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Favorite Books!!
#126942
09/02/05 02:07 PM
09/02/05 02:07 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,886 Folsom Prison
DonFerro55
OP
Underboss
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OP
Underboss
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,886
Folsom Prison
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Movies get so much playtime here, I'm gonna give books a chance. As an English Major, this stuff is basically my life.
List your favorite books and authors here.
Authors:
Hunter S. Thompson Jack Kerouac Ernest Hemingway J.R.R. Tolkien F. Scott Fitzgerald J.D. Salinger Thomas Harris Mike Nelson Authur C. Clarke
Books:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hell's Angels On The Road The Dharma Bums To Have and Have Not The Old Man and The Sea The Great Gatsby The Lord of the Rings The Catcher in the Rye The Silence of the Lambs The Odyessy 2001: A Space Odyessy
Post your favs! Books are great!
The Doc
And you liar, teller of tall tales: you trample all the Lord's commandments underfoot, you murder, steal, commit adultery, and afterward break into tears, beat your breast, take down your guitar and turn sin into a song. Shrewd devil, you know very well that God pardons singers no matter what they do, because he can simply die for a song.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126944
09/02/05 03:03 PM
09/02/05 03:03 PM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058 The Slippery Slope
plawrence
RIP StatMan
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RIP StatMan
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058
The Slippery Slope
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Anything and everything by Theodore Dreiser (An American Tragedy, Sister Carrie, etc.) and Herman Wouk (The Caine Mutiny, Marjorie Morningstar, etc.).
Also, all the Sherlock Holmes stories and novellas, by Arthur Conan Doyle, and, if you like detective stories, the hard-to-find-but-worth-looking-for Philo Vance novels, by S.S. Van Dine.
"Difficult....not impossible"
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126945
09/02/05 03:55 PM
09/02/05 03:55 PM
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,512 Right here, but I'd rather be ...
long_lost_corleone
Underboss
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Underboss
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,512
Right here, but I'd rather be ...
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Hey, Ferro, you haven't by any chance read Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaigne Trail, have you? I've been meaning to pick it up for a while, I'd just like to know how it compares to his other work.
"Somebody told me when the bomb hits, everybody in a two mile radius will be instantly sublimated, but if you lay face down on the ground for some time, avoiding the residual ripples of heat, you might survive, permanently fucked up and twisted like you're always underwater refracted. But if you do go gas, there's nothing you can do if the air that was once you is mingled and mashed with the kicked up molecules of the enemy's former body. Big-kid-tested, motherf--ker approved."
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126946
09/02/05 06:50 PM
09/02/05 06:50 PM
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,273 Hell
Mike Sullivan
Underboss
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Underboss
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,273
Hell
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Two books that need meantion here are Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" and John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath".
"The Grapes of Wrath" is pure Americana, the story of an all-american family faced by perils and trevails as they move to California from dust-bow ridden Oklahoma. Their tale is timeless in it's manner capturing a time perfectly that was questionable and displayed the pains of American Migration with no stops pulled.
"Catch-22" is the ultimate anti-war statement that perfectly captured the views of Nehilism and the questioning of the absurdities of war. It chaotic, episodic manner only accentuates the point that Heller makes, pertaining to the stupidity of war.
Madness! Madness! - Major Clipton The Bridge On The River Kwai
GOLD - GOLD - GOLD - GOLD. Bright and Yellow, Hard and Cold, Molten, Graven, Hammered, Rolled, Hard to Get and Light to Hold; Stolen, Borrowed, Squandered - Doled. - Greed
Nothing Is Written Lawrence Of Arabia
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126947
09/02/05 07:46 PM
09/02/05 07:46 PM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300 New York
Sicilian Babe
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 17,300
New York
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Favorite Authors: Ayn Rand is definitely #1 F. Scott Fitzgerald William Faulkner Pat Conroy Can't have a list without adding Mario Puzo Favorite Books: We The Living The Fountainhead Atlas Shrugged The Great Gatsby The Beautiful and the Damned Tender is the Night The Sound and the Fury As I Lay Dying Beach Music The Water is Wide The Godfather The Sicilian And there are some other favorites like The Hotel New Hampshire, Evergreen, A Time to Kill and Leadership that I love to reread every now and then.
