Literature

[coldfrog]

Since many of my favorites have been thrown out here in both the classic and modern books, I will but mention one series. That is the Erickson series of The Malazan Tales of the Fallen, a so-far 7 book series that has managed to not wear out its welcome by having enough variety, wit, intelligence, depth, and raw balls-to-the-wall creativity that no matter how convoluted the whole story is (and it is SO convoluted) I can't get enough of it. It is a fantasy series but it's so full of imaginitive and unique ideas, as well as for once a guy with who is able to combine a competent military mind with sympathetic and original characters, making the battles unique and interesting while managing to keep you interested in the fates of the character. It seems to me most militaristic parts to fantasy novels either focus too close on one character making the vastness of the battle entirely up to your imagination with a minimal attempt to expand, or focus so much on the tactics and organization that it becomes dry and mechanical and you forget to care about any of the characters until the end.

And on that note, there are a LOT of characters. Every one of them unique, every one of them memorable in some way, and while it can be a little overwhelming he at least provides a thorough appendix of all of them, as well as the various gods, locations, warrens (more on this in a sec), races, historical events, etc. etc. etc. that you can always take a peek when you get lost.

One of the coolest things, though, is his complete reimagining of magic. While there have been authors who have gone into some scientific detail (I'm looking at you Death Gate series) the sheer originality of this system of magic is like none other. I'd explain it but honestly I don't think I could do it any justice.

Alright, it's hard to really explain this because I can go on and on about every different aspect of everything in it, but if you have a penchant for some very different from standard fantasy ideas this series is full of them.

 

[Cahlee]

I vary between fluff and Classics. I'm currently reading Gullivers Travels, Watership Down and War and Peace (given, I've been reading it on and off for over a month).

I'm a BIG dickens fan. I also love Douglas Adams, George Orwell, J.R.R Tolkein, Anne Rice and plenty of others.

By the way, for anyone who wants to keep up to date with new books and to keep track of books they want to read, www.shelfari.com . It helps me out alot.

 

[Cahlee]

Of late, I've been reading more. My break from Escapist has left time on my hands to do so. And lo, Commentary.

Lolita was amazing. I've never felt so.. ravished I suppose by words on a page. Simply fantastic. I suggest it to everyone, as this particular book will draw you in to a mind as curiously enticing as it is twisted and sick. Like A Clockwork Orange it leaves you with the uneasy feeling that you do have empathy with the narrator, despite his crimes and all else.

Oscar Wilde's The Picture Of Dorean Gray turned out to be both hysterically amusing, fascinating and a little chilling at the same time. Now that's talent, in my view. Few other authors are able to inspire similar feelings.

Lolita is one of the top on my to-read list.

As for Dorian Gray, liked it, didn't love it. I found the characters unlikeable, although I suppose that was the point. And the long discussions about philosophy and life, interesting yet they disengaged me with the main plot. As I said, I did like it though.

 

[Labyrinth]

I finished a book called Little Brother recently. Fantastic work. Obviously it was influenced by Orwell.

The basic plot is that this kid is skipping school with a few friends when there is a terrorist attack on the city he is in, San Francisco. He and his friends find themselves detained by the Department of Homeland Security for the sake of questioning, which is not carried out in the most ethical manner.

When released, Marcus finds himself in a police state. The city has become a place where everyone is treated like a potential terrorist. Cameras, phone taps, even the internet has become a tool for surveillance. Massively narked by the turn of events, Marcus uses a combination of technological know-how and social networks to construct an alternative internet system, called the Xnet. All people on this network use cyber identities so as not to be picked out by the DHS, who they antagonise and make running the city very difficult for.

Written for the modern Pixel Generation, the language is such as to be easily understood for the most part, though some technical jargon can weigh it down. I imagine I would have better understood the book on the whole had I a background in programming.

