Books to read before you die
Discussion
Chaps,
Not sure how well this one will work with the current PH clientele, but I'll try it anyway.
I've never been much of a reader, but Mrs zcacogp is even less of one. Until recently. I suggested she should read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' over Christmas, and she did. And loved it.
I suggested she should follow that up with '1984', by George Orwell. She loved that as well, and finished it last night. (She was so engrossed that I ended up cooking supper. That's not a problem, but given how much she loves cooking it tells you something about how engrossed in the book she was!)
Next up will be 'Brave New World' and 'Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance' - both of which I found to be great. She's not so into SciFi, but I think the sociological aspects of 'Brave New World' will probably appeal significantly.
That bought me on to thinking about other books that really should be read at least once. Both greats of English literature and some lesser-known ones. Both for me to read, and to recommend to Mrs zcacogp.
What would you put on such a list?
Oli.
Not sure how well this one will work with the current PH clientele, but I'll try it anyway.
I've never been much of a reader, but Mrs zcacogp is even less of one. Until recently. I suggested she should read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' over Christmas, and she did. And loved it.
I suggested she should follow that up with '1984', by George Orwell. She loved that as well, and finished it last night. (She was so engrossed that I ended up cooking supper. That's not a problem, but given how much she loves cooking it tells you something about how engrossed in the book she was!)
Next up will be 'Brave New World' and 'Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance' - both of which I found to be great. She's not so into SciFi, but I think the sociological aspects of 'Brave New World' will probably appeal significantly.
That bought me on to thinking about other books that really should be read at least once. Both greats of English literature and some lesser-known ones. Both for me to read, and to recommend to Mrs zcacogp.
What would you put on such a list?
Oli.
ahockley said:
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
the most disappointing book i've ever read. this isn;t a dig at you, its a dig at Kerouac and all the beats who elevated him to such status. i bought this and big sur, expecting to find new favourites. i suffered through OTR expecting greatness, i haven't even bothered starting on big sur.for the OP, truman capote's 'in cold blood' is my all time favourite book, a pure classic. slaughterhouse 5 by kurt vonnegut is also a great scifi book for people who don;t like scifi.
A few of my faviourites:
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
The Road - Cormack McCarthy
WIld Swans - A Chinese Woman
Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemmingway
I'm recommending these in particular because they are all instantly absorbing and you will struggle to put them down.
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
The Road - Cormack McCarthy
WIld Swans - A Chinese Woman
Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemmingway
I'm recommending these in particular because they are all instantly absorbing and you will struggle to put them down.
Some good ones I've read, though there are so many more than anyone will ever have time to read:
Oryx & Crake - Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale by the same author
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
The first two particularly given how well 1984 was received.
Oryx & Crake - Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale by the same author
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
The first two particularly given how well 1984 was received.
shirt said:
ahockley said:
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
the most disappointing book i've ever read. this isn;t a dig at you, its a dig at Kerouac and all the beats who elevated him to such status. i bought this and big sur, expecting to find new favourites. i suffered through OTR expecting greatness, i haven't even bothered starting on big sur.for the OP, truman capote's 'in cold blood' is my all time favourite book, a pure classic. slaughterhouse 5 by kurt vonnegut is also a great scifi book for people who don;t like scifi.
"The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy". It's usually sold as a single book now but the first 4 books in the "trilogy" are fantastic and you don't need to be interested in sci-fi to enjoy Douglas Adams fantastic writing and fascinating philosophy. I would give the fifth book, "mostly harmless" a miss though. Quite depressing.
That reminds me it's time for a cup of tea.
That reminds me it's time for a cup of tea.
Some of my favourites off the top of my head.
twenty something
freakonomics
Dont tell mum I work on the rigs, she thinks im a piano player in a w
e house
This is not a drill, just another glorious day in the oil field
A year in the merde
merde actually
bill bryson (most of his)
terry pratchet (most of his)Long way round
breaking vegas
city boy
2001, 2010, 3001
Will leave it at that for a bit
twenty something
freakonomics
Dont tell mum I work on the rigs, she thinks im a piano player in a w
e houseThis is not a drill, just another glorious day in the oil field
A year in the merde
merde actually
bill bryson (most of his)
terry pratchet (most of his)Long way round
breaking vegas
city boy
2001, 2010, 3001
Will leave it at that for a bit
Gosh, there are so many.
My favourite book of all time - the desert island book for me - is The Ragged Trousered Philanphropists by Robert Tressell. It's supposed to be a socialist tract, but don't worry about that, it's also about some painters and decorators. It is an object lesson on just how far from "social responsibility" the current nominally left wing parties are.
The Complete Sherlock Holmes stories. Still thrilling now, even though you know all the stories.
John Buchan's Hannay books - The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr Standfast, The Three Hostages and The Island of Sheep. Predates Bourne and Bond, but full of derring do and bravery.
On the subject of secret agent types, the Bourne books (but not the one by Eric Van Lustbader). The books are different to the films, there are some shared story elements but I think the books are better.
Back to historical novels, derring do and bravery (on the high seas this time) you could do a lot worse than the Aubrey / Maturin books by Patrik O'Brien. Again, the film (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) is good, but the books have so much more detail and (bonus) are written by a master storyteller who really knows his subject.
I would also recommend anything by Hunter S. Thomson, but starting with the famous ones - Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, The Rum Diary, Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hells Angels, before going on to the Proud Highway, The Great Shark Hunt and Kingdom of Fear.
There's many more, probably most of my reading is Victorian fiction. If you wanted to listen to books, rather than read them, you could do a lot worse than www.librivox.org, where you can download public domain (amateur) recordings of classic, out of copyright books. I've been listening to some Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff in the car, not Tarzan but the adveturer stories like the Pelucidar trilogy. Also Jules Verne stories; again, they are now familiar stories but the writing and phrasing is just superb.
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My favourite book of all time - the desert island book for me - is The Ragged Trousered Philanphropists by Robert Tressell. It's supposed to be a socialist tract, but don't worry about that, it's also about some painters and decorators. It is an object lesson on just how far from "social responsibility" the current nominally left wing parties are.
The Complete Sherlock Holmes stories. Still thrilling now, even though you know all the stories.
John Buchan's Hannay books - The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr Standfast, The Three Hostages and The Island of Sheep. Predates Bourne and Bond, but full of derring do and bravery.
On the subject of secret agent types, the Bourne books (but not the one by Eric Van Lustbader). The books are different to the films, there are some shared story elements but I think the books are better.
Back to historical novels, derring do and bravery (on the high seas this time) you could do a lot worse than the Aubrey / Maturin books by Patrik O'Brien. Again, the film (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) is good, but the books have so much more detail and (bonus) are written by a master storyteller who really knows his subject.
I would also recommend anything by Hunter S. Thomson, but starting with the famous ones - Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, The Rum Diary, Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hells Angels, before going on to the Proud Highway, The Great Shark Hunt and Kingdom of Fear.
There's many more, probably most of my reading is Victorian fiction. If you wanted to listen to books, rather than read them, you could do a lot worse than www.librivox.org, where you can download public domain (amateur) recordings of classic, out of copyright books. I've been listening to some Edgar Rice Burroughs stuff in the car, not Tarzan but the adveturer stories like the Pelucidar trilogy. Also Jules Verne stories; again, they are now familiar stories but the writing and phrasing is just superb.
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