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Zogo posted:Fahrenheit 451 - I keep thinking I should read this before seeing the film. I didn't even know this was a movie. Just finished Heavy Time. It's a smaller-scale story of working-class people getting hosed over by corporations, except it's in space and they're mining asteroids for a living. I appreciate that the book knows who to blame and that it keeps things simple, considering that it's part of a huge C.J. Cherryh universe, though I think it could have been slightly less simple to capture some more nuance in the subject matter. My favorite parts involved the main character dealing with trauma and being gaslit by people who want to keep him from raising a stink about his accident; my least favorite was the climax, which was basically written in shakycam. Dunno how soon I'll give other Cherryh books a try after this one. The new list: Scorch Atlas by Blake Butler. I picked this up at the AWP convention I went to last February because I heard people talking about how weird the author was. It might have been in the cosmic horror thread. I like weird, and I'm looking forward to this book. A Collapse of Horses by Brian Evenson. Also from AWP; I definitely remember the cosmic horror thread recommending this. Kindred by Octavia Butler. A gift from my mother. It's about time I read something by Octavia Butler. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carre. Once I visited a professor at my local university and expressed admiration for the books on his shelf. He allowed me to take some home with me, since he wanted to reduce his collection. It'd be nice to read some actual spy thrillers as opposed to James Bond poo poo. Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard. Also from that professor. I might want to write some sort of hard-boiled crime thing and apparently Elmore Leonard was one of the best at that, so I can learn from him. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. Another gift from my mom. I don't know much about it, but apparently it's good. Erewhon by Samuel Butler. Also from the book sale. It sounds like a metaphysical proto-fantasy, which I like the idea of. Atonement by Ian McEwan. Also from the book sale. I know the literature thread loving hates McEwan, but I really like this premise, so I got it anyway. Candide, Zadig and Other Stories by Voltaire. I've had this book so long that I can't remember where I got it. I think it was a gift from my dad in high school or college? I could use some more philosophy in my life. The Weird; edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. A thousand-plus page collection of weird fiction spanning a century of writing and featuring a wide variety of both "literary" and "genre" authors. I really liked Jeff Vandermeer's Wonderbook and I like the idea of doing a deep dive of this kind of story, but haven't worked up the nerve to do it just yet. I might need multiple updates to do it justice.
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Aug 9, 2017 08:19
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some of you have extremely liberal views on what constitutes a 'classic must-read'
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Aug 9, 2017 19:20
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I mentioned it in the OP, not every book as to be a "classic" or "literature", but that's what the emphasis should be. If someone wants to add a well-known or classic of genre-fic, it's fine, as long as it's not only genre fic. So far Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is really good, but I didn't realize it was almost 400 pages. I'm trying to finish all of the books I started and haven't finished, so it's about two books away from being my main book.
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Aug 9, 2017 19:27
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Franchescanado posted:I mentioned it in the OP, not every book as to be a "classic" or "literature", but that's what the emphasis should be. If someone wants to add a well-known or classic of genre-fic, it's fine, as long as it's not only genre fic. should i just put up a new list for literature then
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Aug 10, 2017 00:45
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Solitair posted:should i just put up a new list for literature then Nah, you're good. I'm no book nazi. As books are picked for you, just replace them with stuff. Your backlog is your backlog, but don't be afraid to challenge yourself with something out of your comfort zone. If someone wants to pick Candide or Atonement for you, nothing's stopping them. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Aug 10, 2017 |
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Aug 10, 2017 00:53
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Solitair posted:I didn't even know this was a movie. Read Candide. This is partly a list of stuff I thought of off the top of my head and partly stuff from my "want to read" shelf on Goodreads, which I last updated in 2010 or so. I just started using it again. Hopefully nonfiction is okay. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Mark Twain - I remember reading an excerpt from this in one of my high school English classes and thinking it was funny, but I never got around to reading it. I haven't read much Twain at all besides Huck Finn. Don Quixote Cervantes - I learned Spanish after high school, so I missed the classes where they made you read this. I feel like I should still. Feel free to recommend English (and specify a translation if you know a good one), modern Spanish (if they even do that), or original Spanish. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Jose Saramago - I don't have a particular reason for this but I haven't read much in Portuguese so I need to practice! Recommend English (with translation rec) or Portuguese. The Power Broker Robert Caro - I read through about 1/3 of this and then stopped because I thought Robert Moses was a dick and I didn't want to read 800 more pages of him winning all the time. Paradise Lost John Milton - I got this from the Gutenberg project on my kindle the other day but haven't brought myself to read it because I don't know if I could get through it. The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov - This is one on my goodreads list and that I recognize the name of. Beyond that I don't know much about it. Memoirs Ulysses S. Grant - I've heard these are really good and put them on my kindle a few years ago. Never read them.
