Oh, and a side note to Fierce Invalids: He mentions Safari Bar in Patpong rather prominently. Yes, it exists, and I spend some time there myself. 
So many good choices here-a lot of them I’ve never read. I must get less lazy in my reading…
Here are 5, but there are many more (of course)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Her use of language-the sheer clarity of it continually pleases and astounds me.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. Learn more about what it means to be human and individual through his essays and sketches of the inhumanity of disease and deficits.
A Little Black Book of Stories by A. S. Byatt. Fairy tales for grown ups. Intriguing stories of Love, Passion and Death.
Either “MacBeth” or “Twelfth Night” by Shakespeare (I know, odd combo, but I love them both so much…)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. There are other Great American Novels, but this one seems most accessible to the age we live in now, IMO.
Other Choices (not that you asked)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Thought provoking no matter your age.
Two short stories by Raymond Carver: “A Small, Good Thing” and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”. The first deals with loss and rebirth, the second with love and fear.
Poetry of W.H. Auden. I like his lean-ness and sparsity.
On Being Born and Other Difficulties by F. Gonzalez-Crussi. A fascinating look at us, from evolutionary history to the ethics of modern obstetrics.
My Life and Welcome to It by James Thurber
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. A book of one woman’s spiritual journey-no holds barred.
Oh, and if I were to suggest an Ayn Rand, it would be Anthem–not the other two.
And many, many more…
Speaking of Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climes, I thought I’d mention to the OP and other fans of the book that last night (Wednesday night), I whiled away a pleasant evening in Safari Bar, prominently mentioned in the book. It’s a great place, one of the better bars in Patpong. A large-ish bar, with cheap beer and wall-to-wall 1980s music. Quite a few cuties running around in various stages of undress, and even the Old Mamas still working there give an expert bar massage, which is a neck, shoulder and back rub while you’re sitting there enjoying your cold frostie. Obviously Tom Robbins is familiar with the place, and so I often wonder when I’m in there if he is, too. (I’ve seen his photo, but I can never remember what he looks like.)
I need to stop reading these threads…I’m being crushed under the weight of the books I MUST READ RIGHT NOW!!!1!!! I’ll try for some that aren’t already listed.
-
Atlas Shrugged-Sorry naysayers, in spite of the preaching, I love the story and the idea that great is great. When I get sick of the lowest common denominator world I live in, I reread this.
-
Botany of Desire-Michael Pollan- A fascinating look at how our desires have shaped our food. I adore all of his books. Omnivore’s Dilemma would be my back up recommendation by him.
-
The Covenant-James Michener- A beautifully told story of South Africa.
-
Alas, Babylon-Pat Frank-Post-apocolyptic novel written I believe, in the 50’s. Shockingly current.
-
Earth Abides, A Handmaid’'s Tale, Brave New World, Parable of the Sower and the 150 other dystopian novels on my list that I know I’ll love but haven’t gotten to.
Oooooh, this is awesome. I love finding myself in real places mentioned in fictional works. It’s an odd bridging of the gap between reality and pretend.
I’m reading Omnivore’s Dilemma. I find it very fascinating, but it’s made me very paranoid about corn. Corn is evil! It’s destroying us all!
Ancient Lights by Davis Grubb
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Atlas by Glen Baxter
Safari Bar does not seem to have its own website, but it’s been around for years, decades actually. There’s a short review of the place here. And the beer prices quoted are actually a little higher than they are now. Singha, my favorite, goes for only 60 baht all night long, which is about US$1.75.
For a thread about Five Books You Should Read Before You Die there’s a surprisingly lack of religion here. I’d expect to see The Bible, The Talamud, The Koran, The Teachings of Buddha, maybe even **The Book of Mormon ** (hey, you never know…).
But I’ll go with the flow and list books I’ve actually read and liked and that are unlikely to be required reading for any school in the world:
**At the Edge of the World ** - Collected short stories of Lord Dunsany
**The Maltese Falcon ** - Dashiel Hammett
**Memoirs of an Amnesiac ** - Oscar Levant
The Devil’s Dictionary - Ambrose Bierce
**Mr. American ** - George MacDonald Fraser
Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer
Orwell’s 1984
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
The Bhagavad-Gita
The Bible. Not necessarily the whole thing–I certainly wouldn’t demand that anyone struggle all the way through all those “begats.” But one should at least have some familiarity with the Pentateuch and the Gospels, and a few other books such as Ecclesiastes, Job, The Song of Solomon, Proverbs, Ruth, the Acts, Paul’s Letters and maybe Revelation. YMMV.
One might substitute the Homeric epics for the Bhagavad-Gita or the Meditations. (Okay, maybe I’m cheating by counting them as one book.)
Hummmm…
Lolita - Nabakov
Catch-22 Heller
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Curse of Lono - Hunter S. Thompson
Uncle Shelby’s A, B, Z Book - Shel Silverstein
Homer, The Iliad
Livy, The History
Montaigne, The Essays
Shakespeare, Hamlet
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
It is, of course, an impossible choice and there are a hundred others equally deserving of a place.
Frank Herbert - Dune. Combines every single one of my favorite studies into one book of fiction. Politics, drugs, economics, religious war, space travel, conspiracy–you name it, this book has it.
