I've been given a Kindle today and a voucher for e-books.
Given that you and I like the same stuff, I thought it might be fun if you were to recommend your favourite two books of all time (and why if you can be bothered). I expect there are quite a few hidden gems that I have never heard of and it is quite a cool opportunity for me.
So if you would be so kind...
Any genre, I'm not fussy.
Minky
Weaveworld
The Wasp Factory
Impossible to choose. Here's 2 faves.
IT ( King )
Northern Lights ( Pullman )
One of those classic ask me tomorrow and you'll get a different answer, but for today we'll go with:
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Deadeye Dick - Kurt vonnegut
tomorrow it might be
A prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Little Big Man - Thomas Berger
Yesterday it was
Princess Bride - William Goldsmith
Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster
Any day The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain would be there but I think you might be able to get that for nowt now so I'll treat that as a freebie.
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 20 October, 2013, 08:25:04 PM
Princess Bride - William Goldsmith
One of the first posts I made here led
Mike Carroll to correct me when I referred to William
Goldman as William
Gibson, so I think the problem is with Goldman's stupid name, not you or me. Your library must be a fun place to visit,
Colin.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
No you're thinking of the better known Princess Bride by the more famous William Goldman, I'm of course referring to its lesser known cousin by William Goldsmith, with Ruminants of Unusual Size, Violet Ontoya and The Red Buccaneer Robbins. Its a bloody brilliant read, don't worry loads of people make that mistake...
... seamless, no one will have seen through that one, my reputation remains untouched once more...
The Night Land - William Hope Hodgson.
The Island of Dr. Moreau - H.G. Wells
They have both got lots of monsters in them.
Tha Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay By Michael Chabon
True Tales of American Life Edited by Paul Auster
Really depends on what kind of 'read' you are looking for....
If you like Stephen King ( Horror / Supernatural / Creepy ) ....I'd try Pet Semetary, The Shining or The Stand.
If you like a 'series' of books, where you can follow / watch the storyline progress .......You can't go wrong with the Charlie Parker series from John Connolly. They are a crime thriller with supernatural overtones which become increasingly more relevant as the series carries on....Highly recommended...
For an out an out, series of Thrillers ( with a Sniper as the reluctant hero ) try Stephen Hunter...Bob Lee Swagger books... i Sniper is a really good one..
If Vampires is your forte.....( with a decent story ) try ....Justin Cronins' The Passage....
Cheers
Ill give you my favourite book and comic.
Dune, just the first one by Frank Herbert. The sequel's are decreasingly good, but still worth a punt.
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Talbot's masterpiece, and IMO criminally underrated.
David
USA - John Dos Passos
American pastoral - Philip Roth
My 3 ('cos I stupidly make lists like this in my head)
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
Legend - David Gemmel
Pedestrian I know.
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. LeGuin.
Moby Dick, Herman Melville.
If I'm allowed a third, it'd probably be Bleak House.
She by H Rider Haggard - old school Boys Own adventure!
And depends on what sort of kindle you have but the Sin City collections work very well on my old black and white screen model!
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (Bit of a cheat as it's actually 3 books)
Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 09:03:15 AM
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. LeGuin.
Moby Dick, Herman Melville.
Yay! I was going to go with The Dispossessed as my first choice too! It's an incredibly clever book wrapped up in a ripping yarn of societies separated by planet/moon. Without wanting to spoil it too much, by the end I was both entertained and thinking 'yeah, that might just work!'
I enjoyed Moby Dick, though it is hard graft. I preferred Mastodon's Leviathan, which kind of tells the story and is epic metal.
I'll have to have a think about my second fave, though it may well be one of the awesome books mentioned already. I was also considering a John Irving one, though I preferred Garp over Meany.
Another vote for WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP.
And another not vote for MOBY DICK. The very definition of worthy but dull. Still you could edit it down to a cracking adventure tale.
How about some HESSE - NARZISS AND GOLDMUND is preferred by me to his acknowledged classics of GLASS BEAD GAME and STEPPENWOLFE.
Or some CONRAD - LORD JIM is magnificent.
Without thinking about it too much
1) The Iliad - and I'll admit I like this so much partly beause I studied it at school, helping to draw out lots of themes and whatnot I'd likely have missed just reading it by myself. Still, it's a cracking story full of archetypal charcaters, and I can't get enough of trying to make sense of how the original readers/writers/heroes decided how much of their own life they were in control of, and how much was all down to the gods.
