Favourite novel/book

[PopFly]

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving

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"You gotta love living, baby, 'cause dyin's a pain in the ass."-- Frank Sinatra

Adam: Look guys, I got a Springfield spoon for my spoon collection.
Edge: Oh boy, here we go...
Bono: Wow, how many is that now Adam?
Adam: Nine. If I didn't have my spoons, I'd go insane.
Bono: Can I see it?
*adam gives bono the spoon, bono throws it away*
Adam: My spoon!

 

[Mrs. Edge]

What a great idea for a thread! I have resolved this year to read way more books and write my first trashy novel, so this is timely!

My absolute fave book of all time is A Confederacy of Dunces by William Kennedy Toole. I found it to be SIDESPLITTINGLY HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[travu2]

I am not as well-read as many of you, but of the books I have read so far, these are some of my favs:

~ "Lord of the Rings" trilogy - Tolkien
~ "Absalom, Absalom!" - William Faulkner
~ "The Castle" - Franz Kafka
~ the "Hitchhiker's" series by Douglas Adams

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" ..a place that has to be believed to be seen."

 

[She Is Raging]

Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt

Getting Over It - Anna Maxted (possibly one of the funniest books I've ever read )

Bag of Bones - Stephen King

 

[Burning_Azalea]

To add to the list 'o things to read -- three categories of suggestions from the voluminous library of Burning_Azalea!

1)Books by Daniel Pinkwater
He is just the most brilliant writer! He does these sort of science-fiction-but-not quite books about geeky kids(like me -- a geeky kid turned geeky adult!) who have these amazingly surreal, but funny, adventures. My favorites are "Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars" and "The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death'. Both are included in a omnibus edition of Pinkwater books called "5 Novels", which is not too hard to find.

2)Books by Neil Gaiman
I just really got into Gaiman's works last year, but have definitely made up for lost time! I have read most of the Sandman books and most of his novels too. There is sort of a morbid streak to his works, but also an undercurrent of humor which I enjoy. Also, when I grow up, I want to be Death.

She is just so pragmatic and cool!

3)Books that give me the warm fuzzies
This is the category that my constantly reread copies of "Little Women" and "Anne of Green Gables" reside in! They just make me feel all warm and content inside. If you have not read these books before, please do...they are simply wonderful!

Don't even get me started on the "Toot and Puddle" and "Olivia" series... I'll be sitting here all day recommending books!

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Larry's always been tough. He can laugh heartily telling the story of how as little kids on Christmas Eve he and his sister kept pestering their father,saying, "I think I hear Santa, Dad! I think I hear Santa!" Until their annoyed old man said "There is no Santa Claus! Now go to sleep!"

--Bill Flanagan,U2 at the End of the World

 

[Zooman91]

Well, just for some action and outlandish adventure, I reccommend anything by Clive Cussler. That's it. I really don't read books anymore.

 

[travu2]

Sorry Burning Azalea; I didn't realize your from was also "state of utter confusion." I just added that onto my original from, but I'm going to modify it right now.

 

[Burning_Azalea]

Originally posted by travu2:
Sorry Burning Azalea; I didn't realize your from was also "state of utter confusion." I just added that onto my original from, but I'm going to modify it right now.

Don't worry about it; the State of Utter Confusion has room for many folks! Your location might actually be cooler, though, 'cos it has a fossil bed in it! I don't think that mine does...

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Larry's always been tough. He can laugh heartily telling the story of how as little kids on Christmas Eve he and his sister kept pestering their father,saying, "I think I hear Santa, Dad! I think I hear Santa!" Until their annoyed old man said "There is no Santa Claus! Now go to sleep!"

--Bill Flanagan,U2 at the End of the World

 

[foray]

What I always recommend:

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes.


foray

 

[Pate20]

Hermann Hesse: Narzi? und Goldmund (I don't know the English title)
In fact, all books by Hermann Hesse are great.
Easier to read (it's called "pop-literature") are the books by Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, especially "Soloalbum". It's about a man who tries to forget his latest girlfriend by drinking a lot, taking drugs and listening to Oasis. I don't know if it's already translated into English...

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You see alone we stand together we fall apart
Yea I think I'll be all right.
I'm working so I won`t have to try so hard
Tables they turn sometimes, oh someday.

I AIN'T WASTING NO MORE TIME!

 

[forbonou2]

How about "All Creatures great and small" by james harriott. i love animals so this is the series for me! Tho I did change my mind about becoming a vet because of it! lol. And I have been told abut those two books, "Angela's Ashes" and "How the Irish saved..." I WILL read those this year!! peace..

 

[hotasahandbag]

hi y'all- lots of really great suggestions-- i would also have to go with angela's ashes, but one glaring omission in this thread (maybe because everyone has read him) is anything by john steinbeck. peace, lynn

 

[Truly]

Lord of the rings is one of my favorites.

Also "The Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice are brilliant. Especially the first two - "Interview with the vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat"

The "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman are also fantastic. The only thing I disliked about them was the way religion was portrayed, but apart from that they were brilliant.

The Harry Potter books are great.

Ummmmm.....that's all I can think of at the moment, but I'll definately be checking out some of the books people have suggested here

 

[Kieran McConville]

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Anything by Peter Carey
Anything by Clive Barker
to name a few.

