Books you can't live without
POSTED BY: BadgersHat
UPDATED: Thursday, May 12, 2005 14:58
VIEWED: 31206
PAGE 4 of 11
Everything by heinlein, specifically starship troopers, puppet masters, and farnhams freehold
The ender saga, by orson scott card, and also enchantment
sphere by crichton
All chuck palanuik books, especially diary
All Hunter S. Thompson books (Fear and Loathing in Las vegas, Kindgom of fear and Generation of swine especially)
and last but certainly not least...
ARMOR, by John Steakley. Without a doubt one of the best three books I have ever read in ANY genre. If you haven't read this book, get off your gorram ass and buy it
And Melkor fled before the laughter of Tulkas, and hated him ever after
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El Jefé Magnifico asked us all which books we cannot live without:
Well, that is a toughie... Phrasing it another way (y'all knew I'd do that, didn't you?), this a short-list of books I think everyone should read at some point in their lives:
The Holy Bible: Straight, old King James version, please. Particular attention paid to the New Testament, because Jesus replaced the 'eye for an eye' OT values with 'turn the other cheek', among other revolutionary tenets that modern Christians have such a hard time embracing. Still, whether you're a 'believer' or not, Western civilization is based on the Judeo-Christian ethic. If you're playing the game, you might consider knowing the rules, regardless whether you buy into the underlying system of faith... (NB: I am a Christian; this is not an attempt to proselytize or discredit other faiths; I do not judge others' relationship with God.)
The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene: An acclaimed and fascinating book discussing the various 'n-dimensional' (super)string theories attempting to describe the nature of the Universe and reality. There are many other books of this ilk -- Hawking's "A Brief History..." or Smolin's "Three Roads to Quantum Gravity" among many examples -- but I like this one best. Starts out simple and works the reader up to an advanced snapshot of the recent state of theoretical physics. Things have changed somewhat since the book was published, but if you can manage to comprehend it through to its end, you should be able to follow the advances made since. (I get all my latest 'pop sci' from Scientific American, available at a bookseller near you).
How the Leopard Changed Its Spots: The Evolution of Complexity, Brian Goodwin: An alternative to straight Darwinism, this is not some neo-Creationist tripe. It attempts to explain the 'staccato' nature of the fossil record, and how new forms can arise spontaneously. When you've done with this book, you should immediately read Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children, by Greg Bear, in order to cement these ideas. The scientific premise for these books is that dormant genes and introns are the machines of evolution, and can bring about a massive change of species within a single generation. He's even got a nice -- if perhaps fanciful -- scene of a dig that uncovers a nomadic group made up of h. sapiens and h. erectus, working and living (and possibly engaging in interspecies sexual activity) together. And of course, it's Bear, so it's a very engaging read.
Dune, Frank Herbert: For all the reasons I've stated numerous times; but mostly for its Machiavellian political/religious insights. Some things never change throughout human history; Herbert's work provides a more or less complete insight into these, if one reads deeply enough. And overlaying all that practical insight is a story laden with elements reminiscent of the best of Shakespeare: witches and noblemen and stabbings and poison and children of questionable birthright from secretly incestuous pairings (only the witches know for sure who's related to whom).
I could name many others, but if I had to list the essentials only, I would say read these books (and then read everything else). I think you'll find enough polarity in these viewpoints to give you a well-rounded vantage of the 'big picture' of reality. I have actually managed to reconcile them; as a consequence, I am philosophically unwelcome just about everywhere I go...
You have been warned.
Literarily,
zoid
P.S.
Folks, remember to read more than fiction. History is good. So are archaeology and the natural sciences. Mix up your reading diet.
P.P.S.
The books I can't live without are the ones I have yet to read. Life would be pretty unbearable without the prospect of great books to read for the remainder of my time here...
_________________________________________________
"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity
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I'm gonna echoe the support for Lord of the Rings and The Hitchhiker's Guide and also sing the praises of War of the Worlds by HG Wells and Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I'm only halfway through the latter book and it's already a contendor for my all-time favourite. If you haven't read it yet you should.
"Gorramit Mal... I've forgotten my line."
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Anything by Lois McMaster Bujold, but especially her Miles Vorkosigan stories. The first two novels, by internal chronology, Shards of Honor and Barrayar, are about the hero's Mom!
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Orphans in the Sky, and Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlien.
With The Lightnings and Lt. Leary Commanding by David Drake (Scary writer who's mellowed to the point where I imagine he wouldn't scare Bothari, if the two of them were to meet in a dark alley...) Third book is not quite as good, with all due respect to Mr. Drake.
Most anything by Mark Twain, but especially Huckleberry Finn, the most seditious book you can give a teenager to read. Huck would understand Mal, and vice versa.
The Guards books out of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (silly, true, but also full good ideas and great characters). Read the whole series and watch a silly send up of modern fantasy rip-offs of Tolkien grow into something more.
