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Recommend one to the world!
- Thread starter Wabbit
- Start date
RitalinKid
New Member
marlasinger, GG&S is a book that left me feeling a lot smarter. It does drag in some places, but it's full of insight into how our world came to be how it is today. I'm about 100 pages into the 3rd Chimp, and so far I like GG&S better, mainly because the 3rd Chimp has to rely more on educated speculation this far into the book, but it's just as entertaining and thought provoking.
Marla, tell Tyler Durden hi for me. Loved Fight Club, an instant classic for me.
Marla, tell Tyler Durden hi for me. Loved Fight Club, an instant classic for me.
Michigan
kickbox
I know this is going to sound stupidly like anyone my age but I'd recommend John Marsden, for adolescents. Maybe some adults. The Tomorrow series got heaps of teens to read, which is an important bunch. He's a great writer and teacher and his books are excellent, modern and truer to teenagers than most. He makes you laugh, he makes you cry... well I can imagine, someone who actually cries reading books. I never do. Or movies. Anyway, that's my recommendation, to people my own age at least.
Mouse
New Member
Oh Yes - Poe is brilliant. The Conqueror Worm is my favourite poem.
"Out-out are the lights-out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with a rush of a storm,
And the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the Tragedy "Man",
And its hero the Conqueror Worm."
"Out-out are the lights-out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with a rush of a storm,
And the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the Tragedy "Man",
And its hero the Conqueror Worm."
True@1stLight
New Member
hmm.....I"m going to go ahead and second the recommendation for Borges for his ability to trick the reader. He successfully forces you into a confused state of thought if you try to understand him literally. I enjoy that he couldn't care less about plot and characters, yet manages to keep your interest. It's a nice diversion from the majority of literature that primarily focuses on these aspects to hold your attention, but do it for absolutely no purpose.
Drizzt Do'Urden
New Member
I'd say RA Salvatore, but he's not for everybody, so I'd reccomend Meg cabot. Brialliant Story Line and shows alot of Top Writing Skills. She writes the Princess Doaries novels, which aren't the ones I love, but still good. She writ one of my favourite books "haunted". she used to go by the name "Jenny Carrol" in which she writ numerous other books. "haunted" and the Jenny Carrol books are sci-fi, in a sence. It doesn't involve that much sci-fi, but it has elements in which you couldn't call fiction, so I guess its a Science fiction-Fiction? lol
Vorian
Member
i would have to second Cathy_C, Isaac Asimov has ben an inspiration for absolutely loads of authors.
but as she has already called him i'd have to say...
Melanie Rawn - because her books are just full of strength and emotion
Anne MacCaffrey - becuase she was the first author to make me cry and the depth of some of her books is astounding
Harry Turtledove - his alternative history books are facinating in their approach to haw the world would be different if only for some small and some huge changes.
but as she has already called him i'd have to say...
Melanie Rawn - because her books are just full of strength and emotion
Anne MacCaffrey - becuase she was the first author to make me cry and the depth of some of her books is astounding
Harry Turtledove - his alternative history books are facinating in their approach to haw the world would be different if only for some small and some huge changes.
honeydevil
Active Member
Hate me, but i say for a "girly" book... Susan Elizabeth Phillips, because her books are romantic and sweet, and i laught every time so hard, that i fall almost out of my bed!!
yes and anyway, i like Nicolas Sparks, too, also romantic and really really sad!! if you search for a book to cry try " walk to remember"!!
bye
yes and anyway, i like Nicolas Sparks, too, also romantic and really really sad!! if you search for a book to cry try " walk to remember"!!
bye
StillILearn
New Member
What about A. S. Byatt?
I've read "Possession" more than once. (The movie was dreadful; if I were
A. S. Byatt, I'd still be screaming into my pillow.)
I've read "Possession" more than once. (The movie was dreadful; if I were
A. S. Byatt, I'd still be screaming into my pillow.)
StillILearn
New Member
Philip Maitland Hubbard!
I almost forgot this man! He's been gone for years now, and probably not many of you will have heard of him, but check your local library -- you will thank me for this one. (His books almost certainly have gone out of print, but my library still has thirteen of them on their shelves.)
P. M. Hubbard
Trust me.
And let me know what you think!
I almost forgot this man! He's been gone for years now, and probably not many of you will have heard of him, but check your local library -- you will thank me for this one. (His books almost certainly have gone out of print, but my library still has thirteen of them on their shelves.)
P. M. Hubbard
Trust me.
And let me know what you think!