NB you can likely get a good translation of this for free!
2) What a Carve up! by Jonathan Coe. Funny and scathing and clever and disturbing, and, sad to say, at this point probably a little dated. (Most I've read by Coe is highly recommended, this happened to be the first I read so I like it best.)
3) And of you like Coe, I'd also heartily recommend BS Johnson's Christie Mallry's own double-entry. (It's about double-entry bookkeeping, in case you wondered. Although both vaginal and anal penetration do feature, in case you also wondered)
4) And I second the above mentions of Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2013, 12:17:28 PM
And another not vote for MOBY DICK. The very definition of worthy but dull. Still you could edit it down to a cracking adventure tale.
-tsssh- It's the waffly bits that are the main attraction! The adventure story bit carries you along certainly, but it's the arcane diversions and detail heaped upon detail that make you believe you actually shipped on the
Pequod, and that's what makes the book such a treat.
With you on
Lord Jim though, a brilliant read and plenty of fiddly bits to boot.
Slaughterhouse 5 has recently stole the crown of my fave off Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
I detest some of the ones already mentioned which just goes to show something or other.
I just received my first kindle last Thursday and am in the same position.
First go to craphound.com (http://craphound.com) and get a few of Cory Doctorow's books gratis.
As for paying books I'd go with:
Dune by Frank Herbert
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Quote from: AlexF on 21 October, 2013, 01:31:52 PM
2) What a Carve up! by Jonathan Coe. Funny and scathing and clever and disturbing, and, sad to say, at this point probably a little dated. (Most I've read by Coe is highly recommended, this happened to be the first I read so I like it best.)
3) And of you like Coe, I'd also heartily recommend BS Johnson's Christie Mallry's own double-entry. (It's about double-entry bookkeeping, in case you wondered. Although both vaginal and anal penetration do feature, in case you also wondered)
Both fantastic recommendations and both have been bought for me as presents by the same friend.
I started reading
Christie Mallry at bedtime one Friday night and finished it, still wide awake, at 4am (It's not a big book but I'm a slow reader). Couldn't put it down.
good to see a lot of love for Irving - THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANEY are both fantastic books.
if you want some classic sci-fi in your collection (who doesn't?) then I'd go for Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles and Larry Niven's Ringworld
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 October, 2013, 03:15:59 PM
if you want some classic sci-fi in your collection (who doesn't?) then I'd go for Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles and Larry Niven's Ringworld
Both outstanding choices.
Ulysses - James Joyce. Although admittedly not for everyone.
So ill give another 2 as no one is going to read Ulysses on my recommendation . . .
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Xenos by Dan Abnett
At the mountains of madness HP Lovecraft
Before using your vouchers on classic books check out the project gutenberg site for books whose copyright has ended. I noticed people mentioned H G Wells and James Joyce earlier, both are available there along with manymany more.
http://www.gutenberg.org/
S
A lot of these classics are available for free download via amazon direct.
Metro 2033 is a favourite of mine. Set in the russian metro after a nuclear war. Read it a few times now. The English translation of the sequel is due in early 2014.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 21 October, 2013, 03:15:59 PM
good to see a lot of love for Irving - THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANEY are both fantastic books.
Yeah big fan of all his books, even like the more recent (wellish) ones that get a hard time. No doubting Garp and Meaney are the classics but Hotel New Hampshire and A Son of the Circus shouldn't be overlooked either.
Quote from: TordelBack on 21 October, 2013, 01:34:50 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 21 October, 2013, 12:17:28 PM
And another not vote for MOBY DICK. The very definition of worthy but dull. Still you could edit it down to a cracking adventure tale.
-tsssh- It's the waffly bits that are the main attraction! The adventure story bit carries you along certainly, but it's the arcane diversions and detail heaped upon detail that make you believe you actually shipped on the Pequod, and that's what makes the book such a treat.
Definitely fighting with Tordelback block on this one. It would be pretty high on my list too. It's the accumulation of esoteric flotsam and jetsam - not to mention the fabulous, apocalyptic ranting - which makes it so much more than just a dreary adventure story.
