The books thread: non-WW2, non-military fiction.

[I. Kant]

So. Looked around on the forum, didn't seem to be able to find any such topic. Here goes: to talk about any books you'd recommend or discourage reading.

One condition: let's stick to non-WW2 history and non-military history/description. There's only so much you can read about the breaching mechanism in the M16, right? Thus, things like fiction, this sort of literature.

Let me start with one I've read a couple of months ago (since I've been reading a lot of tedious non-fiction in the meantime).
Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. That was my second re-reading and the book has certainly grown on me since the first time I read it as a teenager. Compelling, complex and intricate stuff on conspiracy theories, paranoia, and the nature of fiction and the truth. Extremely well-written, at times scary, other times funny. One fragment had me bursting with laughter at work and people giving me funny looks.

Seriously, if you're into stuff like the relationship between reality and fiction, this one is almost like a concealed treatiese on the subject. And Eco's quite the erudite, I'll have to give the book a spin in some years again, to perhaps unravel some new little, juicy tid-bits.

Anyone read it?

 

[I. Kant]

Jean Awestean is also non-WW2, non-military fiction. All you Jean Awestean book club members - step forward!

But yeah, bookses scuk. I mean - there's YouTubez, rite? ;F

 

[Shadrach]

Hey, I'll bite

Not read Pendulum but have read The Name of The Rose (very good) and "Island of the Day Before" - a bit too hard the first time, but reread it some years ago and really liked it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_of_the_Day_Before

Not sure if it counts as 'non-war' but it certainly is fiction. I recently read "World War Z" by Max Brooks, as well as his 'The Zombie survival guide'. Both are great fun, good bedtime reads (great dreams!) ;D, and while far from as intellectual as Eco, actually very well written. Highly recommended.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war_z

Also Watership Down is one of my alltime favourites, read it several times;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_down

Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" - kinda obvious I know, but a timeless classic and should be obligatory reading for all members off a society imo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_darkness

Do I even need to mention, Tolkien and Terry Pratchett? Whats a beach holiday without a Pratchett paperback?

 

[Oldih]

-The Lord of the Rings
-Silmarillion
-Children of H

 

[Donut]

I like the Wheel of Time and the Star Wars books myself. The classics like The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings and Alice in Wonderland are a no-brainer.

 

[SiC-Disaster]

I highly recommend De Aardkinderen by Jean M. Auel. (Earth's Children)
The best series i have ever read.
It's based on prehistory, in a time where Cro-magnon and Neanderthal people lived together right before the Neanderthals die out.
The book starts with an earthquake, wich leaves Ayla, a little girl of 5 years old homeless.
Ayla is a Cro-Magnon girl, the species that will evolve into us. But when she gets found by Neanderthals, they decide to take her with them.

Not to tell to much, there are 5 books. Ive read them all several times and doing another re-read right now again.
Read some more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_Children

 

[Reddog]

I heartily recommend, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, never before have I read a book that so neatley destroys religion.

 

[RedGuardist]

I heartily recommend, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, never before have I read a book that so neatley destroys religion.

Yep. Couldn

 

[D.a.L-UnteroffizierG]

last good book i read was "american gods" from neil gaiman, great author

 

[SheepDip]

Books I've read and recommend:
All the Dune books (far superior to anything Tolkien ever wrote imho)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(novel)

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton

Most things by Philip K Dick

Books I'm reading at the moment:
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

 

[I. Kant]

The Dune cycle is awesome, but surely comparing Tolkien and Herbert is missing the point. Those are two completely different things, absolutely not to be compared plot wise. And narrative- and language-wise, I think both authors have done a great job. Both are stories of immense depth and presenting worlds that are well thought out.

Also, one more contribution. The Yellow Wallpaper, possibly the scariest thing I've ever read. I highly recommend it - especially if you can read during the night, with just the light of a small reading lamp and possibly with some good music on (I had W. Kilar's soundtrack to Bram Stoker's Dracula on). Scared the living beejesus of me, in a positive way.

 

[Zips]

I'm about 2/3rds of the way through Night Watch right now. The novel contains three separate stories within, all with the same main characters, just taking place at different points in a timeline and all piecing together an overall story.

Yes, there was a movie based on this and the first follow-up, Daywatch. I've seen both of the movies, and while they're extremely good (Russian made films with English subtitles), the book is so far much better.

There's Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, and Final Watch (which is still being translated and won't be released in English until July 7, 2008).

Night Watch focuses on the workings of the Night Watch, a collective group of "Light" beings that patrol the streets at night, keeping the forces of Dark in check. In turn, the Day Watch consists of Dark beings who patrol the daytime hours to keep the forces of Light in check. To ensure both sides hold a balance, and no one side influences or harms a human or another "other" so as to upset the balance. It's just hard to explain these novels properly. Check out the Amazon description to give you a better idea.

 

[bloodypotato]

Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon are both really good Neal Stephenson books.

From Wikipedia

Snow Crash

At the beginning of the novel the main character, Hiro Protagonist, discovers the name of a new pseudo-narcotic, "Snow Crash", being offered at a posh Metaverse nightclub. Hiro's friends and fellow hackers fall victim to Snow Crash's effects, which are apparently unique in that they are experienced in the Metaverse and also in the physical world. Hiro uses his computer hacking, cognition, and sword fighting skills to uncover the mystery of "Snow Crash"; his pursuit takes the reader on a tour of the Sumerian culture, a fully instantiated laissez-faire society, and a virtual meta-society patronized by financial, social, and intellectual elites. As the nature of Snow Crash is uncovered Hiro finds that self-replicating strings of information can affect objects in a uniform manner even though they may be broadcast via diverse media, a realization that reinforces his chosen path in life.

Cryptonomicon

Cryptonomicon is closer to the genres of historical fiction and contemporary techno-thriller than to the science fiction setting of Stephenson's earlier novel, Snow Crash, and features fictionalized characterizations of such historical figures as Alan Turing, Douglas MacArthur, Winston Churchill, Isoroku Yamamoto, Karl D

 

[Coey]

The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester. It's about the Oxford english dictionary, a Scot who became it's editor, and a ex-US Army Captain who is terrified of the Irish and happens to be a sex maniac who, from an asylum, becomes the most valued contributor to the OED. Non-fiction, but a good read anyway.

 

[Fu. Svedberg]

Most recently I've read two books by author China Mi

 

[SheepDip]

The Dune cycle is awesome, but surely comparing Tolkien and Herbert is missing the point

Well yes, of course it is, but for me when comparing the writing style, the images drawn up, and the universe created for each story Dune is truly magnificent in comparison. I've never read anything else like it.

LoTR, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion get a lot of play in literature, only very few of the people I know who read have even attempted Dune, most have never heard of it. They have all read all of the LoTR and the Hobbit.

Also, I've just finished reading Survivor....Random.

 

[Bluehawk]

Most things by Philip K Dick

Yes, I highly recommend The Man in the High Castle hardy har har

 

[Shadrach]

And lastly I must mention R

 

[Fu. Svedberg]

Ah yes R

 

[I. Kant]

There's Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, and Final Watch (which is still being translated and won't be released in English until July 7, 2008).

The whole cycle's a very good read, but I can tell you that I've read the Day Watch in an English translation and comparing it to all the other books from the cycle which I read in Polish, the Polish translation was way superior. It just kinda captured the sort of peculiar humour, that seemed to be absent from the English translation (which was, well, kinda cold and detached, unlike all the other books and I'd be willing to blame the translation).