President Emeritus of the Neal Pulcawer Fan Club
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126948
09/03/05 03:07 AM
09/03/05 03:07 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,886 Folsom Prison
DonFerro55
OP
Underboss
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OP
Underboss
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,886
Folsom Prison
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Originally posted by long_lost_corleone: Hey, Ferro, you haven't by any chance read Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaigne Trail, have you? I've been meaning to pick it up for a while, I'd just like to know how it compares to his other work. I've read every Thompson book except Curse of Lono. Campaign Trail is his third best after the 2 I stated. He really still has his hold on the still "relatively" new form of Gonzo writing. Thompson, throughout the years after The Great Shark Hunt, started to lose his grasp on True Gonzo and leaned twoards simple drug-crazed rambling. But the magic was always there, just not as much as with his early work. Stick with Thompson's early stuff. Enzo, I've read all of Tolkien's work too for my Myth and Tolkien Class. Silmarillion was good, but not up to par with LOTR. The creation myth thing is cool though, Tolkien is a master of language. Try reading the extended stories of Tom Bombadil and Leaf by Niggle. Both are good. Anymore book talk, guys? I'm a lonely English major! :p The Doc
And you liar, teller of tall tales: you trample all the Lord's commandments underfoot, you murder, steal, commit adultery, and afterward break into tears, beat your breast, take down your guitar and turn sin into a song. Shrewd devil, you know very well that God pardons singers no matter what they do, because he can simply die for a song.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126949
09/03/05 03:18 AM
09/03/05 03:18 AM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,300 New Jersey, USA
J Geoff
The Don
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The Don
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,300
New Jersey, USA
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I'm not a big reader by any means, at least not these days, but my favorite author of all time is John Steinbeck. I've read most of his works, and have never been disappointed! I was engrossed w/ Tolkien as well - but, like with Puzo, I get tongue-tied with the character names!
I studied Italian for 2 semesters. Not once was a "C" pronounced as a "G", and never was a trailing "I" ignored! And I'm from Jersey! lol Whaddaya want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? --Peter Griffin My DVDs | Facebook | Godfather Filming Locations
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126950
09/03/05 03:29 AM
09/03/05 03:29 AM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,611 AZ
Turnbull
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,611
AZ
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I read mostly history and biography. My favorite novels, in no particular order, are: --Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreiser --The Friends of Eddie Coyle, George V. Higgins --The Digger's Game, George V. Higgins --True Confessions, John Gregory Dunne --Goodbye Columbus, Philip Roth --The Chosen, Chiam Potok --Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis --The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, H.P. Lovecraft --SSGB, Len Deighton --The Honourable Schoolboy, John LeCarre --From Russia, With Love, Ian Fleming --Rosemary's Baby, Ira Levin
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126951
09/03/05 03:32 AM
09/03/05 03:32 AM
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 5,032 Texas
ginaitaliangirl
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 5,032
Texas
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JG, I assume you've read Of Mice and Men, then? I read it a few years ago for school, and I ended up really enjoying it, though, from what I remember, the ending sort of depressed me. Doc, English is probably my favorite subject, so I should be addicted to books, but I really don't read as much as I should, or as I used to. My all-time favorite is probably A Tale of Two Cities, so far. I've always wanted to read The Catcher in the Rye.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126954
09/03/05 03:45 AM
09/03/05 03:45 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,886 Folsom Prison
DonFerro55
OP
Underboss
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OP
Underboss
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,886
Folsom Prison
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Catcher in the Rye is amazing.
Too bad Salinger was such a oddball and only published two other books.
He used to bottle and drink his urine. He only had sex with his wife once to procreate and kept her locked in their house.
Wacko.
Yeah, I've liked books a long time. The first book I ever read was George Lucas's novelization of Star Wars back in 3rd grade. It blew my mind to be able to love a film so much, and be able to get a whole new experience from books in your mind. I was instantly hooked.
By the way, right now I have a class called Novel to Film in which we read a novel and then watch the film. The first few we are going to do are Apocalypse Now (Heart of Darkness), Fight Club, A Clockwork Orange, The Color Purple and some others. I'll keep everyone up to date.