Of Human Bondage - Maugham
East of Eden - Steinbeck
The Handmaid’s Tale - Atwood
Kafka on the Shore - Murakami
The World According to Garp -Irving
Rand McNally, you make a good point.
Here are my books, although I don’t know if you absolutely need to read 'em before you die. They’re just books that have made a deep impression on me and that I read over and over again. I don’t own more than 50 books, but these are some of the ones I do own. I honestly could only think of four.
1. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Just an all-around awesome adventure book. Takes place in mid-eighteenth century Scotland not long after the Jacobite Rebellion, which resulted in England chasing Bonnie Prince Charlie outta Scotland to France and the subsequent political ripples. It’s about a kid who has just about the worst luck possible after discovering he’s heir to the family fortune. His nasty uncle has him kidnapped and sent away to sea, presumably to become a slave in the Carolinas. Kid meets Alan Breck, Jacobite rebel, while on board ship. Ship hits rocks in storm and sinks. Kid gets to shore and the real adventure starts. This book just really engaged me. Great story, real characters, and a painless way to learn cool Scottish history. Robert Louis Stevenson himself said that this was his favorite thing he ever wrote. No wonder there have been several good movie adaptations, all of which I’ve seen and liked for different reasons.
2. The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.
Like it says in the title, a series of letters sent to the demon Wormwood, assigned to a human on Earth, from his uncle Screwtape in Hell. Premise is that Hell is like this big government bureacracy. Uncle, who is big cheese in the gov’t. Down There (like probably a GS-15 or something ), is keeping a watchful eye on Nephew as he tackles his first assignment, a very ordinary human guy. Nephew works tirelessly at grabbing yet another soul for the Big Bad Guy, trying all kinds of demonly tricks. Demon Nephew better get it right because Demonly agents apparently don’t get second chances. The book to me seemed so incredibly spot-on about human behavior in general: our thought processes, dealing with guilt, distress, pride, whatever. I don’t think you necessarily have to be Christian to appreciate this book. C. S. Lewis said somebody asked him once how he managed to make the guy’s struggle with the darker side of himself (or with demonic influence if you will) so real. C. S. Lewis was like, all I did was describe how I feel, just living.
3. The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck.
Written during World War II about an unnamed country (probably Norway) occupied by an unnamed invading army (probably Nazis). The book follows the timeline of invasion and occupation during wartime and how both the invading soldiers and the people of this tiny but strategically important country react. The story goes from gently eccentric and almost humorous to very, very sad. I loved this book for its simplicity and pathos and the fact that you got to see how the soldiers felt as well. Taught me a lot at a relatively young age about what people will do when pushed to the limit and how war, necessary or not, just makes everybody sad and exhausted and bereft.
4. We Have Always Lived In the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Odd and weirdly endearing story of the Blackwood sisters, Constance and Mary Katherine, who live in a big ole house with their wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian outside of the town their ancestors presumably founded. The book opens in the aftermath of a scandal involving the multiple homicide (arsenic poisoning) of most of the Blackwood family by Constance the older sister, who was obviously acquitted. The townspeople have always hated the Blackwood sisters for their wealth and standing, and now they got a real reason to hate ‘em because they’re all still convinced that Constance did the dirty deed. The local children taunt Merricat every time she goes into town on errands: " ‘Merricat,’ said Constance, ‘would you like a cup of tea?’ ‘Oh, no!’ said Merricat, ‘You’ll poison me!’ " Shirley Jackson really seemed to understand how hateful and evil people can be when swept up by the mob mindset, and how much it stings to be a real outcast. Her understanding of her characters’ psychopathology makes it seem normal. Her understanding of rage and love is great. She tells a really good story about horrifying things in a beautifully simple and detached way. It’s also a cool murder mystery.
Man, I can’t believe I just wrote all this. I’m actually procrastinating and trying to avoid writing something that I need to do for work and that I don’t want to! :eek:
I’m replying mainly to bookmark (heh) this thread, but I do have one offering:
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
It just makes me feel good to reread this. It’s witty, funny, and very satisfying. Now, excuse me while I go dig up my copy.
Yes, I believe that was Rand’s greatest gift to us. I reread *The Fountainhead *for the same reason.
This is another of my favorites. Sometimes, in other books, Steinbeck gets sappy and heavy handed. But, here, the writing is just lyrical and gorgeous. It has a great understated power. Wonderful book.
My list is not very highbrow, I readily admit, but oh well…
Unintended Consequences by John Ross
1984 by George Orwell
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Animal Farm by George Orwell
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
Luce and His Empire - W.A. Swanberg: insightful, biting biography of Time magazine co-founder.
The First Casualty - Philip Knightley: during war, your government and press will lie to you, often in collusion.
Nice Guys Finish Last - Leo Durocher and Ed Linn: vivid, hilarous, and touching, the autobiography of the baseball legend.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s - Truman Capote
The Borrowed Years: America on the Way to War (1938-1941): “…when most of my friends and I were singing and dancing and laughing away the last hours of youth […] the lights, as they used to say, were going out all over Europe.”
Must reads? Perhaps not, but all very good.
I’d say:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler
Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (and all of Gawande’s other books/articles)
Anthem by Ayn Rand