#1 November 25th, 2005 03:36 PM

fi

Administrator

recommended reading

What with all the lists we're making around here recently the place is beginning to look like McSweeney's. I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and ask y'all who your favourite authors are.  I know a lot of the artists here put a bit of thought into their profile entries, and I'm always quietly chuffed to see someone who likes a bit of Kurt Vonnegut. I love my rock'n'roll but I'm one of those multi-stimuli people who has to be listening to a record, reading a book and stuffing my face at the same time.

Five authors who never fail me:

1. Dave Eggers
2. Kurt Vonnegut
3. Gabriel García Márquez
4. Alan Lightman
5. Umberto Eco

and speaking of one-handed reading material...

Who do you reckon writes the best dirty fiction? I'm not talking specifically about authors who dedicate themselves to the cause, but maybe there's a story you've read that really got your imagination as hard as your ... other bits.  I came late to reading dirty books (all puns intended), all that was on offer at my nun-run high school was Clan of the Cave bear.  I think reading through 10 centimetres of Jean M Auel was probably apt punishment for any teenage girl looking for smut. But since then I'd have to say the best description of fucking I've ever come across was García Márquez in "Love in a time of Cholera".  The guy just knows how to do sensual.

Got any good ones?

I went hunting for some cute ISM bookworms, and look who I found!  Two of my favorite contributors ever, Merricat & Rouge.  Oh, and if you want to know who those spunky feet belong to, stick around.

jdudley76

Member

Re: recommended reading

Hmm, so hard to narrow this down to a list like this, because there's just so much good stuff out there. I love to read, even to the point it might be concidered a flaw (since I currently work in a library, and have a difficult time getting much work done.)

I do like Kurt Vonnegut quite a bit. My sister recently found a book written by someone using the pen name "Kelgore Trout", and said it was actually a very bad book, which I found histarically funny. (For those non-Vonnegut fans, Trout is a Vonnegut character who is a bad writer).

Anyway, I also wanted to say, I always find bookworm folios particularly erotic. Maybe it's just me though. ;o)

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"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."   - George W. Bush, as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

SCSIgirl

Member

Re: recommended reading

What with all the lists we're making around here recently the place is beginning to look like McSweeney's. I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and ask y'all who your favourite authors are.   
>>>  snipped for brevity <<<
.

Since I tend to be a technical reader,  my list is short and easy.

I would evoke Hemmingway,  but the Old Man is the only work I would consider.  His romances are well, .....  romances.

My absolute fav book, read more times than I can count is Catch-22.  But it is Heller's ONLY work worth mentioning.  He Bombed Everywhere else.

Arthur C Clark will always turn in an interesting story.  So will JD Salinger.

I consider anyone who writes a good story, an author.  So in that vein I would nominate Paddy Chayefsky, Robert Bolt, And Rod Serling,  all scriptwriters.

Forsooth: Let me forget not the Bard.

And don't let me forget that demur, shy, softspoken man who did not write at all,  but is one of the greatest observers and commenters on the human condition, Gary Larsen.

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"Apple of my Eye", "bated breath", "brave new world", "caught red-handed" - all coined by Shakespeare.

Belgareth

Member

Re: recommended reading

Since I tend to be a technical reader,  my list is short and easy.

I would evoke Hemmingway,  but the Old Man is the only work I would consider.  His romances are well, .....  romances.

My absolute fav book, read more times than I can count is Catch-22.  But it is Heller's ONLY work worth mentioning.  He Bombed Everywhere else.

Arthur C Clark will always turn in an interesting story.  So will JD Salinger.

I consider anyone who writes a good story, an author.  So in that vein I would nominate Paddy Chayefsky, Robert Bolt, And Rod Serling,  all scriptwriters.

Forsooth: Let me forget not the Bard.

And don't let me forget that demur, shy, softspoken man who did not write at all,  but is one of the greatest observers and commenters on the human condition, Gary Larsen.

I seem to recollect going round a similar loop to this one quite a few months ago, when the subject author was Robert Heinlein.

Nevertheless, it is still impossible for me to choose a one, or even five truly favourite authors. My reading ranges through the scifi works of Issac Azimov, Robert Heinlein, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Arthur C Clarke and John Windham, the political works of Cervantes and Moliere, to the non-fiction of Thor Heyerdahl, Bill Bryson, Stephen Hawking and David Attenborough. There are also numerous stage play I have read and performed by Shakespeare, again Moliere, George Bernard Shaw, Ray Cooney and many others. Finally, there is the subtle wit and sarcasm of the musicals by Gilbert and Sullivan.

I have decided that the works of Terry Prachett, whilst clever in their word play and situation, are not high on my list of preferred reading.

I guess I'm just going to keep buying, reading and enjoying books, for as long as I can find space for them.

