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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 7:25 am
Fiction : Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut - Vonnegut can be both harshly critical and forgiving of humanity's fuck ups.
Non-fiction : Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond - How Europeans got from "out of Africa" to 1492 in 480 pages. Nice twist on history as an argument against white supremacy.
These are but two of my favorite books.
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 8:21 am
(November 21, 2016 at 2:56 am)The Gentleman Bastard Wrote: ...
Had you asked this question when I was 16 I would have instantly said "The Lord of the Rings." Had you asked in Grade School I would have said either "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" or "The High King" (the concluding book of "The Chronicles of Prydain which has held up surprisingly well as I've aged). ...
The Chronicles of Prydain deserves far, far more love than its given these days.
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 10:14 am
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman . I dont read so much but when i heard about cognitive biases i was very interested in it and this one explains them well
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 10:19 am
Lolita.
#1 because I love the way Nabokov rolls around in his piles of words, and #2 because it made me the most uncomfortable I've felt reading a fiction novel.
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 10:55 am
(This post was last modified: November 21, 2016 at 1:36 pm by Shell B.
Edit Reason: Forgot to add the why.
)
Fuck. I have to give a few.
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien–the absolute apex of fantasy literature. Tolkien kills it with world-building, language development, use of folklore and breadth of plot. It's a massive undertaking that I haven't seen a rival for.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee–Why does anyone love this book? It's hard to pinpoint. I guess it shines a harsh spotlight on racism and how sad it is that we aren't always able to stop hate from prevailing. However, to say that alone would be to ignore the many brilliant subplots Lee crammed into this tiny book from reclusiveness (probable mental illness) to drug addiction, abandonment, loss and incestual abuse. This isn't just a story about a falsely accused black man defended by an aging small-town lawyer.
"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott–Obviously, this novel is very entertaining. It's been centuries and look at its staying power. However, for me, it's more about having a place close to my heart. I have three sisters, I'm a writer, I grew up in Massachusetts-the only thing missing is Laurie. I guess I'll have to start calling Tibby Laurie. I'm not sure he'll like it. Anyway, I also have a little brother, so the spell is mostly broken, but I do like to tease my little sister, who thinks she's like Jo, and tell her she's definitely more like Amy. (It's true, but I pretend I'm joking because she would lose her bananas.)
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury–I just liked reading this. It was sort of mysterious, dark and a bit scary. It's also entertaining to see people discuss the underlying meaning when Bradbury himself already made it clear.
"Dune" by Frank Herbert–The best sci-fi ever? I think so, if you don't include short stories. World-building is great, iconic characters, multiple antagonists, fantastic lore, etc.
Oddly enough, there aren't any Stephen King, even though he must be my favorite author, since I've read all of his books. Hated "Gerald's Game" and "Rose Madder," though.
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 11:32 am
(This post was last modified: November 21, 2016 at 1:13 pm by Whateverist.)
Don't think I've actually posted my favorites and I likewise can't get it down to just one. But as I remember how fast the two Robert Graves novels slipped through my fingers -in spite of my tendency to read slowly with much savoring. So I feel a need to give a shout out for: I Claudius and Claudius the God. They made me think about the nature of tragedy which has certainly held me in good stead coming out of the most recent elections.
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 11:38 am
(November 21, 2016 at 10:55 am)Shell B Wrote: Fuck. I have to give a few.
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
"Dune" by Frank Herbert
Oddly enough, there aren't any Stephen King, even though he must be my favorite author, since I've read all of his books. Hated "Gerald's Game" and "Rose Madder," though.
All fine books and much enjoyed. The only Stephen King I've read is the one about the nut job lady that rescues and then keeps some unfortunate author confined to her house by repeatedly injuring him as he begins to heal. It was like a car wreck, impossible to turn away from. His writing is riveting but entirely wasted on junk themes.
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 12:33 pm
(November 21, 2016 at 2:56 am)The Gentleman Bastard Wrote: Favorite book?!? Hell, I can't name a favorite author. 
Well, a favorite author is at least easier for me.
It is a tie between Dean Koontz and Anne Rice.
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 1:06 pm
Favorite book? I don't know... there are so many good ones.
Thought provoking
- Alex has already mentioned "Solaris", by Lem. How to communicate with an alien being so alien that any form of communication known to humans fails utterly?
- "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", by Milan Kundera. I listened to the audiobook... damn, when I got caught up in a thought the audio was already moving on! definitely work reading in text and taking a moment to think about what's been said before reading some more.
Sci-fi
- I'm now burning through the Foundation series, by Isaac Asimov. Awesome idea!
- Dune is closely around in quality.
Sciences
- The Believing Brain, by Michael Shermer. How our flawed brains operate to make us believe things.
Portuguese
- Os Maias, by Eça de Queirós. The classical story of unaware incest, set in the 19th century. Filled with lots of detailed descriptions of landscapes, houses, rooms...
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RE: Whats your favourite book and why?
November 21, 2016 at 1:26 pm
(November 21, 2016 at 11:38 am)Whateverist Wrote: (November 21, 2016 at 10:55 am)Shell B Wrote: Fuck. I have to give a few.
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
"Dune" by Frank Herbert
Oddly enough, there aren't any Stephen King, even though he must be my favorite author, since I've read all of his books. Hated "Gerald's Game" and "Rose Madder," though.
All fine books and much enjoyed. The only Stephen King I've read is the one about the nut job lady that rescues and then keeps some unfortunate author confined to her house by repeatedly injuring him as he begins to heal. It was like a car wreck, impossible to turn away from. His writing is riveting but entirely wasted on junk themes.
I'm going to have to disagree. Dismissing anything that isn't intellectual as junk isn't fair, in my opinion. He writes horror, which is my favorite genre (if underrepresented in my list). Its only goal is to entertain, frighten and disgust, which isn't junk. It's emotive, which has its own value in literature. Some of us don't read only to find significant underlying meaning or anything of the sort. Sometimes, we read to escape, which "junk themes" offer perfectly. The wonderful thing about King is that he is able to write about these supernatural or horrifying events using wholly believable characters. In fact, when it comes to character development and realism, he's in my top five. If you've ever been to New England, you know how well he captures the mindset of folks here. He may not be Bradbury, Vonnegut or Wells, but he's not popular for no reason.
This just reminded me that I forgot to mention why these are my favorites.
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