AlexKzillion: What book should I read?

AlexKzillion 03.21.17	halp
SteakByrnes 03.21.17	The Kite Runner was really good, pretty fucked up at parts tho. That was one of the few forced reading materials in high school that I enjoyed
JeetJeet 03.21.17	Survivor by Chuck Palanuik.
Ryus 03.21.17	just read the kite runner, its pretty good. their eyes were watching god is great, as are beloved, the bell jar, slaughterhouse 5, the color purple, and all the king's men. all the king's men is probably my favorite out of these
JeetJeet 03.21.17	Fuuuck my bad didn't read the choices. The Things They Carried was a good read tho.
butcherboy 03.21.17	suttree by cormac mccarthy.. kite runner is properly amazing, though the last third is a bit of a wash..
butcherboy 03.21.17	didnt see the choices either.. the crucible is very important, even if reading a play can be tedious..
SteakByrnes 03.21.17	1984 is a good choice due to it not being too overly long, plus it explores a cool concept that can be related to today's society. But Kite Runner is probably the best on the list imo
theBoneyKing 03.21.17	Of these I've read 5, 6,7, 12, 15 and 16 and of those 1984 would be my pick - it's a genuinely good sci-fi/dystopian story that actually has something pretty interesting to say and it remains relevant today. You can't go wrong with The Things They Carried either, it's a really emotionally intense look at war and very well-written with a pretty unique narrative structure. The only one of those that I know that I would say you should definitely avoid is The Scarlet Letter - the prose is pretty dense and the story really isn't that interesting either. I grew to appreciate it to an extent but I wouldn't read it again.
theBoneyKing 03.21.17	If all you want is a short and easy read though go with The Crucible, it's a play so it's not long and pretty fast-paced. But 1984 and The Things They Carried are both much better overall and neither is particularly difficult or long either.
IronGiant 03.21.17	if you're looking for some new fiction, I just finished Dark Matter and Setting Free the Kites, both of which were excellent. Dark Matter is a classic sci-fi thriller with a great twist, and SFtK is set in the early-mid 70s and follows a young boy throughout early teenhood and examines the role of prominent important figures in his life like his sick brother, friend, etc. It was a simple feel-good read
TheSpaceMan 03.21.17	The Bible is a good one, if sales are any indication
sempiturtle 03.21.17	16 is the best on the list. Also read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami cause it's fucking amazing.
AlexKzillion 03.21.17	Wait isn't 1984 the book that Pink Floyd's Animals is based off of?
theBoneyKing 03.21.17	No that's Orwell's novella Animal Farm.
neekafat 03.21.17	Crucible's fucking great and hella short
AlexKzillion 03.21.17	Ohhhhhhhhhhhh
Nbehre11 03.21.17	Kite Runner, 1984, some good choices in here. anyone watch Archer? had to ask with the mention of Animal Farm haha
Conmaniac 03.21.17	Slaughterhouse 5 def
AlexKzillion 03.21.17	I sorta kinda want to read like all of these eventually since I'm so ignorant when it comes to books.
zaruyache 03.21.17	Caged Bird, bc Maya Angelou. Or Slaughterhouse Funf if you want a classic that'll make you think "Wait, what am I reading?". Vonnegut's weird and depressing in a black comedy kinda way.
butcherboy 03.21.17	@Nbehre11 - hahhahaha, yes! we can stampede a flock of goats down the hall
Nbehre11 03.21.17	@butcherboy Yes!!
Satellite 03.21.17	slaughterhouse 5 definitely how have you not heard of most of these? not tryna big league you but these are classics
Deathconscious 03.21.17	Have you not read 1984? Well id fucking recommend that. Also the Dark Tower series. Reading Barsk right now which is pretty good.
Relinquished 03.21.17	oof you are young I'd say knock em all down
Satellite 03.21.17	the 1984 wishbone episode was great
Astral Abortis 03.21.17	Slaughterhouse 5 no question. It's a short read that will stick with you for a long time.
zaruyache 03.21.17	that woulda been one way to give me nightmares for life
Astral Abortis 03.21.17	The Things They Carried is also a very easy but essential read. I have a real soft spot for Vietnam war novels though.
dreamgazing 03.21.17	16 duh
Xenorazr 03.21.17	1984 I'm not much of a reader but that book is awesome
dbizzles 03.21.17	God damn, guess I better try Slaughterhouse 5 again. It always gets rec'd. I started reading it at a weird time in my life with not much time to read and never finished it. I got about halfway and I just don't remember being interested. I did read God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater in college though and liked that so... I'm not sure why this didn't stick.