From his website: (not sure whether it is ok to make this copy-paste thing.)
P. M. (Philip Maitland) Hubbard (1910-80)
Gothic Mysteries
The Gothic novel is much older than the detective story, although there has always been an amount of mystery in the genre. P.M. Hubbard did not have a series detective -- in fact he rarely had a detective in the true sense at all, although his protagonists often made deductions -- but his books can be classified as mystery novels with a large admixture of the 'Gothic', always involving greed, passion, and homicide as well as grotesque horror, a tried and true amalgamation that has always been a sub-genre of mystery fiction. His greatest skill was in startling the reader by throwing in a sudden shock in the midst of some clean, straightforward prose (much like LeFanu and Richard Hughes, for example):
"I cannot stand dead and broken things...." [A Hive of Glass]
Note, as an aside, the narrator's basic indifference to the fate of poor Levinson, but rather an egoistic reaction as to how he was affected -- most of Hubbard's protagonists are basically amoral and self-centered. Another of Hubbard's characteristics is a great skill in describing an outré environment, usually involving an unpleasant landscape with mud, overgrown trees, and rotting smells. In fact, he overdoes that as one will find on a marathon read -- one can only take so much of stinking tidal mud-flats bordered by a sinister wood. And he tends to be depressing; one needs to be in the mood for that.
Hubbard himself had an interesting life: winner of the Newdigate poetry prize at Oxford, member of the Indian Civil Service for many years before independence, contributor to the magazine 'Punch', among other things (never a truck driver or cowhand, though). Definitely one of the best of the mystery writers of the 20th Century.
Although he is not strictly a detective-story writer, Hubbard was admired by critics as varied as Boucher and Barzun, and was lauded by 'mainstream' critics for his wit, clean prose style, and characterization. He counts as a 'Golden Age' author, not for when his books were written, but for when he was born, because he was a contemporary of many of the late classical mystery writers. -- Grobius 10/2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bibliography
[* superior, ** superb]
Flush As May (1963) -- A good debut based on the hoary old device of somebody out for a walk discovering a dead body, which then disappears. There is something sinister going on in this English village, built along a prehistoric ley line. Pagan survivals and a conspiracy of silence, as of course one might predict. Nicely done, though, even if so subtly that nothing seems to happen.
Picture of Millie * (1964) -- An atypical Hubbard (well-adapted characters with little malice or amorality). The story has the death by drowning at a seaside resort village (middle-class boatsmen) in the West Country of a visiting vampish woman; the men in her life here are well described. Although there is no suspicion of murder, we, as readers, of course know better. The author shows his skill at one-liners (e.g., "There couldn't be any eternal triangle with the Trents. It was more like a perpetual polygon." Also "...he saw Mr Menloe was smiling. The effect was slightly ghastly, as if the Hound of the Baskervilles had suddenly wagged its tail."). Another plus is also his fine descriptive abilities when it comes to landscapes and environment. In this case, for example, an excellent description of an excursion by fishing boat under the cliffs on a fine calm day that to the reader is actually experience. What is also intriguing is how the victim was perceived and regarded differently by the other characters, hence the title. Slow-starting, but an exciting ending, with a scary scene on the cliffs and a real surprise at the end of the book. (Unusually for this author, the protagonist is a police detective, someone we readers would have liked to meet again, who is on vacation.)
A Hive of Glass ** (1965) -- Johnnie Slade, while sybaritic as to sex and food, is an obsessed collector of antique glassware (as are his closest friends). We all know how fanatical collectors behave when they sniff out a new morsel; there is no surprise that this is what happens in this book. With a vengeance. One of the best efforts in the mystery genre on this theme, with many scenes of gruesome violence, evil and obnoxious characters, and unpleasant settings (the seaside 'village' of Grane). The female co-protagonist is an excellent example of another person driven to amoral behavior and egoism (in her case, involving greed, hatred, and a sexual penchant for older men). There is a scene when the hero, while driving the two of them down a dark road at night, hits and kills a deer being chased by a giant hound, and our dear Claudia goes after the dog with the bloody torn-off antler out of sheer wantonness. The ending, in an abandoned mine, is gruesome and exciting. Great book.
The Holm Oaks ** (1966) -- Unrelentingly creepy and depressing. There is something that will haunt you forever about the fate of the hero's wife in the dark holm oak copse behind the flat seashore, where she goes at night to hunt the wild nicticorax (a bird that sounds like someone vomiting) with her tape recorder, not knowing that their hostile neighbor has introduced a herd of feral Tamworth pigs, particularly revolting animals, into the wood. The final sentence reads: "I stumbled...along the beach, with the empty gun in my hands, full of a growing consciousness of total and intolerable loss."