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wantingscott

Member

Re: recommended reading

hi all,
i'd reccommend 3 books by Donald Antrim: "The Verificationist", "Elect Mr Robinson for a Better World" and "The Hundred Brothers".  the novels are modern absurdist liturature at it's finest.

also, "Ghostwritten" by David Mitchell is a novel that spans decades of oriental culture, written in a style straight out of dream-logic at points. i'd consider it a must-read.

Scott

btw- I grew up on Stephen King. "Skeleton Crew" is still one of my favorites...  the short-story "The Raft" in particular.   And Aurthur C. Clarke- what was the name of his short-story collection with "The 10 Billion Names of God" and the story of the one-sided planet that had the wall wrapped around it? That was brilliant. I read that when I was 11, before that i stuck mostly to MAD Magazine...

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_________________________________________________
that's the way it goes. but don't forget, it goes the other way too.

catt

Member

Re: recommended reading

hi all,
i'd reccommend 3 books by Donald Antrim: "The Verificationist", "Elect Mr Robinson for a Better World" and "The Hundred Brothers".  the novels are modern absurdist liturature at it's finest.

also, "Ghostwritten" by David Mitchell is a novel that spans decades of oriental culture, written in a style straight out of dream-logic at points. i'd consider it a must-read.

Scott

btw- I grew up on Stephen King. "Skeleton Crew" is still one of my favorites...  the short-story "The Raft" in particular.   And Aurthur C. Clarke- what was the name of his short-story collection with "The 10 Billion Names of God" and the story of the one-sided planet that had the wall wrapped around it? That was brilliant. I read that when I was 11, before that i stuck mostly to MAD Magazine...

I love The Raft - it still creeps me out (like The Mist, and The Long Walk).

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the beauty of simplicity is the complexity it attracts.

jdudley76

Member

Re: recommended reading

Arthur C Clark will always turn in an interesting story.  So will JD Salinger.

I love Arthur C Clark too. I haven't been able to bring myself to read anymore Salinger though, ever since I read "Catcher in the Rye" in high school. I know I maybe the only person in the world that didn't like that book, but Holden irritated me to no end, and I came to hate that book with a passion.

Sorry for the negativity. Now on to something more positive: for all the sci-fi fans out there, I'd recommend reading "The First Immortal" by James Halprin

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"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."   - George W. Bush, as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

blissed

Member

Re: recommended reading

I'm a bit of a hieratic in this thread, as the only 2 books I've ever read are the first 2 Harry potter.  I read the beginnings of a few novels but I prefer reading and writing vignettes and short stories. Science fiction that's an intelligent exploration of the probable is definitely a fav.  not many of those make it to film though. Which is a shame. I know I'm probably missing out on some good stuff. Perhaps if they put pictures in them that might hold my attention.

centrevom

Member

Re: recommended reading

Whenever we get onto books, it becomes apparent that members of ISM (well, contributors to the forum) are to a disproportionate extent fans of science fiction.  So am I.  But I wonder how that comes about.  Is there some link between love of naked women and sci-fi?  I can think of a few tenuous ones, but I'd like to read other views first.

fi

Administrator

Re: recommended reading

Whenever we get onto books, it becomes apparent that members of ISM (well, contributors to the forum) are to a disproportionate extent fans of science fiction.  So am I.  But I wonder how that comes about.  Is there some link between love of naked women and sci-fi?  I can think of a few tenuous ones, but I'd like to read other views first.

hahahaha. 

it's a very small leap from saucy Vulcans in lycra unitards to naked ladies.

blissed

Member

Re: recommended reading

Sci fi  is about thinking about the possibilities of the future. The more successfully people can model the future the better they are at taking decisions that effect them.
Most horny sites are dumb (see lightspeed) and this one has quite an intelligent approach. If you have an active mind your going to post. So I think it's a mixture of practical intelligence and where the site is pitched (that includes the site design) nosing from porn into art and stuff that's cool.

The Vulcans don't do it for me. Give me Seven of nines Borg implants any day

catt

Member

Re: recommended reading

I love Arthur C Clark too. I haven't been able to bring myself to read anymore Salinger though, ever since I read "Catcher in the Rye" in high school. I know I maybe the only person in the world that didn't like that book, but Holden irritated me to no end, and I came to hate that book with a passion.

Sorry for the negativity. Now on to something more positive: for all the sci-fi fans out there, I'd recommend reading "The First Immortal" by James Halprin

I'm usually really not into sci-fi (literature), but I read Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17 a few years back and it knocked my socks off.  Has anyone else read this book/any of his works?

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the beauty of simplicity is the complexity it attracts.

catt

Member

Re: recommended reading

Is there some link between love of naked women and sci-fi?

