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| #91 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | "1984" and "Animal Farm"- George Orwell: Very good novels.
Yes they are very good books. Along with "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley... Some people think George Orwell stole the idea for "1984" from "Brave New World".
"Battle Royale" by Koushun Takami: Its a very captivating book about a class of junior high school students that are taken by the government to a deserted island where they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Its one of the few books that I have read that I didnt have to force myself to read it to the end.
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury(I actually was supposed to read this in high school but never bothered to until like a year after I left): This book is set in a future where all books are banned and critical thought is suppressed. Its based around a fireman(which in this book means someone who burns books) who meets a young women(maybe girl... cant remember which) who sort of teaches him to ask "Why?". Its a very good book.
OH! And any book by Chuck Palahniuk, especially:
Fight Club
Survivor
Choke
Lullaby
Fugatives and Refugees(only for those interested in the anazing"history" of Portland, Oregon, US)
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| #92 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | | If you are a fantasy fan i would suggest Terry Goodking, Raymond Feist, David Gemmel and Terry Pratchet |
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| #93 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | | Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata. I cried at the end. |
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| #94 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | If you want anti-society books try these:
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I've read all of them and my personal favorite is Fahrenheit 451, just because its scary how close we are to that type of society.
I am personally a big science fiction fan, so here are a few of my favorites out of that genre:
Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark
Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlen
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
So yeah, that'll keep ya busy for a while. |
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| #95 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Oh, yeah, a Dystopic novel that is often forgotten is "We" which basically started it all. I started reading a bit of it online, and I remember it being decent. it was written way before 1984, and about a decade or so before Brave New World.
What would keep you really busy is reading the Aeneid >.> Or Even better, Paradise Lost, by John Milton. Both are really good. Just tough to get through. ( i have yet to do so myself)
Also, I'm a huge fan of the existentialists and the Theater of the Absurd, So Anything by Samuel Beckett is sure to be gold. Such as "Waiting for Godot" an amazing play.
Ionesco is good too, with "rhinoceros." Both are amazing plays. |
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| #96 Posted 1 year ago, in reply to post #29 by Safty | Reply | i agree. i read skulduggery pleasant at school and then my friend borrowed before i could finish it.
Another good series is the Elenium and Tamuli by David Eddings. it has strange humor in it |
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| #97 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | @Fallingout
"Fahrenheit 451" isnt actually an anti-society book. Ray Bradbury originally wrote the book out of his love of reading literature, and how television destroys interest in reading.. or something like that.
But all in all it is a VERY good book. |
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| #98 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Some people think George Orwell stole the idea for "1984" from "Brave New World".
I wouldn't say stole since Orwell was definitely talented enough to come up with the idea himself but it's definitely possible that he was influenced by Huxley.
My reccomends - I won't bother with classic stuff here because it's been dealt with already and frankly most people know the names if they're interested.
1 - Are You Experienced? by William Sutcliffe. It's about a young man who decides to go to India on a gap year trip with his best mates girlfriend and is just a brilliant satire of the whole idea that somehow going to these kind of places helps you "find yourself."
2 - Rumble Tumble by Joe R Lansdale. A comedic crime novel involving Hap the unluckiest man ever in love, his gay black best friend Leonard and an armadillo named Bob. There are a whole series of these but but this is the first one I read and consequently my favourite. Anything he's written is reccomended though.
3 - The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver. One of those thrillers that once you pick up you just can't put down. It's not going to change your life but it's still a cracking book. Once again most of his books are pretty good but for some reason this is my favourite.
4 - The Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. All about an ex military policeman who seems to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Again nothing life changing but everyone needs light reading now and again.
5 - A Hero For Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov. Ok it could be classed as a classic but it's often overshadowed by other Russian literature like Crime and Punishment. It's the story of an a man called Pechorin in the Russian armed forces told paryl as a travelogue, diary and other narrative methods and Pechorin is probably the best anti hero this side of A Clockwork Orange.
6 - World War Z by Max Brooks. A fictional account of the zombie war that almost destroyed humanity. So well written that as one reviwer says on the cover "One wonders if Brooks knows something we don't." I can't say enough about this book, he also wrote The Zombie Survival guide so you'd almost expect this book to be largely humorous but it's very dark humour when it is there.
7 - Join Me and Yes Man by Dannny Wallace. Both excellent books and tremendously life affirming and funny at the same time. Look them up online because my synopsis would probably spoil a lot.
8 - Drawing Blood by Poppy Z Brite. A horror/romance story about a boy who returns to his home town where his dad murdered his entire family.
I was going to try and round ths out to ten but I think people are probably sick of me talking by now. |
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| #99 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | but hey, some classics arent that well known, I'm just saying from experience what I know to be good. And some Classics are terrible.
Like Pride and Prejudice. Ugh.
Anyways, to stay semi On topic: "Candide" By Voltaire, is pretty good. its message is obvious. But its still a good read. Plain bizarre too. |
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| #100 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Wasn't there a story about a guy who changed the titles and character names in Jane Austen novels then sent them to publishers just to watch them get rejected and prove that Jane austen would never be published in this day and age?
