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Loutre posted:Somebody shoot out a classic for me to read, preferably something that's truly enjoyable and not just Important. I've read all of Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut, and most of Jack London, but I never went to school so I've never read like 90% of the classics people are mostly assumed to have read. the count of monte cristo
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Sep 29, 2017 13:52
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If you liked Fitzgerald, I think his superior work is Tender Is the Night. You might also like The Beautiful and the Damned (Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is a similar concept and also quite good, but I wouldn't immediately suggest trying Wharton). On a sci-fi-ish note, there is Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. I'd also suggest Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest if you want some humor. Secret Agent X23 posted:One of my faves: Of Mice and Men. Or for a lighter tone, Cannery Row. And of course, The Grapes of Wrath.
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Sep 29, 2017 14:41
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RC and Moon Pie posted:
I ended up starting Master and Commander before bed because I had it lying around and couldn't decide, but I think this'll be my next book. My parents are massive Steinbeck fans but I've never read any. Thanks everyone! I'll look back in a few days for my next one.
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Sep 29, 2017 15:15
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Loutre posted:I ended up starting Master and Commander before bed because I had it lying around and couldn't decide, but I think this'll be my next book. My parents are massive Steinbeck fans but I've never read any. Master and Commander is insanely good, enjoy it!
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Sep 29, 2017 15:16
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Loutre posted:I ended up starting Master and Commander before bed because I had it lying around and couldn't decide, but I think this'll be my next book. Yeah, that's an awesome book.
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Sep 29, 2017 15:39
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Have you considered reading a book?
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Sep 29, 2017 16:20
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We or The Martian Chronicles for sure, if you're looking for stuff you'd normally see assigned in college courses. The latter is one of my personal favs
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Sep 29, 2017 16:31
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Loutre posted:Somebody shoot out a classic for me to read, preferably something that's truly enjoyable and not just Important. I've read all of Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut, and most of Jack London, but I never went to school so I've never read like 90% of the classics people are mostly assumed to have read. Russian lit has an intimidating air about it but The Idiot was a great, engaging read and is one of my all time favorites. The translation on offer from Project Gutenberg has the perfect flavor, accessible while still feeling quite Russian. For just pure enjoyment it's tough to beat The Count of Monte Cristo. Just a purely enjoyable Gary Stu revenge fantasy, but much better than that description makes it out to be.
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Sep 29, 2017 16:47
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Classic-wise, I'll never pass up a chance to pimp John Dos Passos's "U.S.A." trilogy. The first one is The 42nd Parallel.
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Sep 29, 2017 20:17
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Hello, SA. I haven't really read books in a while, but after talking with my friends, I'd like to get into it again. I've pretty much only read fantasy/sci-fi all my life, but the last few I read were kind of lackluster. I want something really gripping to get me back in again. I stopped many years ago after reading too many bad R.A. Salvatore books. I kind of got into it again with Name of the Wind and a Song of Ice and Fire, but after trudging through the Dark Tower (I only really enjoyed the first and maybe third book) series, Mistborn: Alloy of Law, and Harry Potter I kind of lost interest again. I want something modern (i.e. written in the past 60 years, not necessarily a modern setting), fiction, and not written for young adults. I don't really care what genre, as long as the characters are interesting, the theme is thought provoking, and some poo poo actually happens (I don't like it when the entire book is just a build up to one big event where everything happens). Just something... gripping.
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Sep 29, 2017 20:30
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Stele007 posted:Hello, SA. I haven't really read books in a while, but after talking with my friends, I'd like to get into it again. I've pretty much only read fantasy/sci-fi all my life, but the last few I read were kind of lackluster. I want something really gripping to get me back in again. Stars My Destination was written in 1957 but fits your other criteria perfectly; it's probably the single fastest-paced SF novel I can think of, and a lot of its themes are still very relevant (it was arguably the first cyberpunk novel, forty years before the rest of the genre showed up). Otherwise I'd say Lies of Locke Lamora for action and a fast pace, Bridge of Birds for an enjoyable light read. Edit: Yeah the below suggestion of Altered Carbon is good too. I also found the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka to be a real page turner but it might be an acquired taste. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Sep 29, 2017 |
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Sep 29, 2017 21:13
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Stele007 posted:Hello, SA. I haven't really read books in a while, but after talking with my friends, I'd like to get into it again. I've pretty much only read fantasy/sci-fi all my life, but the last few I read were kind of lackluster. I want something really gripping to get me back in again. Altered Carbon and Silence of the Lambs were both page turners for me. For something thought-provoking and weird, Dietmar Dath's Abolition of Species is incredible.
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Sep 29, 2017 21:14
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Great! I like the variety in the suggestions. I will start on Stars My Destination this weekend. Thank you both!
