Maybe this has been discussed in a prior thread, but I was thinking today about how I do so much reading for school that I rarely get to read just for fun anymore. I read so many history books that it seems rare that I get to read a novel. So I was wondering if anyone has any reading suggestions. Either favorite "classics" or books that have recently been published?

No books with the puffy font sold next to the magazines at Kroger, not that it's necessary to include that caveat to you guys.

I've always enjoyed Albert Camus.

Camus can do but Sartre is smarter. Bad joke there, I apologize. You'll have to forgive the length of my post. Reading is my favorite avocation.

As of late I have been reading a lot of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the the Time of Cholera, Of Love and Other Demons, The General in His Labyrinth, are all excellent reads if you find a good translation. The stories flow so effortlessly, it is like you're living them. I wish I knew spanish really well, I'm always afraid I'm missing something.

Other authors I've read in the past couple months.... or authors I love:

Graham Greene (The End of the Affair is probably one of the best 5 books I've ever read. Beautiful, heartbreaking, philosophical)

John Irving

Chuck Palahniuk

John Steinbeck

Gunter Grass

Bret Easton Ellis (his books are a constant mindfuck)

Nick Hornby

Some classics, some contemporary, some american, some foreign
There are a ton more, that is just what I've been into as of late.

(Edited by Ceeze at 5:47 pm on Aug. 8, 2003)

Token and I both like Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth.

Noone wants to know hear a teacher's choice of reading.

okay.. books that I read this summer.. that I feel are noteworthy..
of course some are better than others.

Bongwater.. Michael Hornburg
Personal Velocity.. Rebecca Miller
Prozac Nation.. Elizabeth Wurtzel
The Bell Jar.. Sylvia Plath
Mrs. Dalloway.. Virginia Woolf
and I really enjoyed what I've read of Irvine Welsh

Some old favorites (and yes, many were required reading)

Cold Sassy Tree.. Olive Ann Burns
Cruddy.. Lynda Barry
The Perks of Being a Wallflower.. (I don't remember the author, but it was an MTV publication and the paperback was a very ugly green color)
Empire Falls.. Richard Russo
A Confederacy of Dunces.. John Kennedy Toole
The Thornbirds.. Colleen McCullough
Fahrenheit 451.. Ray Bradbury

These are my recommendations for whatever they're worth.. I'm sure Ceeze hates them all..

wonderful and wonderful.

have you read the guide to Portland that Palahniuk wrote? I hear that it's absolutely wonderful.

"The Prince" (1513) - Niccolo Machiavelli

You would be right for the most part. You never read what I tell you to read.

i was wondering if anyone recommends survivor? i thought invisible monsters and fight club were brilliant, but ive heard mixed things about survivor. i am also interested in this portland guide. maybe i should read it this week while im there?

Fugitives and Refugees....I haven't read it as of yet, but I am very interested in doing so, mainly because I am in love with area in question, and Chuck P. is an author I highly respect.

I'm looking forward to his new novel which comes out in a couple weeks. I can hardly wait.

If you like political stuff: Stupid White Men - Michael Moore.

I just got done reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, and now I don't think that I can ever eat fast food again.

Now I'm reading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored by Richard Cole.

I've only read Survivior and Choke, but my impression is that if you've read one Palahniuk, you've read 'em all. His style is very "hip" (which I know you're all about), but I don't think he really does anything new with each of his books. If you decide to read Survivor and don't already have it, I can lend you my copy.

I've been slowly reading Great Expectations.

Nice, Keith.

I'll agree with Camus, The Stranger is truly exciting and a fantastic read. His prose style is great (or at least in translation it was).

As for modern lit, both Zadie Smith books (White Teeth especially, but Autograph Man too ), and the Eggers novel (You Shall Know Our Velocity) are great.

Will

I absolutely love Lynda Barry. She's my hero, but I've never read Cruddy. I hear it's a little on the disturbing side.

I went to a reading of hers and she signed my copy of One Hundred Demons with a sweating hot chicken that said "Beware the chicken!!" It was the best day of my life.

I would reccommend Survivor. Not so much because, as carl said, Palahniuk wouldn't do anything "new" in the book, but because it's an entertaining story and I enjoy his style.

Richard Belzer is good stuff as well -- Ufos, Jfk, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe is excellent.

You don't fool me.

okay, thanks. invisible monsters was amazing; and although it was his typical style, i really liked the subject, anyway. and fight club didnt fool me when i read it [i read it before i saw the movie], i figured it out mid-book. but invisible monsters got me. i think its a more mature book than fight club, somehow.

I liked Survivor. Yes, read the Portland book while you're there (I haven't yet), but also read the Dharma Bums by Kerouac- it takes place a bit in Portland. As do the Ramona Quimby books. Things I've enjoyed lately are:

The Tin Drum- Gunter Grass- really good & refreshingly unique story & style, even though it's set in the overdone WWII time period.

A Farewell to Arms- Hemingway- Ok, yes, it's misogynistic and sometimes way sappy, but I really liked it. The general ennui & apathy of those involved in the world seems so accurate, although I've never been in a war. Also seems contemporary. I tried to read it a few years ago & hated it.

Maggie Cassidy- Jack Kerouac- a suprisingly sweet & nostalgic book

What I'm reading right now that is not that great:

Skinny Legs & All- Tom Robbins- it took me 3/4 of the book to get interested in it, and it covers a lot of topics that interest me.

What I'm listening to right now that is great but also puts me to sleep:

Reefer Madness- Eric Schlosser.

I must have missed the train with Confederacy of Dunces. I started but never finished it. It must have left me wanting somehow. Maybe it was all the build up. This is not to say that I just didn't like it or that I hated it as I will be accused of after making this post. Anyway, I'm currently reading White Noise by Don Delillo and it is excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone who is into paranoia and alienation via technology. Must be one of Thom Yorke's favorites.

As far as the Sartre/Camus thread, I'll agree that Sartre was probably a smarter, more probing writer and philosopher, but like two of his German heros, Hegel and Heidegger, his work is impossibly convoluted and somewhat impenetrable. Like most philosophers he would rather twist your head in circles with language than actually get on with it. He's brilliant all the same. That said, Camus' the Stranger and the Fall are great.

Also, John Barth's The Floating Opera is a nice piece of metafiction. I would recommend it to Dave Eggers fans.

Don't feel badly. I had the same problem. I plan to give it another try in a year or two, though. Sometimes timing is everything.

I laughed, I cried, I became nauseated. Great book.

oops.

(Edited by damon at 6:33 pm on Aug. 9, 2003)

i really disliked that book. later i read another book called of human bondage, which for some reason struck me as being the same book.


i felt the same way after reading that one, but alas, it was only a matter of hours before i needed a wendy's fix.


i actually loved that book. ignatius j. reilly's life of hotdogs, masturbation, and medieval ideals is something that i related well to, sadly...

currently reading - the bourne identity; our band could be your life


great book = please kill me: an oral history or punk rock

great series = harry potter

seriously ladies, if you haven't read bridget jones's diary, it is a fun and easy read. it will only take you a day and it is wonderful.

also, for any and all david lynch fans = lynch on lynch