I had to read Beloved by Toni Morison for my comp lit course and really it just bored me to tears, I can see why people love analysing it but I just couldn't because it didn't interest me in the least. Sorry this is a recommendation thread not "what not to read." I'll behave. |
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| #101 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Wasn't there a story about a guy who changed the titles and character names in Jane Austen novels then sent them to publishers just to watch them get rejected and prove that Jane austen would never be published in this day and age?
I had to read Beloved by Toni Morison for my comp lit course and really it just bored me to tears, I can see why people love analysing it but I just couldn't because it didn't interest me in the least. Sorry this is a recommendation thread not "what not to read." I'll behave. |
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| #102 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | haha, if that actually happened, I'd be so happy.
For some reason, I just can't stand Pride and Prejudice. Its just... so bland. "The Awakening" just outshines it completely. |
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| #103 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | A Song of Ice and Fire is definitely worth reading if you like Fantasy even the least bit.
If you like Sci-Fi, I would definitely reccomend Dune. The beginning starts off slow, but after they get to Arrakis, it picks up fast.
If you like non-fiction, I read The Kid Who Climbed Everest (Facing Up in the UK), the epic sotry of Bear Grylls' summit of Mt. Everest at the age of 23. It's a fairly easy read, and his writing keeps you engaged quite well. |
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| #104 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Dune the book > the movie. The film was good and but leaves so much out, generally if I see the film of something before i read the book I can't finish the book because I know what's going to happen but this is one of the few exceptions.
I'm not sure if it was here or another forum that someone reccomended Enders Game by Orson Scott Card so I'm just going to throw it out there again. |
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| #105 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Anyone who has any interest in fantasy at all should read the Bazil Broketail series. Slow? Yes. Confusing? Yes. Best damn fantasy book ever written? HELL yes.
Although it does contain somewhat graphic descriptions of violence and torture, frequent sex, a hero who's not much of a "virtous warrior" type (he sneaks out to a brothel in the second book-he's 15 at the time), and generally depressing overtones, so it's not for kids. |
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| #106 Posted 1 year ago, in reply to post #8 by hemntjrseth | Reply | i love othello. . . . <3 <3, though Anthony and Cleopatra is rather good too, if you like those sorts of tragedies, its a bit dry, though.
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| #107 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | | love love love, Walden by Henry David Throreau. though im not sure how others might like it, because its kind of an obsession for me. Noir/Sci-Fi/super-action/classical mythology- Nightside series by Simon Green, though i have yet to find his other series in bookstores. anyway, each particular book is only about 200 pages long or shorter, but they are the best series i have read in a long time. and i know my way around books. also a collection of poems by TS Eliot are always a good choice, i especially like the Hollow men, but theyre all really good. |
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| #108 Posted 1 year ago, in reply to post #91 by TwilightSuzuka | Reply | | . . . .drool. i so want to read Battle Royale, i could only read the introduction before my sis dragged me out of the bookstore. need money. |
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| #109 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | | You want a thumping good read, pick up Shade's Children by Garth Nix. If you read, you will learn my namesake. |
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| #110 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | | Play: Man & Superman by George Bernard Shaw :) |
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| #111 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Great books I've read:
-Deltora Quest: it owns, seriously
-Rowan of Rin: By the author of Deltora Quest (Emilly Rodda)
-The Keys to The Kingdom: By Garth Nix: is teh pwnt
-Shade's Children: Also by Garth Nix, pretty good
-The Old Kingdom trilogy: By Garth as well
-BUNNY SUICIDES!
-the New Jedi Order series: One of the best SW series I've seen :o
-ANYTHING ON DRAGONS! <3
-The new bionicle series: They're not as kiddish as the first series were
That's a few :o You want a thumping good read, pick up Shade's Children by Garth Nix. If you read, you will learn my namesake.
lol, I wonder how Nix come up with the idea to call one of his characters 'Gold-Eye'
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| #112 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | If you want the best book series ever, try this:
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Suzumiya_Haruhi
(unpublished in english, but I found it translated here.) |
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| #113 Posted 1 year ago, in reply to post #97 by TwilightSuzuka | Reply | (reply)
451 is such a great book!
I heard a rumor that the're (them!) are going to be making a movie about it!
That would suck! |
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| #114 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Conversations with God series by Neale Donald Walsch.
Whether or not you believe in its theology, it's an interesting read. |
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| #115 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | The Sirens of Titan-Kurt Vonegut  |
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| #116 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | No one has mentioned East of Eden.
Then when you're in an Egyptian-y mood, read The Golden Goblet and Mara, Daughter of the Nile.
And when you want a taste of beastiality, read Equus. |
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| #117 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | one of my favourite books at the moment is Peeps be scott westerfield
if you are into vampires who are horny it is totally the book for you
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| #118 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe
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| #119 Posted 1 year ago | Reply | | i have to say the best series i've ever read was the Pendragon series. soooo good. read them now! |
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| #120 Posted 8 months ago | Reply | I'm a fan of the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix, myself - it doesn't get nearly as much love as it should.
Also Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. It's a re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland, and it knocked my socks off the first time I sat in the floor at Wal-Mart and read it. xD |
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