Literature

[Wadders]

Anyone here a Thomas Hardy fan? It is unlikely. A few people like the books, including myself (though I think he is way better than a lot of other writers from the period - including 2/3rds of the Bronte sisters). It is his poetry that really kicks ass. There is lots of rich irony,and dark humour, often the narratives almost bordering on snarkiness.

His short stories are okay too. As miserable as the novels, but in bearable, bite sized chunks. Plenty of humour in them too.

I have only read Tess of the D'Urbervilles, for English class. I had mixed feelings on the whole thing. I couldn't comprehend how so much bad stuff could happen to one person, so I didnt really enjoy the story itself, but I do like Hardy's style. I guess I'm just a sucker for excessive and extravagant descriptions of stuff.

Woop! I knew there would be at least one other!

And I really would advise you to elevate the position of the Gormenghast Trilogy to the top of one of your piles, at the very least!
It's a cracking read!

Seconded. Gormenghast is one of the few fantasies I particularly like. A major reason for this is that Peake doesn't just copy the archetypes or settings of Tolkien. Peake's fantasy doesn't bother with dragons or dwarves or magic. It is a low-fantasy that uses the setting to further the story, but does not resort to generic fantasy tropes.

Fuckin' A! Glad you like it too. I was barely aware it was fantasy, in all honesty. It really doesnt feel like one at all. I'm not a fan of hight fantasy really, other than LotR. Does Terry Pratchett count as High Fantasy too...?

But yeah, to me it feels more like a lavishly written history book, because it's so vivid and lifelike. I just accept the the events, places etc, rather than thinking "oh yeah, this is a fantasy book, so Imma have to suspend disbelief here" If you catch my drift...

I haven't read the third book, Titus Alone. I heard he died before it was finished, so the current published version is the draft story. Have you read it? Is it worth it?

Yeah, I've read the entire Trilogy. Titus Alone can be a bit of a chore in places, but I'd say it's definitely worth a read. It gets pretty absurd and surreal as it progresses, however it's an interesting read, and if nothing else, read it for completeness's sake

 

[The_Evermind]

Orwell's Down and Out was really interesting but meeting someone who has read beyond just animal farm and 1984 is rare.
I was so impressed with how in both Dune and LotR the author created not just a story but a past present and future for the whole world.
Strange and Norrell was a great book, deeply engaging.
As for Enders game I liked the original, didn't like the sequels, but prefer the shadow side story.
Chriton was good because he made you feel like if this stuff is already happening then it will be soon.
One day I'll finish Les Mis but for now its something that I only pick up occasinaly.
Stephan King is great and the gunslinger series was long but worth it.
I've wanted to read Catcher for a while now but I haven't heard of Gormenghast. Details please.

 

[Wadders]

I haven't heard of Gormenghast. Details please.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gormenghast

I'm very tired and slightly drunk, so apologies for the weak-ass Wiki link, but it may give you a rough grasp of what the trilogy is about. To be honest though I'd advise you to just buy it, and give it a read.

 

[keillord]

I am horrible at remembering names of authors but my english professor always finds books for me about peoples experiences in real life situations such as war or abuse. I tend to enjoy non fiction books. This is probably why I take journalism classes for english.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

I love pretty much any of Robert A. Heinlein's sci-fi books.
He is one of the big three that breathed real life into that genre...
I particularly love The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Ach! I highly recommend it to any sci-fi fans!
Go buy it right now! Fanatic mode is overtaking me! It is a good pain!
Ih hihihihihihihihihii!
I Love Robert A. Heinlein and his masterful sci-fi books. Have any of them made me shed a tear?
Probably. But my memory sucks.
You're still here? Go buy the books!

 

[Lauraohno]

Yessssssss, Robert A. Heinlein.
Mind you, I've only read Stranger in a Strange Land, but I don't get much time for reading nowadays.
Orwell, yes.
King, overrated, but good nonetheless.
Any of Salinger's works... have you read "A Perfect Day For Bananafish"? Great story.
But what I really loved was The Great Gatsby... Read it for school, loved it. I'd have loved to have been rich and stuck eternally in the twenties... always having fun.
And Going After Cacciato.

 

[JEBWrench]

Aldous Huxley - A Brave New World is also a good, fairly classic, book.

