Books
 

I was wondering if any of you guys could recommend some books that you've read?

My grandparents refuse to give me anything else than books for christmas, and while i don't think it's neccesarily a bad thing, I must admit that I have not idea what to wish for, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated ;)

I don't have the slightest idea if any of you take time off to read a good book, but personaly I enjoy it a lot... I'm not doing it as much as I used to because of school, but I try.

A book I've just read is 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', which is a story about, well, motorcycle maintenance and philosophy... mostly the latter. It's a story of a man who is traveling across the us (which isn't really an important part of the story), to visit the university where he was a teacher before he went insane because of some philosophical thoughts he had as a teacher in retorics... It's not a thriller or anything like that, but more a description of a person, trying to fing himself... in a non-thriller-like way.
but anyway, it's awesome :)

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You like such books ? :)
Then you'll love "Man's Fate" by André Malraux.
And once you'll be done with this one, you can grab "The Hope", by the same author.

Personally I don't have much time to read these days ; the last "big" thing I read was Da Vinci Code, and I was very disappointed. It's a pageturner with short chapters and a fast story, with zero depth at all, which is a shame for a subject of such importance. IMO "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco is MUCH better.

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The Hot Zone... altho a grusum story it is true and it is really really good book... but i don't know if you would be internested in it... also Peace Like A River was a decent Book but again i don't know if you would like it

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I've only got five books to recomend : The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, a Trilogy in Five Parts, by Douglas Adams.

The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy
The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
Life, The Universe, and Everything
So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish, and
Mostly Harmless.

P.S. I typed that from memory. Sorry for any mistakes.

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TOP suggestion, Brainz! I was going to post that, too... there are so many hilarious passages inside... and Marvin alone is worth the read... ;)

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May I recommend Dude, where's my country or Stupid White Men, both by Michael Moore? :D

[edit]The Name of The Rose rox!!![/edit]

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heh, hitchhikers guide to tha galaxy is already on my list :)

That book is simply amazing... I can't believe how much nonsense douglas adams can come up with... it's almost as good as monty python :D

Discworld is too, btw. It's kinda like hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, as far as i understand, just in a fantasy universe. I've never read it though, but everytime i mention hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, that's always what people tell me to read next.

but please don't write only suggestions for my sake, I acutally meant it to be more of a general diskussion about books, although i can see that that wasn't really what i wrote up there ;)

Man's Fate and The hope is on the list now, but could you tell a bit more of what they about, pmb?

Biohazard, the books you wrote, what kind of books are they? Never heard of them.

I don't really like michael moore though... I find him extremely onesided, and even though i tend to agree with his point of view, i think he preaches it, instead of making people make their own jugdements.

but thanks for the ideas anyway :)

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You don't want me to start with books 'cause I'll be very likely to mention a truckload of South American novels and short story collections of which I don't know if they've been translated at all and if so, if the translation is ok.

Dunno if you've read those already:

Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (Pulitzer Prize, and a great read)

Ken Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (I'm sure you know the story; this book is BRILLIANT)

Oh, and if you like novels with a WWII background, I can recommend
William Wharton - A Midnight Clear. The story takes place in the last years of WWII, when a small allied scout troop is sent into a forest in deepest winter to find out if a large mansion somewhere inside is still held by German troops or already deserted... this is not a typical war story (meaning that there's next to no fighting) , but pure suspense! I couldn't pull away from that book until I had read it to the last page.

All these books I mentioned here are books of the kind I like: They are real pageturners, but there's something much deeper to them than to any John Grisham "good lawyer vs. bad lawyer" mumbo-jumbo... they are the kind of books you just can't put back into their shelves after you read them, because for the next 20-30 minutes you'll be busy with your thoughts...

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i am at school but when i get home i will tell you what kinda books they are=)

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I actually read to kill a mockingbird in high school... and yeah, it was great :)

the title with the cuckoo seems familiar... can you give some clues about the story?

Never been fond of ww2... but A Midnight Clear sunds kinda interesting... might pick it up at the library. Btw you speak spanish? I'm trying hard to learn it, but I've only just started on second year, so I still have a lot to get through :/

I like a bit thought in books too... If a book doesn't make you think about it, it's about as unneccesary as a flamethrower in a firetruck... or a standup comedian at a funeral... or an airbag in a steam roler... I'm bored, but i guess I made my point.

A good writer that really makes me think is Jostein Gaarder. but that's more in a popphilosophical kind of way... don't read Sofie's world though, it's boring. His book 'Through a Glass, Darkly' on the other hand, is awesome... raises a lot of questions about life and death.

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"Man's Fate and The hope is on the list now, but could you tell a bit more of what they about, pmb?"

Both books are about the nature of man. The first one takes place in Shanghai in the 1930's a short time before the Chinese revolution, during the insurrection of the town. Although there's a nice story, the story itself is merely an excuse. You follow half a dozen of persons in various situations, involved closely or by far in the insurrection. You literally spectate the changes in their minds as they either get to fear the uprising more and more for some or experience the opportunity to "live for something" for the others. A wise mix of psychology and asian wisdom is involved in every page. There's also the usual and unavoidable wise old chinese, too old to take part in the insurrection, but who watches his son and his relatives facing danger while he witnesses his own wisdom reaching the far limits of what he ever allowed himself to think. There are also a good lot of fascinating, impressively lucid, very deep discussions between the characters in Man's Fate. Without making it explicit, the book deals with the question inherent to its title: What is man's fate ? "We are alone, of a loneliness nothing can cure us from, against which we never cease to fight".

