bobinc Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Guns, Germs etc is written by Jared Diamond, who is always worth reading for his slant on evolutionary biology. Essay recs: Alexander Cockburn, Corruptions of Empire Fiction recs: Life, A User's Manual, by Georges Perec. Pynchon -- Gravity's Rainbow. Junk fiction recs: anything by Mark Leyner except his first novel. Quote
Winter Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Here's a couple that should keep you busy for awhile: Crime and Punishment - this may be the best nobel ever written. Daunting in size, it actually reads fairly quickly and I got through it in about 3 days in Africa and wanted more. The Magus (John Fowles) - A tale of deception and mystery on a GreeK Isle during WWII ... this is a sleeper ... a great book that keep you interested. Enjoy. Quote
Dru Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco Ficciones - Jorge Luis Borges Nine Hundred Grandmothers - RA Lafferty The Illuminatus Trilogy - RA Wilson and Rob Shea Last Call - Tim Powers Lyonesse - Jack Vance The "New Sun" books - Gene Wolfe The Man in the Tree - Damon Knight Kingdoms of the Wall - Robert Silverberg Colditz - PR Reid Crying of Lot 49 - Tom Pynchon Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand - Samuel R Delaney Crock of Gold - James Stephens Lo!/The Book Of The Damned/Strange Talents/New Lands - Charles Fort Nana/Diva/Luna/Lola/Vida/Alba, 6 book series by Delacorta Ubu Roi, Alfred Jarry The Drunken Boat/A Season In Hell, Rimbaud Nadja, Andre Breton Bella Coola Man, Clayton Mack Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl Tales of Power, Carlos Castaneda Distraction, Bruce Sterling David Copperfield, Charles Dickens Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra - John F. Szwed Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead) - author unknown Antarctica - Kim Stanley Robinson At the Mountains of Madness - HP Lovecraft Ice - Ed McBain The Fallen Man - Tony Hillerman The Dispossessed - Ursula LeGuin Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake Chaos - James Gleick Principia Discordia - Malaclypse the Younger The Western Lands - William S Burroughs This Game of Ghosts - Joe Simpson Deep Play - Paul Pritchard Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas Gargantua and Pantagruel - Rabelais Don Quixote - Cervantes A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny Metropolitan/City on Fire - Walter J Williams Never Cry Wolf - Farley Mowat thats enough for now PS I hated DeLillo's Underworld. ZZZZZZZZ! Quote
Dru Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 After going 0 for 2 on underworld and mao II i can think of many better ways to spend time than reading de lillo. So i will pass on white noise. I forgot to mention, "Steal this Book" by Abbie Hoffmann. Great reading for dirtbags, also for security guards in malls. Quote
bobinc Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 So it appears true that, in fact, Canadians never "work" but instead lie around reading good literature and occasionally availing themselves of state-supported medical care (but rarely any need since very few smoke or drive given the high prices on tobacco and petrol). Quote
Dru Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by bobinc: So it appears true that, in fact, Canadians never "work" but instead lie around reading good literature and occasionally availing themselves of state-supported medical care (but rarely any need since very few smoke or drive given the high prices on tobacco and petrol). I was raised without a TV, I learned to read when I was 3, sorry for the chestbeating but I read like 6 books a week. right now I am rereading "The Left Hand of Darkness" by UK le Guin. Quote
bobinc Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Merely sending an indirect compliment your way; I am glad to see someone's floors groaning under the weight of too many books. Quote
Dru Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by bobinc: Merely sending an indirect compliment your way; I am glad to see someone's floors groaning under the weight of too many books. Capt. said he thought my apt. was a library Quote
RobBob Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Go Dru! I too was raised w/o a TV, which I see as a gift my parents gave us kids...we sure hated it at the time, mainly embarrassed lest our classmates know. Thank God my father turned down a local TV station's request to do a story on us for not owning one. Trying not to let my kids watch much either, but with twins it's almost impossible not to...sometimes we've gotta have the break. Everyone's covered the literary front well in this list. For good perspective buy a copy of the Rand McNally World History Atlas. This atlas shows what was happening around the globe during different periods of time, has lots of supporting numerical data, and is fun to study a little at a time. Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Hear, hear! for no TV! That shit is ruinous to the grey matter. Books (or periodicals, lately) and music, all the way! The Doctor adds his support to the recommendations for Catch 22 (mind-bogglingly, pants-pissingly hilarious, yet also touching, poignant, and SCATHINGLY critical of war and the military -- brilliant), and most, but not all, of David Sedaris' work (try 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' and 'Naked', which both stand out. With Sedaris, you're almost better off going the books-on-tape route, as he has a distinctive voice which adds a lot to his work, and hearing him sing like Billie Holiday is worth the extra money). Do any of you have any experience with any Charles Bukowski, and if so, do you have any of his stuff that you recommend? (The Doctor Predicts that Dru The Profusely Literate will have some insight here ...) Quote