You deserve a muffin.

Also on the list for me: The Brothers Karamazov by Fedor Dostoyevski, Tiger, Tiger (or The Stars, My Destination) by Alfred Bester, and Gunzhong Luo's The Three Kingdoms.

 

[JEBWrench]

*snip*
* The Plague by Albert Camus

I preferred L'etrangeur.

 

[Buffoon]

Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) Great story Interesting belief set, liked it alot.

Some people will no doubt complain bitterly about Ayn Rand being talked about as literature, but her book The Fountainhead is probably my favourite of all time, and definitely worthy of being called literature IMO. Atlas Shrugged, I thought, was not quite in the same league, I liked it a great deal but The Fountainhead spoke to me on a much more personal level, which makes sense because it's about much more personal ideals and perspectives.

Other 'literary' authors I like? EL Doctorow, but he's pretty obscures I guess. Kurt Vonnegut's one of my all time favourites, if he's enough like literature for you. Jane Austen I love, she's a couple of centuries old so that's automatically literature John Steinbeck, also one of the all time greats.

 

[Beartrucci]

I just finished reading Sandman Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes and it's pretty awesome so far.

 

[MatsVS]

Modern masters? Don DeLillo and Cormac McCarthy springs to mind as favourites of mine, though if we are speaking genre work, I'd mention M. John Harrison, H. P. Lovecraft, Mervyn Peake (and in that I am not alone, apparently), R. Scott Bakker and Gene Wolf also. Michael Moore, perhaps? All of these writers know to perfectly balance content and form, making for rich, deep reading experiences that will undoubtedly stay with you.

Indeed, my main problem with most modern genre work is that so few pay any attention to the actual content in their writing anymore, sacrificing themes, subtext, foreshadowing and, worst of all, innovation, in favour of a purely narrative-driven stories that are easily forgotten. Take the aforementioned The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. A cute little story about a orphaned boy who goes to university, plays his flute, meets a girl and is a general smartass. It is a cute story, really, and well written, but beyond the synopsis, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It seems, indeed, that Rothfuss has gone to extreme lengths to avoid saying anything about anything, for fear of inspiring thought in his readers. Even the death of the protagonist's parents is brushed away over the course of a chapter and he emerges from it having not evolved at all.

Novels are in a unique position to offer stories that are peerless in depth and profundity. It's a shame that most modern genre writers seem to have forgotten.

 

[Ultress]

Anthem-Ayn Rand, the only one of her books I've manged to get through due to length and accessibility,though I'm slowly working through We The Living and probably get to finishing her other two novels eventually.

Also Christian sub-text aside I really did like C.S Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader, It was an interesting adventure story.

Other than that I tend to be more of a short story kinda guy because I don't have the time to dedicate to large books . I loved this little story called A&P due to the protagonist's foolishness and showing how much stir something we think is normal can cause such an outrage.

Also A fan of Poe's work.

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

Fahrenheit 451 would have to be one of my all time favorites. If you haven't read it I would highly recommend it.

This, and 1984 is also amazing. There was a series of books written by Dan Simmons but I can't remember the names of them, anyway they were good.

EDIT: Twilight anyone? Ahhhh just kidding I'm not going to go a'trolling on you lovely people.

 

[Nickolai77]

Anyone read anything by Bernard Cornwell, Tom Holt or Simon Scarrow?

All three authors are generally historical novelists, except that Tom Holt has does fantasy as well as history, sometimes blending the two together.

Cornwell's probably most famous for the Sharpe series, which is set in the Napleonic wars, although he has other areas of historical interest. Azincourt was quite a sucessful novel, but he has also done novels set around British colonial Africa, and Anglo-Saxon England. His books are great if you like history, i loved reading The Burning Land, it's themes around Christanity and Norse-Paganism were highly interesting.

Most of Tom Holts work blends fantasy, modern fiction and mythology together. If you want to read something different and orginal, read Tom Holt. That said, Holt's unusual "blend" does sometimes mean his books are a little hard to follow at times, so reading his books for me is like pick un' mix, some books you love, some just leave you thinking, wtf? Holt has also done a couple of historical novel's, Meadowland, a novel about the attempted Viking colonisation of New Foundland is a brilliant and highly immersive novel.