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Sep 29, 2017 21:49
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Ras Het posted:The Stranger Hieronymous Alloy posted:Three Men in a Boat or Right Ho, Jeeves. Radio Spiricom posted:the count of monte cristo Stele007 posted:Hello, SA. I haven't really read books in a while, but after talking with my friends, I'd like to get into it again. I've pretty much only read fantasy/sci-fi all my life, but the last few I read were kind of lackluster. I want something really gripping to get me back in again.
Otherwise:
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Sep 30, 2017 06:07
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Stele007 posted:Hello, SA. I haven't really read books in a while, but after talking with my friends, I'd like to get into it again. I've pretty much only read fantasy/sci-fi all my life, but the last few I read were kind of lackluster. I want something really gripping to get me back in again. For some reason, Christopher Moore's Lamb came to mind immediately. It's a biography of Jesus as told by his childhood best friend, Biff (yes, Biff). I'm not sure "gripping" is quite the word I'd use, but it kept my interest at a high level all the way through--a pretty good feat for a book where you already know the ending.
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Sep 30, 2017 16:41
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Secret Agent X23 posted:For some reason, Christopher Moore's Lamb came to mind immediately. It's a biography of Jesus as told by his childhood best friend, Biff (yes, Biff). I'm not sure "gripping" is quite the word I'd use, but it kept my interest at a high level all the way through--a pretty good feat for a book where you already know the ending. I think he should read Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ instead
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Sep 30, 2017 17:33
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Ras Het posted:I think he should read Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ instead hell, same
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Sep 30, 2017 18:02
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all of you would benefit from reading the real gospels written by the divinely-inspired evangelists
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Sep 30, 2017 18:11
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Ras Het posted:I think he should read Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ instead Had not heard of that one. (Click to Amazon...look at listing...purchase Kindle version.) Thanks!
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Sep 30, 2017 18:19
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i feel ashamed asking this but what are some decent zombie books? apart from day by day armageddon
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Oct 2, 2017 04:22
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Waroduce posted:i feel ashamed asking this but what are some decent zombie books? apart from day by day armageddon "The Girl With All The Gifts" was pretty interesting, but has a fairly different take on zombies from your Walking Deads or Romero movies.
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Oct 2, 2017 04:26
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Waroduce posted:i feel ashamed asking this but what are some decent zombie books? apart from day by day armageddon World War Z (the book, not the movie) hit all the right notes for me. Creepiness, pandemic, and some fun writing. It actually sated my desire for zombie books well enough back in the day that I haven't felt the urge to read any others in the genre.
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Oct 2, 2017 05:48
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StrixNebulosa posted:World War Z (the book, not the movie) hit all the right notes for me. Creepiness, pandemic, and some fun writing. It actually sated my desire for zombie books well enough back in the day that I haven't felt the urge to read any others in the genre. I should have mentioned I've read wwx, day by day and zombie survival guide. It was really good. Something like that would be cool, just no smart zombies
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Oct 2, 2017 05:52
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Waroduce posted:i feel ashamed asking this but what are some decent zombie books? apart from day by day armageddon i'm ashamed answering but i read a lot zombie trash when i was 14-15. i can only recommend books from that time period and i am of course recommending books that i liked when i was 14 and have not read since, but with those caveats: dave wellington's monster island brian keene's the rising and city of the dead, and his other one about zombies. dead tide or something. dead sea. i don't remember. travis adkins' twilight of the dead z. a. recht, plague of the dead a lot of people liked world war z but i did not chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Oct 2, 2017 |
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Oct 2, 2017 05:54
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Waroduce posted:i feel ashamed asking this but what are some decent zombie books? apart from day by day armageddon probably Die Kinder der Toten by Elfriede Jelinek, but it hasn't been translated into english yet.
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Oct 2, 2017 06:16
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A human heart posted:probably Die Kinder der Toten by Elfriede Jelinek, but it hasn't been translated into english yet. ....I think I got to like level 60 On that In COD and never knew it was a book
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Oct 2, 2017 06:21
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Waroduce posted:i feel ashamed asking this but what are some decent zombie books? apart from day by day armageddon The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology A bunch of short stories about zombies from quite a few good authors with some pretty unique takes on the zombie lore.
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Oct 2, 2017 12:53
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Waroduce posted:i feel ashamed asking this but what are some decent zombie books? apart from day by day armageddon The Sandman Slim novels by Richard Kadrey are pretty good
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Oct 2, 2017 21:47
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I'm really in the mood for some good stories with unreliable narrators/detective or mystery-type books. It's hard to describe what I'm really thinking of, but Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger and Two For The Show by Jonathan Stone are two books that I couldn't get out of my head, even months later. Dermaphoria especially, it had just the right combination of beautiful prose and semi-confusion as the main character is trying to backtrack through his memories and actions to figure out what was going on. And the constantly twisting story of Two For The Show was just good fun, I liked the perspective of a guy who considered himself a good detective but is just constantly blindsided by all these events from his wrong assumptions.
