Best Books Ever

[for3024]

What is the most best books ever written, id say:

- lord of the rings
- harry potter

[MagicNakor]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076... (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764553224/qid=1058946075/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-4658146-7335964) :lol:

:ninja:

[kalashnikov]

the day of the jackal
1984
a clockwork orange

[ilw]

Yeah I agree with 1984 thats a great book, I also really like Catcher in the Rye. Brave new world has an amazing concept (though i'm not sure if its one of the best ever)

[kalashnikov]

yes catcher in the rye is great must have slipped my mind when making the list

[neil1967]

MagicNakor that be ruff :)

[kalashnikov]

^ :blink: say what, speak english

[Lamsey]

J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings, without doubt.

[HeavyMetalParkingLot]

Naked Lunch - William Burroughs

[slammy_dunken]

- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0898156270/qid=1059006467/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6679207-0162308?v=glance&s=books)
- Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
- Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
- Scott Mueller's Upgrading And Repairing PCs 14th Edition
- The da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
- Heavier Than Heaven (Charles Cross)

[physc0]

Its like a 5 page book lol...but its about this sniper that is on a roof trying to get this lady..but another dude shoots at him right before he shoots the lady. The dude ducks down and takes out a little mirror and get his revolver. he shoots the other dude with it...go over to the building and turns him over. and its his brother. :P

Dont know what its called though.

[Aglaranna]

The best book I ever read is Magician from Raymond Feist...Ray writes very good and I'm just addicted to his books :lol:

[N£MO]

The English Dictionary and The Bible. :D

[CrumbCat]

Originally posted by N£MO@24 July 2003 - 02:12
The English Dictionary and The Bible. :D
The Bible itself is technically not a book unto itself, but is actually 66 separate books.

Now you know.

[Rhydian66]

Blood of the Fold- Terry Goodkind
The Nicholas Seafort Saga- David Feintuch
Imajica- Clive Barker
The Tamuli & Mallorean- David Eddings
Necroscope- Brian Lumley
The 5th Elephant- Terry Pratchett
The Stand- Stephen King
Memnoch the Devil- Anne Rice
The Warlord Chronicles- Bernard Cornwell

and for a bit of culture...

The Colour Purple- Alice Walker (I think)

um... that's all I can think of at the moment. B)

[J'Pol]

The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B.

I've never read it, but it has such a great name.






It's such a stupid question. That it deserves a similar answer. One can answer subjective enquiries along this line, but not objective ones.

[DarthInsinuate]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

it must be great because it has 4 sequels, a TV series, and an in-production Movie

[NeoTheOne]

all the star wars books

[Geordi LaForge]

BEST book??? Not possible

[chrish123171]

Anything by Andrew Vachss is good especially the Burke detective novelsAlso if You like J. R. R. Tolkien try Something from Stephen R. Donaldson the Thomas Covennant The Unbeliever series is fantastic! B)

[silverccrow]

Just read >>>
Franz Kafka-Metamorfosis ;)

THID BOOK IS awasome ! :sorcerer:

[Cygnuz-Y]

Yeahh Silverccrow, that book is a bout a man that converts into a cockroach that has to be the Dopest Book ever!

Good Choice :D

[j2k4]

Among many others:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

[RPerry]

Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

[draven]

JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (spelt Tolkien NOT Tolkein) has in my opinion received far too much attention in recent times due to its hollywood success. Yes, it is a great read. I won't deny it that and it quite easily stands on the shelfs on its own. But would you like many have bothered to pick it up if it wasn't for it's acclaimed success?

[theprisoner]

- The Lord of the Rings
- Harry Potter Books
- Wrinkle in Time

[draven]

Same can be said for the Harry Potter series! :P

[slammy_dunken]

Originally posted by RPerry@28 July 2003 - 08:49
Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
I read that book, back in the school days. It was a good book, but don't bother watching the movie. It sucks.

[RPerry]

Originally posted by slammy_dunken+28 July 2003 - 13:46--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (slammy_dunken @ 28 July 2003 - 13:46)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-RPerry@28 July 2003 - 08:49
Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
I read that book, back in the school days. It was a good book, but don&#39;t bother watching the movie. It sucks. [/b][/quote]
Too late :P actually, most movies are never better than the book.....

[mutterings]

The books that have always stuck with me have been stephen donaldsons Thomas covenant...white gold wielder...although dated e.e doc smith books and phillip jose farmers riverworld<<<<the film was not much good though :(

[Dragonlord]

The Divine Comedy by Dante

[LeeMarvin]

I NEVER BEEN THE SAME AFTER I READ THIS BOOKS:

Tales... POE
Ficciones BORGES
Vineland PYNCHON
The man in the castle DICK
Genealogia de la moral NIETZCHE
The Steppen Wolf HESSE
Paginas escogidas ARTAUD
Heart of darkness CONRAD
Todos los fuegos el fuego CORTAZAR
El sueño de los heroes B.CASARES
Memorias de Adriano YOURCENAR
Yo Claudio ROBERT GRAVES
La metamorfosis KAFKA

I really think that Tolkien is a minor writer, nothing to compare with any of the list above, may be amusing (not even that for me) and a first step for major literature but not the end of it.

