Any Book Recommendations?

[Fljotsdale]

Originally posted by onthepequod: All of you are giving me alot to think about. But could you expand a little to let me know what you like and disliked about your recommendations.

Ok. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: I liked it because I like short stories, and that is what the Tales are. The stories are all very different, and supposed to be told by different people, so that you are amazed by Chaucers ability to be stodgy, serious, amusing, crude... His story-tellers each have their own 'voice' and they sound authentic. And the characters in the stories seem real, believable people. The way Chaucer combines his own voice, the voices of the storytellers and the voices of the story characters is something I find stunning. And as well as that - you will get some good belly-laughs!

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Smile! Life is too short for bitching!

Fljotsdale

[This message has been edited by Fljotsdale (edited 05-12-2001).]

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by onthepequod: All of you are giving me alot to think about. But could you expand a little to let me know what you like and disliked about your recommendations. To illustrate what I am hoping for: I loved Mobey Dick because of the way Melville masterfully worked three different messages seamlessly into one work (i.e. the story, the philosophical, and the theological). Further more, I found my vocabulary challenged at every turn forcing me to expand myself. I am not looking for any explanation directly along these lines but what you were intrigued by, or gripped by, or entertained by, or put in awe of, etc...

Oh no, now you want me to get philosophical?



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"the memories of a man in his old age,
are deeds of a man in his prime"

[onthepequod]

Fljotsdale,

Thanks. That was perfect. I now have a taste of Canterbury Tales.


John D.,

Only if you're comfortable with it. Otherwise, just tell me what you liked.

[Cloudbringer]

Onthepequod

I recommend Mikhail Bulgagov's "The Master and Margarita". If you have read Faust, it will be a double treat. I hadn't when I read it the first time as an undergrad, but the book was still a treasure trove! Satire from the Stalin era that was originally written 'for the drawer', that is not expected to be seen in print at the time because of the political climate. His "Heart of a Dog" is also very good and very short.

He is a Russian author but TWENTIETH CENTURY (which is what I always prefered!)

CloudLibrarian

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Raindancer of the Laughing Hyenas Clan
Storm-Queen
StormCloud of the Black Knight
Heart Mind Soul Forever

[This message has been edited by Cloudbringer (edited 05-13-2001).]

[Mouse]

Following on from the Mervyn Peake recommendation, a book well worth checking out is "Perdido Street Station" by China Miéville. I read it recently and was immediately struck by the similarity in tone. Below is a short extrtact from a review.......

"Acknowledged by the author, and obvious to anyone who has ever been exposed to that classic of fantasy fiction, is Perdido Street Station's debt to Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast. Both Miéville's New Crobuzon and Peake's Gormenghast inhabit the texts that spawned them like living creatures: they are not only settings, they are characters. Both works also show a predilection for baroque -- and oddly evocative -- names. Perdido Street Station is no mere imitation, though; it is a work of relentless inventiveness"



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Regards



Mouse

[Djinn Raffo]

I know a really good book by a mexican author. Gabriel Garcia Marquez has
written a wonderful book called:
"One-Hundred Years of Solitude"
It is simply amazing.
This author also wrote a famous book called "Love in the Time of Cholera" (sp.?)

Another great book that is not a novel but more of a text book:

Joseph Campbell's: "The Power of Myth" and "Myths to Live By"

These books will change the way you live your life...