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Oct 11, 2017 05:35
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Toast King posted:I'm really in the mood for some good stories with unreliable narrators/detective or mystery-type books. It's hard to describe what I'm really thinking of, but Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger and Two For The Show by Jonathan Stone are two books that I couldn't get out of my head, even months later. Lolita and Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabakov are the go-to's, especially Pale Fire If you're in the mood for more detectives, you should try Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon, which is a deconstruction of hard boiled detective fiction with a detective who is constantly stoned and very prone to paranoia taking a case from his ex-girlfriend to find her millionaire real-estate mogul lover. It's one of the funniest books I've ever read. There's also The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay, which is about a private eye who suffers from severe narcolepsy (and is prone to hallucinations, false memories, etc.) trying to solve a missing persons case. My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk is a murder mystery set among a group of artists in 16th century Turkey. Each chapter is narrated by a different character (one of which is the killer), including inanimate objects. It's very fun, playful and clever. A non-mystery you should try is Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, which is full of twists and turns and has an unreliable narrator trying to come to terms about past crimes against humanity (Nazi spies). It's funny and heartbreaking.
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Oct 11, 2017 12:49
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Toast King posted:I'm really in the mood for some good stories with unreliable narrators/detective or mystery-type books. It's hard to describe what I'm really thinking of, but Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger and Two For The Show by Jonathan Stone are two books that I couldn't get out of my head, even months later. A couple other recommendations for unreliable narrator include House of Leaves and Shutter Island. There's also the Southern Reach / Area X trilogy, although that's less "unreliable narrator" than "narrator with unreliable perceptions."
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Oct 11, 2017 14:45
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I've been playing the Eldritch Horror and Mansions of Madness board games, and I'm looking for something in that vein. Something Lovecraftian mixed with Indiana Jones. It doesn't have to be high brow or anything, just something adventurous I can listen to in my car.
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Oct 11, 2017 18:32
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Charles Stross's Laundry Files
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Oct 11, 2017 21:00
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Franchescanado posted:Lolita and Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabakov are the go-to's, especially Pale Fire Pale Fire has the most obnoxious, hateable narrator I've ever met, and realizing that essentially the entire book would be through his pov made me decide it wasn't worth it. An interesting concept for a novel, but I'm just not up for that kind of thing right now. So, uh, if you read it, you'll know how you stand about it pretty quickly! If you dig it, it's well-written. If you don't, give it back to the library. As for an actual rec: The Rynox Murder by Philip MacDonald. As I was discussing this topic with a friend, she made me come back here to rec this, because she loves it.
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Oct 11, 2017 21:19
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StrixNebulosa posted:Pale Fire has the most obnoxious, hateable narrator I've ever met, and realizing that essentially the entire book would be through his pov made me decide it wasn't worth it. An interesting concept for a novel, but I'm just not up for that kind of thing right now. What a weird way to think about a book.
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Oct 11, 2017 23:53
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A human heart posted:What a weird way to think about a book. How so?
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Oct 11, 2017 23:55
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A human heart posted:What a weird way to think about a book. [quote="“A human heart”" post="“477288670”"] What a weird way to think about a book. [/quote] Eh, I get it. Started in on the Thomas Covenant series and I decided early on that there were other books I'd rather read instead of dealing with several hundred pages of rapist angst.
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Oct 12, 2017 01:36
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StrixNebulosa posted:How so? You stopped reading a book because the narrator isn't someone you'd want to be friends with. WAR DOGS OF SOCHI posted:Eh, I get it. Started in on the Thomas Covenant series and I decided early on that there were other books I'd rather read instead of dealing with several hundred pages of rapist angst. that's a bad book though
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Oct 12, 2017 01:53
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It's more like sharing a room with the narrator for however long it takes me to read the book. Pale Fire, for all that it's well-written and has an interesting premise, wasn't compelling enough to make me want to spend that time with the narrator. A neat thing about books is that I'm not going to hurt any character's feelings if I don't read their book.
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Oct 12, 2017 02:03
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A human heart posted:You stopped reading a book because the narrator isn't someone you'd want to be friends with. The narrator obviously plays a huge part in shaping your experience of the book/its content, and can definitely make it unpleasant to read in ways that extend beyond "I don't want to be friends with this guy". There's a lot of great books to read, and there's a lot of books that have unsympathetic narrators that are great that they might like more, so why not read one of those instead? Just because a book is 'good' doesn't mean that you shouldn't stop reading it, or that there aren't a whole mess of legitimate reasons not to like it...
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Oct 12, 2017 02:12
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RIP ZEEZ