From fiction, Watership Down is one of those books for me, riveting, with a subtext that really speaks to what we see even today.
I also push Hemingway, in his better books: A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Much of what he wrote was pretty crappy, though, so you gotta be careful what you pick out.
For nonfiction, I'm a big fan of John Keegan's histories. He's a great combination of simple and insightful, and has a great style.
Jared Diamond is another fantastic nonfiction writer, able to draw the reader in through well-written prose, and at the same time able to convey complex ideas without making you feel like you're in a lecture hall.
I also push Hemingway, in his better books: A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Much of what he wrote was pretty crappy, though, so you gotta be careful what you pick out.
For nonfiction, I'm a big fan of John Keegan's histories. He's a great combination of simple and insightful, and has a great style.
(February 10, 2015 at 6:09 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: Collapse, by Jared Diamond is probably the best book I've ever read. Jared Diamond is a genius in a way that very few people are.
Jared Diamond is another fantastic nonfiction writer, able to draw the reader in through well-written prose, and at the same time able to convey complex ideas without making you feel like you're in a lecture hall.