The Doc
And you liar, teller of tall tales: you trample all the Lord's commandments underfoot, you murder, steal, commit adultery, and afterward break into tears, beat your breast, take down your guitar and turn sin into a song. Shrewd devil, you know very well that God pardons singers no matter what they do, because he can simply die for a song.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126955
09/03/05 03:51 AM
09/03/05 03:51 AM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058 The Slippery Slope
plawrence
RIP StatMan
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RIP StatMan
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058
The Slippery Slope
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Originally posted by ginaitaliangirl: TB, I've never even heard of (Silas Marner)! What's it about?
Edit: I looked it up...1885?! You don't want to know, Gina. Bor-ing. It always amazes me.....One of the goals of High School English is (or should be) to not only expose the student to great works of literature, but to make lifetime readers out of them by making reading enjoyable. Turnbull and I went to High School in NYC about the same time, so I guess Silas Marner was part of the curriculum back then. I suppose by someone's criteria it must be considered worth reading, but I found it so unbelievably boring that I was barely able to make it through the Cliff's Notes. There are so many great books out there which are also enjoyable, that I don't think that Silas Marner should be inflicted upon anyone.
"Difficult....not impossible"
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126956
09/03/05 03:52 AM
09/03/05 03:52 AM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,300 New Jersey, USA
J Geoff
The Don
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The Don
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,300
New Jersey, USA
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Originally posted by Turnbull: I'm waiting for one of our high schoolers to say that "Silas Marner" is their favorite... My grandmother, God rest her soul, told me to read that as it was her favorite -- I guess I should do that before my soul rests... So, since I haven't read it yet, so what's the joke then? Originally posted by DonFerro55: ...a oddball... English major, huh? :p
I studied Italian for 2 semesters. Not once was a "C" pronounced as a "G", and never was a trailing "I" ignored! And I'm from Jersey! lol Whaddaya want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? --Peter Griffin My DVDs | Facebook | Godfather Filming Locations
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126957
09/03/05 03:54 AM
09/03/05 03:54 AM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058 The Slippery Slope
plawrence
RIP StatMan
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RIP StatMan
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 15,058
The Slippery Slope
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I remember Silas Marner had a lot of furze-cutters in it. :rolleyes:
"Difficult....not impossible"
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126958
09/03/05 03:57 AM
09/03/05 03:57 AM
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,611 AZ
Turnbull
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 19,611
AZ
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Originally posted by plawrence: [quote]Originally posted by ginaitaliangirl: [b] TB, I've never even heard of (Silas Marner)! What's it about?
Edit: I looked it up...1885?! You don't want to know, Gina. Bor-ing. It always amazes me.....One of the goals of High School English is (or should be) to not only expose the student to great works of literature, but to make lifetime readers out of them by making reading enjoyable. Turnbull and I went to High School in NYC about the same time, so I guess Silas Marner was part of the curriculum back then. I suppose by someone's criteria it must be considered worth reading, but I found it so unbelievably boring that I was barely able to make it through the Cliff's Notes. There are so many great books out there which are also enjoyable, that I don't think that Silas Marner should be inflicted upon anyone. [/b][/quote]plaw is being his usual generous self, Gina. "Silas Marner" was the required reading in sophomore English in NYC high schools--and it was so boring that kids used to change over to vocational degrees to get out of having to read it. I'm not kidding. The textbook that contained "Silas Marner" started with a rejoinder, something like this: "Like a freight train, 'Silas Marner' begins slowly and builds up momentum..." "Freight train" my ass--it had about as much "momentum" as a glacier at the South Pole. :p
Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu, E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu... E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126960
09/03/05 04:05 AM
09/03/05 04:05 AM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,300 New Jersey, USA
J Geoff
The Don
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The Don
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 31,300
New Jersey, USA
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Damn! And I promised my grandma I'd read it... that was like 25 years ago, but still...
