Your Paragon of Virtue 0 Report post Posted April 1, 2003 I've always been interested in picking up literature, but never really find time for it. I really haven't read many books actually, other than a handful that had to do with certain themes needed for school and such. Basically, what I'm asking is that you help me out here and give me some prime choices that would help me jump into the world of literature. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest HellSpawn Report post Posted April 1, 2003 Well, there is a lot of stuff you can pick... I could recommend you this: Horror Books: "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King Romance: "If Tomorrow comes" by Sidney Sheldon, and there is another one from Sheldon but right now im blank, its about diamonds. Mistery: Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DrTom Report post Posted April 1, 2003 If by "literature," you mean the classics and near-classics that are read in high school and college, you can't go wrong with F.Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens, or Mark Twain. For gothic fiction, I'd go with Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King (but only thru 1991-92). For poetry, I've always been partial to Poe and William Butler Yeats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Youth N Asia Report post Posted April 1, 2003 and Stephen King (but only thru 1991-92) I like most of his 70's and 80's books better. He hasn't knocked out a great one in a while though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest starvenger Report post Posted April 1, 2003 I guess I'd need a bit of clarification on what you THINK you'd like to read. Fantasy? Start with Lord of the Rings, and then read Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, and Anne McCaffrey. Crime Fiction? Elmore Leonard. Go with some of his books-turned-into-movies (Get Shorty, Out of Sight) and work your way from there. Make sure you get his crime fiction though, and not his westerns. Mystery? As HellSpawn said, Agatha Christie is probably the best place to start, although I wouldn't argue with Arthur Conan Doyle. Of course, you could go to the library and pick a book at random. You never know, you might like it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DrTom Report post Posted April 1, 2003 I like most of his 70's and 80's books better. He hasn't knocked out a great one in a while though. Um... that's why I said only thru 91/92. He stopped being good around the time of Misery, The Dark Half, and Needful Things, which came out in that two-year period. Since then, I've liked nothing he's written except On Writing, his wonderful treatise on the writer's craft. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Your Paragon of Virtue 0 Report post Posted April 2, 2003 Thanks guys, I guess I should point out that I meant books that are generally classics, and what to go from there. Which books in specific, I don't know. Genre really doesn't matter to me personally... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted April 2, 2003 Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-Five is a delightful read. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest EricMM Report post Posted April 2, 2003 actually king released Hearts in Atlantis and Bag of Bones which were both good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Youth N Asia Report post Posted April 2, 2003 I'm pretty much just into horror. Can't go wrong with John Saul or Bentley Little (not for kids though) For the best of King get "The Long Walk," it can be found as it's own title or in "The Bachman Books" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest raptor Report post Posted April 2, 2003 All Vonnegut novels are more than worth your time. Jim Bouton's Ball Four is the greatest sports book ever. Lord of the Rings is incredible if you have the time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted April 2, 2003 As far as Detective Fiction, the inarguable essentials are thus: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Purloined Letter" Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories Wilkie Collins' "The Moonstone" G.K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" stories The "Jeeves and Wooster" stories Raymond Chandler's "Phillip Marlowe" stuff. Agath Christie's Poirot stuff. Issac Asimov's "Black Widower" stuff Mickey Spillane's "Mike Hammer" stuff Ellery Queen's stories. (The compilations of other people's work are blah.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest notJames Report post Posted April 2, 2003 Catch 22-Joseph Heller Animal Farm and 1984-George Orwell Lord of the Flies-William Goldman Brave New World-Aldous Huxley Atlas Shrugged-Ayn Rand The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald Ten Little Indians (sometimes titled And Then There Were None-Agatha Christie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DrTom Report post Posted April 2, 2003 Add in Lawrence Block for the crime/detective fiction category. He writes about several different characters, all of whom are quite compelling in their own ways. And I must echo my support for P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories, though I think they're better examples of postwar British humor than they are of detective fiction. The World of Jeeves is a wonderful read no matter how you look at it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted April 2, 2003 Add in Lawrence Block for the crime/detective fiction category. He writes about several different characters, all of whom are quite compelling in their own ways. And I must echo my support for P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories, though I think they're better examples of postwar British humor than they are of detective fiction. The World of Jeeves is a wonderful read no matter how you look at it. I didn't want to add in too many, but if I could, I'd probobly recommend Dashiel Hammet's "The Maltese Falcon" if only because it refined the "hard-boiled" hero to it finest point. Also, read Richard Stark's "Parker" series. If I had to recommend ONE series to start with, I'd say either Sherlock holmes, for obvious reasons, or Black Widowers ebcause it is the best written of the entire pack. They have comedy, mystery, great characterization, history, and even clever resolutions. Unless you like INCREDIBLY contrived, 20 page conclusions stay the fuck away from Locked-Room Mystery Novels. They're almost NEVER good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Boromir's Smirking Revenge Report post Posted April 2, 2003 Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis The Rules of Attraction - Bret Easton Ellis American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis Glamorama - Bret Easton Ellis Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk Invisible Monsters - Chuck Palahniuk Choke - Chuck Palahniuk The Shining - Stephen King Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson Junky - William S. Burroughs Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell 1984 - George Orwell Animal Farm - George Orwell A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice Cat’s Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams Frankenstein - Mary Shelley Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson Perfume - Patrick Suskind The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway High Fidelity - Nick Hornby One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Ken Kesey Ender’s Game - Orson Scott Card Go crazy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted April 3, 2003 You only need to read one Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club. The two others of his I've read are essentially the same novel, but far inferior. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anorak Report post Posted April 4, 2003 Try something by these authors Raymond Carver John Cheever Denis Johnson Nick Hornby Johnson and Carver both have both written a lot of poetry as well and you can see elements of it in their novels. Johnson's brilliant and genre defying Already Dead got me into reading books again after I was in a similar position of not knowing where to start after years of not bothering post-school. Hornby's Fever Pitch is one of my favourites and its about a lot more than just football/'soccer' so don't be put off by that. He covers so much ground in that book in a funny and reflective tone that I'm not sure people are right when they refer to it as one of the best 'sports' books ever written. You won't find a better book about the emotions of being a loyal supporter of your favourite sports club. Maybe High Fidelity would be a better starting point before you went on to that in some respects but if you happened to like it definately try Fever Pitch straight after. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
