Books you Must Read Before You Die

[jdog345]

Edit, I hit the wrong button.

Anyway, What are some books you've read,and you think they are so good, life can't possibly be complete without sitting down on your couch for 6 hours at a time reading the book until it's finished?

For me, that's Blood Meridian By Cormac McCarthy and Brave New World By Aldous Huxley.

I did a search and found nothing, apologies in advance.

 

[howard_hughes]

"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski

 

[sirsolo]

Second Angel by Philip Kerr is one of my all time favourites, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is pretty awesome.

Books by Scott Westerfeld and Chris Wooding are fun.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

"His Dark Materials" Trilogy. Beautiful. Fantastical. Romantic. Sacreligous. Whats not to love? You will go to hell though, it has to be said.

 

[jdog345]

Second Angel by Philip Kerr is one of my all time favourites, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is pretty awesome.

Books by Scott Westerfeld and Chris Wooding are fun.

The Book Thief is great, I forgot that one. Even better is I Am the Messenger.

 

[Wislong]

The Book Thief. Such a good book.

 

[SwiftFlux]

1984
Slaughterhouse 5 (also anything by Kurt Vonnegut is superb)

 

[JokerGrin]

"The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb. The only book to make me cry. His previous book "I Know This Much is True" is also beautiful.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

The Name of the Wind is supposed to be ridiculously good, so I'll read that eventually.

 

[Ronwue]

House of the dead by Dostoyevsky (Spell check, it's 3 am and i'm not going to be arsed to do it myself. You know who I'm talking about anyway)

 

[Mr.Switchblade]

I like this question, though it is worth noting that most people don't read more than what they find on the "whats popular" bookshelf and the local fiction section, none of which could be called "good" by literary standards, entertainment standards maybe.

Anywho, a worthy read is Frederik Pohls Gateway, a gleaming gem in the dark swamp of science fiction. Deals with psychology, human response to death, and is refreshingly original.

 

[PersianLlama]

1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Edit: Add Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury to the list.
That's my list.

 

[jdog345]

I like this question, though it is worth noting that most people don't read more than what they find on the "whats popular" bookshelf and the local fiction section, none of which could be called "good" by literary standards, entertainment standards maybe.

Anywho, a worthy read is Frederik Pohls Gateway, a gleaming gem in the dark swamp of science fiction. Deals with psychology, human response to death, and is refreshingly original.

Yes, it is. I read that recently.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

Neuromancer by William Gibson AND THEN
Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson

IN THAT ORDER.

 

[Zankabo]

Hmm.. books that are must reads..

Vellum and Ink by Hal Duncan are fascinating, and here soon I will probably need to re-read them again..

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is of a course something all should read.

Waiting for the Galactic Bus and The Snake Oil Wars by Parke Godwin are also good one.

Venus on the Half Shell by Killgore Trout is another book everyone should read at some point.

Finally, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

Course, for myself I have already read all of those books.. but ones I know I need to read still include Don Quixote, Dracula, Frankenstein, Wind in the Willows, and quite a few other classics. For me there really is no one book that must be read, just a never ending collection of worlds and ideas to experience.

 

[vede]

Anything by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, really. They're an amazing author duo.

Noon: 22nd Century, Roadside Picnic (especially fans of STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl), Hard to be a God.

It's great. Definitely the best sci-fi authors I've read. And maybe the best authors in general that I've read.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

 

[countrysteaksauce]

Gulliver's Travels

 

[PirateKing]

Enders Game
The Gunslinger

 

[PersianLlama]

Course, for myself I have already read all of those books.. but ones I know I need to read still include Don Quixote, Dracula, Frankenstein, Wind in the Willows, and quite a few other classics. For me there really is no one book that must be read, just a never ending collection of worlds and ideas to experience.

Yes, definitely read that, it's one of my favorite books.