I studied Italian for 2 semesters. Not once was a "C" pronounced as a "G", and never was a trailing "I" ignored! And I'm from Jersey! lol Whaddaya want me to do? Whack a guy? Off a guy? Whack off a guy? --Peter Griffin My DVDs | Facebook | Godfather Filming Locations
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126964
09/03/05 10:37 AM
09/03/05 10:37 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 18,238 The Ravenite Social Club
Don Cardi
Caporegime
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Caporegime
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 18,238
The Ravenite Social Club
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Originally posted by ginaitaliangirl: Of Mice and Men My favorite Stienback book. Another classic that is an excellent read is "Julius Caesar." Besides my enjoyment for reading non-fiction mafia books, these are some of my favorite books ( GF being one of course ) : Of Mice and Men Julius Caesar Rich Man Poor Man A Raisin In The Sun Caine and Able A Stone For Danny Fisher The Outsiders The Last Jihad Interview With The Vampire The Vampire Lestat Tale Of The Body Thief Rage Of Angels Don Cardi
Don Cardi Five - ten years from now, they're gonna wish there was American Cosa Nostra. Five - ten years from now, they're gonna miss John Gotti.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126965
09/03/05 12:57 PM
09/03/05 12:57 PM
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 5,032 Texas
ginaitaliangirl
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 5,032
Texas
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Originally posted by DonFerro55: By the way, right now I have a class called Novel to Film in which we read a novel and then watch the film. This sounds like a lot of fun! I read Psycho before I saw the movie (actually, I saw the remake...I think I've only seen parts of the original, which I know is terrible!), and that was so fun to know and recall every detail of the story as I watched the "visual version." Also, I read To Kill A Mockingbird in class last year and loved it, and then I found out there was a movie made of it. I watched it, as well, and it was wonderful. Hopefully, someday, I'll get to check out The Catcher in the Rye. Originally posted by Turnbull: plaw is being his usual generous self, Gina. "Silas Marner" was the required reading in sophomore English in NYC high schools--and it was so boring that kids used to change over to vocational degrees to get out of having to read it. Wow, I'll pray I'm never exposed to this torture! I thought you were seriously recommending it, at first, until I looked it up and saw when it was written! And the "freight train" comparison cracks me up...they always use those things to make books like this look like something worthwhile, but they never are. Originally posted by plawrence: It always amazes me.....One of the goals of High School English is (or should be) to not only expose the student to great works of literature, but to make lifetime readers out of them by making reading enjoyable.
This is so true. While, as I've mentioned here, I have enjoyed many of the assigned books I've read in high school, it's just really terrible if students are forced to read a dull book such as Silas Marner and are then not interested in exposing themselves to any other form of literature because of it. We just read a short (fortunately) story that was written in "archaic" form, which I figure is just a fancy name for reading that I can only understand about half of. :rolleyes: I try to keep an open mind on any reading, but when I've read a page and can't remember or understand a thing it said, it's quite depressing. Several times, though, we've been given an assignment of reading a few books to reach a certain number of points for a grade, but we're allowed to choose what we read, which makes it much more interesting and enjoyable. DC, we read Julius Caesar in school, as well, and I loved it. We had to memorize quotes from it, so that was fun walking around reciting Shakespeare. We read A Raisin in the Sun, as well, though it seems we sort of rushed through it, from what I can remember. I didn't realize there was an Interview With the Vampire book - I assume it's based on the movie? I caught it on TV late one night and watched some (Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise caught my attention...), and I enjoyed what I saw. I seem to like vampire stories quite a bit, so I bet I'd enjoy that book.
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126967
09/03/05 01:23 PM
09/03/05 01:23 PM
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,273 Hell
Mike Sullivan
Underboss
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Underboss
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,273
Hell
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Let's not forget the work of Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, THe Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet and many others.
Or Tennasse Williams's plays like "A Streetcar Named Desire".
Madness! Madness! - Major Clipton The Bridge On The River Kwai
GOLD - GOLD - GOLD - GOLD. Bright and Yellow, Hard and Cold, Molten, Graven, Hammered, Rolled, Hard to Get and Light to Hold; Stolen, Borrowed, Squandered - Doled. - Greed
Nothing Is Written Lawrence Of Arabia
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126969
09/03/05 02:05 PM
09/03/05 02:05 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 22,902 New York
SC
Consigliere
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Consigliere
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 22,902
New York
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Originally posted by Sicilian Babe: Poetry! Nobody has mentioned poetry! I love Robert Frost My favorite poem of all time is "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".
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Re: Favorite Books!!
#126971
09/03/05 02:18 PM
09/03/05 02:18 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 22,902 New York
SC
Consigliere
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Consigliere
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 22,902
New York
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Originally posted by Sicilian Babe: That is beautiful. "I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." Hauntingly beautiful. On the surface its a peaceful, serene setting. Dig a little and its a powerful message about an upcoming ending. I say we get soused and recite it together at some restaurant!
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