Girl Left, Cable/Plasma Gone, Recommend great novels

billyrox

billyrox

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My girl just left for a few weeks abroad. The cable and plasma tv are at her apt, so I've decided to read as much as possible while i have this opportunity.

(I made the decision about a few nights ago when we were out eating dinner with 2 of her friends, and the dinner topic revolved around "The Hills," heidi and spencer, brook hogan, etc. Halfway through, I was throughly disgusted and decided I would wean myself off anything associated with pop culture for a while.)

Anyway, the next 5 weeks, I'm spending most of my time working out, playing video games, and reading. Since, I have always loved the prior recommendations found on CAG, recommend me either

1) a great novel or nonfiction book written in the 4 years
or
2) your most favorite book

:)And a sentence why its so great.

Recent books read (yes i've checked the previous threads)

The World is Flat
Scanner Darkly
The Watchmen
The Little Prince
Dreams of my Father
Freakanomics
Atlus Strugged

Choke and Fight Club
Zero: Theory of a Dangerous Idea
 
Sophie's World. A fantastic book about the history of philosophy using fictional characters to teach you about the various nonfiction philosophies. It's very hard to describe well, but it's very, very good.

One of my all time favorites.
 
If you haven't yet, check out 1984 by George Orwell. It's a classic and hundreds of references are made to it every day. Also, Orwell got the year wrong, but we'll get there soon enough.
 
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlen


Stranger in a Strange Land is a best-selling 1961 Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human raised by Martians on the planet Mars, upon his return to Earth in early adulthood. The novel explores his interaction with — and eventual transformation of — Earth culture. The novel's title refers to the Biblical Book of Exodus.[1] According to Heinlein in Grumbles from the Grave, the novel's working title was The Heretic. Several later editions of the book have promoted it as "The most famous Science Fiction Novel ever written."[2]

When Heinlein first wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, his editors at Putnam required him to drastically cut its original 220,000-word length, and to remove some scenes that might have been considered too shocking at the time. The resulting edited version was about 160,000 words when first published in 1961. In 1962 this version received the Hugo Award for the Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year. After Heinlein's death in 1988, his wife Virginia arranged to have the original uncut version of the manuscript published in 1991 by Ace/Putnam. Critics disagree over whether Heinlein's preferred original manuscript is in fact better than the heavily-edited version originally published. There is similar contention over the two versions of Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars.

While initially a success among science fiction readers, over the next six years word-of-mouth recommendation caused sales to continue to build, requiring numerous subsequent printings of the first Putnam edition. The novel has never been out of print since it was released in 1961. Eventually Stranger in a Strange Land became a cult classic, attracting many readers who would not ordinarily have read a work of science fiction. The late-1960s counterculture, popularized by the hippie movement, was influenced by its themes of individual liberty, self-responsibility, sexual freedom and the influence of organized religion on human culture and government, and adopted the book as something of a manifesto.

In 1962 Tim Zell (now Oberon Zell-Ravenheart) and others formed a neopagan religious organization called the Church of All Worlds, modeled after the religion founded by the primary characters in the novel, but Heinlein had no other connection to the project.[3]
 
Clive Cussler writes pretty good books (Sahara)

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Any Uncle John's Bathroom Reader

Zombie Survival Guide

Fencing the Sky by James Galvin
 
My sister-in-law bought me a book by Margaret Weis called Mistress of Dragons, I think.... It is a new series called the Dragonvald Trilogy. If you don't like fantasy books don't bother. I found the story to be middle of the road fantasy stuff, but the writing was top notch.
 
Wow, you read Atlas Shrugged for entertainment. That is one deep, deep book.

One of my favorites is Hiroshima by John Hersey.
 
Read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It's a story about a father and son traveling through a post apocalyptic world and the terrors they encounter. I imagine it's good reading to prepare yourself for Fallout 3. ;)
 
Do your brain a favor and avoid Ayn Rand. If you think I jest, attempt to read Anthem, and you will know the truth.

I recommend Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, which is a lifelong favorite. Other notable works would be Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz, Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle series, or anything by George R.R. Martin.

Also, avoid Terry Goodkind, Mercedes Lackey, and Ursula K. Le Guin, unless you want to burn out your eyes.

Oh, and you don't have a key to your girlfriend's apartment?
 
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[quote name='NeoFrank1']If you haven't yet, check out 1984 by George Orwell. It's a classic and hundreds of references are made to it every day. Also, Orwell got the year wrong, but we'll get there soon enough.[/quote]

This :applause:.
 
