# Which books would you describe as "brilliant"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164 "2006-01-09T16:02:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/81 "2010-09-30T17:35:39Z")
**Witchcraft at Salem** by Chadwick Hansen – witchcraft really _was_ practiced at Salem. Cotton Mather had virtually nothing to do with the trials. Lots of historians had pretty biased viewpoints. Hansen isn’t perfect, and I disagree with some of his interpretations, but he did wake me up to a lot about this bit of American History. **Salem Possessed** by paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum – for completely different reasons. Draw a map of the area and plot rich/poor, accusers/accused, Loyalist/Separatist homes. eye-opening. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/82 "2010-09-30T18:05:31Z")
Not yet mentioned: _Little, Big_ by John Crowley. I really want to reread _Engine Summer_ some time and see how it holds up, because I recall it coming together just incredibly. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/83 "2010-10-01T01:48:01Z")
Ones not mentioned yet that I loved: **In the Lake of the Woods** by Tim O’Brien, and **The Music of Chance** by Paul Auster. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/84 "2010-10-01T11:00:46Z")
The last book that made me think “brilliant” was Richard Yates’ “Easter Parade”. It’s sad and haunting, but very well written indeed. A few other favorites of mine have been mentioned in this thread. “Woman of the Dunes” and “Ficciones” for example. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/85 "2010-10-01T13:51:36Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > **Princess Bride** S. Morgenstern Heh heh … S. Morgenstern indeed. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/86 "2010-10-01T15:45:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **The Sot-Weed Factor** by John Barth > **Gravity’s Rainbow** by Thomas Pynchon > **Catch-22** by Joseph Heller > \*\*Dhalgren[b/] by Samuel R. Delany (the most brilliant person I’ve ever met). I made the mistake of reading it and **Gravity’s Rainbow** in succession and had to give up reading for awhile because there was nothing of a similar level. > **Great Expectations** by Charles Dickens, though it took me my second time to realize it. Your first three are on my list too. Add in Zen and the Art Of a Fire on the Moon Executioners Song All Hunter Thompson works (my son’s middle name is Hunter) Tom Sawyer must be on all lists. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/87 "2010-10-01T15:46:24Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I have heard this before and I just finished it for my bookclub. I truly don’t see the attraction at all. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/88 "2010-10-01T17:58:57Z")
_The Electric Kool Aid Acid_ Test by Tom Wolfe … fascinating reporting on the hippie movement and its origins. _Hackers_ by Stephen Levy. A brilliant exposition on how the home computer came into existence. Nothing else even comes close. _Connections_ by James Burke. Demonstrates the happenstance and strange synergies that is behind the history of technology. _A Distant Mirror_ by Barbara Tuchman. The Middle Ages were even worse than we thought! An excellent antidote to the lard-brained medieval fantasies you see in a lot of fiction. I’ll second\* Little, Big\* by John Crowley. It’s been said that every modern fantasy novelist owes something to it, and I believe 'em. I’ll second Der Tris’ nomination of the first six books of the _Amber Chronicles_. Brilliant mythos, great storytelling, interesting characters. I can’t believe no one nominated _A Light Upon the Deep_ by Vernor Vinge. Mind-blowingly good science fiction, goes right back to the Big Ideas that made science fiction such compelling reading in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/89 "2010-10-01T18:05:20Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I’ll second\* Little, Big\* by John Crowley. It’s been said that every modern fantasy novelist owes something to it, and I believe 'em. I tried reading this back in 1984, bogged down halfway through, and never finished it. I finally tried again a couple of years ago and found it totally enthralling, easily one of the most wonderful things I have ever read. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![statij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@statij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statij)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/90 "2010-10-01T20:54:41Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I can’t believe no one nominated _A Light Upon the Deep_ by Vernor Vinge. Mind-blowingly good science fiction, goes right back to the Big Ideas that made science fiction such compelling reading in the first place. Sorry nitpick: A _Fire_ Upon the Deep. I came here to add that book. I haven’t read _tons_ of science fiction, but I’ve read a fair amount and that is, by far, my favorite. Already mentioned: Sot-Weed Factor Confederacy of Dunces A Soldier of the Great War Lord of the Barnyard - so glad someone else read and loved this. I never hear anything about it, but I’ve read it twice and it blows me away. Try reading the first sentence (page) and not continuing. Not mentioned: Infinite Jest - defines “brilliant” as far as I’m concerned. The Brothers K, David James Duncan. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/91 "2010-10-01T21:04:21Z")
