I've run out of excellent books - what is your favourite read? Tell us a bit about why you like the book so much, too. And if you can't choose just one, list a few! Please :)
I'll start
1. Vanity Fair
Because of the epic romance. Also I'd never read a book before this where I could picture every single character clearly. I also *liked* every character in some way. Amelia especially.
or
2. 20,000 leagues under the sea
There was a LOT of boring fish-listing in this book, but there was also Captain Nemo to balance out the lame. He's maybe my favourite literary character, and the interaction between him and Professor Arronax had me hooked.
angel infernal and city infernal they have sex with demons :)
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Anonymous2007-11-16 20:34
Animal Farm By George Orwell
or
When The Emperor was Divine By Julie Otsuka
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Anonymous2007-11-17 3:02
Thomas Convenant - Epic Emo crazy shit
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Anonymous2007-11-17 3:29
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It sucks you in like nothing Ive read before. And Clarke's endless imagination is stunning. Its thick as hell though, in length and prose, so I doubt if too many 4channers would appreciate it.
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Anonymous2007-11-17 5:41
Probably David Gemmell - Legend. It's just so awfully epic, plus heroic deaths and the like always make me cry like a little girl /wrists.
I read that because some of my friends were into it. I got through it, but I found it pretty tedious. The only character I liked was The Man with the Thistle Down Hair.
Favorite book?Hmm...Hard question.Final contenders include Michael Ende's "The Endless Story", Herbert's "Dune", John Steakley's "Armor", Charles De Lint's "Forests of the Heart" and Tim Powers' "Dinner at the Deviant's Palace"
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Anonymous2007-11-17 10:27
Favorite book?Hmm...Hard question.Final contenders include Michael Ende's "The Endless Story", Herbert's "Dune", John Steakley's "Armor", Charles De Lint's "Forests of the Heart" and Tim Powers' "Dinner at the Deviant's Palace"
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Anonymous2007-11-17 10:27
sorry for double posting
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Anonymous2007-11-23 15:19
Best book of all time:
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
*unabridged*
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Anonymous2007-11-23 16:48
Götzen-Dämmerung by Friedrich Nietzsche
Must be read in its original German. The English is a bit butchered. A true Genius.
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Anonymous2007-11-23 19:16
Mein Kampf
best evar
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Anonymous2007-11-24 3:27
Ender's Game.
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Anonymous2007-11-24 17:00
>>17
It's really not very good if you sit down and actually read it.
Candide by Voltaire, Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
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Anonymous2007-11-24 17:23
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace (1953) by Harry Elmer Barnes
Explains why America is heading towards major fail through interventionism.
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Anonymous2007-11-25 2:37
The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien
Candide, Voltaire
Water for Elephants, Susan Gruen? (not sure of author)
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Anonymous2007-11-25 12:26
This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
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Anonymous2007-11-25 23:12
Glorianna by Micheal Moorcock
The story of a queen who can't orgasm.
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Ivanhoe comes back to England after the Crusades to kick the French out and prepare the way for King Richard's return...and Robin Hood puts in an appearance too!
The Starfist series of military sci-fi novels by Dan Craig & Steve Sherman
The Confederation Marine Corps takes on aliens, dictators, gangsters, and anyone else who threatens galactic sovreignty.
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Anonymous2007-11-27 0:26
White Noise - Don Delilo
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
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Anonymous2007-11-27 4:54
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All very good, but I have to throw out another Heinlein book, Job: A comedy of justice, as one review I read put it, "You owe it to yourself to give this book to an evangelical christan and then run the other way as fast as you can
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Anonymous2007-11-28 14:26
"all hallow's eve," charles williams.
"keep the aspidistra flying," george orwell.
"earth abides," george stewart.
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Anonymous2007-12-09 15:32
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey (The movie was shit)
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Anonymous2007-12-09 20:09
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
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Anonymous2007-12-09 23:40
A Confederacy of Dunces: John Kennedy Toole.
