Reccomend me some novels. For men.

How’s THAT for a broad subject? :wink:

I was a big reader until about the time I got into High School at which point I proceeded to not read a single thing that wasn’t required by school for the next 8 years. When I started occasionally reading again my choices were, without exception, non-fiction. Books about sports, finance, poker, economics, etc.

Just in the last year I’ve sort or revived an interest in films and have even more recently expanded that back to reading, though most material so far has been of the non-fiction variety (The Big Short by Michael Lewis, and I just finished The Drunkard’s Walk by Leonard Mlodinow last night).

But still no fiction. I’ve been trying to read Don Quixote for years now but never seem to get beyond the 50th page (of 900!). I’ve noticed I often have an extremely short attention span. After a while I’ll realize I’ve been daydreaming and haven’t read a single word on either of the 2-3 prior pages.

Still, I am determined to maybe find some works of fiction that would be interesting to a 27 year old male. There are many recommendations but I’ve found lots seem to be more book club type recommendations, granted I wouldn’t be one to turn down some exceptional prose due to mediocre interest in the subject matter. Just asking some book store employees was less than fruitful. I found this list, chock full of classics. Most of them seem like obvious selections, though I guess it’s safe to say they aren’t classics because they suck.

Anyway, any recommendations would be extremely appreciated. Eight years ago I remembered liking some Crichton, but not so much Grisham. No idea how my tastes have probably changed since then.

Thanks in advance.

Hemingway. Nuff said.

Fiction based on your description of yourself and a WAG from me:

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Dune by Frank Herbert
Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Slaughter House 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Count of Monte Cristo (caution: long!) by Alexandre Dumas
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

This should give you a good sampling of what’s out there, none of these books (except Count) should be too long, and you should find something that you enjoy reading and can just start plowing through.

Just IMO, that’s where I’d start.

The best book I ever read is The Great Gatsby. It’s not a classic for nothing. If you’ve never read it I would highly recommend it, especially if you pay particular attention to the differences between Nick, Jay, and Tom.

My favorite book of all time is A Confederacy of Dunces. Brilliant on so many levels.

I’d also recommend A Drinking Life by Pete Hamill. It’s an autobiography of one man told through his relationship with alcohol. It’s smartly written and devoid of all the sap you’d expect.

Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
The Quincunx by Charles Palliser
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
The Berlin Noir trilogy by Philip Kerr
The Reckoning by David Halberstam
Freedom from Fear by David M. Kennedy

Cyberhawk, your problem is that Don Quixote is a terribly boring book. He does the same things over and over for 900 pages. By halfway through I was rooting for him to be brutally murdered by one of the people he bothered.

I happen to be related to a 27-year-old guy who doesn’t read much, so I’ll recommend the books he liked enough not only to read but buy.

Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Hitchhiker’s Guilde to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques

Some popular fiction recommendations:

Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books - mystery/action thrillers about an ultra bad-ass former Army MP who drifts around and always winds up helping people in trouble. Formulaic, but quick, fun reads.

The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo and it’s two sequels, by Stieg Larsson. Actually, I’m midway through the second book (The Girl Who Played With Fire) and I’m really enjoying this trilogy so far. Don’t let the titles fool you–these books have a broad appeal to both men and women. There are two main protagonists, one woman and one man.

The Aubrey-Maturin books by Patrick O’Brian (Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World, etc.).

Cormac McCarthy’s novels (The Road, No Country For Old Men, All The Pretty Horses, Blood Meridian, etc.)

Larry McMurtry’s novels (The Last Picture Show, Lonesome Dove and it’s sequels)

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Kind of gives a history of the comic book industry and yet, very manly.

Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

Shogun by James Clavell

Hesse was an author that one of the guy’s I asked in the book store recommended. But given his other recommendations I was hesitant. He said he preferred, “more eastern philosophies and altered states of consciousness.” Given the guy’s mannerisms and the fact we were in Portland, OR, I was left wondering if you needed some chemical assistance to achieve the full effect of his recommendations.

Since then, though, I’ve heard Hesse and especially Siddhartha recommended again and again.

This sounds awesome.

So…Burn Notice on paper basically. :slight_smile:

I just added this to my Netflix queue. I’ll have to decide which one to do first. I have a feeling I’m going to end up with a LONG list of each (Netflix queue sits at 317 right now).

