15-06-2002 05:13									#31
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Ah, already read Candide... very nice .

I've always wanted to read Catch-22, and maybe War and Peace will be a long term project . I may have to buy that one and not simply get it from the library .

	15-06-2002 05:17									#32
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The Scarlet Letter was fine. I had to read it last year for school. We were going to watch the movie. The teacher (who would rather play Civ2 and MechWarrior than any real work) wasn't sure what we were suppose to read up to the night before. I said right after the part where Chillingworth(sp) and Dimmmesdale have intercourse (like the book states). Because of my clever comment, we just talked about sex the whole time.

I'm not sure what is the best piece of liturature ever. You have to give Doom it's due though. It is amazing what kind of story you can write based on an FPS.

	15-06-2002 05:19									#33
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Doom?

Uncultured lout!

	15-06-2002 05:20									#34
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I appreciate all types of literature. You're just closed minded.

	15-06-2002 05:21									#35
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Well. there are already lots of good ones.

No one mentioned The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer yet though. Although it has been a long time since I read it.


An honorable mention that describes many of the posters here is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

	15-06-2002 05:21									#36
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Closed minded in a good way! Now shoo!

	15-06-2002 05:32									#37
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hi ,

catcher in the rye , ...

have a nice day

Last edited by panag on 15-06-2002 at 22:56

	15-06-2002 06:51									#38
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(psst...Catcher IN the Rye. )

	15-06-2002 06:55									#39
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Naked Lunch is at the top of my list. Same with most of the Beat poet stuff, but Naked lunch still makes me smile, and I have read it more times then I would like to admit

Last edited by Blisterz on 15-06-2002 at 07:00

	15-06-2002 06:59									#40
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"Homage to Catalonia" by George Orwell

	15-06-2002 07:31									#41
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quote: Originally posted by Sprayber No one mentioned The Adventures of Tom Sawyer yet though.

Twain's a good choice. But I'd put "Huckleberry Finn" over "Tom Sawyer." And "Letters From the Earth" over both of them.

	15-06-2002 07:38									#42
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I don't like to classify literature. Every single human being that has ever lived can tell a story. I don't like the fact that just because someone has followed the rules in a language and used descriptive language, that their story can be considered better than anyone elses. I bet that if many of the "great" authors of the past were alive today, a few would be writing video games, commercials, sitcoms or trashy romance novels.

It is all based on someone's opinion. If you want to feel all high and mighty, then brag how you enjoy different so called, "great literature". I have more respect for someone that says, "I enjoyed Tom Clancy's, or Michael Crichton's, or Dean Koontz's last book" than someone who says, "Oh, Shakespeare, Twain and Tolstoy are great pieces of literature compared to that trash..."

	15-06-2002 07:45									#43
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I think you misunderstand why great literature is classified that way. It's not about someone feeling high and mighty, or that anything else written is garbage (didn't see anyone say that here, anyway).

It's simply that, as in all expressive mediums, certain works transcend their time and speak to all generations. It's a rarity. It's the same way in music. Mozart was one of just 100s of composers alive at the time, all producing popular work that was enjoyed by the masses. But through the years, the greatest works have been filtered down to us. That's just the way art is.

I read great works of literature because I enjoy them. I also dislike a lot of supposedly great works. I love Shakespeare because he speaks to me, not because that's what one is expected to like to be "cultured."

	15-06-2002 07:46									#44
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I agree with what you said Boris, but there are some who are simply "holier than thou". I assumed this thread was about that.

	15-06-2002 07:47									#45
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BTW, I've read and I enjoy those six authors I included in there.

	15-06-2002 07:49									#46
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I didn't think so, although Imran jokingly dismissed someone's preference for a Doom book.

I just have an instant antipathy to reverse-elitism, a la Snapcase's uninformed rants against Classical music. In effort to seem anti-elitism, most populists end up becoming elitists in their own way.

	15-06-2002 07:50									#47
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I read that Doom book and I enjoyed it ... I misinterpreted Imran's comment as being elitist.

