I need a book recommendation.. (4 Viewers)

[Space]

Anything by Kinky Friedman, also usually available in second-hand shops or bargain gaffs or whatever. Also, Raymond Chandler.

I'd second Kinky Friedman, also anything by Jonathon Safran Boer.

 

[MDR]

or anything by Kurt Vonnegut

 

[shitepipe]

Shantaram sounds like a top book from what I've read below.
http://www.curledup.com/shantara.htm

I'm going to go with this one first. Is this available in Easons?

yea, you can get it anywhere. there's alot of bollocks written about its spirituality etc. but i wasnt really feelin that. its just an amazing story..

 

[Umfufu]

The White Hotel by D. M. Thomas is incredible

Fiction based around a patient of Sigmund Freud.
Has completely bizarre moments where you're not sure what the hell is going on, illustrating the patients state of mind.

I must get another copy of it & read it again.

 

[jane]

I second the Vonnegut tip.

I also just finished Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. We read stories from it in high school, and I never forgot them. Only picked up the book recently, and now I know why those stories never left me. It's in my top ten, and I want to read it again and again. Fantastic language and narrative voice, and great stories, and one of the most humane books I've ever read that wasn't written by Kurt Vonnegut. You'll never think about war in the same way again.

I'd also make it required reading if I were teaching an archaeology class because of the way it deals with the fetishising of objects. But then, I'd love to teach a class on modern fiction and contemporary archaeology, except no one will let me.

 

[magicbastarder]

it is unutterably superb. i've read it about five times.
his the nuclear age is great too.

 

[jane]

it is unutterably superb. i've read it about five times.
his the nuclear age is great too.

I just picked that up second-hand, and it's sitting in my book dugout with a load of other deadly books.

I also love that Tim O'Brien wears a Red Sox cap. Yay! I don't want to spoil The Things They Carried for anyone, but that particular incident in the middle, with the accidentally camping in an unsuitable place, it's still haunting me. I think it will have permanent effects on my psyche. It's so difficult to read, and so upsetting, but one of the most powerful things I've ever read.

 

[magicbastarder]

i've lent that book to about ten people. two of them read it in a single sitting.

 

[magicbastarder]

i never knew this:
The story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" was made into a film in 1998, entitled A Soldier's Sweetheart and starring Kiefer Sutherland.

from wikipedia.

 

[jane]

i never knew this:
The story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" was made into a film in 1998, entitled A Soldier's Sweetheart and starring Kiefer Sutherland.

from wikipedia.

Whoa! I would be wary of seeing it because, I dunno, the book is just so amazing.

ACK! I want to read it again RIGHT NOW. The only reason I didn't read it in a single sitting is that I didn't want it to be over, and it's one of the few books I've ever read that I wished were about twice as long as it is.

 

[Dromed]

London Fields by Martin Amis and Papillion by Henri Charrier...both great reads..|..|

 

[david jatt]

"A prayer for Owen Meaney" by John Irving or "Mr Vertigo" by Paul Auster.

 

[P. Littbarski]

get yourself a copy of 'oryx and crake' by margaret atwood (who is an amazing writer...can't believe i have only heard of here recently). it's about a society that has completely collapsed and is a great read.

can also recommend 'the road' by cormac mccarthy, a story about a man and his son travelling across post nuclear america. it's a good, quick read and i enjoyed it. I picked it up on a whim as it got a lot of publicity recently due to it winning the Pulitzer. I will definitely check out some of his other books.

thumbs up to dystopia in literature !

 

[bogmanfan]

Some of my faves that I recommend to people. Usually they like 'em.

Woody Allen - Complete Prose. Wear a nappy, you'll piss your pants laughing.
Dave Eggers - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
Gene Brewer - K-PAX.

Also, as someone mentioned earlier, Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and pretty much anything by TC Boyle or Paul Auster.

 

[jane]

They aren't fiction, but Augusten Burroughs's Running With Scissors is fucking funny. A bit like David Sedaris but with slightly more gravity, in a way. Also, David Sedaris. Oh lord, he's fucking hilarious.

 

[MDR]

Woody Allen - Complete Prose. Wear a nappy, you'll piss your pants laughing.

Woody Allen has a new book out. It has got mixed reviews but i reckon I'll buy it at some stage.

 

[killy kill]

James Ellroy-american tabloid
James lee Burke-burning angel
Also anything by Jim Thompson

man, thats a lot of jameseseseses

 

[david jatt]

Woody Allen has a new book out. It has got mixed reviews but i reckon I'll buy it at some stage.

Its not bad. whatever about the quality of humour at times, he is an excellent writer.

 

[david jatt]

get yourself a copy of 'oryx and crake' by margaret atwood (who is an amazing writer...can't believe i have only heard of here recently). it's about a society that has completely collapsed and is a great read.

I recently read "The Handmaids tale" and it put me off reading anything else by Margaret Atwood.

 

[Daisy's Dukes]

Hmmm, I didn't think Shantaram was that great. Its an interesting story alright but I don't think its that well written. Also, I began to wonder how much was fact and how much was fiction.

I must recommend 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay' by Michael Chabon. Its just a gorgeous story and so well written, if let down only slightly by a slightly less interesting second half.