[draven]

Originally posted by LeeMarvin@28 July 2003 - 20:36
I really think that Tolkien is a minor writer
:lol: :lol: :lol:

[for3024]

Originally posted by LeeMarvin@28 July 2003 - 20:36
I NEVER BEEN THE SAME AFTER I READ THIS BOOKS:

Tales... POE
Ficciones BORGES
Vineland PYNCHON
The man in the castle DICK
Genealogia de la moral NIETZCHE
The Steppen Wolf HESSE
Paginas escogidas ARTAUD
Heart of darkness CONRAD
Todos los fuegos el fuego CORTAZAR
El sueño de los heroes B.CASARES
Memorias de Adriano YOURCENAR
Yo Claudio ROBERT GRAVES
La metamorfosis KAFKA

I really think that Tolkien is a minor writer, nothing to compare with any of the list above, may be amusing (not even that for me) and a first step for major literature but not the end of it.
Can you at least say what these books are about

[draven]

There is only one true way to know, and that is to find the meaning yourself. LeeMarvin has some taste. Franz Kafka, Edgar Allan Poe... the list goes on. Read it for3024

[H.H.]

How about:

Silence Of The Lambs / Thomas Harris
The Hannibal Lecter Book Of Gourmet For Beginners / Hannibal Lecter
The Dune-saga / Frank Herbert
Bill The Galactic Hero - series / Harry Harrison
Stainless Steel Rat - series / Harry Harrison
All of &#39;em / Dashiel Hammet
All of &#39;em / Raymond Chandler
Virtual Light / William Gibson
Mona Lisa / William Gibson
Count Zero / William Gibson

And... among many others: Philip K. Dick&#39;s Greatest Hits (Like: Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep... better known to the world from the movie adaptation "Blade Runner".... That Sean Young playing the android chick is GEORGEOUS&#33; WOW&#33; And the music by Vangelis is mind-blowing.....)

AND there&#39;s more, and more, and more, and MORE&#33;&#33;&#33;HaaahhhhaaahhhaahhhHHaHAHAHAHhhhhhAHHHH&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
You little dicks have to get yerselves some better books to read&#33;&#33;&#33;

Only read the "Catcher In The Rye" IF You&#39;re planning to waste the president&#33;&#33;&#33;

HEEEEHHHAAAAWWW, Y&#39;all&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

h.h. ;)

[munkeyspanker22]

The Firm by John Grisham...tax law was never so fun

And I agree with the guy who said Tolkien was a hack&#33;

[LeeMarvin]

As far as I see in this forum, science fiction rules, so here is a list of great science fiction and writers (in fact some of their works are nearer to a "literatura fantastica" (I don&#39;t know how to spell it in english) than strictly science fiction):

Ballard - Crash
Dick - Blade runner, Minority report, and the list goes on
Wells - The invisible man, etc.
Bradbury - Marcian cronics
Lovecraft - I don&#39;t know if someone made a movie based on one of his stories, but the blair witch project reflects many aspects of his manangement of suspense and terror.

Beside them is a movie/s based on their books; on the other hand I once heard Polanski saying that you need a really bad book to make a great film, in the great majority of cases that&#39;s correct, with perhaps one case that breaks the rule: Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now: Great book even Greater movie, perhaps the last great american movie, it was the end of a period; know we enjoy Jerry Buckheimmer&#39;s pop corn bullshit. Is there any new american writer you can recomend?

PD:
Great comics:

El Eternauta - Oesterheld
The black book, Mort Cinder, etc - Breccia
El halcon maltez - Hugo Pratt
Arkham Asylum - Grant Morrison/ Dave MC Kean
The invisibles - Grant Morrison (I heard that was one of matrix inspirations)
Mr. Punch - Dave Mc Kean
The Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller
Kamui - Sanpei Shirato
and a lot of Manga

[H.H.]

Well....

Some books just CAN&#39;T be translated into a film....
Just look what happened to "American Psycho".... NOT that I particularly wanted to see that craziness turned into a movie , anyway....
Some things are best left just to words...

Brrrr.............

H.H.

[H.H.]

BY the way....

Frank Miller must be one of the meanest S.O.B. cartoonists alive....

I don&#39;t particularly enjoy the ultra-violence portrayed in most of his work, BUT I admire the exellent graphics.