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Aug 10, 2017 03:42
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Franchescanado posted:I'm no book nazi
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Aug 10, 2017 09:24
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A human heart posted:I am. I know. Everyone knows
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Aug 10, 2017 12:04
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I'm no book nazi either but I do think the intention of the thread is pretty clearly in the title: "great" books you are ashamed to have not read. I think it would be a shame if this became a "pick a book from my backlog for me to read next" thread. That being said I don't see any lists completely devoid of well known classic books, so I think we're good for now.
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Aug 10, 2017 16:54
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I am like a book Italian fascist More bafoonish and concerned with looking important
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Aug 10, 2017 18:42
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Badger of Basra posted:
No particular reason, aside from that I've also been needing to read it. Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner. Stegner is my Dad's favorite author, and I've always wanted to figure out why El Camino, Miguel Delibes. Read Los Santos Inocentes for school and really enjoyed, and I've wanted to read some more of this guy. Blindness, Jose Saramago. Been on my to-read list since high school, never have gotten around to it. A Heart So White, Javier Marias. Been wanting to read Your Face Tomorrow for a while, but I feel like I should start somewhere that isn't a big ol' trilogy Frankenstein, Mary Shelley. Probably my most shameful book on here. Never had to read it in school, and haven't ever made it a priority. Frontier, Can Xue. Have wanted to read some Chinese works, and I've heard this is good. If someone wants to recommend something better by her, I'll swap it out. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway.
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Aug 10, 2017 19:26
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smug n stuff posted:No particular reason, aside from that I've also been needing to read it. Frankenstein, just because it's such a cultural touchstone and you'll feel better once you've crossed it off of your list. Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon. It's just so long. The Plague, Camus. I think I've pretended to have read this in conversation before but it was a lie. Blindness, Saramago. Yeah, idk what's wrong with me either Rebecca, du Maurier. I have no doubt that this is extremely my poo poo and I've read a lot of du Maurier otherwise but I just haven't gotten here yet.
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Aug 11, 2017 02:03
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chernobyl kinsman posted:
Read The Plague because it is pretty rad and full of death and it's not long like Gravity's Rainbow and there are cool covers like this one:  I'm trying to decide: Kim - Rudyard Kipling Just wanted something different than what I usually read. Heart of Darkness put me off of reading about white people being lovely and colonial but maybe this is worth it? The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner As I Lay Dying is one of my favorite books ever but I hear this one is a super-tough, impenetrable nightmare read. The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut I'm a little tired of Vonnegut but it's been on my shelf for so long now. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway Forgot I owned it because it slipped between two other books. Never really "got" the love for Hemingway even though I love most of his short stories. The Mezzanine - Nicholas Baker I hear it's a postmodern classic but...I dunno...never got around it?
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Aug 11, 2017 03:56
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the sound and the fury takes some work to understand completely but it's not impenetrable. it's quite short and each chapter has its own prose and flow, so I at least found it easy to get carried along in it.
