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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Recomended books

  
 
Strange Machine Vs The Virus with Shoes
09:48 / 17.03.02
I’m not sure if this one has been done before, if so, tell.

What book would you recommend to other?
Not necessarily your favourite book, but one which would be of the greatest value, if read.

Although I’m only half way through it, Stranger in a strange land, by Robert Heinlein, would be my choice. Why? Because A, it’s a good story and B, it seems to contain so much common sense anti-authoritarianism about society that is practical and believably accomplishable.
 
 
Trijhaos
09:53 / 17.03.02
Its probably been done but not for awhile anyway.

I'd have to go with 1984. Someone on another forum summed it up best when he said it was "quite insightful to current so-called problems in society even though it was written so long ago"
 
 
Utopia
09:53 / 17.03.02
trijhaos stole my suggestion, so how's this

WAR WITH THE NEWTS by Carel Chopek

it's imperfect, but funny as hell. something i found while raiding the books that my library was throwing away.
 
 
Cherry Bomb
10:54 / 17.03.02
probably "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy. Beautiful, brilliantly written, heartbreaking. Not my all-time favorite but an excellent example of what good fiction writing can be.
 
 
ghadis
12:55 / 17.03.02
I LOVE War with the Newts!!!...Havn't read it for years and no longer have a copy but thanks for reminding me about it...i'll try and track it down for a re-read

I'd have to go for Paul Auster's New York Trilogy for the recomendation though...Amazingly well written 'detective' novel which is much about language and reality as it is pi's and clients...The Tower of Babel bit gives me goosebumps everytime...
 
 
Kit-Cat Club
07:35 / 18.03.02
You might find this old thread interesting - it's got the old Books bibliography recommendations on it as well as some other suggestions - they're mostly books that people felt were in keeping with the Barbelith project.
 
 
Shortfatdyke
08:16 / 18.03.02
i'd go with 1984 (with maybe the scariest line i've ever read: "if you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - and remember it is *forever*") but would also recommend another of orwell's - animal farm. again the message is rather grim, but it certainly helped me be a bit more realistic about human nature.
 
 
The Planet of Sound
10:32 / 18.03.02
Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Islane, by HG Wells, The Quantity Theory of Insanity, by Will Self, and Mr. Daydream, by Roger Hargreaves.
 
 
Fist Fun
16:29 / 18.03.02
Post Office - Charles Bukowski, Walden - Henry David Thoreau, The Music of Chance - paul Auster and perhaps Au bonheur des Ogres - Daniel Pennac but I haven't finished it yet, heaidng in the right direction...
oh sorry too many
 
 
seamonkey
17:14 / 18.03.02
The Trial, Franz Kafka
Demian, Herman Hesse
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
Dreams Underfoot, Charles DeLint
The Diamond Age, Neil Stephenson
A Splendid Chaos, John Shirley
Maus, Art Spiegelman (do graphic novels count?)
Anubis Gates, Tim Powers

Heh...How many do you want?
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
00:06 / 19.03.02
I don't understand the question.

Or rather: do you think any of us think there could be *one* book that would be most helpful in showing its readers something bout life and the world in which we live? I really hope no-one here thinks that there is... No one book can show you "the way", if there is such a thing - on the contrary, surely reading as widely as possible is to be encouraged.

I mean, I could easily say The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov because it's full of sharply observed satire of human idiocy, yet filled with optimism and compassion and a belief in the power of the imagination - but that's just one book, you know? It just happens to be the last one that I read, and that's how arbitrary this list is going to be unless you make your requirements more specific.
 
 
Utopia
01:01 / 19.03.02
of course one book doesn't contain all of the wisdom one needs to survive in this crazy world, but if you can nominate one book (which you did) that may help with reality navigation, what would it be?

there. that wasn't so complicated.
 
 
DaveBCooper
06:37 / 19.03.02
To help with reality navigation, eh ? Hmm.

"The List of Seven" by Mark Frost.
Or anything by Harlan Ellison.

DBC
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
08:10 / 19.03.02
Martin Millar's "Ruby and the Stone Age Diet" is a book I always turn to at times of crisis. Possibly not too many insights in how to navigate reality, but perfect to help you up when reality's kicked you in the face.
 
 
Haus about we all give each other a big lovely huggle?
10:22 / 19.03.02
The Iliad. Seriously. A handbook on everything from mortality to cocktail-making.
 
 
Cherry Bomb
11:00 / 19.03.02
can you tell me where to FIND the cocktail recipes, Haus? Cuz I really don't wanna read the damn thing again...
 
 
Haus about we all give each other a big lovely huggle?
15:16 / 19.03.02
Book 11, I think. One of Nestor's maids makes it for Machaon.

Pramnian wine, grated goat's cheese, white barley.

It's known as a "fuck you, you old fool"
 
 
Cherry Bomb
15:20 / 19.03.02
Actually slightly related and slightly rotty, some friends of mine play a game, "What three books would you give to a 15-year old?" Allegedly the idea is one thinks about what ideas/etc. you would like to expose such a fragile mind to.

'Sfun!
 
 
Laughing
13:38 / 21.03.02
If you really want to influence someone's mind for the better, give them a copy of the Principia Discordia.
If it doesn't have the desired mind-blowing effect, have them read it again, only this time tell them to read it upside-down.
 
 
kid coagulant
13:49 / 21.03.02
mumbo jumbo ishmael reed
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
13:18 / 27.03.02
"The Way of Zen"--Alan Watts
"The Book"--Alan Watts
"The Tao of Physics"--Fritjof Capra
"Cat's Cradle"--Kurt Vonnegut
 
 
gozer the destructor
14:07 / 27.03.02
THE FALL - ALBERT CAMUS, I DON'T THINK THIS BOOK HAS BEEN BETTERED BY ANY OTHER
 
 
Trijhaos
17:48 / 27.03.02
Illusions by Richard Bach is a wonderful book. Everybody should read it. It may not be life-changing or anything, but it might just get you to think a little bit.
 
 
Graeme McMillan
21:21 / 27.03.02
"Timequake" by Kurt Vonnegut, or "45" by Bill Drummond.

Although that might purely be because I want to grow up to be both of these men.
 
  
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