[quote name='chasemurata']Do your brain a favor and avoid Ayn Rand. If you think I jest, attempt to read Anthem, and you will know the truth.

Also, avoid Terry Goodkind, Mercedes Lackey, and Ursula K. Le Guin, unless you want to burn out your eyes.[/QUOTE]What's wrong with Ayn Rand and Anthem, in particular? Anthem is an extraordinarily easy and short read, and Rand has plenty of good ideas.


And how could you not like Ursula K. Le Guin? The Earthsea series is good.
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']What's wrong with Ayn Rand and Anthem, in particular? Anthem is an extraordinarily easy and short read, and Rand has plenty of good ideas.


And how could you not like Ursula K. Le Guin? The Earthsea series is good.[/quote]


I simply do not like their writing styles.
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']What's wrong with Ayn Rand and Anthem, in particular? Anthem is an extraordinarily easy and short read, and Rand has plenty of good ideas.


And how could you not like Ursula K. Le Guin? The Earthsea series is good.[/quote]

I have no idea why....but when he said 'And how could you not like Ursula K. Le Guin?'....I instantly thought of that scene in Family Guy...

"I love the money pit"
 
Harry Potter!!

he he in all honesty my favorite books were by Terry Brooks, while fictional I really like them.

Running with the Deamon is set in present day and is a very interesting take on the evils in the world.

As for non fiction I don't read much but i did read GAME OVER a history of video games it was mainly about nintendo but still very intersting
 
Anything by Dan Simmons the best American writer by far IMO. The best thing is he has books in multiple genres. Hyperion in Sci Fi and Carrion Comfort in horror were award winners.
 
[quote name='chasemurata']Oh, and you don't have a key to your girlfriend's apartment?[/quote]

Heh. I was going to ask him the very same question until I got to the "so I've decided to read as much as possible" part. To each his own. Anyway... I guess since I'm here I'll attempt to be of some actual use. I'm not sure how keen the OP is on poetry but if I could I'd highly recommend Bad Alchemy by Dionisio D. Martinez.

*Sigh*

One of the worst mistakes I ever made in my life was giving my sole copy of it away as a gift to a damn girl I was into at the time. I doubt she even read the damn thing. Probably using it as a coaster as I finish this post. :bomb:

Ugh.
 
Ender's Game, it's good science fiction with a great twist.

This thread reminded me that I really need to read Dune.
 
I'm gonna second the Dan Simmons recommendation.

Loved all his books. Hyperion Cantos, Olympos, The Terror, etc. Great, great stuff!

I also recommend anything be Gene Wolf.

Favorite book of the moment is Stand on Zanzibar. Awesome, Awesome, book.

I'm going to derecommend Stranger in a Strange Land. I'm sure it was revolutionary when it came out, but when I first read it 3 years ago it was a battle to get through. Draggy, preachy, etc. etc. etc.

I'd much rather recommend Starship Troopers by Heinlein.
 
[quote name='Filbert']Ender's Game, it's good science fiction with a great twist.

This thread reminded me that I really need to read Dune.[/QUOTE]

Finally read Dune about a year ago after about 15 years of meaning to read it but never quite getting to it. That book was so far ahead of its time. Very enjoyable and it made me thirsty the way water is treated in it
 
If you haven't read it yet one of my favorites is "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", all 4 books are good I think. The movie really didn't give this saga justice, so even if you really didn't like the movie I would still recommend the book, unless you just really dislike the concept.
 
I just purchased Choke(guy who wrote fight club), Children of Men(movie with Clive Owen is based on it) and The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three(great series of VII, i recommend starting with gunslinger I)
 
The Dexter series of Books:
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Dearly Devoted Dexter
Theres another but I don't remember the name
I hope they serve beer in hell (my favorite book)
the art of war
american psycho
 
[quote name='lt_homer']I just purchased Choke(guy who wrote fight club)[/quote]

Palahniuk's Survivor is much better, in my opinion. I think it's even better than Fight Club.
 
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Ulysses - older than what you're looking for, but the basis of all modern literature, and well worth every second of struggle (I recommend going chapter by chapter with the bloomsday book.

I'm also a big fan of Rushdie, Midnight's Children first and Satanic Verses Second.

Another lesser known book I'd recommend is The Things they Carried, if it doesn't make you cry you aren't alive (it can also make you think)

Whatever you do avoid Grapes of Wrath :puke:.
 