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Anonymous2007-12-10 17:13
Starship Troopers (1959) by Robert A. Heinlein.
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Anonymous2007-12-10 19:54
Momo by Michael Ende
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
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Anonymous2007-12-11 21:12
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
Catch 22(already been listed) - Joseph Heller
Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
and of course...
Lolita.
The Old Man And The Sea, most badass character in literature. EVER.
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Anonymous2007-12-22 16:24
The Scar-China Mieville
Winner of some Awards or some, great shit gets fukkin epic and is one of the most original and believable gritty worlds created in a long read.
Also has got Uther Doul, fucking bad ass motherfucker.
Great book, great writer.
>>39
If the Old Man in the OMATS was that much of a badass, he'd be in the Cromartie High books. He ain't, therefore he's not the badass you imagine him to be.
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Anonymous2007-12-28 18:26
"The cat in the hat", by Dr. Seuss.
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Anonymous2007-12-28 21:52
Neuromancer - William Gibson
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Anonymous2007-12-29 17:19
Nineteen eighty-four, then Brave New World
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Anonymous2007-12-30 22:16
"El Tunel" by... lemme search my crappy paperback cheap copy... Ernesto Sábato. Good look finding it in english.
I personally enjoyed Flatland a lot. Silly wimminz.
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Anonymous2008-01-06 21:06
>>46
Why are two books about two totally different future scenarios your two favorite books? Is it because of your mother?
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Anonymous2008-01-06 23:34
Childhood's End - Sir Arthur C. Clarke
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Anonymous2008-01-11 19:32
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt.
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Anonymous2008-01-12 14:48
L'Etranger - Albert Camus
The Plague - Albert Camus
Both are beautifully written. The emptiness of the characters really struck a chord with me (in a non emo way).
Factotum - Charles Bukowski
I guess I like bukowski for his outsider/anti-heroness.
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Really interesting, much nicer description than you'll find in Atlas Shrugged, even though Atlas Shrugged is also a masterpiece.
The Immoralist - Andre Gide
Again, outsiderness drew me to this, 4chan should like it for its opaque references to pedophilia. It also has beautiful description of scenes and mental state. More of a short story really.
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Well developed and memorable characters, set in 50s New Orleans. Laugh out loud funny but also high literature.
Eragon
Eldest
Vampire Kisses
The City Of Ember
A Hithhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Poison
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Anonymous2008-01-14 21:32
A princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs
If you read it, I think you might be compelled to read the rest of the series.
Clear and present danger - Tom Clancy
All his characters must be the "best of the best", but it can be entertaining for some. Eating your way past the way he glorifies the military is a bit tougher though
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Anonymous2008-01-15 5:49
Vanity Fair
20,000 leagues under the sea
Eragon
A princess of Mars
Eragon? Seriously? Not that I'm criticizing you for it, but...read some more books. There are much better fantasy novels out there than Eragon.
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Anonymous2008-01-15 21:05
>>57
You must have misinterpreted what I wrote, as it didn't warrant a response like that.
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Anonymous2008-01-17 19:58
if you like hard science fiction, i recommend anything by Stephen Baxter.
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Anonymous2008-01-22 20:52
>>58
You're right. Here's what the response should have been:
"ERAGON? LOL FAG"
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Anonymous2008-01-24 17:55
The Catcher in the Rye
It was the first time a book wasn't ruined for me because of school. I actually felt like finding the symbolism and identifying all the themes in the book. It might seem like a generic thing to say, but I think just about everyone can find a way to relate to Holden.
Shogun - I found out where The Last Samurai was pretty much copied from. Shit was also epic. Over a thousand pages.