The second one is only if you liked the first one. The Hope (I don't know if I translate the title right, it could be Man's Hope as well) takes place in Spain, in about the same time, during the spanish civil war, and especially the battle of Madrid where the republicans and the International Brigades (volunteers from other countries against fascism) were defending the town against the fascist legions of Franco. The author participated in the spanish civil war as a volunteer pilot. There are more characters involved in this story and the relationships between them are more subtle, as well as their psychology. But there are also large parts of battle and fights where you are taken next to some soldier or some pilot, and experience the war by his side, second after second, in the middle of the explosions, the suffering and the fear. Ever wondered what happened in a soldier's mind ? This book covers the question of giving a meaning to one's life, standing for something, and accepting to give his life for it. It's a book you literally feel.

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The Hot Zone
A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the
appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.
"ONE OF THE MOST HORRIFYING THINGS I'V EVER READ. WHAT A REMARKABLE PEICE OF OF WORK." - STEPHEN KING

Peace Like A River
Hailed as one of the year's top five novels by Time, and selected as one of the best books of the year by nearly all major newspapers, national bestseller Peace Like a River captured the hearts of a nation in need of comfort. "A rich mixture of adventure, tragedy, and healing," Peace Like a River is "a collage of legends from sources sacred and profane -- from the Old Testament to the Old West, from the Gospels to police dramas" (Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor). In "lyrical, openhearted prose" (Michael Glitz, The New York Post), Enger tells the story of eleven-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy who has reason to believe in miracles. Along with his sister and father, Reuben finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been controversially charged with murder. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and its remarkable conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, the most tragic of fates. Leif Enger's "miraculous" (Valerie Ryan, The Seattle Times) novel is a "perfect book for an anxious time ... of great literary merit that nonetheless restores readers' faith in the kindness of stories" (Marta Salij, Detroit Free Press).

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you cheater, you just copied the blurbs verbatim :D

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dude it is off the back of the book.... it ain't like i am going to summerize it... i suck at that crap.... thats why i am still in school :P

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guys, just buy the prima book of hl2 :P

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got it and it rocks

hey if you like books that make you think then you will love
The Da Vinci Code
While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

THE DA VINCI CODE heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller…utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.

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It's easy to tell that you copied those descriptions from the backs of the books - the spelling is just too immaculate. :D

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1984
Thinner

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biohazerd87... haven't u ever learned that you can't use descriptions from the backside of books?

That's like deciding which movie to rent solely based on the quotes on the front of them ;)

it's kinda funny that noone wrote 1984 before now... I was acutally thinking about writing about it myself :)
It's awesome... and always just as actual as ever... (dunno about the word actual but that's the best translation for the danish word aktuel, i can come up with)

never heard of thinner though...

i very much hope that those books are translated, pmb, cause i only know about three french words... (fromage, cheval and... ehm, two french words!) don't worry though, I'll pick up the language someday ;) They sound interesting.

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good book "Dune"!

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i must stand apart cause for some reason i hated 1984... probly cause i hate the teacher that made me read it

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@ Exilibur: So "aktuel" is the Danish word? Cool, add one "l" and you got the German word... but it's not "actual". "Actual" means something like "real". So when you say "My actual girlfriend is blonde", that means that you got, for example, a brown-haired girl you show to others as your girlfriend - but actually, she isn't your real girlfriend because that blonde girl is... ;) Try "up to date" or "timeless"...

/exit wise guy mode

@ biohazerd87: Yeah, school can spoil every book, no matter how good it is. Talk about anyone who has had to read "The Catcher in the Rye" at school... they'll hate it. I read it myself, and I loved it.
At school, they always make the mistake of overinterpreting everything. They choose a much too academic approach, thus destroying the actual effect that the book would normally have...

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well my teacher was just a bitch(as in the servant) like he was like 'oh i am liberal... so anybook i read no matter if it is about dinasors or a picture book of blues clues it is a government conspericy'... and i have nothing aginst liberals...

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to sum up my last post... he was nuttier that a shithouse rat:|

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ROFL... dude, your spelling rules! :D "Dinasors"... "Conspericy"... It's so off it's almost creative... admit it, you're doing that on perpuss! :P

/me stops being an ass

Seriously: It's pretty much the same: He's got his interpretation - no matter if it something he came up with all alone, or if he read it somewhere in another book... and in most cases, books read at school are taken apart and analyzed into pieces, until nothing is left of them... a relation with a book is a personal relation... you can give hints, and there may be a generally true background, but that background doesn't necessarily matter to you. It's what the book tells you that makes it worth the read, not what others tell the book ought to tell you.
A book in which you found something somebody else advised you to find may be a Pulitzer prize winner and (objectively seen) a great book - but to you, it's worthless. However, a book in which you find something yourself -maybe even without having searched for it- might be an average book speaking in general terms, but for you it can be a treasure.

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[QUOTE=>BKA< T Wrecks]ROFL... dude, your spelling rules! :D "Dinasors"... "Conspericy"... It's so off it's almost creative... admit it, you're doing that on perpuss! :P

/me stops being an ass

[QUOTE]

lol... no really i am the worst speller ever... i can read any word and say it correctly but i can't spell at all... infact if there was a contest for the worst speller ever... you guys might as well not enter... i win by default... thats how much i rule at not ruling at spelling

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seen on a CS server:
"u 5uCk a7 5p3ll1n6"

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wrecks, besides aa much more simple, but totally unexplainable grammar, danish is very similar to german...

Ich kann auch deutch sprechen, jah! Aber nicht so gut, weil ich nur es gehat für drei jahre, und ich habe es nicht gesprächen in zwei jahre. So es gibt viele fegel in diesen text! :D

Pero Estoy estudiando español ahora.

Biohazerd87, If have danish teacher like that... It's terrible... I agree with wrecks (as usual... come on, say something controversial or stupid! :D) on the point that texts should be read and understood at a personal level.