The Book Thread

[nightprowler10]

The classics thing rings true IMO. Re-read HoD and One Hundred Years of Solitude (one of my all time favs) recently and really enjoyed them both.

Ste, out of the ones in your collection I'd really recommend 1984 more than anything. Gave me nightmares. I've also heard Clockwork Orange and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas are very well written books as well.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

I have read 1984. One of my all time favourites. I don't own it though.

 

[drainpipe32]

1984 is a fantastic novel, can't wait till we study it for Literature next semester.

If you haven't read Frankenstein you must, absolutely great book. People can't talk about classics without Frankenstein.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

finished it last night, in fact! Love it although I have one minor gripe with it.

The overuse of the the word "Ardour" or it's derivations such as "Ardently"

yes it's quite a nice word, but in a 214 page book it should not be used about 80 odd times. I got to the point were I was letting out screams of anguish whenever it popped up again.

Although this little passage more than makes up for it:

"A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquillity"

As a stand alone idea it really appeals to me, but in the context of the novel it is fantastically demonstrated.

 

[drainpipe32]

It's a brilliant read, quite an eye opener to pure literature. Some of the crap they post these days is just so bland in comparison.

 

[pcfan123]

I have read 1984. One of my all time favourites. I don't own it though.

Brave New World ftw

 

[sohum]

Anyone likes John Grisham?

I try to keep up with his latest stuff. Some of his old stuff was really good, though, at least compared with the new ones. The Rainmaker is probably my favourite Grisham novel.

 

[Chewie]

My favourite author was Michael Crichton. It's sucks that there won't be any new books by him

 

[shravi]

Yeah, we read Heart of Darkness back in the day as well; it was part of our colonialism unit (I think we also read Passage to India and a couple of other books). HoD, though, is a very hard book to read. I haven't looked at it since, but we did read it in HS and even then it was just so compressed--it's less than 100 pages IIRC.

My God, I hate HoD. Everything is a metaphor or symbol for something else...

 

[BKB1991]

I try to keep up with his latest stuff. Some of his old stuff was really good, though, at least compared with the new ones. The Rainmaker is probably my favourite Grisham novel.

I got really hooked up with The Firm. Very thrilling and exciting. Atm I am reading The Broker which isnt as exciting tbh.

Most of the film adaptations of his movies has been crap.

 

[Varun]

I am addicted to Goosebumps books. I have read about 10-12 of them.
I had also read Agatha Christie's "They do it with Mirrors" a month ago.
fabolous, I would say.
Can anyone recommend another good Agatha Christie book ?

 

[Meet]

I have just read 1 Goosebump.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

Brave New World ftw

that's great as well, but it's no 1984.

I'd recommend The Island by Huxley as well, it's sort of a counterpoint to brave new world.

ste_mc_efc added 14 Minutes and 11 Seconds later...

It's a brilliant read, quite an eye opener to pure literature. Some of the crap they post these days is just so bland in comparison.

I don't read many modern books - there are established classics there that have been good enough to remain popular for centuries. Plus it's cheaper to buy older books.

I just love how terrifying it is, the features of the monster aren't described, just a few general points, his build and a description of Frankenstein's fear, coupled with your own imagination can fabricate a monster far more terrifying that anyone could describe.

Although due to popular culture everyone has an idea of what the monster looks like before reading the book, i actively tried to forget that cliche, my monster was a lot more human looking.

 

[sohum]

My favourite author was Michael Crichton. It's sucks that there won't be any new books by him

He did have a post-humous publication called Pirate Latitudes. It's a lot different from his other books and took me a while to get into but by the end I was reading it quite feverishly!

 

[Chewie]

That's one of his books that I have yet to read, I'm waiting for it to come out in a smaller copy cos it'll probably be cheaper I prefer his technological-thrillers though.