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Anonymous2008-01-31 2:05
Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson
Idoru -- William Gibson
Neuromancer -- William Gibson
The Gunslinger -- Stephen King
Kushiel's Chosen -- (can't remember her name)
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Anonymous2008-02-03 1:37
The Gospel According to Larry - Janet Tashjian
On the Beach- Nevil Shute
The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Anonymous2008-02-05 22:11
Try to get any book wrote by Cortazar in english, "Rayuela" is spanish name of his best novel. He is an Argentinian writer, but a damn good one
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Anonymous2008-02-06 13:26
The penis orgy - Homo Cockus
The dry vagina - Sucker Fagtard
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Anonymous2008-02-07 0:28
MICHIO KAKU ON ALIENS AND PHISICS
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Anonymous2008-02-20 8:58
Other Voices, Other Rooms - Truman Capote
Intimacy - J.P Sartre
Catcher In The Rye - Salinger
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Anonymous2008-02-20 12:20
>>69 He is an Argentinian writer, but a damn good one
What's that supposed to mean?
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Anonymous2008-02-20 17:18
kishi yusuke japanese science fiction and horror and mistery writer
hello.Im japanese. and i ordinarily read u.s or u.k novels
(most of them are science fiction or horror. my favorite author are edgar allan poe,frederick forsyth,etc)
mr.kishi is only japanese writer ,who i can highly recommend.
please try crimson labyrinth.
i hope you enjoy it!
Seconded, Mieville is fantastic. Restored my faith in the capacity of genre writing to be relevant and fresh. Though I think I liked Perdido Street Station just a little more than The Scar.
Other favourites:
Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood, or The Wind-up Bird Chronicles. Very different books... go with Norwegian Wood if you want something fairly conventional but perfectly executed and completely beautiful, or The Wind-up Bird Chronicles if you're into surrealism.
Vladmir Nabokov - Lolita. No, really, it's literature, take it the fuck seriously. Probably the greatest wordsmith to grace the English language since Shakespeare. And very, very funny.
Henry Miller - Tropic of Cancer. Obscene, hilarious genius. Chuck Palahniuk and all his ilk could never have got off the ground without this guy paving the way.
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Anonymous2008-03-08 1:06
The whole Dark Tower series by Stephen King
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Anonymous2008-03-08 3:51
>>84
I wouldn't say WHOLE. I thought the 4th book dragged a bit in places, and the 6th just seemed like filler between the awesome of the 5th and 7th.
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Anonymous2008-03-09 17:37
>>85
IMO, the Roland/Susan story in 4 is better than the rest of the series.
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Anonymous2008-03-10 22:04
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is absolutely hilarious. The writing is just phenomenal and Ignatius is probably my favorite character in anything I've read, just because while his physical appearance and absurd personality are so outrageous, his narration makes him seem so believable and victimized. Definitely a book to be re-read a few times. (I don't if someone has already mentioned this, I haven't looked through the whole thread)
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Anonymous2008-03-11 0:59
1984 - George Orwell
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
Invisible Monsters - Chuck Palahniuk
I could list many more, but these are my general favorites.
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Anonymous2008-03-14 12:20
>>83
You and me have similar tastes. Thus, I will check out this Mieville author.
Also, The Giving Tree. ;_;
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Anonymous2008-03-16 9:20
+1 The Old Man and the Sea. God, I love that book.
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Anonymous2008-03-16 14:06
"A Clockwork Orange," Anthony Burgess
Make it the edition with the extra chapter. Yes, it is much better than the movie.
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Anonymous2008-03-16 18:56
>>31
This and The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany; both by John Irving
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Anonymous2008-03-18 11:44
Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
Chocolat - Joanne Harris
The Pirate's Daughter - Margaret Cezair-Thompson
The Duppy - Anthony C. Winkler
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Anonymous2008-03-30 5:38
Still Life with Woodpecker-Tom Robbins
Jitterbug Perfume-Also Tom Robbins.
While I do feel that Everyone should read Catcher in The Rye, simply for it's cultural value, it's probably my least favorite of Salinger's books/stories.
Nine Stories (particularly "Perfect day for a Banannafish" and "For Esme, With Love and Squaller")
Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenter and Seymour, an Introduction
Franny and Zooey
All the work dealing with the Glass family is much better, IMO.
Also, if you feel like going on an allegorical hay-ride, take a look at Dante's Devine Comedy.