The probability of waking up next to a hot ISM girl is of the same liklihood as being shot into space at warp speed? *S*

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the beauty of simplicity is the complexity it attracts.

fi

Administrator

Re: recommended reading

My sister recently found a book written by someone using the pen name "Kelgore Trout", and said it was actually a very bad book, which I found histarically funny. (For those non-Vonnegut fans, Trout is a Vonnegut character who is a bad writer).

that is awesome.  I'd KILL to find a Kilgore Trout novel.

My absolute fav book, read more times than I can count is Catch-22.  But it is Heller's ONLY work worth mentioning.  He Bombed Everywhere else.

Love the book, couldn't get into the movie.  Actually, I quite liked 'Something Happened' too - it just suffers from a classic case of Difficult Second Novel given how much genius Catch-22 was.

And don't let me forget that demur, shy, softspoken man who did not write at all,  but is one of the greatest observers and commenters on the human condition, Gary Larsen.

yeah he does a good line in talking amoeba and philosphical cow.

mikhaill

Member

Re: recommended reading

Is there some link between love of naked women and sci-fi?

Well, I used to read more sci-fi than I do now, but for some years one of my regularly read authors has been Iain Banks. He started off as an author of novels (not sf), with the mighty "Wasp Factory", and many great books since ("The Bridge", "Complicity", "Whit" and more).

As Iain M. Banks, however, he has a nice line in science fiction books, many of which share a somewhat common "future history", being about what he calls The Culture. One of the most fascinating visions of the future I've encountered.

And he has this great skill, whatever he's writing, to write characters that you feel like you know, somehow.

And if Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titans" counts as sci-fi, then, yes, I've read Vonnegut sci-fi too

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Witty one-liner encapsulating powerful insight.

SCSIgirl

Member

Re: recommended reading

[QUOTE=fi]

Love the book, couldn't get into the movie.  Actually, I quite liked 'Something Happened' too - it just suffers from a classic case of Difficult Second Novel given how much genius Catch-22 was.
QUOTE]

Yea,  the movie was a bomb although many people loved it.  When they first announced the making of it,  I thought,  "just to make money".  There was no way to to take the 'form of presentation' of the book and make the linear time-line a movie would require.

The same is true of "Old Man And The Sea".  The movie had unnecessary sub-plots added to fill time and try and keep interest up.

And while I'm gripeing,  I really get annoyed when they put things into a movie that only the book readers would understand.  The Godfather was a great movie with outstanding performances,  but a couple of scenes made no sense except to the readers of the book.  I believe a movie should stand on it's own story or interpretation of a story.  Don't add things that are unexplained or confusing.

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"Apple of my Eye", "bated breath", "brave new world", "caught red-handed" - all coined by Shakespeare.

blissed

Member

Re: recommended reading

Short stories are much easier to make into movies, like I Robot. Most novels really need at least a 6 part TV series. Though now that much smaller budgets are needed for Sci fi, there might be a lot more good novels coming to film, with less commercial pressure to change them. I think it's much more enjoyable to make a movie based on the central idea of a book, then you've got more room for your own creativity.

centrevom

Member

Re: recommended reading

[QUOTE=blissed]Short stories are much easier to make into movies, like I Robot. Most novels really need at least a 6 part TV series. QUOTE]

I so agree with you.  The natural length of a short story and the natural length of a standard movie are much the same.  The greatest adaptations of novels have always been on TV, with a total running time of 6, or 8, or 12 hours.

jdudley76

Member

Re: recommended reading

Yea,  the movie was a bomb although many people loved it.  When they first announced the making of it,  I thought,  "just to make money".  There was no way to to take the 'form of presentation' of the book and make the linear time-line a movie would require.

When I was in high school, we watched Catch-22 in English class instead of reading it. At the time I was happy about it, because it cut back on my work load, but later when I read the book, I realized how much of a shame it was we didn't read it in class.

And while I'm gripeing,  I really get annoyed when they put things into a movie that only the book readers would understand.  The Godfather was a great movie with outstanding performances,  but a couple of scenes made no sense except to the readers of the book.  I believe a movie should stand on it's own story or interpretation of a story.  Don't add things that are unexplained or confusing.

I'd make an exception here for Harry Potter. I wouldn't mind seeing the books made as super-long movies, but if they have to be made at traditional movie length, I think they did a superb job, particularly with 3 and 4. The part at the beginning of 3, where Harry is at his aunt and uncle's hiding under the sheets of his bed, playing with his wand, hopeing to god he doesn't get caught is priceless. I think the vast majority of the people who go to see these movies have read the books anyway, so not many people are missing out on the stuff that must get cut.

