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10 to read before the apocalypse?
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In no particular order, ten of my favourite books would be;
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
The Harry Potter books - JK Rowling (I'm counting a series as one!
Bit cheeky of me, I know)
Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
The Collecter - John Fowles
Rebecca -Daphne Du Maurier
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salenger
Oh Lord, I could add so many more to that list but they're just the first that popped into my head. You know what, if an apoclypse comes down and I survive, I want to hole up in a library until humanity gets back on its feet again!0 -
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I was going to cheat and have two seperate lists, one for fiction and the other for non-fiction, but I don't suppose the the Four Horsemen are going to tarry and allow me a leisurely read through all 20 of them, so one list it will have to be:
Grendel John Gardner. The best book I had never heard of until I bought it. Really brilliant. Written from the perspective of Beowulf's foe, it does for Grendel what Paradise Lost did for Satan.
1984 George Orwell. I really don't need to post a synopsis or a reason. Indeed, as practically every top 10 list ever compiled seems to include the work, I could have saved myself the time of typing it, left a space and worked on the understanding that most people would automatically fill it with 1984! Wonderful work though, not a bad year either.
His Dark Materials Philip Pullman. When the odd person scoffs at my enthusiasm for a "childrens' book", instead of getting annoyed I just laugh in the face of their ignorant pomposity. A brilliant, profound work. A work for adults which is accessible by young readers than the other way around.
The Plot Against America Philip Roth. The only Philip Roth book I've read thusfar, and therefore the best! Really affecting work, troubling yet heartening. Only trouble is, I've lost my edition and now that I'm writing about it, I want to read it again!!
Decameron Giovanni Boccacio. An absolute revelation of a book. It's not often that a work can have you laughing out loud whilst also transforming your opinion of a place or period. Especially when the work in question is over 600 years old. In his tales of life in medieval Italy and Europe, Boccaccio does both. A wonderful, illuminating, and racous work.
Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett. I read this at 15 or 16 when I was in transition year, and I remember sitting up all night with my head stuck in the pages, pretending to be sick the next day in order to skip school, and finishing sometime after midnight that night. All in, I missed two days of school because I wasn't able to drag myself from the book. I had never really read anything like it. The story is told remarkably well, the characters leap off the page, and above all, for me, it imbued me with a love of history that i still haven't managed to shake off. It had such a big impact on me that I'm afraid to re-read it in case it proves a disappointment, and not live up to my memory of it.
The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco. Eco has something of a reputation for being a difficult read, and while one certainly can't breeze through this work, the (slight) effort is absolutely worthwhile. detective work in a medieval monastery, full of intrigue and politicing and plotting, and all with a healthy dose of religious fanaticism thrown in. Yummy stuff!!
Fatherland Robert Harris. It's funny that, while Harris presents a vivid portrait of the ancient Roman world in Pompeii, Imperium, and Lustrum, the picture he paints in Fatherland, of a modern Nazi Germany triumphant and dominant after the war, is far more alien and strange to me than any portrayal of ancient Rome. It's a chilling work that leaves one feeling uneasy and troubled long after reading it.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell Susanna Clark. One of those books which you pick up without expectation and turns out to be utterly engrossing. Not a work that's going to profoundly change your thinking on things, or challenge philosophical truths, but rather a great story told with flair and verve. And that enough for me.
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte. If I had never gained useful employment after completing it, had hated every lecture and seminar, cursed through every essay and report, and never made a friend whilst doing it, my Arts degree would have been worth it because it lead me to read this book. I had all sort of misconceptions before opening it, and all of them were dispelled. For atmosphere and a sense of gloom and impending doom, it's yet to be bettered. Reading God's Own Country a while back only re-enforced for me the influence that Bronte's work has had since its publication.
Honourable mention: The Book Thief.0 -
Grendel John Gardner. The best book I had never heard of until I bought it. Really brilliant. Written from the perspective of Beowulf's foe, it does for Grendel what Paradise Lost did for Satan.
The Plot Against America Philip Roth. The only Philip Roth book I've read thusfar, and therefore the best! Really affecting work, troubling yet heartening. Only trouble is, I've lost my edition and now that I'm writing about it, I want to read it again!!
Fatherland Robert Harris. It's funny that, while Harris presents a vivid portrait of the ancient Roman world in Pompeii, Imperium, and Lustrum, the picture he paints in Fatherland, of a modern Nazi Germany triumphant and dominant after the war, is far more alien and strange to me than any portrayal of ancient Rome. It's a chilling work that leaves one feeling uneasy and troubled long after reading it.
Thanks for that: based on the books that I have read from your recommendations I will be adding the above to my reading list.0 -
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1) All the Pretty Horses- Cormac McCarthy : Something really intense about McCarthy's writing and I think it comes across best in this one.
2) Ulysses- The obligatory Joyce inclusion- is definitely worth reading. Just take it a chapter at a time and ignore all the nay-sayers who couldn't finish.
