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What should I read?
12 Answers
I currently have a lot of time on my hands, and would like to fill the time reading.
Which books can I read? Maybe a few of the classics and modern books too.
I generally prefer humourous books, but I'm open to anything.
Answers
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The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler. I didn't want to read this. Believe it or not, I didn't like the cover, but ABers encouraged me and I'm glad I did. A couple drawn together on the romantic illusion of war grow resentful of one another in the drudge of everyday reality.
Paddy Clarke ha ha ha by Roddy Doyle. It's about a young boy growing up in Ireland. Great fun in places, heart wrenching in others.
The Lovely Bones by Anne Sebold. Worth reading because everybody else has!
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee My favourite book. Humorous and moving. A classic!!
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Reading this was like a battlefield and my copy was wripped to shreds by the end because I kept throwing it across the room. I wanted to box both the lead characters' ears, yet couldn't resist it.
It's difficult to suggest books without knowing more about your interests. Why not speak to the staff in your local Waterstones or Ottakars? They can recommend something after finding out a bit more about you - most booksellers are more than happy to be asked for advice about their stock.
Or if you prefer to go online, go to http://www.amazon.co.uk and read customer reviews of some of the best sellers to see if the storyline appeals.
ursula is right about it being difficult to recommend without knowing you and your interests but I would recommend the following to anyone:
1. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
It's the modern 1984/Brave New World - brilliant.
2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Life in post taliban Afghanistan.
3. Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky
This book about America's position in the world should be made compulsory reading.
Let us know what you think if you read them!
I shall give you a few titles that never fail after my friends ask me for some literary recommendations:
(1) Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (1967), which follows the investigation into the real life murder of a family in Kansas and the suspects on the run. It mixes documentary evidence and compelling literary language with a very precise and thrilling sense of plot. A newly-released film, entitled Capote, looks into how the author came to write the so-called 'non-fiction novel' and is already an Oscar contender.
(2) J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace (1999) is a Nobel Prize-winning effort from South Africa's leading novelist. Disgrace is very raw, very pared down, using direct, simple, sometimes brutal, language. It is ostensibly about a University lecturer who crosses the line and skulks off to the African outback with his daughter, but it is also a parable of human redemption in the face of death and misery. You'll definitely have an opinion once you finish this little book.
(3) Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea (1978), so good she named it twice, is about lost love found, and the delusions of those who fall in love with others or with ideas and objects that ultimately threaten disaster. It follows Charles Arrowby on his retirement as he attempts to bring his last years into ordered maturity -- only for the love of his teenage years to return to him ghost-like after several decades, threatening to turn retirement into upheavel and grief. A stunning novel by a novelist who was at the height of her powers. Thoroughly deserving of the Booker Prize it won in 1978.
Hope those help!
(1) Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (1967), which follows the investigation into the real life murder of a family in Kansas and the suspects on the run. It mixes documentary evidence and compelling literary language with a very precise and thrilling sense of plot. A newly-released film, entitled Capote, looks into how the author came to write the so-called 'non-fiction novel' and is already an Oscar contender.
(2) J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace (1999) is a Nobel Prize-winning effort from South Africa's leading novelist. Disgrace is very raw, very pared down, using direct, simple, sometimes brutal, language. It is ostensibly about a University lecturer who crosses the line and skulks off to the African outback with his daughter, but it is also a parable of human redemption in the face of death and misery. You'll definitely have an opinion once you finish this little book.
(3) Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea (1978), so good she named it twice, is about lost love found, and the delusions of those who fall in love with others or with ideas and objects that ultimately threaten disaster. It follows Charles Arrowby on his retirement as he attempts to bring his last years into ordered maturity -- only for the love of his teenage years to return to him ghost-like after several decades, threatening to turn retirement into upheavel and grief. A stunning novel by a novelist who was at the height of her powers. Thoroughly deserving of the Booker Prize it won in 1978.
Hope those help!
If you like humorous books you're probably familiar with P G Wodehouse but I still recommend reading everything he wrote. (The plots are almost identical throughout but it doesn't stop them from being wonderfully funny).
The funniest book that I know which is usually regarded as 'classic' literature is undoubtedly Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat'. (Mark Wallington's 'Boogie Up the River' has strong echoes of Jerome's style and is also worth a read).
Picking up on something I've recently written in another thread, it's amazing how many people in this country have never read the most published work of fiction of all time: Miguel Cervantes' 'Don Quijote de la Mancha'. It's definitely 'odd' but, unlike many of the 'odd' books which seem to win prizes these days, it's also very accessible to the average reader.
I recently picked bought a book at the Eurostar terminal simply because W H Smith were offering 'Buy one - get 2nd at half price'. I'd already chosen my first book (Tom Sharpe's latest - rather disappointing) and grabbed a second book just because it was cheap. This was 'To the Baltic with Bob' by Griff Rhys Jones. I assumed that this was going to be one of those books which would never have been published if it wasn't for the fact that the author's name was already well known so I wasn't expecting a great deal from it. Instead, I discovered that GRJ is a wonderful storyteller. This was definitely one of the best books I'd read for years. (i'm already regretting giving my copy away to a friend!).
Chris
The funniest book that I know which is usually regarded as 'classic' literature is undoubtedly Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat'. (Mark Wallington's 'Boogie Up the River' has strong echoes of Jerome's style and is also worth a read).
Picking up on something I've recently written in another thread, it's amazing how many people in this country have never read the most published work of fiction of all time: Miguel Cervantes' 'Don Quijote de la Mancha'. It's definitely 'odd' but, unlike many of the 'odd' books which seem to win prizes these days, it's also very accessible to the average reader.
I recently picked bought a book at the Eurostar terminal simply because W H Smith were offering 'Buy one - get 2nd at half price'. I'd already chosen my first book (Tom Sharpe's latest - rather disappointing) and grabbed a second book just because it was cheap. This was 'To the Baltic with Bob' by Griff Rhys Jones. I assumed that this was going to be one of those books which would never have been published if it wasn't for the fact that the author's name was already well known so I wasn't expecting a great deal from it. Instead, I discovered that GRJ is a wonderful storyteller. This was definitely one of the best books I'd read for years. (i'm already regretting giving my copy away to a friend!).
Chris
If you like humour and have an interest in the classics, try Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series. ("The Eyre Affair" is the first).
Hard to describe, but the are sort-of detective stories where the heroine can interact with various classic novels. Might be a bit too "out there" for some readers, though.
Hmm as said above it can be hard to point people in the right direction with little information on what you like to read. If you like humorous book there is always Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams (If you haven't already read them). When I used to work in a book store and someone came in and asked for book to soemone and they didn't know what kind of book they wanted, my safe bet was always Ken Follet's Pillers of the Earth. It's long, it has action, love and architecture and one of the best opening lines ever :) And it is really really good!!
I'm a horror/crime/fantasy kind of girl, so if you would like some recommendations on that just give a shout!
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