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"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."   - George W. Bush, as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

blissed

Member

Re: recommended reading

I think that's true, and there I can comment, as there're the only 2 books I've ever read to the end   J K Rowling didn't need the money, so she commanded respect, had a big veto on just about everything, and worked closely with the screenwriter, Steve Kloves. Though he's not working on order of the Phoenix, he is working on the final film. So it'll be  interesting to see how Phoenix turns out. It's commercial insecurity that ruins films. You can't try and give people what they want, because they don't know what they want. They just want to be surprised and delighted. So I think that's it. If you don't respect the author, don't even think about making the film.

pluto58

Member

Re: recommended reading

i think about this one a lot- and rarely read a book i don't like but; the must haves are:

the wind up bird chronicles- Haruku Murakami
empire falls- richard russo
the count of monte chriso-  alexander dumas
memories of the ant proof case- mark helperin
jane eyre- charlotte bronte
jane eyre affair- jasper fford- (especially if u liked the book)
indepedence day- richard ford
a widow for a year- john irving

my recent reading;
youth in revolt- cd payne- a modern ferris bueller

my current read;
jitterbug perfume- tom robbins- a classic robbins

pia

Member

Re: recommended reading

like this thread

I LOVE Haruki Murakami!  I haven't read The Wind Up Bird Chronicles yet but my cousin was just recomending it to me two days ago .. so with this second recomendation it is now high on my list of books to read .. Jitterbug perfume is also on my list .. although I think I need to make sure that I dont OD on Tom Robbins - at the moment I am reading Another Roadside Attraction which is ok but not my favourite of his books (my favourite so far is Skinny legs and all .. and Still Life With Woodpecker and Even Cowgirls Get The Blues). I also LOve Kurt Vonneguts writing, although I only discovered him last year when I found some old books by the side of the road and amongst them were Slapstick or Lonesome No More and Breakfast of Champions, great books and about time I read more (any recomendations fi?) I have Catch 22 sitting on my book shelf and I have attempted to read it so many times .. but never really got into it .. which surprises me because so many people i know really love it .. maybe i'm not reading it right i dunno. ummm yeah and Harry Potter .. I was resistant at first because all the hype really annoyed me .. but i was staying with my family one week and my little brother said "pia, trust me you will really like it - I promise" and he looked so sincere and serious that I said ok i'd read it just for him .. and he was right I did really like it.

Five authors who never fail me:

1. Dave Eggers
2. Kurt Vonnegut
3. Gabriel García Márquez
4. Alan Lightman
5. Umberto Eco

I'll have to check these authors out, apart from Vonnegut I am unfamiliar with all of them  .. but i reckon that you have good taste fi .. well i'll see anyway.

I'm a bit of a hieratic in this thread, as the only 2 books I've ever read are the first 2 Harry potter. I read the beginnings of a few novels but I prefer reading and writing vignettes and short stories. Science fiction that's an intelligent exploration of the probable is definitely a fav. not many of those make it to film though. Which is a shame. I know I'm probably missing out on some good stuff. Perhaps if they put pictures in them that might hold my attention.

Gosh how can you have gotten this far and only have read 2 books? Didn't you have to read any books at school? It reminds me of my sister who only read her first novel when she was about 13 and I couldn't understand it at all .. I used to read 3 books at once, I'd always have one in my school bag, one next to my bed and one at school .. and she just didn't like reading.. which was xtra strange because we grew up without television so what else was there to entertain ourselves with .. I think now at 22 she still doesn't really like reading books much. I feel like reading is so important for so many reasons .. as well as being entertaining and giving us a temporary escape from our sometimes mundane lives, reading a novel allows us to get into the minds of other people in different times, places and circumstances, it widens our perceptions of life and can give us perspective that we otherwise may not be privy to.

fi

Administrator

Re: recommended reading

LOve Kurt Vonneguts writing, although I only discovered him last year when I found some old books by the side of the road and amongst them were Slapstick or Lonesome No More and Breakfast of Champions, great books and about time I read more (any recomendations fi?)

yeah Murakami is a dude.  he does a good line in Fat books and I'm currently trying to finish 'Kafka on the Shore'.  If you want to find some more KV I'd recommend God Bless you Mr Rosewater as a good starting point.

I have Catch 22 sitting on my book shelf and I have attempted to read it so many times .. but never really got into it ..

I read the chapter about Major Major Major Major about five times before realising I was stuck on loop.  I think it just works that way sometimes.  Don't give up, it's a fucking ace read.

and Harry Potter .. I was resistant at first because all the hype really annoyed me .. but i was staying with my family one week and my little brother said "pia, trust me you will really like it - I promise" and he looked so sincere and serious that I said ok i'd read it just for him .. and he was right I did really like it.

what's not to like about boys pulling out their wands? 

I'll have to check these authors out, apart from Vonnegut I am unfamiliar with all of them  .. but i reckon that you have good taste fi .. well i'll see anyway.

And I'm modest too.

gala

Member

Re: recommended reading

i recommend michael chabon and david sedaris, since neither are getting much play here.

mikhaill

Member

Re: recommended reading

david sedaris

Me will talk pretty one day, me swears!

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Witty one-liner encapsulating powerful insight.