent, depressing worlds, but with fundamentally good characters who are honestly starting to make a difference for the better.
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May 4, 2016 17:50
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Subjunctive posted:you might like Mary Roach's books, perhaps Stiff or Packing for Mars will check these out, ty
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May 4, 2016 20:15
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seveneves was really good but it has that avatar quality of wondering when the gently caress it's going to end sometimes which is kinda
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May 4, 2016 20:46
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also neil degrasse tyson is totally one of the main characters, which is cool
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May 4, 2016 20:46
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you really have to enjoy elaborate-descriptions-of-people-making GBS threads-in-plastic-bags-levels of space nerdery to make it through it though, and i didn't
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May 4, 2016 21:33
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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 Well, none of his subsequent books are like White Noise, so don't read them thinking you're gonna get another one like that. The closest author that comes to mind when I think of absurdist analysis of everyday objects might be something by Vonnegut? There's also David Sedaris, but that's getting pretty far along the path towards comedy. EDIT: actually, the Sedaris recommendation is kind of stupid of me AARP LARPer fucked around with this message at 22:02 on May 4, 2016 |
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May 4, 2016 21:47
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Jolyne Cujoh posted: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. Blindness by Jose Saramago
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May 4, 2016 21:50
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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.
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May 4, 2016 22:38
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Recommend me a book I can read for free online. I don't have a lot of money, and I am into most fiction. I like interesting weird books. House of Leaves is a really good book, and I loved Only Revolutions but I lost my copy.
☆♤♤Gayer_Than_life♤♤☆
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May 5, 2016 04:50
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hi jimson..I'm sure someone will recommend a good book shortly but in the interim I'm going to suggest this short story by Cory Doctorow: http://www.salon.com/2002/08/28/0wnz0red/
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May 5, 2016 04:56
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Jimson posted:Recommend me a book I can read for free online. I don't have a lot of money, and I am into most fiction. I like interesting weird books. House of Leaves is a really good book, and I loved Only Revolutions but I lost my copy. Blindsight, a creepy but well-constructed sci-fi novel that is quite well-regarded.
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May 5, 2016 05:00
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Jimson posted:Recommend me a book I can read for free online. I don't have a lot of money, and I am into most fiction. I like interesting weird books. House of Leaves is a really good book, and I loved Only Revolutions but I lost my copy. Anything published before 1930 or so is free online, so my first advice is develop a taste for old stuff. My kindle saved my thousands of dollars because I just spent a few years reading everything pre-1930. If you like fantasy novels, things by Lord Dunsany. For a taste of his style, try this short story: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/swld/swld09.htm and if you like it just google anything he ever wrote and download it, it's all free. Similarly you might want to look up Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirrlees -- also fantasy, also great, also kinda weird. For a mystery novel, my favorite free recommendation is Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone. It was a Book Barn BotM a few months back, here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3740073&pagenumber=1&perpage=40#post449786043 For an adventure story, Xenophon's March of the Ten Thousand. It was also a recent BotM! http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3762828 For a funny light read, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3758696 (if you're sensing a trend, yes, I try to pick free books at least half the time for BoTM). None of those are especially avant-garde weird though. Kinda depends on exactly how far you want to let your freak flag fly, here. Tristram Shandy might be worth looking up; it was *incredibly* weird by the standards of the 1700's when it was published, and isn't exactly ordinary even by today's standards: quote:As its title suggests, the book is ostensibly Tristram's narration of his life story. But it is one of the central jokes of the novel that he cannot explain anything simply, that he must make explanatory diversions to add context and colour to his tale, to the extent that Tristram's own birth is not even reached until Volume III. Speaking of, Woolf is pretty drat weird too. Her Orlando was nominated but not picked for this month's BoTM and might be weird enough to interest you. Should be free I think. If you can't find a book on Amazon's kindle store for free, but you know it's out of copyright, it's worth checking other ebook websites like Gutenberg.org or manybooks.net
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May 5, 2016 05:05
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everything by mark twain has hit public domain so that could be a good option
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May 5, 2016 06:09
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Jimson posted:Recommend me a book I can read for free online. I don't have a lot of money, and I am into most fiction. I like interesting weird books. House of Leaves is a really good book, and I loved Only Revolutions but I lost my copy. http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm and anything else by Charles Stross on his freesf author index. Splicer fucked around with this message at 09:47 on May 5, 2016 |
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May 5, 2016 09:45
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another good source of free ebooks is uni of adelaide: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au
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May 5, 2016 15:59
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If you have borrowing privileges at a library, ask if they have a subscription to Overdrive. You can borrow all kinds of e-books there, including current fiction and non-fiction. The inventory is different depending on your library, but it's another way to find legally free books to read.