Vince the Alien Zookeeper
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Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan
Lord of the Rings trilogy - So it's in 3 seperate parts. I Like to reread it every year or so.
Dinosaur Heresies - Dr. Robert Bakker
" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "
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AURaptor:
Thanks for your list. I'll check out the Sagan and Bakker. Can you clue me on why those books are great?
Of course, I've read the Tolkien. The historical subtext is worth the effort, on its own, apart from the great fantasy. I reckon it's the template for pretty much every other fantasy (read: 'sword and sorcery') novel since; LotR is the progenitor -- and still best example -- of the entire genre.
v/r,
-zed
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Uh well I can think of one book right now that I'm currently reading.
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. It takes place before the Hobbit and LOTR. I read it first before any other Tolkien book, but while watching movies it helped me understand them alot more. Also you realize there is a greater signifigance to certain things (like the Phial of Galadriel for instance).
Frell me dead!!!
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Sorry I can't resist this thread. Had a go last night and gave up, but would also stress the importance of non-fiction. I keep trying to get rid of books but these are the ones I keep:
Non-Fiction
In my case it's mainly cookery books (reflected in my shape)
Madhur Jaffery, Antonio Carlucci, Arabella Boxer, Sophie Grigson and a great one from Bill Granger called Sydney Food.
And foreign language dictionaries but they don't count.
Other non-fiction
Apollo 13 - a great story of real human ingenuity
Infectious Greed - Frank Portnoy (explained a lot about the way the stock markets work and the people who influenced them, also for helped me understand a lot more about the telecoms world in 1999-2002 which bit me and a lot of others in the backside)
Richard Feynman's books (two or three of them I think)
Random Walks in Science
Iain Sinclair - London Orbital (about a walk round the M25 and why it is where and what it is, not sure if that is what they call psychogeography)
All the Lonely Planet/ Rough Guides I collect for places I'll probably never get to - great inspiration
Fiction
Left Hand of darkness/ Always coming home Ursula le guin
Forever War - Haldeman I think
Mission of Gravity - Hal Clement
Gameplayers of Zan - can't remember who wrote that one
A lot of stuff by Azimov
Barbara Hambly's books about the wizard, ? tower erm one is called twisting the rope I think.
Lord of the Rings (sorry but it was an inspiration even from school)
Most of Terry Pratchett's stuff, favourite is probably Soul Music, but I reread them every couple of years or so when I'm feeling depressed.
Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban (post apocalyptic folks rediscovering gunpowder, but set in East Kent where I grew up so the geography is important)
James Lee Burke - would have to be one or two of those in there
And on another angle, what about books you've never finished? Gravity's Rainbow - should be the sort of thing I love, very complex, rockets, physics, history, Europe. Just couldn't get past the first two hundred pages. Didn't care any more.
Debbie
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"Pondoro" by John Taylor
"Hell, I Was There" by Elmer Keith
Complete (annotated) Sherlock Holmes, by A. Conan Doyle
(No one else appreciates Holmes?)
"Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
The complete works of Richard Bach
"Life in the Far West" by George Frederick Ruxton
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I'll see your Holmes and raise you one Annotated Alice in Wonderland. {g} My grandmother's maiden name was Norton, btw.
Books everywhere - what would I throw in a box if the house was burning?
The Bible (The Books of Job, Psalms and Isaiah, especially)
Gifts from the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Michael Phillips - The Seven Laws of Money (one of the Whole Earth Catalog guys)
Possum Living - Dolly Freed (and who was her father anyway?)
Julia Cameron's The Artists Way
84 Charing Cross Road
Joy of Cooking
Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden series
the latest Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, Julie Smith, and Kate Wilhem books, whatever they are...
Alas Babylon - Pat Frank
Josephine Tey - Daughter of Time
The Ivy Tree - Mary Stewart
Sarah Smith - Chasing Shakespeare
Pride and Prejudice
Collected works of Wm Shakespeare (cheating, I know but Hamlet is - well - Hamlet)
Griffin and Sabine (picture books for grown-ups)
A few early Nora Roberts paperbacks
Harry Harrison - grab a few
Ishmael - the Star Trek novel; hated it the first time I read it but it grew on me. Also anything Trek or not by Peter David.
Tam Lin - Pamela Dean
Marelon the Magician - Patricia Wrede
Early Burglar books by Lawrence Block
--beloved childhood favorites--
Sally Watson's Lark and Linnet (YA) - mine
Barbary - Vonda McIntyre (I like her other books but this one is special)
The Hobbit - Tolkien
From my kids shelf:
Mick Hart Was Here
The Face on the Milk Carton
--picture books--
More Spaghetti I Say - Rita Golden Gelman
Good Night Moon
Green Eggs and Ham
Luckily for me, I have half of these in pda format.
Quote:
Originally posted by Ruxton:
"Pondoro" by John Taylor
{snip}
Complete (annotated) Sherlock Holmes, by A. Conan Doyle
(No one else appreciates Holmes?)
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