Best Books Ever

[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'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.\
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'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't read something you like), there'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'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's clear from the books listed, that there are many younger people posting, or those that haven't read much.
As noted before, Tolkien writes brain candy. There's not much to it. It'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'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.\
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'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're young. You'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'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;

[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. 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.