Rowan5215 03.21.17	Slaughterhouse Five is a classic. Personally I think Vonnegut has at least 3 better books but the dude was a fucking machine so S5 is still fantastic plus it's the only one of his on this list
Minushuman24 03.21.17	1984 or Caged Bird
TVC15 03.21.17	I love All The King's Men but it's an extremely long and laborious read. I've heard/read some of the others on here but I'd say go with 1 because it's an easy read and it's a great semi-autobiographical piece that takes a humorous approach concerning the hardships of being a modern Native American I should really get on The Crucible
dbizzles 03.21.17	What 3 do you put above it, Row? I've only ready the God Bless You.
NorthernSkylark 03.21.17	Carson McCullers - the heart is a lonely hunter
Tunaboy45 03.21.17	Animal Farm The Master and Margarita Norwegian Wood Filth a couple of gooduns
Rowan5215 03.21.17	@bizz I fucking love Timequake - it's the only book I've ever read which is half of a finished story with the other half being the author going "fuck this story, here's some meta-narration and self-deprecating existentialism to fill in the time" - he probably should have scrapped it but it's fucking genius anyway as far as full stories go Cat's Cradle is fantastic, less of a mindbend than Slaughterhouse Five but the story and characters are tighter and it's sort of the standard I hold sci-fi to there's probably more but I can't remember which I have and haven't read yet
50iL 03.21.17	KITE RUNNER One of my favs ever
Astral Abortis 03.21.17	Cat's Cradle is also a classic
Rowan5215 03.21.17	one of the best endings in any book agreed snox
AlexKzillion 03.21.17	"how have you not heard of most of these? not tryna big league you but these are classics" Lol yeah I know, I feel like those people who join the site and look at the charts like "Lol what is OK Computer?"
AngryJohnny 03.21.17	Have to concur with everyone saying Kite Runner. Properly amazing book, as is his 2nd novel which I think is called A Thousand Splendid Suns
Sinternet 03.21.17	kite runner is good but overrated same with 1984 I highly recommend both Color Purple (although it's a tough read right from the get-go) and one of my all-time favourites The Bell Jar which I'm actually re-reading atm
Sinternet 03.21.17	also nice typo - George Ewell
Sinternet 03.21.17	big ups on everyone recommending murakami in this thread def my favourite author ever oh i still need to read that maya angelou book can anyone attest to it being good?
Papa Universe 03.21.17	Roadside Picnic by Strugatsky brothers (soon to be an AMC series) -A book that laid foundation for nearly every single post-apocaliptic dystopia. The world is infested with the 'Zones', large areas full of radiation, peculiar anomalies and basically unexplainable weirdness. Takeshi Kovacs trilogy (Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, Woken Furies...not furries, don't confuse) by Richard K. Morgan (soon to be a Netflix series) -A highly detailed and unbelievably gripping episodes from a life of a simple criminal for hire. Each book focuses on different style of Science Fiction, first one is Cyberpunk, second one is sort of a Space Opera and the third one (presumably, as I haven't read it yet) a War Thriller. Lewis Island trilogy (The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man, The Chessman) by Peter May -Sombre, but moving piece about reconnecting with one's roots set in a cold windy Scotland and with a frame narrative of a detective story with a brilliant and innovative storytelling technique. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville -Fantastic modern pseudo-science fiction and fantasy-ish steampunk combo. Limit by Frank Schätzing -A thousand pages long beast, but one that is highly rewarding for your patience. Space Opera with Crime Thriller elements (and also a heavy morbid dose of basically everything else). Anathema by Neal Stephenson -Another long-ass monstruosity (I'm a sucker for lengsty literature) about a shelter for all intelligence and knowledge of the world to protect it in order to protect human intellectual progress. But what if a change is coming, something big that could disrupt the dwellings of knowledge within the community. Hyperion saga by Dan Simmons -Gurgantuous Science Fiction masterpiece in every way, full of intrigue, epic storylines and violence (but don't expect it to be focused mainly on it, it ain't explicitly graphic).
butcherboy 03.21.17	are they making a show of roadside picnic?! fuck! that was my favourite book when i was a kid.. i still reread it once a year.. have you seen stalker, the movie they loosely made from it?
Papa Universe 03.21.17	Don't watch the trailer for it. For the love of god, DO NOT!
GhostOfSarcasticBtrd 03.21.17	Figures that my two picks would be Kite Runner and 1984 and Sint's would not be those two specifically due to our differing politics. Both are important beyond their literary merits, mind you. Serious topics that deserve thought.
Papa Universe 03.21.17	The series might be decent enough, but the trailer looks cheap as shit! (but it does have Matthew Goode in it, so there's one thing it has going for it...)
butcherboy 03.22.17	i'm hoping they dont fuck it up.. that book and Ugly Swans by the strugatsky brothers as well, were and are holy grails to me for sci-fi that is actually objectively incredible literature..