[quote name='chasemurata']
Oh, and you don't have a key to your girlfriend's apartment?[/quote]


Yes, I have a key to her apartment, but I'm not heading over there much. I will pretty much avoid most cable TV other than the 2008 Olympics. I'm just going to read as much as possible these next few weeks.

Picked up 1984, Kite Runner, and George RR Martin's Game of Thrones from a friend this afternoon. Will head to Borders with a list for more books this week.

Thanks for all the suggestions, keep them coming. :applause:

(If anyone else thinks it might be helpful... i might start compiling a "CAG list of recommended Novels" and update my first post. Let me know )
 
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my only suggestion is Hunter S. Thompson! Anything else is just faking it! good luck with everything you want to do.
 
My recommendations: Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle". It's shorter than all hell, but it's quite possibly my favourite work of fiction ever. As for non-fiction, I rather liked "Genghis Khan and the Makings of the Modern World" by Jack Weatherford, Jeffrey Rosenthal's "Struck by Lightning", and Lynne Truss' "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves".[quote name='cdrober']If you haven't read it yet one of my favorites is "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", all 4 books are good I think. The movie really didn't give this saga justice, so even if you really didn't like the movie I would still recommend the book, unless you just really dislike the concept.[/quote]
Five books, actually, but only 4 of them were good. The fourth had its moments, sure, but they were few and far between. Love, it seems, limited Adams' ability to write. It's still a fantastic trilogy, and even the fourth book is worth a look for the Marvin stuff towards the end.
 
Some already said but I will recommend them also:

Enders Game - Great Scifi book, easy to read, great ending
1984 - Just an all around great book
Old Man and the Sea - Another simple read but great book
Who Goes There? (if you can find it) - The book that inspired "The Thing", theres something about it that I just love
 
With all the 1984 mentions, I can't believe I forgot to recommend Homage to Catalonia. It's definitely not everyone's thing, but I absolutely loved it. It makes a good companion to 1984 and Animal Farm, as it shows the origin of Orwell's opposition to Stalinism/the USSR.

Also, the origin of the fear of rats.
 
Flatland by Edwin Abbott

Because:

1. It's only two dollars.

2. You can read it in less than an hour.

3. It'll change the way you think of the physical world, enhance your capacity for understanding modern physics, and improve your perception of all enigmatic problems.

Don't let my third point scare you away, either -- it was written by a clergyman from a philosophical standpoint, there's no math/physics to fear.
 
I'll throw in more support for 1984 even though he said he'd already picked it up. I enjoyed reading Kurt Vonnegut as well. Right now I'm hooked on the Alex Cross books by James Patterson (though they're getting to be very patterned much like Tom Clancy books became). And I've read Atlus Shrugged lately as well. (I will say the story was damn good but I had to skip those 100 pages of manuscript/manifesto towards the end because it reads on such a different level from the rest of the book).

Any books that are commonly referenced in everyday life I would like to read since I never did it for fun until way after high school.
 
My favorite book is Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll) - an absolute classic - logic games, word play, political parody, religious parody, dreamscapes, a plot that can be mapped as a chess game, it's much more then just the Disney film you remember watching as a kid.

Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
Cask of the Amontillado (EA Poe)
 
I enjoyed Brave New World far more then 1984. 1984 made some great observations about overly authoritarian govts, I just felt the plot was too much of a one-trick pony to really keep my attention.

A great thing about Brave New World is that it can be bookended by Huxley's utopian novel "Island"
 
Alright, I'm a middle school English teacher and I'll tell you what I like:

1984 (as everyone else has said over and over again)
To Kill a Mockingbird - absolutely a seminal work of American Literature
If on a winter's night a traveler- Italo Calvino: my absolute favorite novel of all time
The Fermata-Nicholson Baker (or for that matter--the Mezzanine-Nicholson Baker) both are good, strange reads.

I'll second the entire Harry Potter series (I'm finally approaching the final book after trying to find time to read the series for the last three summers)
I'll also second anything by Vonnegut
I'll add (or second-since I didn't read all the posts) the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's books...good stuff.
Shockingly, and I can't believe I'm adding this, my 8th grade students would kill me if they knew I was recommending it...My Antonia by Willa Cather (for some reason, I really enjoy this book).

That's all I have time to type right now, oh you can also read The First Quarter (it's a pretty comprehensive history of videogames) and Fast Food Nation if you want to be put off fast food for a while...just realized I didn't even touch on non-fiction, well, out of time...let us all know what you end up reading...
 
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