Author Topic: Best book you ever read (Read 23374 times)

dr.chimps · « **Reply #75 on:** May 01, 2012, 03:54:54 PM »

Quote from: clownbaby on May 01, 2012, 03:49:52 PM

Brilliant book. Author is notoriously averse to any public appearances, so only one of my McCarthy collection is signed. $:-\$

King Shizzo · « **Reply #76 on:** May 01, 2012, 03:56:50 PM »

Goosebumps collection by R.L. Stine

Raymondo · « **Reply #77 on:** May 01, 2012, 03:58:00 PM »

Quote from: clownbaby on May 01, 2012, 03:49:52 PM

I hated that fucking book when I first read it.

A few months later it was one of my favourites. It definitely grows on you and it's one of those books that you need to read supplemental material about in order to fully comprehend it. There are just to many themes woven into the main story.

garebear · « **Reply #78 on:** May 01, 2012, 07:59:46 PM »

Quote from: BigBuehl on May 01, 2012, 05:56:42 AM

That's a bit from standup Jim Gaffigan. When people say "Oh the book was better." "You know what I liked about the movie? No reading." In many cases the book is better though dont you think?

I think the book is usually better. I just hate it when people say the book is always better without thinking about it.

garebear · « **Reply #79 on:** May 01, 2012, 08:03:21 PM »

Quote from: Lumberjack88 on May 01, 2012, 05:08:45 AM

This one is as non-fictional as it gets and one of my favorites:

I've read catcher in the rye, too, but I didn't really like it. What made this book so special for you?

I can't quite put my finger on why I like it so much.

I just really like the stream of consciousness type writing it has as well as the coming of age.

I first read it at around twenty years old and still read it again every few years.

tbombz · « **Reply #80 on:** May 01, 2012, 08:18:28 PM »

history of western philosophy by bertrand russel

complete short stories of ernest hemmingway

bighead · « **Reply #81 on:** May 01, 2012, 08:18:53 PM »

the bible... death of a salesman.. the great gatsby.. anything by stephen king.

stuntmovie · « **Reply #82 on:** May 01, 2012, 09:01:54 PM »

Don Quixote. (Thanks, Doc!)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. (First book I ever really enjoyed.)

The Carpetbaggers.

The Other Side ... no longer published. Regarding a Bishop's connection with his dead son.

All Leon Uris books.

All James Michner books.

Dancing Wu Li Masters .... the simple (hah!!) explanation of QUANTUM MECHANICS which I still have difficulty understanding but can discuss it with QM professors pretty damn well after having read it five times. They seem to have the same difficulty as I have.

stuntmovie · « **Reply #83 on:** May 01, 2012, 10:20:56 PM »

I never did finish reading Blood Meridian but I did hear about a possible movie script being written based on the book except that the book's ending was too controversial for the Hollywood movie studios.

What was that all about?

The True Adonis · « **Reply #84 on:** May 01, 2012, 10:31:05 PM »

Quote from: stuntmovie on May 01, 2012, 10:20:56 PM

I never did finish reading Blood Meridian but I did hear about a possible movie script being written based on the book except that the book's ending was too controversial for the Hollywood movie studios.

What was that all about?

Judge Holden is an eternal and immortal character who displays devilish Gnosticism which is a common thematic within Americana Folklore, especially when dealing within the 19th Century.

bigjim · « **Reply #85 on:** May 01, 2012, 10:32:28 PM »

Quote from: Raymondo on May 01, 2012, 03:58:00 PM

I hated that fucking book when I first read it.

A few months later it was one of my favourites. It definitely grows on you and it's one of those books that you need to read supplemental material about in order to fully comprehend it. There are just to many themes woven into the main story.

So you needed it to be explained to you homie?

Stick to comics and leave the big words to the big boys bro.

basil · « **Reply #86 on:** May 01, 2012, 10:38:18 PM »

Do audio books count?

basil · « **Reply #87 on:** May 01, 2012, 10:51:10 PM »

No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod. Great book by one of the greatest Canadian writers of our time.

Also anything by Farley Mowat. Another Canadian

and extraordinary writer, I might add. He's great with both fiction and non-fiction. He's just a natural storyteller.

sync pulse · « **Reply #88 on:** May 01, 2012, 10:55:13 PM »

bigjim · « **Reply #89 on:** May 01, 2012, 10:57:18 PM »

Quote from: bighead on May 01, 2012, 08:18:53 PM

the bible... death of a salesman.. the great gatsby.. anything by stephen king.

The bible srs?

If you think that is good literature you need to read more. The bible from a litrature point of view is shit.

