Need some help chosing a book to read....

[Spade Lead]

So, I'm going to be spending a good amount of time away from my 360 this summer (travel, backpacking, etc) and I wanted to find a good book. I was thinking about getting an H.P. Lovecraft book, because of all the attention Cthulu gets, but I'm not sure which book to get.

EDIT:
Please DO NOT suggest The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

War and Peace is good, but really long.

 

[snowpuppy]

the isles of glory series or something by sarah douglas.

 

[Bezz_Ad]

I'm going to go ahead and recommend "John Dies at the End" by David Wong.

Really great horror comedy novel. Warning, though, there are a bunch of dick jokes. But the author manages the horror parts quite nicely, imo.

 

[Aetera]

Anything written by Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray in particular. I swear, Oscar Wilde was the wittiest man to ever live. Ever.

 

[Tallim]

I would also go with House Of Leaves. It's just incredibly well written and planned out. Kind of hard to describe so I'll use a quote from a review "It's a book about a book about a film about a house that is a labyrinth."

Metro2033 is a really good novel.

The Night Watch novels are fantastic in my opinion.

As good as Pratchett is, if you want something just as good but vastly different in style try anything by Robert Rankin.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

Metro 2033

This, the ending is pretty sad though, actually bought a tear to my eye.

 

[Romidude]

Metro 2033

This, the ending is pretty sad though, actually bought a tear to my eye.

Yeah but in the end was something I never quite got

Spoiler

I know that he killed the Dark Ones, but when he took off his mask, did he suffocate himself? I never really got that.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

Metro 2033

This, the ending is pretty sad though, actually bought a tear to my eye.

Yeah but in the end was something I never quite got

Spoiler

I know that he killed the Dark Ones, but when he took off his mask, did he suffocate himself? I never really got that.

The book doesn't say, had the narration been first person we would know he made it back, I believe there is a Metro 2034 already out in Russia, I guess we'll find out when the book comes out in english.

 

[Ambi]

If you want something short to read, try Notes From Underground by Dostoevsky. It's full of fascinating neurotic energy and philosophising.

 

[AWAR]

Nah, I wouldn't recommend Lovecraft at all. Consider Poe as an alternative, specifically his short stories.

 

[Wuggy]

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend Lovecraft. In my experience the mythos is way more interesting that the books themselves. However if you're dead set on Lovecraft, the best short story I've read from him is either Dunwich Horror or Whisperer in the Dark.

 

[Raognerrrm]

The Three Worlds cycle, Ian Irvine. Quite simply, the best books I have ever read.

Night Watch trilogy (technically 4 books), Sergei Lukyanenko. Intriguing ideas on the good and evil.

The Belgariad, David Eddings. Restraints of choice.

Mistborn Trilogy (and The Way of Kings), Brandon Sanderson. The only books I have read that have enormous amounts of betrayal in them

Anything by Fiona McIntosh. The cruelest author I have come across; always is incredibly mean to her characters.

Second Sons trilogy, Jennifer Fallon. A series on religious societies.

If you want a deep, philosophical meaning to the books you read, go for one of those.
Although, as you are having a holiday, you may want a break from the strenuous thinking required

 

[Loop Stricken]

If you want to read Lovecraft, get a short story collection for sure. The problem is that if you read a lot of lovecraftian horror, one after the other, the constant 'indesrcribable' nature of the stories can get a bit samie so take another book or something else to do to break up the stories better.

To his credit though, he did write a story taking the piss out of this, his own tendency.

I don't think I've read that one... What is it?

I think it was called The Unknowable, or The Unnameable, or something. WIT!

 

[evilstonermonkey]

If you want to read Lovecraft, get a short story collection for sure. The problem is that if you read a lot of lovecraftian horror, one after the other, the constant 'indesrcribable' nature of the stories can get a bit samie so take another book or something else to do to break up the stories better.

To his credit though, he did write a story taking the piss out of this, his own tendency.

I don't think I've read that one... What is it?

I think it was called The Unknowable, or The Unnameable, or something. WIT!

You know, I really should have guessed. Thanks, I'll have to look that one up.