Books worth reading

I don't really like Dickens though. His style of writing is very good, and he's a master at portraying characters, but I'm not too fond of the characters he's portraying. The last book I read of him was "Great Expectations", but gave up after one third. Pip had just become too much of a pompous wannabe for me to continue. Maybe I'll finish it in the future, as the book is superbly written.
One book that I really enjoyed by him is his "Ghost Stories", which are mostly written by others, though he has one short story in it. The one that struck me the most was the one which ended with the sentence "Your place was kept". Sorry, can't remember the name, and it's 6000 miles/10000km away from where I am.

As for Shakespear, he isn't bad at all. But it depends on which edition you are reading. I usually try to get close to the original language, but the cheap books (wordsworth, penguin, etc.) are usually more up to date. Either way makes for a good read

Dante's Inferno is on my list, but I doubt I'll get through it this year. Haven't found a cheap edition in Singapore, and then I'll wait until I get home, where my father has it.

As for whom to include in the list of masters... Well, I found this list to be rater decent, though I'm not sure if I'd include Ayn Rand. And Hemingway and others are conspicuously absent... But it's way better than what you get from literature.org!

Ayn Rand is what I'd call "Highly intelligent reading", and I consider the phrase to be an accurate slur on a writer, if you see what I mean.

Said that, I have a habit of not knowing when I'm being obscure sometimes, so basically I'm saying that it's a pig to follow, but says some interesting and intellectual things. You know - the sort of thing that can drive you crazy.

Ok, maybe I should clarify.
I am not saying Ayn Rand is a bad writer, only that I'm not sure if I'd include her in the classics yet.
It's just that with Hemingway and Shakespeare, amongst others, missing I'm not sure I'd put Ayn Rand there before them... But that could just be me.

no, you're quite right.

I wouldn't call Ayn Rand a bad writer either. It's just that the writing can be difficult to follow due to the nature of its subject - especially if you don't naturally tend towards the philosophical.

That's just my view though.

Shakespeare ? Dickens ? Dante ? No,Bill Bryson.Inorder to redress the
lack of comic novels in this thread,I nominate Bryson`s "Notes from a Big country"
(OK,not really a novel,but definitely comic)Essential reading for both Americans and Europeans.

It`s not doing too bad though,Spike

Pretty different from most of what has been suggested so far, but other writers that I really enjoy are Bukowski, Whitman, Ginsgerg etc. These men have without question shaped who I am today.

I wasn't being sarcastic. I was serious. Many American youths don't bother reading at all let alone classics or intellectual stuff. It's refreshing to see positive , intelligent stuff around here.

I quit watching TV about two and a half years ago and haven't looked back since. What I'd recomend is that you don't try and be cultured. Sure, read the classics, but if you approach it like some kind of duty you're just trying to improve your image. It's tantamount to having an unread copy of 'Don Juan' on your coffee table to impress visitors. If you don't want to read it, don't. It doesn't mean your inferior, it just means you don't have sufficient interest to justify struggling with something like 'Phantom of the Opera'.

I'm not getting at anyone here, just stating my beliefs on the matter. I'm not suggesting you're pretentious if you read classic literature. In fact I'd encourage it (unless you want to read a novel by Thomas Hardy, just don't really. His poetry is fantastic though).

Reccomended book:
Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Desert man

The six "Dune" books by Frank Herbert. (although skipping "Children of Dune" hurts nothing)

Some interesting "cyber" plots/ ideas by Melissa Scott: "Trouble and Her Friends," among others.

Andrew Vacchs(sp), Johnathan Kellerman, early Robert Ludlum, all Robert Heinlein, most Isaac Asimov, some Arthur C. Clark, Greg Bear, and, just out, "Between the River and The Bridge" by Craig Ferguson.

Too many others to list- tis easy to lose one's self in a good book.

(did I mention Stephen King? Not all is horror, and he's a masterful storyteller) :approve: :wave:

Surprised to see no one has mentioned reading The Da Vinci Code......
I am about half way through it, I've heard the book is MUCH better than the movie....

I did. See reply 14. Hey Halo71, great minds... :haha:

Ohh....I missed that!
Have you read Angels and Demons yet? I think thats the name of it.....
I really want to visit Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland! Been TiVo'ing all the Grail and Da Vinci stuff on the history channel these past few weeks, very interesting stuff!!

Yup, read it. I really have to see that film(the da vinci code), any one know if it's good?

I've heard that the movie stinks by several people......but I never pay much atttention to others opinions on movies! (kinda like hearing dumb and dumber was bad, but I loved it!)

I think I will try to find that book this weekend maybe.....

Critics are morons. They said the dialogue in Revenge of the Sith was poor and Matrix Reloaded was nonsensical. I mean come on, what did they expect from a Star Wars film? It's high fantasy in space, not high art. As far as Matrix Reloaded is concerned anyone who can't grasp the basics of existentialist theory has no right to say that it doesn't make sense. Made perfect sense to me.

Episode 4: A New Hope, got terrible reviews. Can you belive it?

If you're gonna' rely on the press and the media to formulate your opinions about entertainment of any kind you're gonna' be disapointed. Some of the best things (most in my opinion) aren't hyped up by advertising and can't be found in your local supermarket. You have to experiment to learn. Buy something from international cinema. Buy a book by an author you've never heard of on the strength of the synopsis. A whole new world of posibilities opens up when you're not just reading the latest 'best seller', or watching the block buster of the year.

An example: the winner of the Cannes film festival last year was a south korean film called Oldboy. I bet you've never watched it, but it's a fantastic film (not for the faint-hearted though).

Mr. Garibaldi interesting.. Oscar Wild / Dorion Grey.

Many great choices can be enjoyed here. Oscar Wild*s writing in Dorion Grey was brilliant and fun to read. I didn*t know Wilde was gay at the time and how persecuted he was in his lifetime.


I don*t care if he was green cheese from Mars. Nothing could take away from the brilliance.


Similarly brilliant fun to read humour can be enjoyed in *little town sketches*. Stephen Lea****. About the push and pull of human life and politics in a little town of Mariposa.

Lea**** had connections with McGill university in Montreal Quebec and his writing is so much fun to read, in the sense that you should never miss the movie, *The Blue Matador* with Peter Sellers in this lifetime. TG

Might I recommend two that I particularly enjoy: Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter) and Victor Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Both writers have a way of writing that makes you feel that they have, like a wise old grandfather, put their arm around your shoulders to lead you through their tales. Both convey this incredible sense of compassion for their characters. Amazing writing.

Ah I read the Scarlet Letter in School a couple years back. It was a ok book, despite the bashing by students.

Two more recent books I haved read (or tried to)

Cod. - I read a book about oranges and found it to be outstanding, so I tired this, to my disappointment.

Naked.-Very Very funny, great writing style.

I was a big fan of frank herbert's "Dune" series. dont care for his sons books though. I am also a great fan of Roger Zelazny, "This immortal, Lord of Light, Creatures of light and darkness, " and alot of his short stories. my favorote being "for a breath I tarry". I also liked Karl Edward wagner's, Kane series. enjoyed James Clavell's asian saga series, Shogun, Taipan, Noble house, and Gaijin, didnt care for whirlwind though. Thomas Harris another favorite, Red Dragon, Silence of the lambs, I was a bit disappointed with Hannibal though.

in Non fiction I just finished reading "The gift of fear", By Gavin DeBecker and "on Combat" by Lt. Col Dave Grossman.

almost forgot I also like most of Michael Crichton's books, jurassic park, Sphere, congo,eaters fo the dead, and his latest, State of fear.