Thought I would give this thread a bump along with four books that have changed the way I see the world: The Deptford Trilogy by Roberston Davies. It was recommended to me as possibly the greatest work by a Canadian author - it didn't disappoint. It really is one of those books (you can get it in a single volume) that will stay with you for life, much like a vivid dream. Amerika by Franz Kafka. Frustratingly brilliant. Absurdity at its brilliant best and very much worth enduring. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton. The closest I have come to a literary version of Ben Cooper's music. An Australian family saga not unlike The Roots, that delivers like no other book I have read. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. This book, more than any other, has had the greatest impact on my life. The day after I finished it, I enlisted in a foreign army and spent the next five years fighting not only a fictional enemy, but for the ability to retain my valued principles and moral fortitude. Hemingway would scoff at the irony! As an end note, here is possibly my favourite poem by my favourite poet, Anne Sexton. She lived a tragic life, ended in its prime by suicide, but the dark beauty of her work is such a sombre delight to read: The Truth the Dead Know By Anne Sexton For my mother, born March 1902, died March 1959 and my father, born February 1900, died June 1959 Gone, I say and walk from church, refusing the stiff procession to the grave, letting the dead ride alone in the hearse. It is June. I am tired of being brave. We drive to the Cape. I cultivate myself where the sun gutters from the sky, where the sea swings in like an iron gate and we touch. In another country people die. My darling, the wind falls in like stones from the whitehearted water and when we touch we enter touch entirely. No one’s alone. Men kill for this, or for as much. And what of the dead? They lie without shoes in their stone boats. They are more like stone than the sea would be if it stopped. They refuse to be blessed, throat, eye and knucklebone.
I cannot recommend "tinkers" by Paul Harding enough. This debut Pulitzer Prize winning novel is the memoirs of an old man, 8 days before he dies. As his brain fends off senility and his body slowly starts shutting down he remembers his simple life as a horologist and the life of his father who suffered extreme fits of epilepsy. The imagery in this cold, wintery book, depicting the lives of a simple, yet troubled family in a frozen New England setting evoked the same imagery when I listened to The Family Tree: Roots for the first time. Listening to that album on repeat while reading this book was an incredible experience. I haven't loved a book this much in years!
Favorite book I've read recently is "The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon. It's told in 1st person and the main character is autistic. It was really interesting. Read it in 2 sittings.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is a fantastic book. It's like a little window into the view of what the world's like for somebody very, very different but also very similar to you.
Hahaha. Same problem. But I like having such a long list. It's comforting, in its way. Autism is something that runs in my family, so it was particularly interesting for me. Not to imply that the character in this book is in any way universal (autism shows up in tons of forms and varieties), but it was a great way to sit in that head space and view the world that way for a bit.
Currently reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and I honestly cannot pull away from it. So far reminds me alittle of some of my japanese story logs I remember 10 years with .hack and Summer Wars. But I'm loving the 80's fandom with in the book. So great! I've got The Twelve by Justin Cronin on it's way. Excited to get the 2nd book started from The Passage.
I haven't even finished it yet, I'm too afraid. My sister's ordering one of the fancy copies of Mark Z. Danielewski's other book, The 50 Year Sword, with the words stitched by hand and stuff. That one also sounds insane and probably also terrifying.
Sounds like I need to read this House of Leaves book, scary stories on the internet have stopped doing it for me...
Currently reading Horns by Joe Hill. Fun concept. Boy has his gf raped and murdered and although not charged, his whole small town thinks he did it. One year later he wakes up after a big night out with horns starting to protrude from his forehead and has the uncanny ability to make people blurt out their deepest darkest secrets. He goes on a mission to try and find out the truth before he goes insane. Not pulitzer prize winning literature, but a fun read. Also the movie adaption is being filmed up the road, north of Vancouver with Daniel Radcliffe playing the lead
Anyone here like Douglas Coupland? I've been reading Life After God and Generation X. Very interesting stuff.
Yes! Coupland is great. I've read Generation X and All Families are Psychotic, and I really enjoyed them. He manages to rattle off incredible observations in such a poetic way.
Yes! Ah he's wonderful. He made some documentaries and wrote a few short movies as well. But they are hard to find.
Well, I did it. As I'm pulled in to every one's suggestions and recent reads. The reviews I read here from everyone, I'm easily bought into getting to read most of the books suggested. As I'm impatient, I went ahead and bought Tinkers and Horns from Amazon and downloaded them on to my Kindle fire (couldn't wait). Almost finished with The Twelve by Justin Cronin and I'm liking his second following to a grim by interesting post apocalyptic story. I'm so glad that there's a book thread here. Thanks Ben for starting this up, as I'm seeing everyone taking benefit from this.
I don't know if this one is posted yet, but The Judas Tree by A.J. Cronin is a really good book. It was written in the 60's so it might be hard to get a copy, but if anyone gets the chance, I strongly recommend it.
Thanks for these suggestions. When asked what I'd like for Christmas, I drew a blank this year until I remembered this thread, so I gave my dad the name of 3 books which sounded like they'd appeal to me. He bought me "All Families are Psychotic" and "The Girl Who Successfully Navigated Fairyland..." and I think I'm also going to get "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time." I read "All Families..." on a recent plane ride and loved it.
Reading Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene. It's interesting to read an older book. Sometimes it really shows its age (like the phonetically written speech of the so-called "negro" character, who belongs to his aunt at the beginning), but mostly it's no different.