Boom&#33;

h.h. ;)

[LeeMarvin]

I have to be honest, I&#39;ve never read American Psycho, but I really like the movie in fact I think it was really misunderstood. For what I heard american Psycho it&#39;s an ultraviolent book, really explicit and you are right when you think that violence is not reflected in the same way in the movie. In fact what the movie does is using that particular Yuppie era that the book portrait and treated in a very ironic way, From the poster, to the previous book, and everything, people where expecting another serial killer movie, and what did they found?, an ironic, really clever dark COMEDY, never the less it has really great violence scenes, without showing the axe breaking the skull. I found many of the dialogs hillarious, and the period is recreated in an excellent way, from the music, the clothes and details like that shoe size cell phones and the video rent moda. What I mean when I put Polanski&#39;s sentence above, is that is an error to transpose a book exactly to a film, in fact is imposible, we are talking of another totally different format with a very different approach. Great directors took a book or the idea on it, or even the effect that produce on them, that may not have anything to do with what the original statement, in a way to carry their own speech. Of course that didn&#39;t produce every time a great movie but you are closer than if you want to transcript a book. Finally a book it&#39;s one of the most introspective experiences that you can have, and is really close to us, so when a film doesn&#39;t reflects what the book produced to us, we felt betrayed; give the movie a second chance and you would see I great dark comedy, with superb actings, and if you don&#39;t like it, what the hell everyone has the right to choose wethever they like, Do you know where the problem is? When they told you not to complain because you can choose what ever you want, and you have to choose between a Tolkien book or Harry potter, in film terms: between a Disney summer film or another Great Disney summer film.

BYE

[Grunge_Effect]

I found that Black Boy by Richard Wright has become a personal favorite for me.

[imported_The__One]

can&#39;t belive no one mentioned Isaac Asimov&#39;s Foundation series, really great books&#33; Also, Philip Pullmans The Golden Compass triliogy is outstanding :D

[hopalong]

Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine
John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath

[imnotanaddict]

please forgive for not listing a classic

but a book to me that really stands out and is in a league of its own is

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere

its killer

[ultimatejester]

Lord of the rings

[captainhormone]

At school I read this french book caled Tricolore...oh yeah it was a study book....doh&#33;&#33; :D

[firebird32]

Id have to go with lord of the rings, read it at least once a year but it has to be over a weekend cause when i start i just read it straight through.

[firebird32]

Id have to go with lord of the rings, read it at least once a year but it has to be over a weekend cause when i start i just read it straight through.

[solid647]

I liked lord of the rings by:J.r.r Tolkien

and


"The Island of DR. Moreau" by:g.w. Wells

Ohh and

"Rainbow six" by: Tom Clancy

[insanebassman]

Piers Anthony - All his books
Most Stephen King
chuck Palahniuk - Read Fight club and Choke... that is some mind altering shit
Tolkein
Koontz
Anderson
Frank Herbert

And so many more in my 700+ book collection I just can not think of all I enjoy.. No such thing as Best books I would have to think

[insanebassman]

I have to say, one of the greatest books I ever had the pleasure of reading repeatedly was "Where the Sidewalk Ends"

so that has to be a definate on this rhetorical list....

[pol]

dr. seuss - every kid should read these :)

[N£MO]

The English dictionary.

[NightStalker]

The Lord of the Rings. ;)

[ang3968]

I have read sooooo many books.... where to start

I love Stephen King, John Grisham, Patricia Cornwell, Scott Turow, Richard Patterson North, Nick Earls.... and I could go on forever, but I wont

[gaz_k]

can honestly say i have never read a full book in my life, i just find them boring and take up far too much of my time wen i could be out n about with real people instead of make believe ones on paper.

i managed to get through high school n college without reading any. got good grades as well, now i at uni n still doin fine, just get the odd bit of info out of text books if needs be, but i honestly cant find the attraction of 300 pages of paper infront of my eyes?

dont mean to sound rude, but what is the rewards from reading so many books?

[eng60340]

To kill a mocking bird

my study text for literature.
:)

[javakel]

Wow...there are definitely some interesting novels listed. I just don&#39;t see how one could have "a" favorite. Personally, I have never read ANYTHING that didn&#39;t leave some sort of lasting impression. I noticed that most named a few books they liked, but I haven&#39;t noticed much dialogue on what actually makes them so profound. That just proves how difficult it is to rank literature and other creative forms of expression. It&#39;s a highly personal thing, and since everyone experiences different things in their respective lives, the significance and impact of a particular novel varies from person to person. In fact, one person could read a book multiple times, and with each reading it could be interpreted differently and alter its impact on the reader.

And so...*ahem* gaz-k, THAT is one reason to read. Studying literature is a way of gaining knowledge from all sources. It&#39;s one of the few ways that ideas can be exchanged between people....not only in the present, but in the future for years to come. I think it&#39;s healthy to regard reading as an asset...not a burden. That&#39;s just the wrong mentality. In fact, it&#39;s the wrong mentality for anything. Okay..so I&#39;m off my soapbox now. But I do understand why some might have an aversion to reading...especially if they were enrolled in the public education system. They teach literature all wrong. You shouldn&#39;t HAVE to scour a book looking for the "meaning" or theme. As many prolific writers of the past and present have noted...truly great literature achieves this without effort. It&#39;s the affect....not the cause or reason.