I read a whole bunch of Hermann Hesse in high school, starting with Siddhartha. Then Steppenwolf, Magister Ludi, Narcissus and Goldmund (my 2nd favorite after Siddhartha). All great books for the searching young man. No drugs required.

I also liked John Irving’s books - notably The World According to Garp, Setting Free the Bears, and the Hotel New Hampshire.

Tom Wolfe - The Bonfire of the Vanities, plus he has a lot of good non-fiction: The Right Stuff, Electric Kool-aid Acid Test.

Michael Lewis is a favorite non-fiction writer -Liar’s Poker and Moneyball were particularly interesting.

Also, Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion is a favorite of mine. You might appreciate it since it takes place in northwest logging country.

You also might want to check out Robert Stone.

It sounds like you need to work your way up to the meatier stuff.

Try pretty much anything by Terry Pratchett. The earlier Tom Clancy books - Executive Orders and before - are also lighter reading.

Try Frederick Forsyth’s thrillers – especially the early ones. Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File

If I was recommending sea novels, I wouldn’t start with O’Brien – he does make you work at it. Go with C.S. Forester’s “Horatio Hornblower” novels. Ignore the silly-sounding name. These are extremely well-researched and well-written novels about a Napoleonic era British naval captain. read the whole series.

In fact, read any fiction by Forester. It’s all good. He wrote the African Queen and a whole buncha war fiction set in the Napoleonic era and in WWII.
Hemingway I agree with, but not everyone’s taste is for Hesse. Mine sure as heck ain’t. I also don’t recommend Don Quixote for someone trying to get started reading novels.
Mark Twain. One of my favorite authors. And please note that not everything is like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Read his short stories, or a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. His Life on the Mississippi and his travel books are great, though not fiction.

Stephen King’s The Shining (even if you’ve seen the movie)

Scott Smith’s A Simple Plan (even if you’ve seen the movie)

Jim Butcher’s Dresden File books. The first one is Storm Front.

City of Thieves by David Benioff is fantastic, I’m a 31 year old male and read this a few months back for my book club. It’s been my favorite so far and we’re on our 15th book.

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway was clever and very well written, the tangents can get long but are often great satire. I never saw the twist at the end.

You need to look into the works of Jack Vance. He’s written every type of fiction: fantasy, science fiction, mystery, comedy, social satire, and horror. Hence his ouvre contains something for everyone. But regardless of which Vance book you choose, it’s guaranteed to have a tightly-constructed plot, lots of humor, sharp dialogue, and a little bit of raunchiness. As an added bonus, most of his books are short, in the 100-200 page range, so reading one isn’t a big time commitment. Stop by the nearest dusty used book store and you’ll probably find plentiful Vance paperbacks for sale.

I second the Tom Clancy novels for their manliness factor. They’re awash in technical details, action and military maneuvers.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Skip the sequels/prequels. They aren’t nearly as meaty as LD. There’s a lot of interesting ruminations on how men in the old west might have actually lived, which I found interesting. Plus it’s a very funny book — and very sad. And there’s a whore. :smiley:

I can’t believe a thread on the subject of “guy + novel” has gone this far without mentioning
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (the basis for the movie of the same name).

Nick Hornby is like, the ultimate “regular guy” novelist. I am not a guy, but I like him a lot; High Fidelity is a great book. I also liked “Fever Pitch,” which is a memoir about his insane dedication to the London football team, Arsenal (later adapted to film in the US as an insane dedication to the Boston Red Sox).

Examples of literary, non-genre novels set in the here-and-now (not that that’s the only kind worth reading, but other sorts seem to get their own threads) that would appeal to young men, that spring to my mind:

Nick Hornby. Especially High Fidelity and About a Boy.

Peter Farrelly’s The Comedy Writer

John Irving (The World According to Garp is where I started with Irving.)

Anne Tyler’s Saint Maybe, maybe

Then for lighter, pulpier manly entertainment, hit the garage sales or used bookstores and pick up a few Travis McGee (by John D. MacDonald), Nero Wolfe (by Rex Stout), or Louis L’Amour paperbacks.

Cormac McCarthy is an excellent choice. Very literary and very masculine.

I would also recomment John LeCarre (the Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - and sequels, Tailor of Panama etc.)

If you can stand a little history in with your manly adventure, George McDonald Fraser’s Flashman novels are very entertaining.