Papa Universe 03.22.17	For me it always is and will be Monday Starts at Saturday.
butcherboy 03.22.17	do you speak russian? i never read it in english, but always thought the fairy tale characters and just the feel of that book would never translate well..
Papa Universe 03.22.17	That book is the most magical and prosaically charming with ingenious storytelling and unique in-book universe (heh).
butcherboy 03.22.17	that book is required reading in a bunch of unis in the former soviet union now..
Sinternet 03.22.17	important to note ghost that ~politics~ play's no part in the fact they're not my favourites. I just find I can't particularly connect with their writing styles. Also considering I agree with both of their general messages anyway I'm kinda confused. Or maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying I do that a lot.
Papa Universe 03.22.17	@butcherboy: I do speak russian, the thing about the book is that it is compiled of classic russian poetry and literature (as well as traditional slavic ones) references. Basically every storyline is directly related to reader's knowledge of russian folklore and classical literature. That is why it is so ingenious. I revisited it years later and was shocked to find out how many things I couldn't comprehend understanding or didn't realise initially, because it is so complexly written with all of its classical references.
butcherboy 03.22.17	have you read forsaken city?
butcherboy 03.22.17	no shit! i was born in baku, grew up in st. petersburg until i was 16..
Papa Universe 03.22.17	Oyyyyyy
Papa Universe 03.22.17	And I haven't read Forsaken City yet, I mostly read their side material, like short stories and various anthologies. (Limping Fate was a goodie)
butcherboy 03.22.17	the series called Miri Bratyev Strugatskih published three volumes of short stories that other soviet sci-fi writers wrote as fan fiction of theirs, continuations of their work, and some of them, especially one for Monday were damn good..
Sinternet 03.22.17	man i wish more people read short stories
Papa Universe 03.22.17	Yes, that's the one. I used to have them all...
butcherboy 03.22.17	i still have a dozen of them or so that i lugged with me when i came out west.. they also have phenomenal illustrations as well..
Papa Universe 03.22.17	boy oh boy
AlexKzillion 03.22.17	Gonna start adding your guys' recs to the list in a few minutes so I remember them all. Sounds like a lot of really cool stuff that I should get on.
Papa Universe 03.22.17	While you're at it, check out Ted Chiang's collection of short stories titled The Stories Of Your Life and Others. It's what last year's Arrival was based on (well, the titular story only actually). I watched the movie and realised that I know this story already, turns out I already read the thing before.
Sinternet 03.22.17	gonna second that Norwegian Wood rec, my favourite book ever
Ocean of Noise 03.22.17	I'm reading 35 right now, good stuff so far 1984 is a great read too
ScuroFantasma 03.22.17	I'd go with Kite Runner. Stay away from Beloved though, not a chore to get through reading wise but I did not enjoy reading it.
ScuroFantasma 03.22.17	16 and 19 are good bets too, Mark Twain is the man.
hal1ax 03.22.17	i like sylvia plath. bell jar is pre good
Drifter 03.22.17	Hell yeah for 20 (the album)
betray 03.22.17	suicide silence - the cleansing
Papa Universe 03.22.17	Hold on, I messed up, it's Anathem, not Anathema on 46. My bad.
Dewinged 03.22.17	From Hell by Alan Moore. It's a comic, but it's so dense it feels like a book, and more importantly, it's the shit.
TakeToYourGuns 03.22.17	I would go with The Kite Runner. I read it over the summer and thought it was amazing. It is very sad and messed up at parts but is overall a great book.
widowslaugh123 08.28.18	George Erwell ha
Source 08.28.18	1 sucks. I remember having to read it for school
Risodo 08.28.18	O Pagador de Promessas - Dias Gomes
Winesburgohio 08.28.18	Cannery Row is super accessible, super beautiful and will prepare u for Suttree well. otherwise second Wind-Up Bird Chronicles if you're just looking to explore the medium
zaruyache 08.28.18	Slaughterhouse is probably the best Vonnegut, so I'd recommend that one, caged bird, or something by Murakami bc he's a weirdo.
hal1ax 08.28.18	cats cradle doe
Piglet 08.28.18	good omens by terry pratchett nd neil gaiman is a propa jam, hilarious m/
parksungjoon 06.14.20	gravity's rainbow
zaruyache 06.14.20	THEORY OF BASTARDS and
zaruyache 06.14.20	NINEFOX GAMBIT
budgie 06.14.20	park sto you fuck face
Lord(e)Po)))ts 06.14.20	anything but fucking kite runner
FR33L0RD 06.14.20	:] Classic old books & philosophies & deep sci-fi :]
Gallantin 06.14.20	This is an old list but I hope you read The Bluest Eye.