What should be the one mandatory book?
- Thread starter GeorgW
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I love how everyone bashes Twilight. It warms my heart.
On a side note, I think Stephen King said it best :
"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."
There's your answer.
On a side note, I think Stephen King said it best :
"Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend."
There's your answer.
There isn't really one book that could teach you everything you should know... I'd go with Several. Atlas Shrugged, 2001: A space odyssey, 1984, Animal Farm, and more that I can't think of right now.
Night Shift is a collection of short stories. It's not a coherent book.NameIsRobertPaulson said:
My choice is Yevgeny Zamyatin's We. Why? It's the book that inspired Nineteen Eighty-Four. I think it's possibly better written, and shows Orwell's work to be a bit on the overrated and unoriginal side. The conclusion is practically the same, the catalyst is the same, the general ideas are the same. Whilst Nineteen Eighty-Four does have its own ideas, its own outlook, it has many parallels with We, and it does nothing that We didn't do.
Never Cry Wolf
I've found it to be applicable on a daily basis. It's practical, spiritual, culturally relevant and scientifically enlightening.
I've found it to be applicable on a daily basis. It's practical, spiritual, culturally relevant and scientifically enlightening.
1984. God damn is that book so great. It would make kids aware of their society, and what it could become. It gives out lessons about staying yourself and keeping your identity.
...Also, that you're afraid of rats.
...Also, that you're afraid of rats.
This is a really good pick, and in terms of stories containing valuable life lessons, I'd say it's the best so far; the character and setting are just vague enough to be mythic, but have just the right degree of characterization to make for a compelling read, its like one of Aesop's fables on steroids.PissOffRoth said:
However, the idea of only reading one book is pretty ludicrous, as books tend to shed light on one another; its like saying "what's the one thought everyone should have?" An thoought in isolation is pretty useless, so I ultimately have to go with:
Could not have said it better myself, Walt. I wouldn't take issue with 1984, but nothing really drives home the message READ OR SOCIETY DIES like Ray Bradbury's novella.Walter Sobchak said:
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. It's an amazing read: sometimes sad, sometimes sexy, often hilarious and always brilliant. If you have the balls/boobs to actually read the whole thing and really put in the effort to understand it then you have truly proven your right to exist.
I also like to hope that it cuts both ways: either you read the book by age 35 or you die. Because if you can't or wont get through it by then, I'm not sure I want you around.
I also like to hope that it cuts both ways: either you read the book by age 35 or you die. Because if you can't or wont get through it by then, I'm not sure I want you around.
As I Remember, I was required to read that in schoolRussirishican said:
I read that Book and thought "Gee, there's an awful lot of talk about books in a society with no books."Walter Sobchak said:
As for my own pick, probably brave new world, It really is truly genius.
Sophie's World.
Leeches on bunny fur that get dragged out by the magician from the top hat of the world.
That is all.
P.S.
I prefer Brave New World over 1984, I think it's much more likely we'll be destroyed by what we love.
Leeches on bunny fur that get dragged out by the magician from the top hat of the world.
That is all.
P.S.
I prefer Brave New World over 1984, I think it's much more likely we'll be destroyed by what we love.
Thinking of it, The Inhabited Island by Brothers Strugatsky was a bloody good book. Again, going with theme of utopian / dystopian societies. Also, if you are a kind of person who likes reading about free will and moralities you will this book.
(the movie is decent if you have read the book before, if you had not then you would go WAT all the time)
(the movie is decent if you have read the book before, if you had not then you would go WAT all the time)
The art of war by Sun Tzu. Well it seems somebody already beat me to that punch. Good job! Not just is it a book of war, but it is a book of life.
Shucks about the no scripture part. I was going to say whatever holy book your religion believes in so at least you know and can interpret for yourself, rather than rely on your pastor, imam, rabbi, ect.
Barring that Cormac McCarthys The Road. Teaches a cruel lesson and people need to know how fucked normal, good people are when society collapses, but to learn that it's worth it if only you don't become a monster.
Barring that Cormac McCarthys The Road. Teaches a cruel lesson and people need to know how fucked normal, good people are when society collapses, but to learn that it's worth it if only you don't become a monster.