Oh yes...just off the top of my head, some reading recommendations:

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison; The Awakening, Kate Chopin; Walden, Thoreau; Paradise Lost, John Milton; She&#39;s Come Undone, Wally Lamb; Zombie, Joyce Carol Oats; Portnoy&#39;s Complaint, Philip Roth; Exquisite Corpse, Poppy Z. Brite; House Made of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday; Lolita, Vladimir Nobokov; Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert; White Noise, Don DeLillo; PUSH, Sapphire....and oh so many more&#33;&#33;&#33;

But wait...I can&#39;t forget one of my "favorite" :P contemporary authors: Sherman Alexie....

The Toughest Indian in the World, The Business of Fancydancing, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and his newest, Ten Little Indians

[Gooch2k]

I&#39;m going to have to go with the majority here and say The Lord Of The Rings & The Hobbit.

[Damnatory]

Though I could say the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy like everyone else, which by the way was fantastic, I would have to claim that "Lord of the Dead," by Tom Holland was the best book that I have ever read.

The story insinuates that the renouned Poet Lord Byron, never dies but yet is transformed into a Vampire. The entire novel is about Byrons journey through the centuries, and his love and betrayal of everything he&#39;s had, and will lose.

A very good read for those of you who enjoy "good" vampire books.

[Freek1e]

The Divine Comedy
Stranger in a promised land
Magician-Raymond.E.Feist
The Assasin trilogy- Robin Hobb
The wheel of time series-Robert Jordan

[Pcsteele]

Shadows Fall by Simon R. Green

Most of his stuff is crap from what I can tell but this one stands out to me as the best thing I&#39;ve ever read. It&#39;s hard to explain what it&#39;s about. Just imagine where everybody, real or imagined, goes after they die or are forgotten. Cartoons, dead people, elves, and Father Time runs things. This is what he said about it.

[QUOTE]I think it&#39;s the best thing I ever did, but it was just too weird for most people, unfortunately.[QUOTE]

[wolfman10_2000]

Locked In Time
Killing Mr.Griffen
And Then There Were None
I love just about all suspence, mystery books
especially Louis Duncan







-Mike

[Snee]

Recently I&#39;ve fallen in love with the "malazan" books, about the bridgeburners.

But my all-time favourites include several of those mentioned above as well.

But first and foremost is Asimov&#39;s Robot and Foundation novels, Terry Pratchett&#39;s Discworld novels and of Course all books in the Hitchhiker&#39;s guide to the Galaxy "trilogy".

[Rezzurector]

Michael Bulgakov - The Master and Margarite

[einstein1905]

It&#39;s clear from the books listed, that there are many younger people posting, or those that haven&#39;t read much.
As noted before, Tolkien writes brain candy. There&#39;s not much to it. It&#39;s along the lines of Stephen King and John Grisham stuff. Take the time and read some classics.....then compare those to Tolkien.
For instance:

Anything by the following authors:
Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche, Joseph Conrad (Apocolypse Now was based on Heart of Darkness), Dostoyevsky (if you haven&#39;t read Crime and Punishment, you have no right naming any other book as "the best"), Sinclair Lewis, Goethe, Herman Hesse, Salinger, Orwell, Everything by Aldous Huxley, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Vonnegut, Shakespeare.
Someone mentioned Black Boy, which is excellent and very moving.&#092;
People are mentioning a lot of superficial crap...just a simple story line and nothing deeper. Anyone of the aforementioned authors will make you think and question your life and everything about it.
A great book can&#39;t be made into a movie successfully, because so much of the substance from a great book comes from the reader. A movie simply spoon-feeds you a story.
Take the time to read good literature when you&#39;re young. You&#39;ll appreciate life so much more and will have a real measuring stick by which to judge a "good" book.

[Supernatural]

Originally posted by gaz_k@20 August 2003 - 06:47
can honestly say i have never read a full book in my life, i just find them boring and take up far too much of my time wen i could be out n about with real people instead of make believe ones on paper.

i managed to get through high school n college without reading any. got good grades as well, now i at uni n still doin fine, just get the odd bit of info out of text books if needs be, but i honestly cant find the attraction of 300 pages of paper infront of my eyes?

dont mean to sound rude, but what is the rewards from reading so many books?
You have no idea what you are missing. Reading a good book is like nothing else you&#39;ll ever experience. It&#39;s so much more immersive than even the best movies.