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Aug 11, 2017 06:34
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There is one thing that makes Sound and the Fury much easier to read but I am not sure if it counts as a spoiler or not there are two different Quentins
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Aug 11, 2017 20:08
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Looks like I'm reading The Sound and the Fury.
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Aug 11, 2017 22:30
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I'm about 100 pages in The Year of the ladybird, and it's a relaxing read. really not bad if you just want to read a coming-of-age novel of a guy working at a 1970s british beach resort and trying to sex up a skinhead's wife.
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Aug 12, 2017 19:04
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Mel Mudkiper posted:There is one thing that makes Sound and the Fury much easier to read but I am not sure if it counts as a spoiler or not Also, the opening scene is a golf game and it's a coincidence that there is a character named Caddy.
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Aug 14, 2017 21:02
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Looks like you decided, so:Captain Hotbutt posted:
I read Frankenstein--it's pretty short, and I enjoyed it. Frankenstein and The Monster are both just really pathetic, depressing characters, but I found the way Shelley developed them to be really compelling. I also really liked the way she described the Swiss landscape: the juxtaposition of the horribly depressing events of the story with the beauty of the Alps was quite something. Reading it also really struck home how much I need to read Paradise Lost, seems like there's a direct reference to it every other dang page. My list is now: Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner El Camino, Miguel Delibes Blindness, Jose Saramago A Heart So White, Javier Marias Frontier, Can Xue For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway. And I'll add Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
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Aug 19, 2017 07:03
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I finished Paradise Lost but it was rough going and I'm pretty sure I didn't really get all of it. Might have to try it again some day.smug n stuff posted:Looks like you decided, so: Blindness A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Mark Twain - I remember reading an excerpt from this in one of my high school English classes and thinking it was funny, but I never got around to reading it. I haven't read much Twain at all besides Huck Finn. Don Quixote Cervantes - I learned Spanish after high school, so I missed the classes where they made you read this. I feel like I should still. Feel free to recommend English (and specify a translation if you know a good one), modern Spanish (if they even do that), or original Spanish. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Jose Saramago - I don't have a particular reason for this but I haven't read much in Portuguese so I need to practice! Recommend English (with translation rec) or Portuguese. The Power Broker Robert Caro - I read through about 1/3 of this and then stopped because I thought Robert Moses was a dick and I didn't want to read 800 more pages of him winning all the time. The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov - This is one on my goodreads list and that I recognize the name of. Beyond that I don't know much about it. Memoirs Ulysses S. Grant - I've heard these are really good and put them on my kindle a few years ago. Never read them. Badger of Basra fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Aug 23, 2017 03:34
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Badger of Basra posted:I finished Paradise Lost but it was rough going and I'm pretty sure I didn't really get all of it. Might have to try it again some day. you forgot to put your own list up again
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Aug 23, 2017 19:51
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I had a bunch of stuff checked out from the library and now I am waiting for Count of Monte Cristo to release on e-book, but will read that soon!
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Aug 23, 2017 20:05
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I've read about 1/5th of Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, but I'm too deep into Lincoln In The Bardo (a library and book club book), which is amazing and deserves to be on some lists in this thread. After I finish, I'm concentrating only on Aunt Julia.Guy A. Person posted:I had a bunch of stuff checked out from the library and now I am waiting for Count of Monte Cristo to release on e-book, but will read that soon! It's a dollar on Amazon! Is it a specific translation you want?
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Aug 23, 2017 20:13
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Franchescanado posted:It's a dollar on Amazon! Is it a specific translation you want? I'm doing the penguin classics version by Robin Buss only because my brief research indicated it was good. Also I still have 2 books ahead of it and I'm the only one in line on the library ebook hold so it should time out pretty well. If it starts to stretch I will pony up the dollar though.