The Tower (1967) --
The Country of Again * (1968) --
Cold Waters (1969) --
High Tide * (1970) --
The Dancing Man ** (1971) --
The Whisper in the Glen * (1972) --
A Rooted Sorrow (1973) --
A Thirsty Evil (1974) --
The Graveyard * (1975) --
The Causeway * (1976) --
The Quiet River (1978) --
P. M. (Philip Maitland) Hubbard (1910-80)
Gothic Mysteries
The Gothic novel is much older than the detective story, although there has always been an amount of mystery in the genre. P.M. Hubbard did not have a series detective -- in fact he rarely had a detective in the true sense at all, although his protagonists often made deductions -- but his books can be classified as mystery novels with a large admixture of the 'Gothic', always involving greed, passion, and homicide as well as grotesque horror, a tried and true amalgamation that has always been a sub-genre of mystery fiction. His greatest skill was in startling the reader by throwing in a sudden shock in the midst of some clean, straightforward prose (much like LeFanu and Richard Hughes, for example):
"I cannot stand dead and broken things...." [A Hive of Glass]
Note, as an aside, the narrator's basic indifference to the fate of poor Levinson, but rather an egoistic reaction as to how he was affected -- most of Hubbard's protagonists are basically amoral and self-centered. Another of Hubbard's characteristics is a great skill in describing an outré environment, usually involving an unpleasant landscape with mud, overgrown trees, and rotting smells. In fact, he overdoes that as one will find on a marathon read -- one can only take so much of stinking tidal mud-flats bordered by a sinister wood. And he tends to be depressing; one needs to be in the mood for that.
Hubbard himself had an interesting life: winner of the Newdigate poetry prize at Oxford, member of the Indian Civil Service for many years before independence, contributor to the magazine 'Punch', among other things (never a truck driver or cowhand, though). Definitely one of the best of the mystery writers of the 20th Century.
Although he is not strictly a detective-story writer, Hubbard was admired by critics as varied as Boucher and Barzun, and was lauded by 'mainstream' critics for his wit, clean prose style, and characterization. He counts as a 'Golden Age' author, not for when his books were written, but for when he was born, because he was a contemporary of many of the late classical mystery writers. -- Grobius 10/2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bibliography
[* superior, ** superb]
Flush As May (1963) -- A good debut based on the hoary old device of somebody out for a walk discovering a dead body, which then disappears. There is something sinister going on in this English village, built along a prehistoric ley line. Pagan survivals and a conspiracy of silence, as of course one might predict. Nicely done, though, even if so subtly that nothing seems to happen.
Picture of Millie * (1964) -- An atypical Hubbard (well-adapted characters with little malice or amorality). The story has the death by drowning at a seaside resort village (middle-class boatsmen) in the West Country of a visiting vampish woman; the men in her life here are well described. Although there is no suspicion of murder, we, as readers, of course know better. The author shows his skill at one-liners (e.g., "There couldn't be any eternal triangle with the Trents. It was more like a perpetual polygon." Also "...he saw Mr Menloe was smiling. The effect was slightly ghastly, as if the Hound of the Baskervilles had suddenly wagged its tail."). Another plus is also his fine descriptive abilities when it comes to landscapes and environment. In this case, for example, an excellent description of an excursion by fishing boat under the cliffs on a fine calm day that to the reader is actually experience. What is also intriguing is how the victim was perceived and regarded differently by the other characters, hence the title. Slow-starting, but an exciting ending, with a scary scene on the cliffs and a real surprise at the end of the book. (Unusually for this author, the protagonist is a police detective, someone we readers would have liked to meet again, who is on vacation.)
A Hive of Glass ** (1965) -- Johnnie Slade, while sybaritic as to sex and food, is an obsessed collector of antique glassware (as are his closest friends). We all know how fanatical collectors behave when they sniff out a new morsel; there is no surprise that this is what happens in this book. With a vengeance. One of the best efforts in the mystery genre on this theme, with many scenes of gruesome violence, evil and obnoxious characters, and unpleasant settings (the seaside 'village' of Grane). The female co-protagonist is an excellent example of another person driven to amoral behavior and egoism (in her case, involving greed, hatred, and a sexual penchant for older men). There is a scene when the hero, while driving the two of them down a dark road at night, hits and kills a deer being chased by a giant hound, and our dear Claudia goes after the dog with the bloody torn-off antler out of sheer wantonness. The ending, in an abandoned mine, is gruesome and exciting. Great book.