	15-06-2002 07:57									#48
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quote: Originally posted by JohnIII Blood Meridian or the evening redness in the west by Cormac McCarthy.

I tried this one last summer, I couldn't manage to get through it. Too bloody dense. I loved the imagery and what not, but it was too dense for my liking.

Go with Terry Pratchett and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, though many will argue that it isn't really literature.

Kurt Vonnegut is great too.

	15-06-2002 07:59									#49
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quote: Originally posted by Sava I don't like to classify literature. Every single human being that has ever lived can tell a story. I don't like the fact that just because someone has followed the rules in a language and used descriptive language, that their story can be considered better than anyone elses. I bet that if many of the "great" authors of the past were alive today, a few would be writing video games, commercials, sitcoms or trashy romance novels. It is all based on someone's opinion. If you want to feel all high and mighty, then brag how you enjoy different so called, "great literature". I have more respect for someone that says, "I enjoyed Tom Clancy's, or Michael Crichton's, or Dean Koontz's last book" than someone who says, "Oh, Shakespeare, Twain and Tolstoy are great pieces of literature compared to that trash..."

How wrong you are. Literature gives insight into the human condition. Clancy, Crichton and Koontz are simply entertainment.

Admittedly, I spend more of my time reading Bernard Cornwell, C.S. Forster, and Walter Mosley than I do Tolstoy, Twain and Shakespeare, but at least I realize there's a qualitative difference about the depth of their works.

	15-06-2002 08:00									#50
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I currently reading Zhukov's memoirs. Verrry interesting.

	15-06-2002 08:01									#51
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quote: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Excellent short story. Short story though. I wish there was a whole book on Walter Mitty.

Siddharta I didn't enjoy very much...

No Exit is also very good.

If you want other writers, you should look up Borges's "Ficciones".

	15-06-2002 08:01									#52
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My point is that "great" literature doesn't give any better insight than the incoherent ramblings of a bum on heroin.

	15-06-2002 08:02									#53
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Oh, and I also liked "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" very much... good book too. I must get my hands on "The Gulag Archipielago"

	15-06-2002 09:50									#54
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I know everone has said but "To Kill a Mockingbird" is very good. So is "The Great Gatsby" which someone already mentioned. I also loved "The Count of Monte Cristo" the recent movie turned what was one of the best portraits of human misery into another Hollywood popcorn happy ending.

The "Scarlet Pimpernel (sp?)" Easily had to be the worst book I have ever read. "Trainspotting" is a very close second. Its amazing how a great movie came from such a miserable book.

	15-06-2002 10:09									#55
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I don't really enjoy reading, so to make my favorite books list isn't exactly an easy thing...they have to hold my interest...

i have especially enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Germinal, and a Separate Peace...

yes, rather low on the reading level...but anything over 250 pages usually sends me running away in fear

	15-06-2002 10:17									#56
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This isn't really my favorite but it's the one i ju finished and i rather enjoyedit. Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things". The way the story builds up to and forshadows the climax is intriguing

	15-06-2002 11:43									#57
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quote: Originally posted by Zkribbler How wrong you are. Literature gives insight into the human condition. Clancy, Crichton and Koontz are simply entertainment. Admittedly, I spend more of my time reading Bernard Cornwell, C.S. Forster, and Walter Mosley than I do Tolstoy, Twain and Shakespeare, but at least I realize there's a qualitative difference about the depth of their works.

Sorry, Zcrib, but as reader of Crichton, I have to say that if that is all you think of Crichton, you don't know Crichton.

Another vote for Les Miserables here, even if a certain starfleet officer did dismiss it as "a rambling melodrama".

	15-06-2002 12:01									#58
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"Moby ****" is one of my favorite books. I would also recommend "Post Office" by Charles Bukowski. It is completely barren of metaphors. It is one of the most humane books I have read.

	15-06-2002 12:03									#59
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Censorship blows.

	15-06-2002 12:07									#60
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quote: Originally posted by Sava My point is that "great" literature doesn't give any better insight than the incoherent ramblings of a bum on heroin.

That's a Harvard bum.