I was just reading an article on the BBC website regarding books, and in particular a survey of 'Books you should read before you die'. According to this survey 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is the book which everyone should read.
http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4762542.stm
Now personally I was a self confessed bookworm when I was at school. I used to go down the library after school nearly every other night and just read, but not really fiction. I have read a few novels but nowhere near as many other non fiction books I have borrowed. I did read every Dr.Who novel in the library at Worcester oops and The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy roll
I was thinking of a book which I thought I could recommend and to be honest I dont know if I can think of anything? oops I could be pretentious and say Ulysees or The Catcher In The Rye or something like that but why lie and try to sound intellectual?
'To thine own self be true?' wink
So I'm going to put it out there for you lot...... idea
What would you think is the best book/books youve ever read? Is it a modern classic or a Mills & Boon?
If there's a title that catches my eye I might get it from Borders....... idea
I'm going there to get 'Life, The Universe And Everything' Anyway....... wink
(Well that and read the Marvel Comics stuff, imported newspapers, sports mags and look at the music section.... roll wink )
Is there any book you would stay away from ?
Two books fall into that category for me, both of the horror genre.
1) Pet Semetary by Stephen King
2) The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
Once I pick either of these up I can't rest until they are finished.
Debs x smile
Oooh....
The Catcher in the Rye is a great read.
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski is superb.
I also rate The Collector by John Fowles, Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.
Those are just the ones off the top of my head that I particularly enjoyed.
To Kill a Mockingbird really is a damn good book isn't it? It's almost cliche to point to books like 1984, The Importance of Being Earnest, Pigs Might Fly or A Christmas Carol - but they are really really good. More modern stuff like John Berger's Pig Earth floated my boat too. My favorite non- fiction book of all time is The American Language by H L Mencken. That's a great look at the differences between US and UK English.
Or I'd go with this one...
I often recommend
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer - US WW2 solidiers fighting each other and the Japs - is a very powerful book about what its like to be a soldier on acitive combat.
My favourite author that nobodies ever heard of is Willard Price. He's like a a cross between Richard Attenborough and Enid Blighton - I think his books (AMAZON ADVENTURE/JUNGLE ADVENTURE/TIGER ADVENTURE/20 OTHER ADVEUNTURES) were a thrilling way to learn about wild animals. I never forgot them but never encountered anyone else who read them. They may have lost their edge as they were written in the 50 and 60s
Anyone know what I'm talking about?
My favourite author that nobodies ever heard of is Willard Price. He's like a a cross between Richard Attenborough and Enid Blighton - I think his books (AMAZON ADVENTURE/JUNGLE ADVENTURE/TIGER ADVENTURE/20 OTHER ADVEUNTURES) were a thrilling way to learn about wild animals. I never forgot them but never encountered anyone else who read them. They may have lost their edge as they were written in the 50 and 60s
Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Oh yes, I loved those and read all of them as a kid. I still have a copy of "elephant adventure".
The book that has had most impact on me is Night by Elie Wiesel. I first read it many years ago and have reread it often. I read the Diary of Anne Frank as a child and feel in some ways as though this was my adult sequal. A verypowerful and thought provoking read.........................other than that I usually read trashy easy to read junk and can't remember half of the titles or the authors either lol
My favourite author that nobodies ever heard of is Willard Price. He's like a a cross between Richard Attenborough and Enid Blighton - I think his books (AMAZON ADVENTURE/JUNGLE ADVENTURE/TIGER ADVENTURE/20 OTHER ADVEUNTURES) were a thrilling way to learn about wild animals. I never forgot them but never encountered anyone else who read them. They may have lost their edge as they were written in the 50 and 60s
Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Oh yes, I loved those and read all of them as a kid. I still have a copy of "elephant adventure".
http://mattrubinstein.com.au/?p=78#comments
A trip down memory lane for you..it takes me all back....DId you know Mr Price also wrote 'The Negro Around the World' - can't say I sae that one in the Penge Library.. :???:
I think my most read novel would be A Scanner Darkly, by Phillip K Dick. I'd been reading his novels because i was into science fiction, but this isn't really sf at all, its a very moving account of drug dependency and mental illness.
Another favourite, well a couple actually, would be Steinbecks Travels with Charlie, wherein the famous literary hellraiser drives across the US to the west coast then down through the south west into texas and new orleans, accompanied by his dog, Charlie. Its an honest account of unseen places and everyday people, their lives and their prejudices.
The second is also a travelogue, but this ones Henry Millers Collossus of Maroussi. After reading Millers Tropical books this was quite a pleasant surprise, its an account of his extended stay in greece just before WWII, and is another excellent read.
I like reading autobiographies, highly reccomended would be The Kenneth Williams diaries or, if you can find it, the Klaus Kinski autobiography. that ones just insane, i can't remember what its called but its a deeply humourous, if not utterly demented read.
On the history side "Dreadnought" by Massie. Everything you vere wanted to know about Edwardian Europe and its plunge into the Great War. Very well written and easy to read.
Pratchett can be hit or miss but "Going Postal" is one of my favourites as well as "Pyramids" and "Guards, Guards".
The Molesworth books by Willans and Searle still have me in stitches. I got my first, "Back in the Jug Agane" when I was 11. It was funny then (when I didn't understand half of it) and hilarious now. Their take on an 11 year old boys view of Xmas will have you clutching yore (sorry) side in laughter.
Deighton nearly always does a good spy story. I just picked up Faith, Hope and Charity the last 3 in the Bernard Sampson books and so far a cracking good read.
I searched for the book "Escape from Sobibor" by Richard Rashke after I saw the TV movie in the early 90's, to see if it had been accurate and finally got a copy through Amazon a few years ago.
The book turned out to be a fascinating read about a Nazi death camp in Poland which was little known, due to it being razed as the Soviets advanced and all but 3 documents destroyed. Approximately 250,000 Jews were gassed there and as it had no satellite work camps, it was easily concealed towards the end of the war.
Although camps like Treblinka and Auschwitz are much better known even today, Sobibor was the only camp that had a successful prisoner revolt where the Jews attacked and killed several SS guards and staged a mass breakout. It contains lots of details of camp life, the planning of the escape and details of what survivors did after the breakout and in modern day (like hunting down the most hated guard there who had been away on the day of the breakout!)
I found it to be a truly fascinating read.
Greatest comic book ever Alan Moore's run on Miracleman. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll see London torn to shreds.
Other modern classics Fight Club, Generation X and Imajica.
Clive Barker used to write such great stuff and then he went all mental (
Of course every Brit should have or should read the "Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell.
West with the Night by Beryl Markham. Whether you believe she wrote it, or her hubby did, its still a beautifully written book.
Just read The Oath A Surgeon Under Fire by Khassan Baiev. Fascinating and puts a very different perspective on Chechnya than the one Putin would like us to believe.
Also Escape from Slavery by Francis Bok. Appalling that such slavery still exists in this day and age. Man's inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze.
Current book is Pamela Anderson's quest to follow Robert Louis & Fanny Stevenson through the islands of the Pacific - Treasure Islands. A great read, and a great escape from the WI winter. She writes really well and has a wonderful ability to express herself.
The book that I've read most is a sort of medieval romance, written for the young. for some reason, i found it very soothing and it became a haven from troubles of the mind. It's called "The Woods OF Windri", I can't find it to get the author.
Two of the funniest books I've read are Ludlum's Road to Gandolpho" and "Road to Omaha"
As an adult, i've gone back to Azimov's Foundation trilogy and some of the further books in the series
I recommend Stuart Kaminski's Liebermann series and his Portfiry Rostikov series for crime stories that develope the characters.