Books for my 'Must Read' list?
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Opal Deception, yes that does ring a bell... I recall Opal was a character from a previous book but I don't for the life of me remember what happens in that story. Suppose that might be why I stopped reading them, but they were brilliant.
And as a 19 year old myself, I can quite agree.
As for Clockwork Orange that clip really wasn't bad at all- I just don't want the writing itself to be crude, even if the content is (Anyone who's read David Peace knows how low brow writing can ruin an otherwise effective scene).
And as a 19 year old myself, I can quite agree.
As for Clockwork Orange that clip really wasn't bad at all- I just don't want the writing itself to be crude, even if the content is (Anyone who's read David Peace knows how low brow writing can ruin an otherwise effective scene).
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Great classic novel. Explores fatalism and free will in the context of a protagonist who kinda sorta time travels through various phases of his life. It's all tied together in the context of WW2 and the Bombing of Dresden.
Dubliners by James Joyce
Excellent classic collection of short stories. The stories all revolve around the ordinary lives of random people in Dublin. Seems like an uninteresting theme, but the stories are just phenomenally written and dripping with meaning.
Great classic novel. Explores fatalism and free will in the context of a protagonist who kinda sorta time travels through various phases of his life. It's all tied together in the context of WW2 and the Bombing of Dresden.
Dubliners by James Joyce
Excellent classic collection of short stories. The stories all revolve around the ordinary lives of random people in Dublin. Seems like an uninteresting theme, but the stories are just phenomenally written and dripping with meaning.
"Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut"
Oh sh- yes I remember this one. A girl in my college was showing it to me once.
All I recall is a father standing amongst a slaughterhouse of a concentration camp with pride in his eyes and saying to his little boy; "someday, all of this will be yours!"
Scary shit.
Oh sh- yes I remember this one. A girl in my college was showing it to me once.
All I recall is a father standing amongst a slaughterhouse of a concentration camp with pride in his eyes and saying to his little boy; "someday, all of this will be yours!"
Scary shit.
I never picked up the series after the 8th book I think, but the first 3 of the series are amazing. My personal Favorite Book is called Illusion by Paula Volsky, amd Song of Ice and Fire is an excellent fantasy series. Song of Ice and Fire is also one of the few books that I have seen consistently kill off characters.OptimisticPessimist said:
Well I think I've pretty much run the tap dry here, and I haven't even hit £50!
A lot of the 'classics' (P&P, Tale of Two Cities etc.) I can pick up for £1 each from Waterstones so those don't really count for the list.
I'll check here in the morning for any last suggestions
Before I hit the stores (despite BookDepository.com handling a lot of todays orders)
A lot of the 'classics' (P&P, Tale of Two Cities etc.) I can pick up for £1 each from Waterstones so those don't really count for the list.
I'll check here in the morning for any last suggestions
Before I hit the stores (despite BookDepository.com handling a lot of todays orders)
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
The Left Hand of God - Paul Hoffman
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
The Left Hand of God - Paul Hoffman
I tried my hand at being a writer just long enough to realize I don't have the talent for it. I could toss out a bunch of my favorite pop culture time wasters, but going by your list your looking for some more "weighty" fiction so to speakZombieGenesis said:
I recommend
#1: "House Of Leaves" by Mark Z Danielewski
#2: "Demon Theory" by Stephen Graham Jones
Both are interesting and if your looking for some interesting literary tricks and so on, both are good, solid, horror works, and pretty thought provoking in their respective ways.
In a more general sense I'd recommend almost anything by Robert Heinlan or Kurt Vonnegaut, and feel that everyone should read Asimov's "Foundation" and Roger Zelazny's "Amber" books at least once. I'd recommend checking out some of James Schmidt's stuff (his "Federation Of The Hub") stories as they are pretty cool and highly influential to a lot of science fiction that came later.
For pure fairly low-brow horror, I recommend "Edward Lee". His stuff can be fairly hard to track down at times, since he seems to get printed in limited quantities through companies like "Necro Press". He's fairly prolific though. It's hardly deep, but he does some pretty "hardcore" horror and has been called "the father of splatterpunk" by some. "Flesh Gothic", "City Infernal", "Shifters", "Coven", "The Backwoods" and others are all pretty good. One of the things that sort of impresses me that while universally nasty he does seem to be able to write in differant styles, ranging from campy and tongue and cheek, to more serious. But then again I got tired of guys like "Steven King" who turned into formula writers no matter what their central ideas were. I slogged through his "Under The Dome" earlier this year and it was a bit slow.
If your interested in fantasy at all, I'll say that Jim Butcher's series both for "Codex Alera" and his modern wizard-detective series "The Dresden Files" are very good.
A lot of rambling thoughts, however if your looking for stuff that might give you some ideas as a writer, the first two suggestions are probably the best bet.
I'll also say that while the ideas are interesting Ayn Rand is not someone I recommend reading for pleasure. This is coming for someone that has a relatively high threshold for both boredom and "message stories" (which I frequently criticize later).
World War Z by Max Brooks.
It's a zombie book, but it's never one I've read written so well.
Brooks said he did a lot of research on the book, and every event is what would most likely happen. And he doesn't forget much of anything: Pyschological aspect, reconstruction, exodus, political stability, or military interactions.
Every person who I know has read the book said it's very good.
It's a zombie book, but it's never one I've read written so well.
Brooks said he did a lot of research on the book, and every event is what would most likely happen. And he doesn't forget much of anything: Pyschological aspect, reconstruction, exodus, political stability, or military interactions.
Every person who I know has read the book said it's very good.