Favorite book?
My History teacher loaned me "Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd before American Thanksgiving and I just finished it. Absolutely loved it. It beat out "To Kill a Mockingbird" as my favorite book and when I went to return it to her, she told me to keep it. She said that everyone has one book in their lifetime that is "special" to them or "their absolute favorite" of all time and I had find mine.
What's yours?
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A Storm of Swords by George R.R Martin
Harry Potter: A Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Not a big reader, probably Fight Club and ASoIaF.
Fight Club is an amazing book though.
I loved reading 1984, one of the few books I read for school that I actually enjoyed.
Everybody Poops by Tarō Gomi.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : Favorite Science Fiction novel of all time.
The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan : Definitive non-fiction about the tragic "comedy of errors" leading up to the declaration of World War I.
The Conquest of Bread by Pyotr Kropotkin : An extremely important, if slightly utopian, read by the father of Libertarian Socialism. Nuff said.
Heard from a lot of people that Brave New World was awful. Glad to see someone liked it!
10/10
I'm one of those people that really hated Brave New World. It was interesting in the beginning, but I just can't help but feel it was extremely convoluted and utterly boring later on. None of the characters I liked, I thought everyone was a friggin idiot. Hell I didn't even like John. I believe that was his name. And I could care less if he... well you know what he did in the end. Did I feel sad? No I was kinda happy.
Who Is Bugs Potter? by Gordon Korman
Probably in the minority with this opinion, but I really liked Catcher in the Rye. Did I get annoyed of Holden's bitching? Oh hell ya. But in a way I could sympathze with what he is going through because i felt as depressed as him when I was younger. Granted I didn't go through exactly what he did, but I felt that way nontheless.
Plus, this book is movie material. No doubt. I had to do a project on it, and you get your ass it was a vid project. I even got to play Holden.
I also liked The Shining by Stephen King.
Catcher in the Rye is my uncle's favorite book and he claims that I'll love it too. Let's see if I share your opinion, haha. I have a strange feeling that I will.
This, I remember being aggravated by people being aggravated by him.
Btw, have you ever seen Igby Goes Down? It has one of the Culkins (Not Macaulay, his brother), Susan Sarandon as his mother, Bill Pullman as his father and Jeff Goldbloom as his stepfather (or mother's boyfriend, I forget). It keeps getting compared to Catcher in the Rye, and it really does have a similar tone.
Assuming this is limited to fiction. I'm pretty sure all of them are available in English too. Except Sartre, they're all Quebecois authors.
Trou de Mémoire (Blackout) - Hubert Aquin
Les Mains Sales (Dirty Hands) - Jean-Paul Sartre (actually, this one is a play, but)
L'Ingratitude (Ingratitude) - Ying Chen
It's not limited to fiction, there's plenty of amazing books out there that aren't fiction.
You do have to admit that a few of his rants are kinda annoying. But other than that, I really liked Holden's character.
Really? Nice I'm definitely watching that if it's similar to Catcher in the Rye.
Oh, well then I'd add:
Le Mythe de Sisyphe - Albert Camus
The Sickness Unto Death - Soren Kierkegaard
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane
Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan ( can't choose one)
The Da Vin Ci Code by Dan Brown.
It was great,maybe a bit controversial but who cares?Plus,it reminded me of Tales From The Borderlands.
To kill a Mockingbird by harper lee
Ez choice
I prefer the prequel
No Longer Human- One of the best books of all time. Would definitely recommend it to everyone. This is one of the most famous books in Japanese literature, and for good reason. It truly makes you question humanity.... And the author's sanity. The author Osamu Dazai committed suicide about a month after finishing this book.
Sooo..are you implying that this book will drive me insane?
I love Osamu Dazai - the one you posted is the Manga based off his book? Honestly, my favorite was 'Schoolgirl.' 'No Longer Human' seems to follow more along the lines of a complete lack of empathy, whereas 'Schoolgirl' is a younger version, filled with straight up depression (wrought with nihilism). I've read No Longer Human, The Setting Sun, and an anthology of his short stories, and Schoolgirl is still my favorite..
You might like Hubert Aquin as I mentioned above. Not sure if this is a claim to fame, but he had lots of psychological issues which led to multiple suicide attempts, that last of which was successful. I say this not to be voyeuristic into the suffering of others, but rather that they are two others with a similar feel and moreover, at least as somebody struggling with depression, they help me to understand myself, or better put, to feel that there are others who would understand me.
Murakami Ryu, especially Coin Locker Babies, In the Miso Soup, and Piercing are also recommendations.
Yeeees, good choice.
I'm not much of a book reader, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stephen King's Misery, even though I watched the movie beforehand. The differences between the two made me appreciate the book more, considering how certain story arcs were justifiably omitted from the movie since they wouldn't translate well in movie form.
The Fault In Our Stars & Paper Towns by John Green.
The Belgariad by David Eddings.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
11/10 Inspirational read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDGKK6y8OtQ
Fight Club/Invisible Monsters/Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk.
ASOIAF series - George R.R Martin.
I don't read that much. :P
Woah.
What?
1984, Brave New World, The Sound and the Fury, East of Eden, The Lord of the Flies.
And just for a change of pace (unless you find the previous books hilarious for some weird reason), Good Omens. If you like your impending apocalypse to be full of dry wit and hilarity, this underrated book is for you. “God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett manages to be a fantasy novel about bank corruption and net neutrality while also being a fun caper with endearing protagonists:
For Sport, Mr Lipvig. For Sport. For The Joy Of The Game."
To Say Nothing of the Dog about a burnt out time travelling historian who is given an "easy" assignment to allow him to recuperate that goes extremely strange.
I don't have one but I think I can settle on a few that I consider influential
"Around the World in Eighty Days" (Jules Verne)
"Michael Strogoff" (Jules Verne)
"Robinson Crusoe" (Daniel Defoe)
Don't read many books but Lord of the Flies, 1984, Turn of the Screw, Tortilla Flats, Don Quixote & Ethan Frome.
The Messenger - Markus Zusak