Some of my favorites include:
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
Anthem - Ayn Rand
Doomsday Conspiracy - Sidney Sheldon

[lightshow]

Chuck Palahniuk - Survivor and Fight Club

[chalice]

One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Anything by Marquez for that matter.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
I Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
The World According To Garp by John Irving.

Probably not the best but my favourites anyway.

[dingoBaby]

Originally posted by chalice@12 September 2003 - 04:09
One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Anything by Marquez for that matter.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
I Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
The World According To Garp by John Irving.

Probably not the best but my favourites anyway.
I like your taste. Those are among my favorite books too.

[Snee]

Originally posted by einstein1905@12 September 2003 - 02:24
Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche, Joseph Conrad (Apocolypse Now was based on Heart of Darkness), Dostoyevsky (if you haven&#39;t read Crime and Punishment, you have no right naming any other book as "the best"), Sinclair Lewis, Goethe, Herman Hesse, Salinger, Orwell, Everything by Aldous Huxley, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Vonnegut, Shakespeare.
&nbsp; &nbsp; Someone mentioned Black Boy, which is excellent and very moving.&#092;
People are mentioning a lot of superficial crap...just a simple story line and nothing deeper. Anyone of the aforementioned authors will make you think and question your life and everything about it.

Have read Vonnegut, a little Nietzsche, Conrad, Not the entire crime and punishment, Goethe, loves Salinger and Orwell as well as Brave new world(a personal favourite), Dickens, Virginia Woolf and does of course have everything ever written by Shakespeare.

And furthermore Plato, Xenofon and Sun-Tzu(not fiction though)

However, I don&#39;t believe that you have the right to say that others have no right to say that they like what they do (just because they haven&#39;t read something you like), there&#39;s a reason why people might prefer Stephen King to something more complicated like Angela Carter, me I like both, but some might not find Carter so accesible, a lot of what you have listed is "heavy" and might even be considered depressing, to laud what you do and not acknowledge what you deem "superficial crap" is wrong, as it fills a function in that it provides relief, reading books should expand your mind, which what you list does, but it should also provide relief and escape from the mundane.

There have been times in my life when books have been the only thing keeping me from giving up, books like what you list as good as well as what you do not like, does this make me less than you?

Sorry to seem angry but I don&#39;t like when people discard literature just because it is simple.

Still your knowledge in the field, as well as your passion does do you credit. :)

[dingoBaby]

Originally posted by einstein1905@11 September 2003 - 21:24
It&#39;s clear from the books listed, that there are many younger people posting, or those that haven&#39;t read much.
As noted before, Tolkien writes brain candy. There&#39;s not much to it. It&#39;s along the lines of Stephen King and John Grisham stuff. Take the time and read some classics.....then compare those to Tolkien.
For instance:

Anything by the following authors:
Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche, Joseph Conrad (Apocolypse Now was based on Heart of Darkness), Dostoyevsky (if you haven&#39;t read Crime and Punishment, you have no right naming any other book as "the best"), Sinclair Lewis, Goethe, Herman Hesse, Salinger, Orwell, Everything by Aldous Huxley, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Vonnegut, Shakespeare.
Someone mentioned Black Boy, which is excellent and very moving.&#092;
People are mentioning a lot of superficial crap...just a simple story line and nothing deeper. Anyone of the aforementioned authors will make you think and question your life and everything about it.
A great book can&#39;t be made into a movie successfully, because so much of the substance from a great book comes from the reader. A movie simply spoon-feeds you a story.
Take the time to read good literature when you&#39;re young. You&#39;ll appreciate life so much more and will have a real measuring stick by which to judge a "good" book.
Without a doubt all of the authors you mentioned are among the greatest and most well respected writers of all time. However, it is entirely unfair to disparage someone for thinking that a book by someone other than a noted literary genius is the best book ever.

Literature, like all forms of art, is beautiful in the eye of the beholder. If a book speaks to a person or inspires them or causes them to question life around them or elicits some emotional response, then it is well within that person&#39;s right to state that they feel said book is the greatest ever. Listing all your favorites and then saying that others are posting "superficial crap" is unfair and not in the spirit of this discussion.

[mogadishu]

Originally posted by gaz_k@20 August 2003 - 06:47
can honestly say i have never read a full book in my life, i just find them boring and take up far too much of my time wen i could be out n about with real people instead of make believe ones on paper.

i managed to get through high school n college without reading any. got good grades as well, now i at uni n still doin fine, just get the odd bit of info out of text books if needs be, but i honestly cant find the attraction of 300 pages of paper infront of my eyes?

dont mean to sound rude, but what is the rewards from reading so many books?
are you serious?