3) To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee. Read it first when I was ten or eleven and re-read it recently. A truly elegant book, amongst other things.
4) Crime and Punishment- Dostoevsky. A really, really interesting read. Designed to make you think.
5) 1984- George Orwell. It took me a while to get into it, but it is really worth the effort, IMO.
6) The World According to Garp- John Irving. The ONLY Irving book I've ever enjoyed. Just something about it that really stuck with me, even years later.
7) The Wheel of Time Series- Robert Jordan. There's 12 of them, but they should only count as 1, I think. Anyone interested should start them now and they'll have the final one by November 2011, unlike the rest of us who have been waiting years... and years... and years...
8) A Song of Ice and Fire- George R.R. Martin. Sci-fi fantasy stuff, but brutal characters. Thoroughly enjoyable.
9) Death of a Naturalist- Seamus Heaney. Not a novel, but a wonderful collection of poems. Definitely my favourite Heaney collection- and if you can get your hands on his reading's of them, all the better. 'Mid-term Break' makes me tear up every single time.
10) Translations - Brian Friel. Again, not a novel, but a wonderful play. Absolutely loved it, and I don't think you really need to see the stage performance to love it.
Jeez... only ten? Can I have another ten? That's less than one shelf on the bookcase....0 -
1) All the Pretty Horses- Cormac McCarthy : Something really intense about McCarthy's writing and I think it comes across best in this one.
2) Ulysses- The obligatory Joyce inclusion- is definitely worth reading. Just take it a chapter at a time and ignore all the nay-sayers who couldn't finish.
3) To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee. Read it first when I was ten or eleven and re-read it recently. A truly elegant book, amongst other things.
4) Crime and Punishment- Dostoevsky. A really, really interesting read. Designed to make you think.
5) 1984- George Orwell. It took me a while to get into it, but it is really worth the effort, IMO.
6) The World According to Garp- John Irving. The ONLY Irving book I've ever enjoyed. Just something about it that really stuck with me, even years later.
7) The Wheel of Time Series- Robert Jordan. There's 12 of them, but they should only count as 1, I think. Anyone interested should start them now and they'll have the final one by November 2011, unlike the rest of us who have been waiting years... and years... and years...
8) A Song of Ice and Fire- George R.R. Martin. Sci-fi fantasy stuff, but brutal characters. Thoroughly enjoyable.
9) Death of a Naturalist- Seamus Heaney. Not a novel, but a wonderful collection of poems. Definitely my favourite Heaney collection- and if you can get your hands on his reading's of them, all the better. 'Mid-term Break' makes me tear up every single time.
10) Translations - Brian Friel. Again, not a novel, but a wonderful play. Absolutely loved it, and I don't think you really need to see the stage performance to love it.
Jeez... only ten? Can I have another ten? That's less than one shelf on the bookcase....
some great choices there it has to be said
it kinda sounds like you appreciated some of them rather than enjoyed them0 -
You're probably right- some are more appreciated than enjoyed. But then, I really enjoyed the Harry Potter books, but I wouldn't put them on a list of definite reads pre-apocalypse.
These are the ones that have stuck with me, or made me think about things a little differently; the ones that have taught me something. Mostly. 0 -
You're probably right- some are more appreciated than enjoyed. But then, I really enjoyed the Harry Potter books, but I wouldn't put them on a list of definite reads pre-apocalypse.
These are the ones that have stuck with me, or made me think about things a little differently; the ones that have taught me something. Mostly.
well said, the ones that make you think about them for years afterwards are worth their weight in gold0 -
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wurzlitzer wrote: »Okay I have already posted my top ten, it probably has changed since too.
Can anyone give me the top ten books they read last year as I had a really had a busy year and I need to catch up on my reading
I know there was a few good Irish novels published
Room for one and Ghostlight anymore
also I think peter carey published also and there was another australian writer greek origins who was recommended to me
That would be great lads
Catch 22 is awesome, but the Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer is just amazing, he was only 25 when he wrote it methinks
cheers:)
Thanks be to God, I have enjoyed reading all my life and still do!! However, I am inclined to forget what I have read until someone mentions the books name again, but that doesn't mean they were not great books! I really should write down what I have read
BUT that said-the last 3 books which you may enjoy-were:
:Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (read it while in Berlin and all the streets and districts are still there)
:Netherland by Joseph O'Connor (hmmm,made you assess things in life and the notes were thought provoking again at the end)
:A short history of Tractors in Ukranian (picked it up in Munich airport and laughed at the sleeve--it didn't disappoint!)
Go on, give them a go! Ma0 -
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Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor- adore this book
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Guernica - Dave Boling
Stephen King's Dark Tower series- 7 books, all great!
Clan of the Cave Bear -Jean M Auel, think there are a few more in this series ( earth's Children ) but havent read them yet...
All Thomas Harris novels - hannibal lecter fame, especially Red Dragon
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series - Alexander McCall Smith
That should keep ya busy for a while! Enjoy 0 -
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