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Aug 23, 2017 20:19
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Badger of Basra posted:I finished Paradise Lost but it was rough going and I'm pretty sure I didn't really get all of it. Might have to try it again some day. Fix your post with your list unless you're cool with accidentally being skipped when another person finishes their book. Guy A. Person posted:I'm doing the penguin classics version by Robin Buss only because my brief research indicated it was good. Also I still have 2 books ahead of it and I'm the only one in line on the library ebook hold so it should time out pretty well. If it starts to stretch I will pony up the dollar though. Ah, I gotcha. I've gone through and bought a lot of the $1 classics already, I wonder if I have that one. What are the other 2 books?
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Aug 23, 2017 20:25
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Franchescanado posted:Ah, I gotcha. I've gone through and bought a lot of the $1 classics already, I wonder if I have that one. What are the other 2 books? I'm finishing up Oyster by Janette Turner Hospital this afternoon then I have some horror novel called Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and Terror in the Name of God by Jessica Stern (they're all for various challenges for the reading challenge thread)
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Aug 23, 2017 20:29
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Guy A. Person posted:I'm finishing up Oyster by Janette Turner Hospital this afternoon then I have some horror novel called Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and Terror in the Name of God by Jessica Stern (they're all for various challenges for the reading challenge thread) I've heard a lot of good things about Hex, so let me know how that is when you finish. Oyster sounds awesome too. edit: Oyster's only $2 right now on Kindle. Thanks for making me spend money. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Aug 23, 2017 |
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Aug 23, 2017 20:32
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Guy A. Person posted:I had a bunch of stuff checked out from the library and now I am waiting for Count of Monte Cristo to release on e-book, but will read that soon! help, i can't find the count of monte cristo! i also can't locate the sun or potable water
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Aug 24, 2017 00:39
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A human heart posted:help, i can't find the count of monte cristo! i also can't locate the sun or potable water whoops I accidentally revealed my idiocy in yet another thread
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Aug 24, 2017 02:49
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i also haven't started reading the count of Monte Cristo yet
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Aug 24, 2017 07:35
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Badger of Basra posted:
This one is very good and it has a giant talking cat. Ada, or Ardor - I love Nabokov but haven't really been able to get past the first chapter. Master and Commander - Because I need another huge series to get started and then stall out on. The Confessions of Nat Turner - Haven't read any Styron, and I picked this one up during the whole fracas about the new Birth of a Nation film. The Naked and the Dead - My experience with Mailer is kind of mixed, but this is supposedly one of his best. Darkness at Noon - Because I need more Soviet gloom. My Antonia - I have not read any Willa Cather. Should I remedy this?
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Aug 27, 2017 19:41
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Chamberk, read The Confessions of Nat Turner, have not read it myself but it's sure to be fascinating. Glad this CineD thread got ported, I have so many books I've purchased and the pile just keeps building, I need some motivation to finally get to them. My List: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1929) - As I Lay Dying instantly became one of my all time favorites when I read it a few years ago but I never got to the big pile of other Faulkner I have lying around. Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet (1943) - This was actually a huge influence on John Waters which is how I came to acquiring my copy. About to learn about the origins of Divine! Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber (2011) - I got about 50 pages into this but got overwhelmed and put it down never to return. Somebody make me finish this amazing and infuriating book. Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton (1973) - I desperately need to do more reading on the Panthers. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985) - Modern dystopian classic and I need to add more feminist writing to my diet so it kills two birds with one stone. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969) - Ditto Atwood. Also, one time at an English major conference in Portland, Oregon while I was in college I blew off a speech by Le Guin cause I didn't know who she was so I could go see Richard Hell do a reading from his autobiography. Did I make the right choice? Let's find out. The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela (1915) - Fiction, but I'd like to learn more about the Mexican Revolution. Also need to make sure there's some short books on here. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (1532) - Ah, the sociopath's manifesto. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (1611) - Sounds metal af. The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View by Ellen Meiksins Wood (1999) - A blind buy from Verso Books' 90% off eBook flash sale.
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Sep 9, 2017 15:07
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TrixRabbi posted:Also, one time at an English major conference in Portland, Oregon while I was in college I blew off a speech by Le Guin cause I didn't know who she was so I could go see Richard Hell do a reading from his autobiography. Did I make the right choice? Let's find out. No, you did not.