[soopaman]

Originally posted by dingoBaby+13 September 2003 - 02:37--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (dingoBaby @ 13 September 2003 - 02:37)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-einstein1905@11 September 2003 - 21:24
It&#39;s clear from the books listed, that there are many younger people posting, or those that haven&#39;t read much.
&nbsp; &nbsp; As noted before, Tolkien writes brain candy. There&#39;s not much to it. It&#39;s along the lines of Stephen King and John Grisham stuff. Take the time and read some classics.....then compare those to Tolkien.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; For instance:

Anything by the following authors:
Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche, Joseph Conrad (Apocolypse Now was based on Heart of Darkness), Dostoyevsky (if you haven&#39;t read Crime and Punishment, you have no right naming any other book as "the best"), Sinclair Lewis, Goethe, Herman Hesse, Salinger, Orwell, Everything by Aldous Huxley, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Vonnegut, Shakespeare.
&nbsp; &nbsp; Someone mentioned Black Boy, which is excellent and very moving.&#092;
People are mentioning a lot of superficial crap...just a simple story line and nothing deeper. Anyone of the aforementioned authors will make you think and question your life and everything about it.
&nbsp; &nbsp; A great book can&#39;t be made into a movie successfully, because so much of the substance from a great book comes from the reader. A movie simply spoon-feeds you a story.
&nbsp; &nbsp; Take the time to read good literature when you&#39;re young. You&#39;ll appreciate life so much more and will have a real measuring stick by which to judge a "good" book.
Without a doubt all of the authors you mentioned are among the greatest and most well respected writers of all time. However, it is entirely unfair to disparage someone for thinking that a book by someone other than a noted literary genius is the best book ever.

Literature, like all forms of art, is beautiful in the eye of the beholder. If a book speaks to a person or inspires them or causes them to question life around them or elicits some emotional response, then it is well within that person&#39;s right to state that they feel said book is the greatest ever. Listing all your favorites and then saying that others are posting "superficial crap" is unfair and not in the spirit of this discussion. [/b][/quote]


Well said&#33;&#33;&#33;

A few of my favourites are:

His Dark Materials Trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, the Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman. I&#39;ve only just discovered these books and they are fantastic&#33;&#33;

Anything by James Ellroy. My favourite writer - everything he writes is just pure genius. Can&#39;t wait for his next book "Police Gazette". I recommend White Jazz, it&#39;s written using no verbs&#33;&#33;

Chopper by Mark Brandon Read. Excellant book, really funny&#33;&#33;

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I love this book. Very, very funny indeed&#33;&#33;

A lot of my other faves have already been mentioned so I won&#39;t bother typing them.

;)

[chalice]

Good to see you posting again, Sooperman. :)

[soopaman]

Thanks mate&#33;&#33; I have got back into reading again after changing jobs so I thought it only right to post a few of my faves. What happened to the Rorschach sig?? I like the new one but worried by what I&#39;m seeing in it&#33;&#33;&#33; :lol: :lol: <_<

[chalice]

Originally posted by soopaman@13 September 2003 - 18:49
Thanks mate&#33;&#33; I have got back into reading again after changing jobs so I thought it only right to post a few of my faves. What happened to the Rorschach sig?? I like the new one but worried by what I&#39;m seeing in it&#33;&#33;&#33; :lol: :lol: <_<
lol. They went and stole my sig, Soopaman.
Too big, just.
I get lost in that blot too. Some pretty flowers or a dog with its head split in half?

[gregster007]

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

[ruhroh]

Best books eh? I have 2 favs. The Pillars Of The Earth-by Ken Follet,a must read for most anyone,and Swansong-by robert McCammon,very good read about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.Both are my top picks.

[Gemby!]

Originally posted by gregster007@15 September 2003 - 16:35
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
one of my friends has been telling me this is a real good book so i guess i should read it

mine is daniele steel leap of faith

[RohSun]

Hmmm...Pillars of the Eath is a great read....so is A fine Balance by Mistry..Chaos ,Glass Bead Game,A corner of a foreign field and the Genesis code...

[LeeMarvin]

Well somebody else joins may view (Einstein), it&#39;s been a long a time since I don&#39;t post and nobody mentions Thomas Pynchon, I presume the majority of you are from the States and you don&#39;t know him?; it&#39;s perhaps one of your greatest writers ever. I also notice that you didn&#39;t mention Borges, I&#39;m an argie like him and I think he is great and among the greatest and more influentian writers from th 20th century (from Bradbury, Foucalt, García Marquez, Rushdie, Pynchon, Grant Morrison, Umberto Eco or Martin Amis, and people from other areas of art, always mention him as one of their biggest influences), perhaps he is becoming the writer for writers. I think he is great but many times I enjoy a lot more Cortazar or Bioy Casares, they are more "terrenal", less methaphisical.

