book recs, please?
Oct. 22nd, 2006 00:45![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ltgmarsA lot of you are probably annoyed by these types of entries, but if you could... hit me with some book recommendations? Like, actual literature, not anime/manga-related or whatever. I've decided that I have to read more, so... if there are 3-5 books that, in your opinion, I must read in my lifetime, which would they be and why? Assume I haven't read anything (because it's true... I just don't read).
I want to function as a mildly cultured part of society, please and thank you!
I want to function as a mildly cultured part of society, please and thank you!
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Date: 2006-10-22 04:58 (UTC)Sybil
Wicked
Flowers in the Attic
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Date: 2006-10-22 05:00 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 05:04 (UTC)Sybil because it will profoundly effect you. You will be thankful, man, for everything.
Wicked because it takes something everyone knows and turns it over. And after I finished it I just kind of sat there like "...woah" for a few hours. There is a slow part, but it comes back from it 80 times awesomer.
Flowers in the Attic is just an amazing book, as are the books that follow it. If you EVER take a blind rec take it on this book, because I can't capture with words how awesome it is. Just read it, trust me.
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Date: 2006-10-22 05:11 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 05:05 (UTC)all school classics, but all good
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Date: 2006-10-22 05:09 (UTC)The Chronicles of Chrestomanci.
Each one has a different story - volume one has the first two stories... The first follows Cat Chant and his sister Gwendolyn. Gwen... is EVIL. She's a witch who wants to gain massive power, and is generally nasty. However, Cat ends up with a load of trouble on his hands when Gwen disappears to another world in their series.
The second follows Christopher Chant - a young boy who's found to be a nine-lived enchanter - and is set up to become the next Chrestomanci. Christopher, however, participates unknowingly in a wizard's smuggling ring. Oh noes!
Volume two... I didn't enjoy as much. Well, at least not the first story, Magicians of Caprona.
Witch week was fun, though. It's one of those stories where you get a world that's gone totally awry - (I haven't touched it in a while, so I might be a little off)... Witches are hunted, but EVERYONE is a witch! ZOMG!
It's bizzarre.
Howl's Moving Castle was so good too! If you have seen the movie, you'd love the book :D
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Date: 2006-10-22 05:32 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 07:36 (UTC)*hand up*
I just recently got Conrad's Fate, but haven't had a chance to read it~
I cannot wait~
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Date: 2006-10-22 08:29 (UTC)Because that was the first of her books i ever read (and *cough* its the most popular one due to Ghibli's adaptation which IMO didn't do as much justice as it should). And fell MADLY IN LOVE with.
I did try out the Chrestomanci series but they didn't hold my interest ^^;; Perhaps because HMC set the bar up too high.
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Date: 2006-10-22 17:45 (UTC)I have read it.
In fact, I made sure to read it before seeing the movie.
I should probably pick up Castle in the Sky sometime.
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Date: 2006-10-22 05:16 (UTC)...Heck, I say read a bunch of fairy tales. And not the cheesy kid versions. Read the real ones, like the real Little Mermaid and such, because a lot of these are really awesome and tragic.
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Date: 2006-10-22 05:20 (UTC)Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denims by David Sedaris
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I have more stuff in mind, but I guess this is it for now. ;)
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Date: 2006-10-22 05:27 (UTC)I second this one.
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Date: 2006-10-22 23:42 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 06:54 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 16:58 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 23:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 05:31 (UTC)And! If you're into 007/fantasy stuff, pick up the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. It's not as bad as it sounds, really. Interesting blend of fairy tale magic with savvy 21-cen techno geeky stuff. And the characters are, oh, amazing.
Hmmm what else. Terry Pratchet is a popular humour writer, i'm not too fond of his writings but i'm the weird one out. His is also mostly fantasy stuff, witchcraft and magic and stuff like that (you can tell where my interests lies. XD)
The Lovely Bones by....somebody. My memory fails ):
It's not... WONDERFUL AMAZING GENIOUS, but quite a mellow, touching story about a dead girl who watches over her family from heaven.