Honestly don't know how anyone could find this dull:
Quote from: Herman MelvilleThere is no life in thee now, except that rocking life imparted by a gently rolling ship; by her, borrowed from the sea; by the sea, from the inscrutable tides of God. But while this sleep, this dream is on ye, move your foot or hand an inch; slip your hold at all; and your identity comes back in horror. Over Descartian vortices you hover. And perhaps, at midday, in the fairest weather, with one half-throttled shriek you drop through that transparent air into the summer sea, no more to rise forever. Heed it well, ye pantheists!
In the interests of furthering the thread and not duplicating anything, you should read:
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Massively entertaining mash-up of sci-fi, Hindu mythology and sly con-men.
Voss by Patrick White. Massively bleak journey into the empty heart of one crazy German. And Australia.
Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind for MOBY DICK. If I recall I read it just after LORD JIM while lounging in a hammock in Lake Maninjou in Indonesia. And now you mention it, I do recall enjoying some of Ahab's rants. But there was just so much of it... I think I read LAST OF THE MOHICANS next. That WAS fucking dire...
Thank you, you glorious hivemind of Squaxx, I knew you wouldn't let me down.
I have read a number of these but less than 50% and I am far more excited about the whole Kindle thing now that I have these unknown treasures to unwrap.
Top tip on the free books as well.
Thank you all, feel free to add to the list I'm sure others will benefit as well as me.
I'm not promising, but I might do a mini review with rankings on those of your recommendations I have read in a few months time. Probably not though, I'm an idle beggar.
Ta,
Minky
Catcher in the Rye is genuinely one of the most moving books I have read. Second choice that sprung to mind was Oliver Twist; my favourite Dickens. Clichéd choices maybe, but I read them both for the first time in the last couple of years (in my thirties!).
QuoteCatcher in the Rye is genuinely one of the most moving books I have read.
Indeed... it moved me to want to throw the book across the bloody room!
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 11:21:45 PM
QuoteCatcher in the Rye is genuinely one of the most moving books I have read.
Indeed... it moved me to want to throw the book across the bloody room!
Yep. I wanted to smack the shit out of the spoilt little bleeder.
Completely overrated book.
Of Mice and Men has always been a wonderful little book in my mind. Incredibly well written and heart felt, it's one of the few books that I can re-read any time. It suffers from slight pretentiousness but I can overlook this for some reason.
Im sorry I cant recomend two titles as I honestly would struggle to cut it down to two.
For those who enjoyed Moby Dick there is a science fiction sequel called The Wind Whales of Ishmael by Philip José Farmer.
Quote from: JohnMcF on 22 October, 2013, 10:33:53 AM
For those who enjoyed Moby Dick there is a science fiction sequel called The Wind Whales of Ishmael by Philip José Farmer.
Yeah, I loved that book! Fairly low-key easy reading sci-fi. So nice after the slog of Moby Dick.
Quote from: Spaceghost on 22 October, 2013, 10:11:03 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 11:21:45 PM
Indeed... it moved me to want to throw the book across the bloody room!
Yep. I wanted to smack the shit out of the spoilt little bleeder.
Completely overrated book.
I read it to see what the fuss was. It made me angry for the reasons given above. Awful
It's a book that should only be read when you're 13-16. If you missed that window, don't bother.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 22 October, 2013, 11:51:51 AM
It's a book that should only be read when you're 13-16. If you missed that window, don't bother.
Absolutely this, I think.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 22 October, 2013, 11:51:51 AM
It's a book that should only be read when you're 13-16. If you missed that window, don't bother.
I find it helps if you imagine Holden as a young PJ.
I thought Moby Dick was infuriatingly meandersome. And Holden Caulfield's a twat.
One of my all time favourite books is Treasure Island, I read it at least once a year and have done since I was about ten.
Puckoon by Spike Milligan is good fun too.
Quote from: Spaceghost on 22 October, 2013, 10:11:03 AM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 21 October, 2013, 11:21:45 PM
QuoteCatcher in the Rye is genuinely one of the most moving books I have read.
Indeed... it moved me to want to throw the book across the bloody room!
Yep. I wanted to smack the shit out of the spoilt little bleeder.
Completely overrated book.
I think I read it in that 13 - 16 year old window, before I realised it was supposed to be some kind of 'classic', and I didn't get it. He just mopes around, whining and smoking too much doesn't he? Isn't that what every bloody teenager does?!? Anyway, it can't have been very good - I can barely remember it.