I’m going to throw in an outlier technical book, that is long obsolete unless it’s been updated: _The Hard Disk Companion_ by Peter Norton. The workings of personal computers and file management was so crystal clear and thorough, and without any technobabble or academic language, that ever since I’ve become the non-IT computer expert everywhere I’ve worked. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/92 "2010-10-01T21:26:39Z")
A Prayer for Owen Meany Stranger in a Strange Land ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/93 "2010-10-01T21:36:03Z")
The only ones I can add which haven’t been mentioned already are Verne’s _Around the World in 80 Days_ and Tolkiens’ _The Children of Hurin_. And I’ll also agree with _Watership Down_, _Gödel, Escher, Bach_, and _Surely you’re Joking, Mr. Feynman_. I really need to read more Umberto Eco, too. The only thing I’ve read by him is _The Name of the Rose_, and that was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Bpelta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/94 "2010-10-02T17:28:30Z")
Hm, only one I can think of right now is Christine Garwood’s _Flat Earth_. The reasoning used by the flat-earthers should inspire a person to reconsider their own standards of evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/95 "2010-10-02T18:19:02Z")
Rabelais: _Gargantua & Pantagruel_ Sterne: _Tristram Shandy_ Cervantes: _Don Quixote_ Voltaire: _Candide_ Yes, I’m old school… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/96 "2010-10-02T18:37:19Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > Rabelais: _Gargantua & Pantagruel_ Gee, would never have guessed that! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/97 "2010-10-02T18:47:59Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > > [@Panurge](#): > > > > Rabelais: _Gargantua & Pantagruel_ > > Gee, would never have guessed that! 😃 Yeah. I’m a fanboy all right 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/98 "2010-10-02T19:03:17Z")
[Titus Groan](http://www.amazon.com/Gormenghast-Novels-Mervyn-Peake/dp/0879516283/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286046020&sr=1-3), by Mervyn Peake. It has the most luxurious, decadent language of any book I’ve ever read and uses that language perfectly. I learned more vocabulary words from the book than any other. More than that, however, the book’s use of imagery far exceeds anything else I’ve ever read. Peake’s ability to to spell out exactly what a scene looks like, down to small details, while still making it all interesting and readable, has never been matched as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/99 "2010-10-02T21:38:14Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > An idiosyncratic pick, but Watership Down by Richard Adams. Brilliant in concept, marvelous in execution. I will never get tired of that book. I’ve read it something like four times, and I ought to read it more. Great read. Fiction: -The Discworld series, by Terry Pratchett. Yeah, it has some clunkers, but overall it’s fantastic. -_Fragile Things_ by Neil Gaiman -_To Kill a Mockingbird_ by Harper Lee -_Everything’s Eventual_ by Stephen King, but especially “1408” Nonfiction: -_The Devil in the White City_ by Erik Larson -_Denialism_ by Michael Specter -_Lies My Teacher Told Me_ by James Loewen. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164/100 "2010-10-02T21:53:39Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I only realised a few years ago that _The Red Badge of Courage_ by Stephen Crane is some of the most gorgeous writing I have ever seen. I studied it in school and I guess it just went way over my head. > > You can read it [online](http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CRANE/badge.html) and enjoy the continuation of this: > > \*The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. As the landscape changed from brown to green, the army awakened, and began to tremble with eagerness at the noise of rumors. It cast its eyes upon the roads, which were growing from long troughs of liquid mud to proper thoroughfares. A river, amber-tinted in the shadow of its banks, purled at the army’s feet; and at night, when the stream had become of a sorrowful blackness, one could see across it the red, eyelike gleam of hostile camp-fires set in the low brows of distant hills. > Once a certain tall soldier developed virtues and went resolutely to wash a shirt. He came flying back from a brook waving his garment bannerlike. He was swelled with a tale he had heard from a reliable friend, who had heard it from a truthful cavalryman, who had heard it from his trustworthy brother, one of the orderlies at division headquarters. He adopted the important air of a herald in red and gold. > > “We’re goin’ t’ move t’morrah–sure,” he said pompously to a group in the company street. “We’re goin’ ‘way up the river, cut across, an’ come around in behint 'em.”\* I love this book. Though for years I would quote “The sun was a red wafer pasted in the sky” until I recently reread it and learned it was “The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer” which is kind of silly, 'cause wafers aren’t usually pasted in the sky. But that tangent aside, the prose is just crazy-amazing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-books-would-you-describe-as-brilliant/339164.md?page=6)