And as far as story wise maybe you should try the brothers grim if you like fairytails.

chris-a · « **Reply #90 on:** May 01, 2012, 11:04:02 PM »

anything by jack vance. a much un-recognised literary genius. even you americans don't know who he is...

cugel's saga or the lyonesse trilogy, id' never and have never, read anything like them

basil · « **Reply #91 on:** May 01, 2012, 11:07:44 PM »

Shakespeare is awesome stuff, but you have to read a few before you get the Victorian English down pat. Thank good for the side notes that most Shakespearean works come with. Bouncing back and forth b/w the side notes and the story can be time consuming, but after 3 or 4 stories you'll have 'er down to a science.

stuntmovie · « **Reply #92 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:03:47 AM »

Thanks, TA, for your Blood Meridian comments but I have specific questions about that book which you might be able to respond to.

In fact I have specific questions regarding each of McCarthy's nooks that I am familiar with. (I hated the ending of No Country for Old Men and was thoroughly depressed by The Road.

But I did sort of like All the Pretty Horses mainly because a friend of mine appeared in the movie version.

Not positive about this but I think I am offended by his writing because each of his writings are somewhat morbid with 'unfinished endings'....

and I think that's what persuaded me to never finish reading 'Blood'.

If I recall right, the kid/the man is killed by the judge in an outhouse but the author never explains the details except through some 'shocking' comments stated by the individuals who discover his dead body.

I guess my question is, "Why and how was he killed and what is the reason McCarthy 'skipped the details'?"

I'm gonna think about re-reading it.

Raymondo · « **Reply #93 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:07:40 AM »

Quote from: stuntmovie on May 01, 2012, 10:20:56 PM

I never did finish reading Blood Meridian but I did hear about a possible movie script being written based on the book except that the book's ending was too controversial for the Hollywood movie studios.

What was that all about?

I doubt Blood Meridian will ever be filmed. A few people have tried so far, including Ridley Scott who branded it "unfilmable".

If you want to see a film which is remarkably close to the aesthetics of "Blood Meridian" I suggested the underrated Australian "Western" film "The Proposition".

stuntmovie · « **Reply #94 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:21:19 AM »

RAY,Thanks! I remember when THE PROPOSITION was first released here in the US about six years ago and it got some damn good reviews, but I don't recall ever seeing it.

I'll look for it on my next Blockbuster visit.

Not related to this topic but I gotta recommend a small film called BOY WONDER. Good ending.

stuntmovie · « **Reply #95 on:** May 02, 2012, 12:24:45 AM »

Damn good movie ... A young Brooklyn boy witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and grows up obsessed with finding her killer

James28 · « **Reply #96 on:** May 02, 2012, 02:27:11 AM »

So many lies posted here

You know who you are.

For good reads, try the Troy series by David Gemmell. A writer that can grip you in three words. It just made me ... wish I was there, alive at that time. Even though it's fiction.

Any book by David Gemmell really. Don't be put off that it's science fiction or historical fiction, it's extremely accessible and easy to read.

The Stieg Larsson trilogy. Incredibly shit in its translation but a good story nonetheless.

Primo Levi. Especially after I visited Auschwitz in 2010.

Many wonderful books and wonderful story tellers out there. It's beyond me why some people don't read.

JasonH · « **Reply #97 on:** May 02, 2012, 02:43:21 AM »

Lots of intellectual Getbiggers here.

Nothing brings out the faux educational superiority than a good old book thread.

TrueGrit · « **Reply #98 on:** May 02, 2012, 02:48:18 AM »

Papillon. Never enjoyed any book as much as I did that. Read it twice.

dr.chimps · « **Reply #99 on:** May 02, 2012, 04:20:05 AM »

Quote from: stuntmovie on May 02, 2012, 12:03:47 AM

Thanks, TA, for your Blood Meridian comments but I have specific questions about that book which you might be able to respond to.

In fact I have specific questions regarding each of McCarthy's nooks that I am familiar with. (I hated the ending of No Country for Old Men and was thoroughly depressed by The Road.

But I did sort of like All the Pretty Horses mainly because a friend of mine appeared in the movie version.

Not positive about this but I think I am offended by his writing because each of his writings are somewhat morbid with 'unfinished endings'....

and I think that's what persuaded me to never finish reading 'Blood'.

If I recall right, the kid/the man is killed by the judge in an outhouse but the author never explains the details except through some 'shocking' comments stated by the individuals who discover his dead body.

I guess my question is, "Why and how was he killed and what is the reason McCarthy 'skipped the details'?"

I'm gonna think about re-reading it.

I'll take a stab at it, Stunt. McCarthy has got a reputation because he deals (I'm guessing, here) life and death, not romance or interior monologue stuff. He's been likened to Melville in this way, and that's not a bad comparison. For McCarthy, life is 'nasty, brutish and short' so when characters get killed off with no satisfying explanation, that is just how he sees the world: people live, and people die; good people die in bad ways, and bad people get away with murder. There's a lot of speculation about McCarthy and his work precisely because he rarely does interviews, readings etc. and prefers to let his books say everything. I suppose it will take his death to really sort out his literary posterity, and where and if he lies in the pantheon of American lit.