A lot of pop culture references are present in the book. Various events and characters are open for easy empathy to both young people and those who can look back, misty eyed, to days when their knees didn't give out with less provocation than they now do. One criticism I can and will level at it is the somewhat unbelievable nature of some parts. Another is that it doesn't explore a number of themes as well as I believe it should. An example of that is the torture and 'unethical' manner of interrogation. While the original description is vivid and empathic, later in the book it glosses over what has happened to the other characters and the after effects they go through. One in particular, Darryl, finds himself imprisoned for the entirety of the book, and while at the end it has him in a psychiatric ward due to the mental battering he got, I feel that Doctorow would have better explored it by actually going into the result. Somewhat like the return of the Hobbits to a soiled Shire, except glossed over in this particular work.

I'd recommend it to everyone though, especially people with rebellious bones in their bodies and a taste for the modern. Tacky in places yes but if you can get beyond that the characters are powerful and the ideas are strong. It's got a more uplifting end than 1984 too, for people who aren't such a fan of the depressing.

 

[poleboy]

The literature thread lives! Joy!

I've been in a bit of slump with my reading for a long time, but over christmas I finally got started again. I'm warming up carefully with some mixed sci-fi:

First of all: I really like Arthur C. Clarke. For a scientist, I think he has a good feeling of when his somewhat sterile stories could use a touch of human emotion and humor and even though he can be stingy with it, it always seems present.
I read the first Ringworld book. It was okay, but I'm not really sure what elevates it to Hugo award status. Maybe it was a slow year, or sci-fi has simply improved much since then. Very imaginative and detailed, but I felt that the plot was a little lacking and the writing stale.
Read the first book in the Horus Heresy series and I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. The story was interesting enough, but the writing felt dull and sluggish, getting lost in unimportant details. For a novel of less than 400 pages, it also had way too many characters.
Reading the Ultramarines Omnibus right now, and I'm finding it quite a bit more enjoyable than the Horus series. The main character is a bit one-dimensional (most space maries seem to be), but the author realised that you can spend a little time writing about more human Imperial Citizens as well, and keep the reader much more entertained that way. He does have an annoying habit of using the same phrases over and over again though.
Next up is The Picture of Dorian Gray or In Cold Blood if all goes well. If not, probably more Space Marines.

 

[SamuraiAndPig]

I'm a big Crichton fan. I appricitate action mixed with science mixed with social commentary.

The best thing I've read lately was Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. It's a dense, difficult book but worth the time. Also, House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (possible spelling error) is pretty incredible.

Anymore, I don't read fiction. I used to be totally into Tolkien, but I can't pick it up again. I stick to historical novels - anything by William Manchester or David Hackett Fisher - and poetry.

 

[Grimm91]

I plan to read A Clockwork Orange at some point, because the movie was fantastic, and I've been told that the book is even better. Interesting though, to note the cross-overs between A Clockwork Orange and say, Crime And Punishment, which I'm currently reading. They're both well worth it as experiences, and comparisons.

Fluff... requires definition. I do like some 'light' fiction, such as much of Pratchett because, despite the fact that many of his books are just variations on the same mould, they are fantastically written and quite hilarious. Jasper Fforde is another favourite.

Clockwork was a really good book, but if your into that try reading Anthem, Atlas shrugged and Fountainhead. All by Ayn Rand very good and very deep. I love these books, very big on economics and individuality.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

Just finished the "The Moon is Down" by Steinbeck. Good, quite touching novella about the occupation of a Scandanavian town by an unspecified enemy (following some "Leader" guy) at war with England and Russia published in 42. Could have been a ham fisted anti Nazi propaganda work in lesser hands, but it does a good job making the reader symphathetic with both sides. The situation is the evil in the book, not the people forced into it. Both the villagers and the soliders are trapped in different ways, freedom being a main theme in the novella. Nothing extraodinarily complex and fairly simple language (written when Steinbeck was trying to create a novella/ play hybrid genre). Has a rebellious 'we will not be overcome' vibe despite being set in an occupied town. Decent short read.

Can't believe only one other person in this thread mentions Steinbeck...

 

[Harry Bosch]

I recently read House of Leaves and loved it, it's pretty trippy. The road by Cormac Mc Carthy is awesome as well, a very sad book.

However as the screen name suggests the Author who I like the best is Michael Connelly. his books are crime thrillers that i think are a good read.