Simon Scarrow's works arn't quite as literally as the two prior authors, they are essentially action-adventure novels set during the Roman Empire. They are highly entertaining to read. I think he may have also realised a couple of more serious novels as well, but i'm not sure.

Oh, and another author is Sven Hassel, who's probably one the most interesting authors i have ever read. Hassel, a dane, joined the German army in the 1930's in i think a panzer regiment and fought on the Russian front and in Italy before being captured in Normandy. He began writing a series of novels, which are loosely based upon his own experiences of WW2 whilst in a POW camp in the UK. Hassel's books are bloody, gruesome and there is a lot of sex in them. He tells hilarious tales of wild drunken orgies, the bloody horrers of warfare and amazing tales of survival. He pretty much covers everything in his novels, and his ability with language is extradonary, he's one of the most under-rated authors i know about.

 

[JEBWrench]

Camus yeah? I haven't had a chance to read any more of his books, I have to borrow them from my cousins. I doubt a single copy of any of them exists within 100 kilometres of me.
But I'm looking!
At the moment I'm reading The Age of Reason by Jean Paul Sattre... That is probably spelled wrong, but i've only picked it up twice so far... Not liking it as much as Albert.

Yep, it's Camus. Translated as "The Outsider" in English, if I recall correctly. Required bit of reading in high school for me, but I found it enjoyable nonetheless.

 

[Wadders]

Anyone read anything by Bernard Cornwell, Tom Holt or Simon Scarrow?

All three authors are generally historical novelists, except that Tom Holt has does fantasy as well as history, sometimes blending the two together.

Cornwell's probably most famous for the Sharpe series, which is set in the Napleonic wars, although he has other areas of historical interest. Azincourt was quite a sucessful novel, but he has also done novels set around British colonial Africa, and Anglo-Saxon England. His books are great if you like history, i loved reading The Burning Land, it's themes around Christanity and Norse-Paganism were highly interesting.

Ah, Bernard Cornwell!

I love the Sharpe series. I've only read about half of them mind, but they're all great books especially as I have an interest in that period of history. Have you read his series about the American Civil War? The Starbuck Chronicles I believe they're called. They're also very good

I forgot to mention the Flashman Novels by George MacDonald Fraser. Anyone ever read them? They're hilarious, also historically based adventure stories, but very tongue in cheek, rather rude in places, and the history is somewhat altered for the purposes of the story

And I also really like Henning Mankell as well. Swedish crime author, created Inspector Wallander, and his books have been made into a BBC series I believe, starring Kenneth Brannagh which is rather good.

 

[Infernostrider]

i absolutely worship everything written by Ed Greenwood and R.A. Salvatore. I'm a huge fan of drizzt and elminster in particular ^^ baww i'm so lame >< well whatever, <3 it!

 

[FranzTyphid]

Of mice and men is a very good book everytime i read it i get a little emotional at the end

I had to read it in English class at school last year, I nearly cried. When the teacher showed us the film, I actually did.

IT

Fahrenheit 451

Slaughterhouse Five

Still gotta read all of these.

My favourite book?
The Outsiders, the only book that's elicited tears from me. Pity the film was so awful.

When our class watched the film everyone started crying even the "hard" ones

 

[reg42]

I really enjoyed the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, though I only read the original trilogy. My favourite series has to be Hitchhhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, as I just mesh with absurdist comedy so well.
EDIT: Also, Stephen King's IT was brilliant. I'm quite proud of myself for sticking to that book for so long.

 

[Cowabungaa]

As a kid I completely shredded Jules Verne books, and I'd love to read some of them again in English. Same counts for Robinson Crusoe.

During high school I loved Orwell, Animal Farm being my favourite but I liked 1984 as well.

As of now, I'm reading Dune, it's already my favourite piece of literature (favourite book in general) of all time. I'm also pretty interested in reading some work from Isaac Asimov, H.P. Lovecraft, Tolkien (damned shame I haven't even read the LOTR trilogy yet, not to mention the rest) Ayn Rand (thanks BioShock) and Robert A. Heinlein. You know, the classics.

When our class watched the film everyone started crying even the "hard" ones

Bet it won't be able to make me cry, but now you made me pretty damn curious.