I'm sure there are more but i can't recall any atm :/ Yeah i'd say Howl's Moving Castle = WIN.
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Date: 2006-10-22 08:30 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 05:39 (UTC)I would recommend Milton's Paradise Lost. Several reasons for this, really. First, most books that claim to be based on the Bible are actually built on the events of Paradise Lost and it's good to know the difference. Also, epic battles with angels and demons are fun! If you read Angel Sanctuary, Kaori Yuki based a lot of her stuff on this work as well as The Book of Enoch, which I don't recommend reading unless you're really into apocalyptic literature.
Second, I agree with
Third, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. A classic book about human devolution, wonderfully written, and gives you a lot to think on. Also in that "classic" category. I recommend the Norton edition as it has background info and notes and whatnot.
Fourth, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, in the original Middle English if you can muddle through it - it's not that hard - as the modern versions lose a lot of the word play of the original. The Tales are probably my favorite piece of writing in the world. Funny, satirical, and thoughtful all at once. And people steal from The Tales all the time, so best to read the source material.
Fifth, Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf is lovely. If you like old oral tradition tales. Heaney preserves a lot of the lyrical quality of the original story while keeping things more or less in tact. I'm a big fan of this story (even though I have to admit a lot of people don't really like it because it's forced on them in freshmen lit classes in bad translation) and this translation in particular is tops.
There, those are my five. I'm gonna go write some boysex to get all this thinking stuff out of my brain.
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Date: 2006-10-22 08:59 (UTC)It's told from the point of view of a boy with aspergers syndrome. He goes out into the world to discover the mystery of who killed his naighbors dog.
This is the best book that ever left an impression on me and is the one nearly everyone mentioned last time I saw someone ask this question ^^
The book I'm interested in right now is Lord of the flies
As for what other people have recomended.
I'll agree with Howls moving castle if you've seen the movie, there very different and it is a good story however I'm not to fond of the way Diana Wynne Jones writes. She's awful at writing romance ^^;
Her book Hexwood was really interesting.
Al the classics are worth reading at least once even if you do know how the story goes ^^
I suppose it depends on what sort of genre you like.
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Date: 2006-10-22 10:56 (UTC)Out by Kirino Natsuki, a psychological thriller about 4 women who work together at a factory. One day, one of them accidentally kills her husband. The book deals with the aftermath of that event. It's pretty morbid, and the descriptions are quite... gory, but I LOVE IT. (*___*)
The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra, another book about Da Vinci's The Last Supper. It's elegant, subtle and academic, though, unlike the flashy and mainstream Da Vinci Code. ^^
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I'm 4th-ing or 5th-ing this suggestion. BRILLIANT.
So You Want to be a Wizard series by Diane Duane. It's snarky, realistic, imaginative, and I love Diane Duane's blog, so. ^^;;;
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanne Clarke. Complicated, descriptive, beautiful. And the book's so damned thick. So give this one a deep consideration before you buy it. XD;;; I personally LOVE it, even with the innumerable footnotes in the book. ^^
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Date: 2006-10-22 15:07 (UTC)You probably know what I'll recommend already. But maybe I'll post something real later.
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Date: 2006-10-22 18:50 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-22 15:13 (UTC)I majored in English, focusing on American writers. So, this first list is of books that I consider to be some of the best of American literature. But, I know that oftentimes Good Literature as defined by canon can be unenjoyable to read. So, I present my list of classic American literature that's gripping/enjoyable to read.
• The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne) - I believe that every single person should read this book. Hawthorne harkened back to his ancestor's era (Puritans) to write a commentary on society that still rings true today.
• The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton) - It's not as popular a recommendation as Ethan Frome, but it's much more enjoyable. It's a story of romance, unrequited love and sacrifice set in Victorian/upper class New York, a time/place full of restrictions and customs.
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) - You probably already know the story without having read the book. However, few wits can beat Mark Twain's. Read the story firsthand, you won't regret it.
• The Turn of the Screw (Henry James) - Often considered to be one of the first truly American ghost stories. It's definitely a thriller, with an eding that will have you questioning things. And it's only a novella -- such a quick read, you;ll want to read it twice!
• Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman) - It's poetry and so a departure from the story-based works I've already recommended. However, LoG a great read that will leave you feeling better. (Whitman's view of America is glorious.) The epic poem is alluded to and quoted all over pop culture -- the most famous reference being the the "barabric yawp" in Dead Poets Society -- and it's easy to read. Poetry scares off a lot of people for being too difficult, but Whitman's writing is clear and full of imagery.
So that I don't take over your comments with my own, I'll make my comments on this one shorter.(Damn, I'm wordy.) These are books I consider to be "standards" -- not yet classic/canon, but well-known enough to consider them staples:• The Bloody Tower (Angela Carter) - Dark, gothic novella. A creepy yet entertaining read that will keep you turning pages.
• Auntie Mame (Patrick Dennis) - A novel written via a serious of short stories by a (fictional) charge about his eccentric Auntie Mame. Each chapter is pretty much a self-contained short story. The subtitle says it all, "an irreverent escape."
• The Portable Dorothy Parker (Dorthy Parker) - It's a collection of stories, poems and essays by one of America's great female wits. She was a member of the famed Algonquin Round Table and worked at Vogue and The New Yorker during their early years.
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) - Truly an American classic. The story is a heartfelt look at how we as humans relate to other people.
• The Complete Stories (Flannery O'Conner) - No-one writes Southern gothic like O'Connor. I consider her prose to be the written equivalent of Nick Cave's songs (or perhaps the other way around). Any good collection is bound to have "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge."
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Date: 2006-10-23 01:33 (UTC)Well. They woun't make you cultured, but they're awfully good, take it from me.
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Date: 2006-10-23 03:32 (UTC)Anything by Neal Stephenson, especially Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, because they are funky and cool but will still make you think. There's some math thrown at you, especially in the latter, but nothing that even an artist like me couldn't follow.
The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Yes, they are kid's books, but oh-so-clever and funny in a black comedy sort of way. I'm sadly behind on this series as the last book just came out.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, because it's such an interesting look at a relationship that has some pretty bizarre circumstances.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, truly an interesting look at an alternate reality where literature takes a very special place in most people's lives. Especially recommended if you're a Jane Eyre fan.
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Date: 2006-10-23 15:21 (UTC)My recommendations? Franny and Zooey by Salinger is really introspective and has an interesting view of religion and despair, while being interesting and a quick read.
You've read Agatha Christie, so nvm that... the autobiography of Malcolm X is friggin long but it's really interesting... his life was crazy.
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Date: 2006-10-25 02:28 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 19:00 (UTC)* Cien Años De Soledad (http://www.amazon.com/One-Hundred-Years-Solitude-P-S/dp/0060883286/sr=8-2/qid=1161629441/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-9311838-5198219?ie=UTF8) by Gabriel García Marquez. I consider this the best book I have EVER read. This book is a total masterpiece.
* La Sombra del Viento (http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zafon/dp/0143034901/sr=1-1/qid=1161629511/ref=sr_1_1/103-9311838-5198219?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I love this book to pieces. The story is so interesting and nice and the language used is just so cute. An awesome read.
* La Voz Dormida (http://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Voice-Dulce-Chacon/dp/1843432099/sr=1-2/qid=1161629607/ref=sr_1_2/103-9311838-5198219?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Dulce Chacón. I just finished this book and it made me cry rivers. It's so beautiful and dramatic. It's about the republican women and their life in jail during the repression of the first years after the end of the Spanish Civil War.
*Soldados de Salamina (http://www.amazon.com/Soldiers-Salamis-Novel-Javier-Cercas/dp/1582344728/sr=1-1/qid=1161629793/ref=sr_1_1/103-9311838-5198219?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Javier Cercas. Another novel about the Spanish Civil War. It's really interesting as it talks about a little event that got lost in history and got me going O_O. Mind you these two books are indeed historical, but they're novels, so they're really easy to read and extremely interesting.
Okay, so these are some of my all-time favorite books ^_^
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Date: 2007-06-02 05:37 (UTC)