I remember reading in my 20's and thinking he was an irritating shit and the book was over-rated. I guess I was well past the target windowM
Quote from: Minkyboy on 20 October, 2013, 07:59:52 PM
I've been given a Kindle today and a voucher for e-books.
Given that you and I like the same stuff, I thought it might be fun if you were to recommend your favourite two books of all time (and why if you can be bothered). I expect there are quite a few hidden gems that I have never heard of and it is quite a cool opportunity for me.
So if you would be so kind...
Any genre, I'm not fussy.
Minky
Ahem... A quick read, and not too expensive: Judge Dredd: The Cold Light of Day (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00E8I4286/theofficialhar00/).
-- Mike
Quote from: Mister Pops on 22 October, 2013, 12:37:26 PM
One of my all time favourite books is Treasure Island, I read it at least once a year and have done since I was about ten.
Puckoon by Spike Milligan is good fun too.
Two good'uns there!
Inspires me to make my annual strong recommendation for Flann O'Brien's
At Swim Two Birds and
The Third Policeman. I know everyone's sick of me saying it, but it has to be done: they're short, they're hilarious, they're thought-provoking and you'll never forget them.
Just finished my re-read of Hunt for Red October and you can add that to your priority list. Corcking book.
Iron in the Soul and the Man in the High Castle, can I have these instead of the Bible and Shakespeare Kirsty?
My two best books:
1984 - George Orwell. I've read this many times and it never gets old.
Insomnia - Stephen King. The Kingmeister has written many glorious works but this book really does stand tall with its absolutely crazy plot and excellent characters, especially the main protagonist (Ralph Roberts).
Cheers
Impossible to pick two faves but a couple of suggestions from my reading over the last couple of years that haven't popped up in the thread yet-
The Road - Cormac Mccarthy.
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville.
And what Kev said about 1984 ;)
I do like Spike Milligan's stuff. Does anyone have 'Silly Verse for Kids'? I've owned that my whole life, and am now reading it to my own kids. It's very funny!
Here's a very short example:
Quote"Today I saw a little worm
Wriggling on his belly
Perhaps he'd like to come inside
And see what's on the telly."
:D
Spike Milligan is the absolute business, possibly the funniest man that ever lived, or at least the one whose work was most in sync with my so-called sense of humour. I've had The Bedside Milligan, err, beside my bed for more than 30 years now, and it never fails to entertain.
Said mother tern to baby tern,
"Would you like a brother?".
Said baby tern to mother tern,
"One good tern
Deserves another".
Growing up, we had a few Spike Milligan books lying around the house, but I never took an interest, I didn't know who he was. Then he called Prince Charles a "grovelling little bastard" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkOAUht3G5o) and I had to read them all.
My children get endless pleasure watching me try to get my head around my Ning Na Nongs and my Trees go clang... etc etc.
Quote from: Colin_YNWA on 23 October, 2013, 12:38:21 PM
My children get endless pleasure watching me try to get my head around my Ning Na Nongs and my Trees go clang... etc etc.
Lol. The kids were doing that poem for their lessons in the school I was working in a while back, it's proper barmy but they loved it!
A family favourite in our house is The Gruffalo and Hairy McClarry series....yeah, two on my siblings are really young. But I gotta ask, have any parents here read them to their young kids? There is nothing worse than reading a rubbish children's book but these are wonderful.
Yeah, the last line of The Gruffalo is totally Zen. Great book!
If we're talking about best children's book, my vote would be Where the Wild Things Are. The beautiful illustrations combined with the minimalist, yet perfect, text make it an absolute joy. That's been a staple in my family since the book was first released.
Quote from: Hawkmonger on 23 October, 2013, 12:55:12 PM
There is nothing worse than reading a rubbish children's book but these are wonderful.
I can now recite
The Gruffalo in full and more than half asleep, and four of the Hairy Maclary's (well, three Hairies and one Slinky Malinky. So to speak), and I don't mind a bit. Julia Donaldson gets a fair amount of stick from some quarters, but I've enjoyed pretty much all of her stuff, and Lynley Dodd's odd middle-class colonial doggerel is actually a joy to read.