ScottP Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by salbrecher: quote:Originally posted by monkeyboy: 1984 George Orwell...You will never look at security cameras the same. I second this book. If you second something twice, does that make it a fourth? Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 And if you're going the Russian route, don't forget Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' is a goodie, and not too long. For a denser but eye-opening read, book I of 'The Gulag Archipelago' is good, too. Seems that Stahlin had a thing for killing people off, resulting in a death toll rivaling (exceeding?) the Holocaust. DFA will buy you a beer if you can wade through the next two books, as DFA bogged down somewhere in book II and never recovered. Quote
bobinc Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Too much experience with Bukowski. But a modest dose is advised, DFA: Novels: Factotum, Post Office, Women Poems: Love is a Dog From Hell Short Stories: South of No North Recently, Black Sparrow has published at least one or two books of his letters, as well, which are certainly worth a look. Quote
RobBob Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 DFA, try the Bukowski short story ("pamphlet") Bring Me Your Love... Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Muchas gracias por la beta, vatos. Quote
Dru Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Last Call is set in Vegas area so is a good read on a trip to Red Rocks. You may even decide to "assume the Flamingo". Quote
Peter_Puget Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 DFA - I'll take that beer. Gulag is easy try:A la Recherche Du Temps Perdu. Much more of a challenge. I'll let you know when I am at Smith. Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Peter Puget: DFA - I'll take that beer. Gulag is easy try:A la Recherche Du Temps Perdu. Much more of a challenge. I'll let you know when I am at Smith. Jumpin' jackrabbits! You read all three? Maybe the Doctor's mistake was trying to read them back-to-back, but he got bored after a while. Although DFA got bogged down early on an attempt to read August 1914, too, so maybe the thick Russian lit just isn't for him. What's this Frawnch business all about? Steep limestone or some such? [ 09-23-2002, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Dr Flash Amazing ] Quote
Peter_Puget Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Back to back is the way to go. Ah - "the Soul and Barbed Wire" always thought that would be a good route name. PP Quote
allison Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Fiction: Anything by E. Annie Proulx, John Steinbeck, E. Hemingway or Pam Houston. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving I would like to weigh in that Tom Robbins blows goats. Pluse he doesn't write good female characters, and the only guy who can get away with that is that genius pig, David Mamet. Non-Fiction: In Sam We Trust-you'll never shop at Wal-Mart again Fast Food Nation-you'll never look at a Big Mac the same way again Brothel-you'll never look at your neighborhood cathouse the same way again Nickel and Dimed-you'll never look at an underpaid service worker the same way again Celebration-Disney does New Urbanism Why Americans hate poor people-a little dry but a good follow up on Nickel and Dimed Reading books about what they called 'social studies' in Junior High is of a particular interest to me. Quote
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Fast Food Nation, which the Doctor has started in on again, is causing him to want to burn a lot of stuff down, and of course grab numerous executive types by the lapels and smack them silly. Those bastards are pure evil. Unless he's at risk of starving to death, DFA shalln't be patronizing any more fast "food" joints. [ 09-23-2002, 01:55 PM: Message edited by: Dr Flash Amazing ] Quote
Anna Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 Fast Food Nation is a great book.. DFA, I am with you on that all the way! Quote
Dru Posted September 23, 2002 Posted September 23, 2002 fast food concept: if its fast, the fact its shit wont matter cause my time is too precious to waste enjoying eating. that said there are times when its nice to grab n go. Quote
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