This might be the differece between us – I did find this a great lay-in-the-bathtub-and-read book. But then again, I’m an engineer, so I like those sorts of things.
To anyone who’d belittle that as a nuts-and-bolts engineering mindset, I direct your attention to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, already mentioned in this thread and an acknowledged work of Literature. The boo is chock-full of detailed discussions and descriptions of 19th century whaling techniques, technology, and whale biology. Read it, if you haven’t already. Melville had been a whaler, and his love of the details and tools of his former trade are obvious in his descriptions and in the way he lingers on such “technology”. It’s shows his passion for the subject and gives the book its texture. It must freak out the “literary” types who read the book for the first time hoping to find mainly passages devoted to tthe symbolism of a White Whale, with all its ambiguities and metaphors, then have to wade through pages of Melville discoursing on isinglass.
I loved Moby Dick, and I love The Pillars of the Earth, and to me the technical details are a big part of it. Heck, a bookm about the raising of a carthedral would be amiss not to devote large portions to the EXistential Pleasures of Engineering (to steal Samuel C. Florman’s title).
For those who like spy stories try “The Riddle of the Sands” by Erskine Childers. Written in 1903 this is considered to be the first spy novel. It is about two British men sailing round the coast of Germany and discovering that the Germans are making plans for warfare.The book helped to awaken Britain about the build-up of German sea power. I have just read the book and was surprised how “modern” the narrative is. It flows very well and does not have the stilted language I was expecting of books of that age.
If you’re a “Lord of the Rings” fan, you may appreciate “Bored of the Rings,” by The Harvard Lampoon. The latest version is a Penguin paperback for about $13, which for about 173 pages is a rip-off, but if you can find it used, definitly consider it.
Here’s a sample:
"‘Goodbye, Dildo,’ Frito said, stifling a sob. ‘I wish you were coming with us.’
‘Ah, yes. But I’m too old for that sort of thing now,’ said the old boggie, feigning a state of total quadriplegia. ‘Anyway, I have a few small gifts for you,’ and he produced a lumpy parcel, which Frito opened somewhat unenthusiastically in view of Dildo’s previous going-away present [the ring]. But the package only contained a short, Revereware sword, a bulletproof vest full of moth holes, and several well-thumbed novellas with titles like Elf Lust and Goblin Girl…"
Fascinating fact: Childers, an outspoken Irish Nationalist, ran rifles to the IRA on his private yacht (paid for by the royalties from Riddle of the Sands) in 1915. He was exectuted by firing squad a few years later.
Well, I’ll second the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett.
How the Mind Works, by Stephen Pinker…a great exploration of exactly that.
Dead Men do Tell Tales, by William R. Maples and Michael Browning. A book about forensic pathology. Pretty damned cool.
Anything by Neil Gaiman, (American Gods, Smoke and Mirrors, Stardust, and the Sandman series of comic books)
And the book I’ve just finished reading - The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. Just…wow. A fantasyish sort of story set in a near-Earth type place. Supposedly, it’s geared towards a younger audience, but whatever. It’s just a great book. I literally can’t wait to go pick up the sequels…
I’m listing the books I always go back to and have read mulitple times.
London Fields, Money, and Experience by Martin Amis. I love his work. He’s better known in the UK than he is here. Damn shame that Grisham can rule the best seller list and very few people have read Amis. His work is thought provoking, funny and horrifying, all at once. London Fields is his best fiction work, IMHO and Experience, his autobiography, made me laugh and cry.
Anything by David Sedaris or Joe Queenen for a laugh. The Robber Bride, Cat’s Eye, Lady Oracle or the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Divine Comedy by Dante
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A Prayer For Owen Meany, Widow For One Year, Son of The Circus and the World According to Garp by John Irving
Ugh…I couldn’t stand that book my freshman year of high school. Luckily I started reading Catch-22 after someone suggested it to me as a way to wash out my “literary palette”[sup]*[/sup]. I ended up reading it over and over for the next year.
I couldn’t stomach the selections chosen from Walden, either.
As for recomemdations, I suggest Angela’s Ashes and 'Tis by Frank McCourt. They really help put the attitudes of the upper-class idiots surrounding me at my High School in perspective. In other words, I discovered how shallow and whiny they were for such well off people. I think I knew most of this already, but I just hadn’t admitted it yet.
[sup]* Note to Fenris, et al: I put this in quotations because I found it a horribly snooty term but could think of none better. Suggestions are welcome.[/sup]
“The Mind’s I” by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett - discusses the nature of consciousness in laymans terms
“The Newtonian Casino” by Thomas A. Bass - a group of physics geeks and assorted other scientists figure out a way to predict where the ball will come to rest on a roulette wheel using Chaos Theory, then head on up to Nevada to try it out. True story.
Anything by Agatha Christie or any of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.
You all have to read Maupassant’s short stories urgently. If you haven’t read them yet, start today. If you have read them, read them again.
“Hunger” by Knut Hamsun
And, of course, my favourite book of all time: “Lord of the Rings”.
Another very strong vote for A Confederacy of Dunces. I’ve gone through seven copies of the paperback due to the number of times it’s been borrowed. Nobody touches my hardcover version of it.
I also talk most of my friends into reading The Education of Little Tree, by Forrest (Asa) Carter. Note for those familiar with it: yes, I know about the controversy, but I still like the book very much
The rest of my choices have been listed numerous times, so I’ll save the bandwidth.
Sweet Jesus, Dangerosa, you’re a better person than me. 100 pages into Possession and I impaled the book on a stake, doused it in gasoline and set it on fire. I was actually on the floor rocking myself into a stupor at how difficult it is to get through that book.
And margaret Atwood, what can I say? If I could hate her any more, she’d be David Mamet
Try Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. A very difficult book. It took me three tries to get through it, but ultimately worth it.
Reay Tannahill has two books Food in History/Sex in History that are a great read for those that like history from a different perspective.
In a similar vein, Diane Ackerman’s Natural History of the Senses puts human sensory development in the spotlight.
I’ll add another vote for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I came across it at just the right point in my life and it affected me deeply.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman is a wonderful fairy tale. Use a little parental editing on a couple of inexplicably explicit sex scenes and you’ve also got a great story to read to your kids.
Fathers - A Celebration by J. Gerard Smith. Okay, this is really smarmy, but I loved this book. It is full of pictures of fathers and their children accompanied by a short piece written by the fathers. Yes, it’s sentimental, but the pictures are really remarkable.
Very good book. And if you liked that, you’ll love The User Illusion : Cutting Consciousness Down to Size, by Tor Nørretranders. Similar, but different.
Owen Meany has already been mentioned several times. If you like Irvings books, try Robertson Davies. Similar narrative style and improbable story. Start with The Cornish trilogy or the Debtford trilogy.
Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman
In the Name of Love - Jill Tweedie
Woman: An Intimate Geography - Natalie Angier
The Gutenberg Elegies - Sven Birkets
The Death of Forever - Darryl Reanney
Greetings Carbon-based Bipeds - Arthur C. Clarke
The 100 Most Influential Books Ever
Try John Grisham’s latest book, The Painted House. This is unlike any of his other books - it has nothing to do with courtrooms, jail, or executions. I enjoyed it so much I couldn’t put it down, and read the whole thing at one time.
Then, of course, there’s my all time favorite, The Annotated Alice. If you haven’t read Alice in Wonderland since you were a kid, read this book.
