What do you people read?

[waifl]

Some things that I like that might help are sci-fi, conspiracy, drugs, mystery (in a way I guess), thrillers, and definitely something that makes you think.

It seems ludicrous to say conspiracy without at least mentioning Thomas Pynchon.

The Crying of Lot 49 (short and sweet), and both V. and Gravity's Rainbow are sprawling works of absurd conspiracies that do nothing BUT make you think.

Both pale in comparison, I venture to add, to David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, published about ten years ago, which is in the same canon of largess, but of this generation. Astounding. Tennis, tobacco, wheelchair terrorists, Canadians, microwave suicides, the whole bit.

[Harry]

Donald Barthelme

Mostly stories, but sharp/hilarious.

His stories make for good conversation at the bar.

Also William Kotzwinkle. Read The Fan Man. The main character is named Horse Badorties. That's a great name to be reading in your head over and over. And believe me, you'll be reading the name a lot.

[Xan_e]

Chuck Palahniuk

[Asquar]

There was a lot of great literature that came out of the experience of WWI. Johnny's Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo is a masterpiece, and a riveting read.

[CWC]

Man, nobody reads the classics any more I still love Zane Gray and Louis Lamar, can't go wrong with a good western. Not much into most poetry but if you get a chance read some Siegfried Sassoon; the man was definitely affected by the First World War and paints an interesting view of life & hell in the trenches

[Zero]

While the theme here seems to be predominantly fiction, I'll add a few nonfiction to the mix as recommendations anyway :

Confessions of an Economic Hitman
John Perkins

Perkins, a former chief economist at Boston strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main, says he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business. "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars," Perkins writes. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carré, except it's a true story.



Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Mike Ruppert

Crossing the Rubicon is unique not only for its case-breaking examination of 9/11, but for the breadth and depth of its world picture-an interdisciplinary analysis of petroleum, geopolitics, narcotraffic, intelligence and militarism-without which 9/11 cannot be understood.


The Unconscious Civilization
John Ralston Saul

Many individuals in identifying government as their enemy have focused almost exclusively on the bureaucracy of government, but business is also dominated by a top-heavy bureaucracy. I would suggest that today the problem of managerial deadweight is far greater in the private sector than in the public. I would suggest that one of the key reasons that the private sector has been unable to revive and reinvent itself over the last two decades has been a lack of creativity brought on by a managerial rather than a creative owner-based leadership.


The Selfish Gene
Richard Dawkins

Our genes made use. We animals exist for their preservation and are nothing more than their throwaway survival machines. The world of the selfish gene is one of savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit. But what of the acts of apparent altruism found in nature - the bees who commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, or the birds who warn the flock of an approaching hawk ? Do they contravene the fundamental law of gene selfishness ? By no means: Dawkins shows that the selfish gene is also the subtle gene. And he holds out the hope that our species - alone on earth - has the power to rebel against the designs of the selfish gene. This book is a call to arms. It is both a manual and a manifesto, and it grips like a thriller.



The Singularity Is Near
Ray Kurzweil

Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil examines the next step in the evolutionary process of the union of human and machine. Kurzweil foresees the dawning of a new civilization where we will be able to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity, combining our biological skills with the vastly greater capacity, speed and knowledge-sharing abilities of our creations. In practical terms, human ageing and illness will be reversed; pollution will be stopped and world hunger and poverty will be solved. There will be no clear distinction between human and machine, real reality and virtual reality. "The Singularity is Near" offers a view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny.


8)

[snoosiphant]

The last whole book I read was a Dean Koontz novel - The Good Guy. A pretty good read. The usual Koontz page turner. I loved the George RR Martin "Song of Fire and Ice" too. Is the last book of that series out yet?

Definitly read the Illumatius trilogy and if you like that Foucalts Pendulum and The Name of the Rose, both by Umberto Eco, might float your boat too.

[Zeno]

Some things that I like that might help are sci-fi, conspiracy, drugs, mystery (in a way I guess), thrillers, and definitely something that makes you think.

Well, it's settled. You have to read The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. 8)

The Illuminatus Trilogy.

Yes, definitively! A must read, if you like conspiracy, drugs and weird stories. Fnord But don't become paranoid :lol:

[Zero]

Some things that I like that might help are sci-fi, conspiracy, drugs, mystery (in a way I guess), thrillers, and definitely something that makes you think.

Well, it's settled. You have to read The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. 8)

The Illuminatus Trilogy.

[PrisMaster]

Can anyone recommend me some good books that I would like? Something that would really grab me like the Ender and Shadow series by Orson Scott Card did? I would really appreciate it. It does not necessarily need to be just like those as I do enjoy a lot of other books. Some things that I like that might help are sci-fi, conspiracy, drugs, mystery (in a way I guess), thrillers, and definitely something that makes you think. Any suggestions are appreciated. I just really need a new book to read and have been having trouble finding something I like.

I usually just ask this friend of mine who actually referred me to all the other books I read, but I have not talked to him in a while. Thanks in advance

[Subtilo]

Ask The Dust by Fante

Great book! Considering this one and also 'Wait Until Spring, Bandini' it's not very difficult to see where a fella like Bukowski got his inspiration.

Congrats on you moving up in the world :wink:

[Soft Morning, City!]

Lately I've been reading the Allen Ginsberg biography by Bill Morgan and re-reading Revenge Of The Lawn: Short Stories by Richard Brautigan. Other than that, I re-read Ask The Dust by Fante a week or so ago.

Also, if anybody has been wondering why I haven't been posting these past few days, I'm in the process of moving into a new apartment. I'm in the same building, but I'm moving out of the basement and up to the first floor. It's sucking at the teat of my spare time, but I'll be done soon enough and posting again with my usual frequency.

Off topic. My apologies.

[PrisMaster]

Im more of a sci-fi fan I would say. The Ender series and The Shadow series were my favorite books yet. I have also read Eragon and some Tom Clancy. Read some other Orson Scott Card books. I also really enjoyed Junky by William S Burroughs. I read a lot more in high school, but I have been looking at getting some new books recently.

[Backpacker]

For any Norwegians and Americans of Norwegian descent, I highly recommend two books by O. E. Rolvaag: Giants in the Earth and Peder Victorious. Although fiction, they describe the experiences of Norwegians who immigrated to the Dakotas in the late 1800s. The author is a Norwegian who immigrated to the United States during that time period. He later became a professor at St. Olaf College. He wrote the books in Norwegian to explain the immigrant experience to Norwegians. They were then translated into English and several other languages.

[Asquar]

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. Best time travel fantasy I've ever read.