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May 5, 2016 17:09
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overdrive is great! for both text and audiobooks. it's worth noting that if your local library doesn't have the best selection, many larger, city libraries will issue cards to anyone who lives in state, not just locally. then you can access all of their digital content even if you never set foot in the physical library again. some libraries also offer Flipster, which is similar but gives you free access to digital copies of magazines. you can get new issues of the New Yorker, GQ, Artnews, Rolling Stone, and lots of other both big and small magazines and read them on your phone or w/e just for having a library card
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May 5, 2016 17:16
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ok byob get your last minute requests in or bookmark this thread. the bookmobile is moving to PYF tomorrow
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May 5, 2016 18:13
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this was a really good thread, thank you book barn people FluffieDuckie posted:ok byob get your last minute requests in or bookmark this thread. the bookmobile is moving to PYF tomorrow please replace with another interesting subform thread if possible
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May 5, 2016 18:31
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cya bookmobile, stay safe out there!
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May 5, 2016 18:31
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Seriously though y all best be doing the book club this month Mudkiper out
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May 5, 2016 19:36
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I have never been to The Book Barn but from now on I will. Thanks Book readers!
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May 5, 2016 19:58
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Mulli posted:I have never been to The Book Barn but from now on I will. Thanks Book readers! Yes, please do come and visit!
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May 5, 2016 21:07
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Luvcow posted:please replace with another interesting subform thread if possible i've extended an invitation to everyone so let's see who's the bravest
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May 5, 2016 22:51
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Splicer posted:https://www.freesfonline.de lists (legally) free online sf. It's obviously a crapshoot but if you have any authors you like check out their indexes. ulvir posted:another good source of free ebooks is uni of adelaide: I wish I had heard about these sooner
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May 5, 2016 22:59
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thank you book barn  next stop PYF
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May 6, 2016 16:32
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Hi book barn friends! Welcome to PYF, the forum where we post our favorites, so I will start us off by posting a few of MY favorites 1. The Guards (Irish noir, Ken Bruen) 2. Attachments (romantic comedy, Rainbow Rowell) 3. The Russian Concubine (historical fiction, Kate Furnivall) 4. Paranoia (thriller, Joseph Finder) thanks for LISTening, haha get it
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May 6, 2016 17:18
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Hello New Forum Tell us what sort of books you like or are looking for and we will recommend a book just for you
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May 6, 2016 17:19
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Nobody reads PYF it's a forum of user control panel browsers. What's good Polish literature?
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May 6, 2016 22:59
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Mr. Squishy posted:Nobody reads PYF it's a forum of user control panel browsers. Wisława Szymborska is one of my favorite poets. Miracle Fair is an excellent volume of her selected poetry in English.
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May 6, 2016 23:14
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I really enjoyed Inherent Vice by Pynchon but kinda struggle with his other works, although I did enjoy them when I could. Are there any more approachable works in postmodern fiction?
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May 6, 2016 23:17
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chaos rhames posted:I really enjoyed Inherent Vice by Pynchon but kinda struggle with his other works, although I did enjoy them when I could. Are there any more approachable works in postmodern fiction? Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions or Calvino's Invisible Cities. Maybe some of Philip K Dick's more grounded works like Man in the High Castle or VALIS.
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May 6, 2016 23:24
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Mr. Squishy posted:Nobody reads PYF it's a forum of user control panel browsers. That's ok, we want people to bookmark this thread and follow the book-piper back to bookland book barn quote:Stanisław Lem (Polish pronunciation: [staˈɲiswaf ˈlɛm] ( listen); 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction, philosophy, and satire, and a trained physician. Lem's books have been translated into forty-one languages and have sold over forty-five million copies.[2][3] From the 1950s to 2000s, he published many books, both science fiction and philosophical/futurological. He is best known as the author of the 1961 novel Solaris, which has been made into a feature film three times. In 1976, Theodore Sturgeon wrote that Lem was the most widely read science-fiction writer in the world.[4]
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May 6, 2016 23:25
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