The Holm Oaks ** (1966) -- Unrelentingly creepy and depressing. There is something that will haunt you forever about the fate of the hero's wife in the dark holm oak copse behind the flat seashore, where she goes at night to hunt the wild nicticorax (a bird that sounds like someone vomiting) with her tape recorder, not knowing that their hostile neighbor has introduced a herd of feral Tamworth pigs, particularly revolting animals, into the wood. The final sentence reads: "I stumbled...along the beach, with the empty gun in my hands, full of a growing consciousness of total and intolerable loss."
The Tower (1967) --
The Country of Again * (1968) --
Cold Waters (1969) --
High Tide * (1970) --
The Dancing Man ** (1971) --
The Whisper in the Glen * (1972) --
A Rooted Sorrow (1973) --
A Thirsty Evil (1974) --
The Graveyard * (1975) --
The Causeway * (1976) --
The Quiet River (1978) --
StillILearn
New Member
Thanks, watercrystal!
For the P. M. Hubbard site.
Anybody tempted?
For the P. M. Hubbard site.
Anybody tempted?
Harry Gamblor
New Member
Gary Snyder and Herman Hesse
As for poetry and essays, i would suggest:
GARY SNYDER:
He is such a terrible overlooked poet that i just HAD to recommend him. At least i have the feeling that he isn't recognized as much as some other poets! His essays are also wonderful and extremely relevant i think, so i would suggest him to anyone.
As for novels, i would suggest:
HERMAN HESSE:
Don't know how "famous" he is in other countries, but i have the terrible feeling that he is even forgotten here in Europe, especially in Germany and Austria, which is really sad because i think he was among the most important writers in the past century. In my eyes he was the "german speaking" version of James Joyce (which is meant as a positive comment
)
As for poetry and essays, i would suggest:
GARY SNYDER:
He is such a terrible overlooked poet that i just HAD to recommend him. At least i have the feeling that he isn't recognized as much as some other poets! His essays are also wonderful and extremely relevant i think, so i would suggest him to anyone.
As for novels, i would suggest:
HERMAN HESSE:
Don't know how "famous" he is in other countries, but i have the terrible feeling that he is even forgotten here in Europe, especially in Germany and Austria, which is really sad because i think he was among the most important writers in the past century. In my eyes he was the "german speaking" version of James Joyce (which is meant as a positive comment
)CrossStitcher30
New Member
..................
starchild42
New Member
I would find it really hard to pick just one to recommend considering how many different types of fiction I like to read. So:
Novelist: Haruki Murakami
Light read: Lisa Jewell
Short story: Amy Hempel
Novelist: Haruki Murakami
Light read: Lisa Jewell
Short story: Amy Hempel
namedujour
New Member
Harry Gamblor said:HERMAN HESSE:
Don't know how "famous" he is in other countries, but i have the terrible feeling that he is even forgotten here in Europe, especially in Germany and Austria, which is really sad because i think he was among the most important writers in the past century. In my eyes he was the "german speaking" version of James Joyce (which is meant as a positive comment
I absolutely agree with you about Herman Hesse. Though I would add, read the books in chronological order as he wrote them. He "evolved" you could say, and his books struck me as sort of a record of this.
The only one I could never quite get into was "Steppenwolf." I don't know why that was.
I may be mistaken, there is a book that precedes "Narcissus and Goldmund?" I can't recall its name if there was. But that one might be a good one to start with, and the one I would recommend ending with (after reading all the rest) is "Journey to the East" where he explores religion using the metaphor of a kind of "parade" of people who travel around the world, led unknowingly by the man who functions as their servant.
I just LOVE Herman Hesse.
StillILearn
New Member
Gothic?
I did a search, and didn't come up with a specific thread about this subject, so I'll just go ahead and post it here. These books are all out of print (so the best place to find them will be at the library), but if you do find yourself at a loss for ideas about what to read next, you may consider this writer.
http://www.mysterylist.com/hubbard.htm
I'd love to discuss him, but nobody but me seems to have read his books!
I did a search, and didn't come up with a specific thread about this subject, so I'll just go ahead and post it here. These books are all out of print (so the best place to find them will be at the library), but if you do find yourself at a loss for ideas about what to read next, you may consider this writer.
http://www.mysterylist.com/hubbard.htm
I'd love to discuss him, but nobody but me seems to have read his books!