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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

If I read only one book in 2004, what should it be?

Ninjas make great pets

14:42 / 16.02.04

these days don't get much time to read but I love a good book. last book of 2003 was Norwegian wood, but took me months (about 2 pages a night before I just conked out). Really enjoyed it, quite different to anything else I've got.

what what should be the book of 2004? recommendations very welcome.

The Photographer in Blowup

16:25 / 16.02.04

Blowup & Other Stories, by Julio Cortázar

Or

The Keeper Of Sheep, by Fernando Pessoa

20:21 / 16.02.04

the curious incident of the dog in the night time by Mark Haddon

Its a murder mystery story about a dead dog told from the perspective of 15-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome who decides to investigate the crime.

Its a fantastic page-turning read that is funny and sad. I haven't been able to put it down yet (i should finish it tomorrow...)

'3 red cars in a row means its going to be quite a good day, 4 red cars in a row means its going to be a very good day and 5 red cars in a row means that its going to be a super good day. and 4 yellow cars in a row means that its going to be a black day when i don't speak to anyone and i don't eat my lunch and TAKE NO RISKS...

But if i see 3 red cars in a row or 4 red cars in a row or 5 red cars in a row , then i feel safe and it is a day for a project...'

what more can you ask for from a book?

20:42 / 16.02.04

Stoner by John Williams. i think it's john williams anyway, i can never be sure because it's such a generic name. but yeah, stoner, definitely.

Ninjas make great pets

09:43 / 17.02.04

sleazenation is that a real book ?! or something you thought you'd read after that nasty incident with too much alchohol and a swift moving lampost?
It sounds really interesting. I'll definatly keep an eye out for that one! thank you.

Thanks very much folks. I'll note all these and see what I can buy here. may see me back in the reveiws in a few months so..

10:51 / 17.02.04

As I found this question really interesting as I read it first off – I thought rebranded was asking what huge challenging tome/intellectual achievement would you really like to get under your belt this year? What would you like to have read (and understood, if only partially) by the end of the year? Any takers? Novels/Poetry/Factual - with a reason why of course, as well as the reason why you probably won’t. Mine would be Alfred Korbyzski’s “Science and Sanity” – I’ve wanted to read this since I read about it in RA Wilson’s books. It also comes highly recommended by a friend of mine, (who got it on inter-library loan so I can’t nick his copy), and apparently was a big influence on a system of magick/meditation I’ve got an interest in. I probably won’t ever go out and buy it though, ‘cos it’s 800 pages long and I have too many other books piled up screaming out for my attention. Bugger it, maybe I’ll just go order it right now.

Anyone got any more dreaded/desired tomes?

Ninjas make great pets

13:12 / 17.02.04

Your right, that was the point entirely, to have something new.

if you fancy something in more bit size I recommend my favoutrite book "fortune hotel", a selection of short stories (some real, some fiction) all based on theme of travel. excellent little book.

Tomewise, I think someday I'd read the Quraan (have I spelt that right?) and the some other old world books. I'm fascinated by the minds of the ancient world. but there are so many new world minds to absorb I might not get to it!
(if minds came as liquid, I'd always be thirsty)

18:21 / 17.02.04

I second The Keeper Of Sheep, by Fernando Pessoa..anything by Pessoa really, complex and entertaining..

13:38 / 21.05.04

Please read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It will keep you up all night and is better than telly. It's 6 stories that cleverly explore a central theme, with settings which range from 1850s South Pacific to futuristic Korea and post-apocalypse Hawaii. Read it, read it, read it! It's really, really bloody good. Then read Ghostwritten by the same author and weep that he's so young and yet so damn talented.

06:26 / 26.05.04

The Man Who Was Thursday......read it now....thank you.

07:39 / 29.05.04

Right now I think I'd recommend the book I'm halfway through: At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. It's about two boys in Ireland in the time leading up to Easter 1916 who go swimming every day in the sea and are falling in love. It gives numerous nods to The Irish Novel (TM) but its references are deployed effortlessly and it's extremely beautiful. A lovely mixture of the coming of age for two boys and also for a country. Having said that, I don't yet know if the second half will live up to the first, but I have faith ...

As for the tomes of 2004, I can't think right now if I have any waiting as all my books are packed in boxes ready to move house. However I did pick up Bede's history of the early english church or whatever it's called the other day for a couple of quid, as I've always wanted to read it. So that could fill that category for the mo.

17:58 / 29.05.04

After the quake!!! Haruki Murakami respect inn the house!

00:52 / 30.05.04

I'll second the haruki murakami. I just finished Dance Dance Dance and it was wonderful.

12:33 / 30.05.04

If you haven't read Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O'Toole, you really, really should.

15:06 / 31.05.04

Sorry, that should read John Kennedy Toole... What does that make me, I wonder.

17:41 / 01.06.04

Anyone got any more dreaded/desired tomes?

I've just finished one of mine, and am going to recommend it here as I thought it was wonderful - The Elegant Universe. Certainly the best popular science book I can remember reading, very well written and everything's explained in as much detail as you want : the notes are good and there's often a deeper explaination in the text itself, at the end of a chapter.