Book Recomendations(No Sci-fi/Fantasy!)

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-06-24 08:20pm

My non-sc-fi/fantasy bookshelf is a little thin, and it needs bulking up. Ergo, this thread.

Please post any fiction(non-sci fi/fantasy) novels you'd recommend. Descriptions are welcome(but no spoilers!)

Post by **Zaia** » 2003-06-24 08:27pm

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Simply one of the best goddamn books I've ever read. It's positively brilliant.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-06-24 08:29pm

Sort of sci-fi, but more alternative history. Anyway, I still have to recomend it.

You MUST read Battle Royale by Koushun Takami.

See my two threads about it in OSF. It is the second best book I have ever read.

Post by **Zaia** » 2003-06-24 08:37pm

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey is really good too, although if I remember correctly you're 15 and that might be a bit too hard of a read. I'm not sure.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-06-24 08:45pm

Actually, I think he's 13, dear...

Atavarius · Post by **Atavarius** » 2003-06-24 08:49pm

If you're up for some naval (specifically submarines) reading i recommend these:

Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag.

Silent Victory by Clay Blair.

Hitler's U-Boat War by Clay Blair (Both Volumes).

I have a few more, but I gotta dig up the titles.

Atavarius · Post by **Atavarius** » 2003-06-24 08:50pm

Duh, guess i should read the post more clearly. I don't really read fiction, so i recommend these if you're in a non-fiction mood.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-06-24 09:10pm

Of Mice & Men by Steinbeck and An Inspector Calls by Priestley were good at school.

Bravo Two Zero by McNab was good from what I recall and some Clancy novels can be entertaining if you like military and political stuff.

Oh yeah, Nineteen Eighty-Four by Orwell and A Clockwork Orange (which I need to read) by Burgess are brilliant (could be seen as sci-fi like, but like Battle Royale, nothing as hardcore as say anything by Clarke or Baxter).

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2003-06-24 09:11pm

The Road to Gandolfo and The Road to Omaha, by Robert Ludlum. They're both funny and well-constructed.

--Leia-- · Post by **--Leia--** » 2003-06-24 09:19pm

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Club Dumas - Arturo Perez-Reverte (basis for the film The Ninth Gate)
Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-06-24 09:23pm

I'll second Slaughterhouse Five.

A word of warning on Catcher, though: Don't be surprised if you feel you want to murder Holden about two-thirds into the book.

And under no conditions read Ragtime. If you're able to choose, read The Great Gastby instead of that garbage...

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-06-24 09:30pm

Any of CS Forrestor's Horatio Hornblower novels:

Mr Midshipman Hornblower
Lt. Hornlbower
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower in the Crisis
Hornblower and the Atropos
Beat to Quarters
Ship of the Line
Flying Colours
Commodore Hornblower
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2003-06-24 10:20pm

You could give some Twain a shot. I've only read Adventures of Huck Finn, but I've been reading to mean more of his work.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-06-24 11:13pm

Treasure Island! Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpiece.

Also, try Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2003-06-24 11:16pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:I'll second Slaughterhouse Five.

I third it!

1. Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnagut (many good short stories)
2. The Stranger - Albert Camus
3. Shogun - James Clavel
4. The Complete Stories (with Foreward by John Updike) - Franz Kafka
5. The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe
6. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - Richard Feynman

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-06-24 11:50pm

Anything by P.J. O'Rourke. Parliament of Whores and Eat the Rich are higlhy recommended.

Time on the Cross is a pretty interesting tract on the economics of American slavery, if you can slosh through it.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-06-25 12:50am

Team Yankee, Harold Coyle. Its military fiction from the 80's. While dated, its a good read if you like the Cold War.

Fraternity of the Stone, sort of a spy novel where the Catholic Church and a much older religion do covert battle with most of us ordinary folks unawares.b

Trytostaydead · Post by **Trytostaydead** » 2003-06-25 12:53am

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-06-25 01:34am

Stephen Pressfield: "Gates of Fire" and "Tides of War" the best damn historical fiction I have read in a long time.

--Leia-- · Post by **--Leia--** » 2003-06-25 01:38am

Here's some of my fave horror novels:

'Salems Lot - Stephen King
Christine - Stephen King
The Stand (uncut) - Stephen King
The Talisman - Stephen King
Interview With the Vampire - Anne Rice
The Books of Blood - Clive Barker

I also want to add this really great book I read a few years back:

Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-06-25 01:47am

The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt
A very good book about a woman and her genius son as the son searches for a father.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway
Awsome novel about love and faith and pretty much everything else set during the Spanish Civil War.

Beowulf
The dude is fucking badass. 'nough said.

The Cookoo's Eggp by Cliff Stoll.
The real life story of an astronomer who tracked a hacker who was breaking into government computers. Not the greatest writing but was pretty interesting.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-06-25 12:25pm

anarchistbunny wrote:You could give some Twain a shot. I've only read Adventures of Huck Finn, but I've been reading to mean more of his work.

Innocents Abroad is the name of his adventures as a tourist, circumnavigating the globe on assignment to, iirc, the New York Times. It's where the famous "Reports of my death..." quote comes from. I've only read excerpts from it, because I've yet to find a full copy and have the money for it at the same time.

Twain's sense of irony and humour turn his meetings with natives of the countries he visits into sly pokes at the believes and expectations of 1800's Americans.

Death from the Sea · Post by **Death from the Sea** » 2003-06-25 01:16pm

Mission Compromised- Oliver North ~ decent read

Without Remorse- Tom Clancy ~ best Clancy novel ever, shows why John Clark is such a badass

Post by **Edi** » 2003-06-26 03:10am

Alpha Beta by John Man. It's a general history of the alphabet and how it shaped Western civilization. Hell of an interesting read.
The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna (if you can find a copy anywhere, that is, but it has been translated, I've seen an English copy)

Edi

lux · Post by **lux** » 2003-06-26 03:24am

Angels&Demons by Dan Brown

and

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Both thrillers about the same guy. In order it goes Angels&Demons and then The Da Vinci Code. I read them the other way around though, it doesn't really matter. Both AWESOME books. Full of really cool information. All true stuff. MUST read.