[einstein1905]

To those that criticized my disparaging of superficial, brain candy, such as stephen king and John Grisham, my point is this; you cannot say that "so and so" is the best book ever until you&#39;ve read "the greats", the consensus great works of literature.
To simplify, if a person were only to ever have seen or driven a geo metro, and not have experienced the pleasure of driving a mercedes or BMW, they&#39;re in no position to claim the geo as the greatest car ever. You need a point of reference. Greatest is all relative (haha..see my username....I&#39;m so clever).
I&#39;ve read Stphen King and Grisham books too, but can easily distinguish a real work of literature from them. The reason these more superficial, spoon-feeding variety of books do so well is because we no longer encourage the reading of the classics...no one cares to expand their minds, and no upping your THC levels in your blood doesn&#39;t exempt you from having to expand your mind with literature. Notice that most of the classics deal with very real characters and situations, whereas most of these more superficial works are far removed from reality....make sense? This is the real world you live in....deal with it, understand it, and make it a better place. Distract yourself, if you must, by reading about killer clowns (not Gacey), but quickly come back to the real world and make a difference here.

[asmithz]

I dont like to read so there isnt a best book ever.

[LeeMarvin]

I&#39;m not sure Einstein, but if you were thinking that I was criticizing you, well you are wrong, I was supporting you. On the other hand I don&#39;t agree with that "real world" you are mentioning, in fact I think that perhaps the greatest writers are and were, those that deal with the absurd of life, such as Kafka, Poe, Borges and many others, in the way they like, sometimes using fantasy, sometimes more "real" stuff. Those "real" life writers you are mentioning (and please name one of them)or the next movie "based on real eventes" are mostly bullshit, real life is absurd and not rational. If your aim was to attack science fiction writers I remind you that there are writers like H.G. Wells, Bradbury, Ballard, P.Dick or Lovecraft (for not mention Homer (if he ever exist, and as you may know, his work is the translation of oral stories)) that with that kind of statement, you have to place them as minor writers, I don&#39;t think you agree with that. Finally that Tolkien, or Stephen King or others are more succesfull than Joyce, don&#39;t make and entire genre bullshit, perhaps there success is link to the fact that they are easier to transpose to a movie, till now with perhaps the exception of "Crash" by Cronemberg and "Blade runner" (that is ok, not much more), great science fiction writers where destroy in movies.

[alpk91]

I think "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is the best one.....


:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[alpha]

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Idiot by Dostoyevsky
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (or was it someone else?)
Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

[alpha]

Originally posted by einstein1905@20 September 2003 - 01:42
To those that criticized my disparaging of superficial, brain candy, such as stephen king and John Grisham, my point is this; you cannot say that "so and so" is the best book ever until you&#39;ve read "the greats", the consensus great works of literature.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; To simplify, if a person were only to ever have seen or driven a geo metro, and not have experienced the pleasure of driving a mercedes or BMW, they&#39;re in no position to claim the geo as the greatest car ever. You need a point of reference. Greatest is all relative (haha..see my username....I&#39;m so clever).
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I&#39;ve read Stphen King and Grisham books too, but can easily distinguish a real work of literature from them. The reason these more superficial, spoon-feeding variety of books do so well is because we no longer encourage the reading of the classics...no one cares to expand their minds, and no upping your THC levels in your blood doesn&#39;t exempt you from having to expand your mind with literature. Notice that most of the classics deal with very real characters and situations, whereas most of these more superficial works are far removed from reality....make sense? This is the real world you live in....deal with it, understand it, and make it a better place. Distract yourself, if you must, by reading about killer clowns (not Gacey), but quickly come back to the real world and make a difference here.
Ever heard the saying: "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" ? :)
----&#39;what is the best book ever?&#39;---- This is a subjective question. It is highly unlikely that anyone has read every book ever written and thus it is possible that all of us have yet to experience " the pleasure of driving a mercedes or BMW"

[alpha]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (funny, wierd)
Metamorphosis & Other Stories by Franz Kafka (crazy, wierd)
The Devil&#39;s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce ------"Pedestrian, n. The variable (and audible) part of the roadway for an automobile."
" Air, n. A nutritious substance supplied by a bountiful Providence for the fattening of the poor."
The Hitchhikers Guide.....the series and also some of that Dirk Gently stuff by Douglas Adams. (funny, funny)
Bill the galactic hero and....... by Harry Harrison ----- I&#39;ve read a few and assume the rest will be as amusing.

[Meehowski]

By Reason of Insanity.................Shane Stevens......1972

Steven King once said, "This is the scariest book I ever read&#33;&#33;"

[peludo]

why didn&#39;t anyone say "The Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien???
I think it&#39;s the best book ever&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
C&#39;mon, he makes the whole Middle Earth universe in there&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
:lol: Tolkien is the best... I would also say "The Smith of Wooton Mayor", but The Silmarillion is a piece of art&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[bigboab]

Any book that I am reluctant to put down.

[Tug]

Spike Milligan:

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall
Rommel? Gunner Who?: A Confrontation in the Desert
Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall

The best anti-war books ever written by the man that gave Monty Python his Flying Circus.