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Sep 14, 2017 16:54
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Trix Rabbi, you should totally readTrixRabbi posted:
because it's a good book and it's one of those classics that make you feel smart to say you've read. My list! Flashman: A Novel was talked about in some thread and it sounded like a lot of fun, plus I love serieseseses and this is a new one. The Keeper of Lost Causes is some foreign detective series that my mother absolutely loves and has been raving about. The Underground Railroad was on both Joe Hill's and Stephen King's must read lists last year, so it's gotta be good, yeah? The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War I always try to make myself read non-fiction and this has been highly recommended to me. The Omnivore's Dilemma I like "History of X through Y" books, and this seems like it could be a fun one. Man Walks into a Pub: A Sociable History of Beer Ditto above Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life As a Hawaii boy who has not lived in Hawaii for a decade, I miss the ocean. Goebbels: A Biography was a book I bought for $1, but it's a 900 page biography of one of the most infamous people in modern history. Help me thread, you gotta force me to read one of these. Ah, and here is my Goodreads profile if you want it. Feel free to add me and mock me for my choice in books. USMC_Karl fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Sep 15, 2017 |
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Sep 15, 2017 05:00
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USMC_Karl posted:The Underground Railroad was on both Joe Hill's and Stephen King's must read lists last year, so it's gotta be good, yeah? I never picked a book for anyone, and this thread needed a bump. I don't think this book is as good as it was claimed upon release, but it is still a very good book. I am more than halfway through Aunt Julia and the Screenwriter. Don't let my slow pace fool you, it is indeed a really good book, but my reading habits are pretty lovely this year, and I'm already a slow reader. I'm more surprised no one else has finished their books. Please help fight the notion that the TBB is a dead forum only capable of sci-fi and fantasy pulp.
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Nov 7, 2017 14:20
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I have almost started The Count of Monte Cristo
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Nov 7, 2017 15:57
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I am doing extremely slow progress on my Foucault's Pendulum (I just loaned it from the library the third time because I've already maxed out my loan renewals twice), but I am enjoying it and progress is being done. I was kind of losing patience with it a while ago, but now it seems to be picking up again, and with luck I might be able to finish it sometime this decade.
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Nov 7, 2017 16:37
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Forktoss posted:I am doing extremely slow progress on my Foucault's Pendulum (I just loaned it from the library the third time because I've already maxed out my loan renewals twice), but I am enjoying it and progress is being done. I was kind of losing patience with it a while ago, but now it seems to be picking up again, and with luck I might be able to finish it sometime this decade. If that's your reading speed, why not just buy a used copy on Amazon for $5 or less? I also seem to always find a copy at thrift stores for, like, $2.
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Nov 7, 2017 16:40
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I finished The Count of Monte Cristo a while ago! Like in mid-September. I just had a huge backlog that I also wanted to get through before taking on another (probably long, based on my list) book. Anyway, it was really good and compelling. Despite the length it didn't feel like it took me all that long because the serial nature made me want to keep reading. Especially during the second part where he is just loving with all these people. I probably won't be able to start my next book until around Thanksgiving, but here's my new list: Moby Dick Ulysses Don Quixote War and Peace The Brothers Karamazov JR 100 Years of Solitude Foucault's Pendulum (this is a good suggestion I had forgotten about this)
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Nov 7, 2017 17:11
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I didn't think Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter would be so dark. Like, the serials are actively horrific. A woman who's been having an affair with her brother, a baby that is eaten alive by rats, a teenage girl being raped by a Jehovah's Witness, a homeless man being beaten by the police because he's black... And I'm only halfway through. Don't take this as me complaining or that I can't handle it, but I was under the impression this was a fun screwball comedy and...It's not... Shoulda known better when Mel picked it for me.
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Nov 7, 2017 17:28
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