 

[dieseldub]

I loved 1984. Personally sometimes you have to read a depressing book to really get the true sentiment of what the author was trying to impose on the reader. For this I also loved Trainspotting, The Kite Runner, and No Country For Old Men. If it makes me react...I love it. Lately I have been reading more on news topics. Books on Iraq, Israel, Iran, and American conflicts. This allows me to understand what is going on in the middle-east, and how a region of the world can hate us so much. I guess I'm following the Rage Against The Machine idea of "Know Your Enemy." However my favorite books of all time deal with things I love. Golf, cycling, and books made into movies are always great. They are more like a mental vacation that I can take without having to leave the house. I liked this thread as well because it got me looking at some books I have not read yet. Cheers to everyone for some good suggestions.

 

[MCGT]

I really like John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath is brilliant, if a bit heavy, East of Eden feels like a lighter version of Grapes, Cannery Row is a fun little book and my favourite is Of Mice and Men, superbly crafted with a crushing ending.

I can't believe nobody's mentioned One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest yet.

 

[Hunde Des Krieg]

I appreciate novels where people are struggling to make their lives work in strange environments, watching them learn and apply lessons. Like the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. I love how they try to design a new culture and civilization unique to mars.

Or how people struggle amidst great turmoil in order to merely survive or go on about their lives. like in Kite Runner and Splendid Thousand Suns.

 

[Lord George]

It's not a book as such but having to had to study Percy Shelley works recently I've found I love his ideals and beliefs and am now reading everything he's done along with William Blake's works. Oh and Clive Barkers books of blood are brilliant if you like original, scary, disturbing and occasional funny horror

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

I really like John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath is brilliant, if a bit heavy, East of Eden feels like a lighter version of Grapes, Cannery Row is a fun little book and my favourite is Of Mice and Men, superbly crafted with a crushing ending.

East of Edens my favourite, it gets critised a lot for being nostalgic and sentimental, but thats why I like it so much.Of Mice and Men is terrific though.

 

[Nevsky]

I've always been heavily into literature, although since finishing my English lit degree, I've spent time re-acquainting myself with the other hobbies and indulgences I had to give up during my time at university, like comic books.

I'm surprised that only one person by my count in this thread has brought up comics. I agree that, at their best, they're the equal of 'proper books'. Especially the big-hitters like Watchmen, Sandman and Maus, but there are plenty out there. My local library has a really great selection of interesting, new graphic novels, so for the last couple of months I've been sustained by that.

Recent small-book-with-mostly-text that I enjoyed was Fair Play (Rent Spel), by Swedish-Finnish author Tove Jansson. She's internationally famous for her series of children's stories starring the Moomins, but this was one of her adult books, written when she was much older. It is told over a succession of short stories, subtly illustrating the close friendship of two mature women. They travel, discuss, argue and experience things together. Really well written, very tight and economical. And touching, in a platonic, non-romantic way. I wrote a pseudo-essay review of it months ago [http://wildtyme.blogspot.com/2008/06/28-fair-play-by-tove-jansson.html].

Currently reading (on and off) Monkey, by Wu Cheng'en.

 

[Labyrinth]

Just recently I found a book titled A Short History Of Nearly Everything (Because parodying Stephan Hawking is cool.) by Bill Byrson. Despite a degree of skepticism at the glowing praise displayed on the cover, I delved into it and was pleasantly surprised.

ASHoNE turned out to be a succinct and pleasing summary of most areas of science to date, along with various other things. The facts put forward checked out with back research and a number of very important ideas are scattered throughout the book itself. I would definately say it is one of the best general science books I've read.

The diction is aimed towards the adult audience, but it's easily accessible to people of my age as well. Some scientific terms are used and are explained. There's nothing you'll find yourself strung up over because it's like handing sub-atomic physics to a preschooler. And in fact, the sub-atomic physics is present, explained, and even witty. Best of all it's not a book which condescends the reader. Rather, it is written to be a colloquial look at complex ideas, from one person who has a general understanding to others.

Topics covered in ASHoNE range from the aforementioned sub-atomic physics to genetics and sociology. It's well worth a read, especially if you're not particularly strong in science, or want a general background for various subjects.