[imnotanaddict]

Originally posted by ruhroh@15 September 2003 - 17:17
Best books eh? I have 2 favs. The Pillars Of The Earth-by Ken Follet,a must read for most anyone,and Swansong-by robert McCammon,very good read about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.Both are my top picks.
Swansong by McCammon, man its been so long since I&#39;ve read that, completely forgot about it. Very good read indeed, like most of his other books..... I&#39;m gonna try and find a copy for a re-read. :)

[_cHiCkEn__]

Catch-22 (great devices used and interesting process, my personal favorite)
Catcher in the Rye (always a favorite)
Robinson Carusoe (have to read it 2 times every summer)

and for diversion-

Mario Puzo (any)
Clancy (any except the series books)
Crichton (any)
Tolkien (any)

[imnotanaddict]

Originally posted by _cHiCkEn__@7 December 2003 - 22:23
Catch-22 (great devices used and interesting process, my personal favorite)
Catcher in the Rye (always a favorite)
Robinson Carusoe (have to read it 2 times every summer)

and for diversion-

Mario Puzo (any)
Clancy (any except the series books)
Crichton (any)
Tolkien (any)
classics to action to thrillers to fantasy. well its a diversified selection. :rolleyes: :)

[Haz]

William Bernhardt. B)

His novels about attorney Ben Kincaid are great whodunnit stories, I have yet to figure one out before the killer is revealed, have yet to put one down until i&#39;m finished with it either.

[slicer]

the anwser is 42

[Tug]

Yes. But what is the question?

[ghetto_gurl]

A child called it

The lost boy

A man named Dave

[slicer]

Originally posted by Tug@9 December 2003 - 22:46
Yes. But what is the question?
the question is:
what is the meaning of life?

[bujub22]

stephen kings -it
cuz that&#39;s is the scarest damn clown ever

[Is_this_name_taken_already]

Well after looking over all 7 pages I&#39;m quite disappointed that two awsome series of books didn&#39;t appear:

The first is Robert Jordan&#39;s The Wheel of Time series. Its kindof like The Lord of the Rings in the sence that its in the midevil age but there is a lot of magic and extreamly deep story line.

The second is Terry Goodkind&#39;s Sword of Truth series. While I haven&#39;t read much of this one, what I&#39;ve heard from others is it is very good.

Each of these series has over 6000 pages of text which makes for a nice LONG story.

P.S. These books are just my own damn opinion but, if you don&#39;t like em too damn bad.

[quiksilver_aus]

A Scientific Romance (Ronald Wright)

An englishman discovers H.G. Wells&#39; tim machine and travels 500 years into the future where he finds all of London to be deserted.

I loved this book. Wright thought of every detail about time travel. Truely a great science fiction novel.

[bujub22]

Originally posted by quiksilver_aus@17 December 2003 - 02:29
A Scientific Romance (Ronald Wright)

An englishman discovers H.G. Wells&#39; tim machine and travels 500 years into the future where he finds all of London to be deserted.

I loved this book. Wright thought of every detail about time travel. Truely a great science fiction novel.
ooh yah forgot that 1 i agree i love that story what made me want to create my own anime&#39;s cartoons ,most of my stuff is based upon the future

[Majin]

The Dragonlance series is great and so is Lord of The Rings - a book that can bring you to just say WoW&#33; :D

[Aphelos]

66 seperate books....
come on man, you&#39;re getting a little too technical.
Either way the Bible tells an epic story as a whole and not in separate parts.
It would be like taking chapters out of a book.
Regardless its the greatest story ever told.

Yeah...Catcher in the Rye, great book.
And the fact that it has been linked to deranged minds means some of us are some very sick individauls.

But to be honest, I&#39;ve read a slew of books both ancient and modern, and it seems the books I read when I was younger have stuck with me the longest. I often think about Childhood&#39;s End and When the Legends Die. They may not be the best but they are some good books.

[imnotanaddict]

Originally posted by Aphelos@18 December 2003 - 04:40
66 seperate books....
come on man, you&#39;re getting a little too technical.
Either way the Bible tells an epic story as a whole and not in separate parts.
It would be like taking chapters out of a book.
Regardless its the greatest story ever told.

Yeah...Catcher in the Rye, great book.&nbsp;
And the fact that it has been linked to deranged minds means some of us are some very sick individauls.

But to be honest, I&#39;ve read a slew of books both ancient and modern, and it seems the books I read when I was younger have stuck with me the longest.&nbsp; I often think about Childhood&#39;s End and When the Legends Die.&nbsp; They may not be the best but they are some good books.

Green Eggs and Ham

[guit_steel]

R folks talking about the greatest books written here or merely their favorite books written?

Hey, I could probably count many of the books listed in this thread as favorites, but I guess I&#39;m a bit old school. I mean can u really compare most of the books mentioned with greats like The Brothers Karamazov, Odyssey, or Don Quixote? Just a thought.