favourite fiction books...

[mr. x]

in one thread someone recommended a non-fiction book (japan: who governs by chalmers johnson) and it made me wonder if perhaps others would like to share or recommend books that might be of interest.

or perhaps there are authors who have written more than one book . i used to be a big kurt vonnegut fan - - am currently working through some of philip k. dick's various books.

i thought i would do separate threads for fiction and non-fiction. so, please post your favs, and maybe provide a description or describe what you liked about it.

 

[papasmerf]

Anything by Dean Konnz and The Withing Hour trilogy by Anne Rice. Yes the Vampire Chronicles are great But Lasher brought her to a peak seldom reached.

 

[blofeld]

I like Lord of the Rings, most books written *solely* by Tom Clancy (not the NetOps stuff), The Bible. ;-)

 

[Cardinal Fang]

Corner of My eye and False Memory both by Dean Konnz. I used to be into Stephen King but that got old quite quickly.

 

[DenWa]

Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury...not the heaviest reading, but his language is poetic and it perfectly captures the essence of boyhood, friendship, and good vs. evil...I enthusiastically recommend.

DW

 

[the rusty tromb]

I've always enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure series.

 

[submissivedave]

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrick Nietzsche

"Pigmalion" by Bernard Shaw

"Death of a Salesmen" by "Arthur Miller

"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

"Faust" Goethe

"The Metamorphis" by Franz Kafka

"A Century of Hero Worship" by Eric Bentley

 

[CyberGoth]

FRIDAY by Robert A. Heinlein.

Neuromancer by William Gibson

The Word by William S. Burroughs.

Paradoxia by Lydia Lunch.

Dune by George Herbert.

anything by Poppy Z Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick or Nancy Baker.

The Andy Warhol Diaries were a most interesting read.

 

[submissivedave]

BTW, anyone like Irvine Welch?

It's not an Irvine Welch, but has anyone seen "The Acid House" ???

This shit is wicked man ...

 

[xarir]

The Lovely Bones by Alice Seybold. Without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It's a tough book to recommend because of the material (a little girl who is raped and killed) but it's fantastically written. I did have a problem with the ending, but it is one I can accept.

The Cruel Sea by Nicolas Monserrat. Was also made into a movie in the 1960's. This book follows a captain and his first officer in 2 ships during WWII.

Dante's Inferno - not your usual run of the mill stuff but quite interesting if you're in the right frame of mind to read it.

For fluff - Tom Clancy but only up to and including The Sum of All Fears. After that I think he's really tailed off and basically written himself out.

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. A great tale about a man who sticks to his principals to the bitter end. Best read en francais though.

 

[Lloyd]

Friday - Robert A. Heinlein - Definitely second this choice. Gotta love a book written in 1982 which talks about "the Net" which is pretty close to the internet we have now. Pretty much also recommend any book by Heinlein except for I Will Fear No Evil which is a heavy read especially for the uninitiated.

Octagon - Fred Saberhagen - A bit out of date but still an excellent read. About a mail-in multiplayer strategy game that becomes deadly.

The Proteus Operation - James P. Hogan - A team of scientists and special OPs from an alternate future travel back in time to stop Hitler from producing a nuclear bomb.

Lloyd.

 

[Dianna Douglas]

"The Crimson Petal and the White" by Michel Faber (still in hardcover) was an excellent read.

It's set in London in the 1870's and focuses on a young SP named Sugar and it follows her journey from her birth in a brothel to a "working girl" to a mistress of a wealthy business man.... and then her transformation into a "suitable" woman and governess to her lover's young daughter. It's dark, yet funny, sometimes sad and quite fascinating. For example, we learn about birthcontrol in the Victorian era! And many interesting characters in the seedy underworld, from madams to girls to slumming aristocrats looking for 3-somes.

Oh, and lots of sex, naturally....

The title sounds dull..... but when I figured it out about page 100, I was very, very amused. Hint: A crimson flower petal resembles a certain part of the female anatomy when it's excited. And the white? That would cum from her lover. Sorry, bad pun, couldn't resist!

 

[Top Jimmy]

anything, no make that everything by Christopher Moore

"Gun, With Occasional Music" by Jonathan Letham. (also "Amnesia Moon", althought it is very different)

as for the technothriller genre, as Tom Clancy has waned, I have really enjoyed most of Dale Brown's books and recommend them wholeheartedly, especially "MegaFortress"

"Storming Intrepid" by Payne Harrison

 

[wrong hole]

...horton hears a whoooo........

 

[Rezdog]

Man and Boy - Tony Parsons (A must read! - funny as hell!)
The Resurrectionists - Michael Collins
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson (Science Fiction & Fantasy Section)
Angels Passing - Graham Hurley

 

[Zorba]

This may come as a shock, but I would recommend:

"Zorba the Greek" by Nikos Kazantzakis - a lesson in living a life of passion and emotional interest; there's a little bit of Zorba in every hobbyist (I should probably post in the 'nickname' thread".

My contribution to the "fluff" file is anything by James Clavell, but in particular:

1. "Tai-Pan"

2. "Noble House"

If you're going to read them, you probably want to do so in that order. An interesting juxtaposition of western influence in an eastern culture.

 

[Cool Dude]

How about the books of Clive Cussler.His Dirk Pitt novels are always great reading

That's my favorite tom_xtd. The final Dirk Pitt novel will come out next year.

 

[submissivedave]

BTW, anyone like Irvine Welch?

It's not an Irvine Welch, but has anyone seen "The Acid House" ???

This shit is wicked man ...

Actually, I need to make a correction to my above post. I spelled his name wrong. It suppose to be Irvine Welsh and when I went back to check the book cover, "The Acid House" was written by him ... hehehe ... sorry

 

[JDayger]

My choices

Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
The eight book (so far) Starfist series by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
The six book DMC series by Rick Shelly
Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard
and of course The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

 

[mr. x]

I think Vonnegut is totally overrated.

that can be said of almost any writer who is as well known as he is...

i don't know, but some things seem to be popular with people at certain age levels - just as ayn rand seems a big hit with under 25s, maybe vonnegut is/was that kind of author.

i haven't read anything of his in years, but i liked his wit and his writing style is like hearing him speaking out loud - i found reading his books was like drinking water it was so fluid, easy and natural, in a way.