What should I read?

Pretending, for the sake of this exercise, that I blinked into existence but a moment ago, passably capable in reading and comprehension, what would you have me read? And more importantly, why? Of course, The Straight Dope is a given, being the font from which all the important answers spring, but I require further educational seasoning. So without further wasted verbiage on my part, please educate me.

Lord Of The Flies

Because it demonstrates both tribal/primitive survival as well as the atmosphere in most business places.

And it’s a great book.

Well, I’ve heard that if you read The Ruins, Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, Paradise Lost and The Sorrows of Werther, the results can be very … um … interesting.

I just pulled “Unsafe At Any Speed” out of the library to skim for background on Ralph Nader. It could have been written about the Firestone problem. Sad we have come much farther in terms of big companies hiding problems.

The Illuminatus trilogy.

You should read * Go Ask Alice. * It’s really good but really depressing. And thanks to that book I’m never ever gonna take drugs EVER. ::shudder::

I’ll keep this short this time:

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Princess Bride

Spider Robinson’s Callahan books
Partners in Necessity
Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
and sequels.

That’s plenty for a start

There’s a bunch of stuff you should read, but Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels are what I feel like recommending right now. They’re about a British Navy captain during the Napoleonic Wars and his adventures with his friend, a physician and liberal intellectual.

http://www.io.com/gibbonsb/pob/

These books rule. If you like historical novels, you’ll be enthralled. There are twenty books in the series, and the late Mr. O’Brian will not be producing a twenty-first. I’m on the fourth book of the series right now, and I’m loving it all.

Funny thing, Chancey, I just knocked off The Mauritius Command and had to go straight for Desolation Island.

Still great stuff.

I read the first three books earlier this year. I bought The Mauritius Command but forced myself to stay away from it for a little bit, lest I get so wrapped up in the Aubrey/Maturin books that I should read all twenty straight through and then be depressed that there are no more and that there never will be any more.

How’d you hear about these? I heard Patrick O’Brian’s obituary on NPR earlier this year, which got me interested. Then I read an editorial by Lewis Lapham in Harper’s which pushed me over the edge and made me rush out to buy Master and Commander, and I’ve been hooked since then.

A friend of mine told me that he’d read some of the Horatio Hornblower books and liked them. I’ve heard good things about these, and I figure I’ll move on to them after the Aubrey/Maturin books are played out. My friend told me that there were four Hornblower books, but I recently ran across them in a bookstore and was glad to learn that he was wrong, and that there are many more than four. Aside from these, there’s Moby Dick and other seafaring fiction (which, by the way, I never thought I’d much enjoy. The Aubrey/Maturin books initially appealed to me because of their association with the Napoleonic Wars, and I’m something of a history buff to begin with.)

Anyhow, considering the way The Mauritius Command is going with me, I think I’ll be moving right on to Desolation Island, myself. And maybe I won’t give myself a break after this, and rush straight through to Blue at the Mizzen; who’s to say? This is good stuff, though. Lapham referred to O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin books as “one great work,” which just might be correct. Sixteen and a half more to go, and I’ll be able to have my own opinion on that. So far, so good.

I popped this stuff on another thread, but hey - the more the merrier!

There are indeed a lot of Hornblower books. They’re by C. S. Forester and mirror the real-life career of a British sailor who rose to be Admiral of the fleet (or similar).
Tremendous atmosphere and story telling.

Example: ‘Hornblower and the Hotspur’ Penguin ISBN 0 14 00.2901X

Try Bernard Cornwell, who wrote a series on Sharpe, a rifleman in the British army of the 1800’s. There’s been an English TV series, but I don’t know if it’s reached America.

Example: ‘Sharpe’s Tiger’ Harper Collins ISBN 0-00-649035-2

For a brilliant historical comedy, read George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series. He took an idle ruffian from another book and made him the reluctant hero who features in all the significant Victorian military encounters. Very well researched.

Example: ‘Flashman and the Mountain of Light’ Fontana ISBN 0-00-617980-0

Now we’re into the comedy fantasy. Does this appeal? ‘Lord Ventari was the ruler of the city. He believed in “one man, one vote”. Ventari was that man, and he had that vote…’

Terry Pratchett is that man and a typical book is: ‘Carpe Jugulum’ (yes, it’s about vampires!) Corgi ISBN 0-552-14615-3

Enjoy!

Without a doubt, the single best book I’ve ever read.

On the way back from a family trip ten years ago, I was handed this book from my parents who said “read this. Your teacher this year is going to assign it.” You could hear my eyeballs rolling from three towns away. So I reluctantly opened it up and started reading. Two days later I finished it, hungering for the sequel.

I’ve forced this book onto so many people I can’t even count anymore. There isn’t a single person who’s come back to me after reading it who hasn’t absolutely loved it.

It’s a science fiction book, but that’s not important. Its protagonist is six years old, but you forget that about 5 pages into the book. The story is so amazingly simple, with concepts in there that leave you thinking through it for days on end.

In short, read this book.

I’ll second that!

Just subscribe to the National enquirer.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And all the sequels thereof.

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, because it would teach you history, geography, and religion from the perspective of one of the funniest men who ever lived.

Gospel by Wilton Barnhardt, and you’ll understand everything you’ve ever wanted to know about religion.

This is my favorite book by Roald Dahl, and I think everyone should read it. I don’t feel like explaining the plot, but it’s really raunchy and funny.

Another good one is East of Eden by Steinbeck. And Dracula by Bram Stoker. And, of course, Little Women.

I couldn’t get into Ender’s Game or the other one, Ender’s Shadow or whatever.
Maybe I just wonder why Card has little boys take their clothes off, maybe I just have a thing about six year olds directing adults in battle.
I’m glad you liked it.

if you can find it, it’s out of print

THE SCREWING OF THE AVERAGE MAN by David Hapgood

for fiction i’ll concur on

ENDER’S GAME by Orson Scott Card

Dal Timgar