Personal favourite Donaldsons are
The Whale and the Snail and
The Monkey Puzzle, which I can also recite in their entirety. Bedtime stories are easier when you don't have to open your eyes.
Quote from: TordelBack on 23 October, 2013, 01:37:55 PM
Personal favourite Donaldsons are The Whale and the Snail and The Monkey Puzzle, which I can also recite in their entirety. Bedtime stories are easier when you don't have to open your eyes.
Hahaha! I read The Whale and the Snail to my daughter on a long train journey, and almost sent the whole carriage to sleep! :lol:
"Schnitzel von Krumm
with a very low tum,
Bitzer Maloney
all skinny and bony,
Muffin McClay
like a bundle of hay,
Bottomley Potts
covered in spots,
Hercules Morse
as big as a horse
and Hairy Maclary
from Donaldson's Dairy"
Wonderful. Very clever fluid.
Not read The Whale and the Snail or The Monkey Puzzle. I'll them that to the christmas list for the little 'uns.
Not wishing to drag this even further off course but 'I want my hat back' by Jon Klassen is pure fried gold - not as rhythmy as the fine, fine books below but really quite brilliant.
I'm happily reading The Smurf's anthology with my daughter at the moment. Highly recommended for slightly older little uns.
Iain M Banks - Use of weapons, and Excession - both culture novels and both awesome.
also...
Joe Heller - Catch 22
Susannah Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Stephen King - It, Misery, 11.22.63, The Dark Half,
George R Stewart - Earth Abides
Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake
Yann Martell - The Life of Pi
Frank Herbert - Dune
Dave
ps - i know, it's loads more than 2. But 2? seriously? that's like Sophie's Choice, that is!!
Two of my all-time favourite books that I would heartily recommend: "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole and "Flashman in the Great Game" - the fifth book in the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser.
I actually wrote a fan letter to Mr Fraser a few years back and received a very nice and courteous letter in return from him, thanking me for my support and wishing me well. It's now one of my most treasured items!
Quote from: paddykafka on 24 October, 2013, 11:24:58 AM"Flashman in the Great Game" - the fifth book in the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser.
Terrific book, arguably the best of the series (along with
Mountain of Light) and (dare I say it) a huge education for young me: with very little prompting I still trot out Fraser's interpretation of the Sepoy Mutiny/First War of Independence as if I had carefully researched it myself. It's one of the books that makes it clear that Flashy is far less of a shit than he himself believes, highlighting the ambiguity that makes the character so compelling and (perversely) so realistic. It's doubly appropriate that this is (I think) the book where Flashman finally reads
Tom Brown's Schooldays.
I envy you your letter, Paddy!
The Moomin books are great. Especially Moominpapa at sea which deals with depression, and Moominvalley in November which is about the death of her parents.
All disguised as happy kids books!
The Melancholy Of Resistance - Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Tomorrow In The Battle Think On Me - Javier Marias
Both available in brilliant English translations, they're the most genuinely immersive books I know. All other reality ceases when you pick these up. Pretty grim stories, but there's also something magical at work.
Some of my favourites:
1984. Brilliant.
Most of the Modesty Blaise books are really good if you like adventure thrillers (the first one and A Taste a For Death are the best).
Just about any Kurt Vonnegut. I can't remember which bits are in which books but I've read loads of them and they're all really good.
Man Plus by Frederick Pohl. Really good story about a man who is modified so that he can survive on Mars.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. All about a mentally deficient man whose given a drug that makes him super brainy. It's quite sad and stays with you.
I like most of the James Herbert books too. Some of them are a little cheesy but they're very creepy and good to read on holiday.
The Wasp Factory is my all time fave book and the only fiction one I ever go back to... pretty much only read non fiction these days
Second choice I have to cheat and do a series with the Spike Milligan war memoirs as hard pressed to just pick out one.
Hard to say, but my current favourite book is City of Bohane by Kevin Barry; a story of a gang-violence-riddled low-tech future Irish city. More madness and colour than a Brendan McCarthy painting.
Also The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle; the most inspiring and uplifting book I've ever read.
If you want something you can read for the rest of your life, try Joyce's Ulysses (but read David Norris's 'Joyce for Beginners' first; it's got pictures and makes it much easier).
Ah yeah, the Modesty Blaise books are brilliant. I actually rate those higher then Bond.