 

[scatteroflight]

Some of my favourites:

The Lord of the Rings--popular choice

Sherlock Holmes--all the stories by Conan Doyle. Holmes is my favourite fictional character. If you like Holmes but have read all the originals, Laurie R. King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice and the books that follow it are amazing.

Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy--The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment. My favourite Arthurian novels out of the dozens I have read.

Watership Down by Richard Adams--the best talking animal book.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Gillian Bradshaw's historical novels--The Beacon at Alexandria, Island of Ghosts, and her Arthurian trilogy (Hawk of May, Kingdom of Summer, In Winter's Shadow)

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series--Over Sea Under Stone, The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the Tree

Some books and stories by Joseph Conrad--Heart of Darkness, The Shadow-Line, The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes

Douglas Adams's Hitchhikers books, especially the first two

The Firebringer Trilogy (Birth of the Firebringer, Dark Moon, The Son of Summer Stars) by Meredith Ann Pierce. Out of print and absolutely amazing, especially if you like unicorns

For non fiction I mostly like history and travel. The Civilization of the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor is a great medieval history. My favourite travel writers include Colin Thubron (Among the Russians, Behind the Wall) and William Dalrymple (In Xanadu, City of Djinns, From the Holy Mountain). Dalrymple wrote In Xanadu when he was 22 and it is completely brilliant, as are his other books. Way to make me feel like I'm wasting my life (I'm 22).



------------------
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold

 

[PopFly]

Originally posted by foray:
What I always recommend:

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes.

WORD. This book is awesome.

------------------
"You gotta love living, baby, 'cause dyin's a pain in the ass."-- Frank Sinatra

Adam: Look guys, I got a Springfield spoon for my spoon collection.
Edge: Oh boy, here we go...
Bono: Wow, how many is that now Adam?
Adam: Nine. If I didn't have my spoons, I'd go insane.
Bono: Can I see it?
*adam gives bono the spoon, bono throws it away*
Adam: My spoon!

 

[BostonAnne]

Originally posted by bono-vox:
Well here is a REAL mature suggestion from me-read Harry Potter

-they are sooo good, and as the books progress i think they are getting more advanced and shield your eyes now if you dont want me to spoil what happens in the 4th book-but someone DIES-i was so stunned i couldnt turn the page for about 30 mins-its amazing what some books can do to me

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan along with my kids. Very entertaining.

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"There's a lot of real rubbish going on about new music & old music, can I just say we play U2 music? Is that OK?" - Bono, Us Festival 5/30/83

 

[TylerDurden]

Originally posted by foray:
What I always recommend:

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes.


foray

Agreed!

 

[Zoo Station]

1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

And Salome, right now I am supposed to be revising Much Ado About Nothing for an A-level exam in two weeks so I guess I had better get off this message board!!!

 

[B0N0]

"IT" from Stephen King


WATCH MORE TV!

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

Originally posted by scatteroflight:
Some of my favourites:

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series--Over Sea Under Stone, The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the Tree

That's my favorite children book series!!! IT ROCKS!!!

For non fiction I mostly like history and travel. The Civilization of the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor is a great medieval history. My favourite travel writers include Colin Thubron (Among the Russians, Behind the Wall) and William Dalrymple (In Xanadu, City of Djinns, From the Holy Mountain). Dalrymple wrote In Xanadu when he was 22 and it is completely brilliant, as are his other books. Way to make me feel like I'm wasting my life (I'm 22).

So I see a pattern..

Have you read any Old English poetry, like Beowulf, The Wanderer, or The Seafarer? Those take you back to the origins of English Literature.

Other good Medieval literature I recommend are: The Pearl Poet, Piers Plowman (waaay better than Pilgrim's Progress), Canterbury Tales..

Oh yeah, if you want to read the original Arthurian tales, check out Sir Thomas Mallory (he's the original English guy, but I believe Arthurian legend was originated and promoted first by the French)...

And if you like English poetry AND Arthurian Legend, check out Sir Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King

------

(I was an English major... I'm almost 26.)



[This message has been edited by theSoulfulMofo (edited 01-03-2002).]

 

[Kieran McConville]

Originally posted by scatteroflight:

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series--Over Sea Under Stone, The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, Silver on the Tree

[/B]

Oh yeah, I'd second that. An amazing series.
I think my ten years of manic reading are over. I couldn't even read a novel to save my life these days. Blame it on the Internet.

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"The animals, baby"

 

[scatteroflight]

Glad to see some other people like The Dark Is Rising--I don't think enough people know about that series! Harry Potter is fine, but really, I think there is better children's lit out there.

Originally posted by theSoulfulMofo:
Have you read any Old English poetry, like Beowulf, The Wanderer, or The Seafarer? Those take you back to the origins of English Literature.

Other good Medieval literature I recommend are: The Pearl Poet, Piers Plowman (waaay better than Pilgrim's Progress), Canterbury Tales..

Oh yeah, if you want to read the original Arthurian tales, check out Sir Thomas Mallory (he's the original English guy, but I believe Arthurian legend was originated and promoted first by the French)...

And if you like English poetry AND Arthurian Legend, check out Sir Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King

(I was an English major... I'm almost 26.)

I've read parts of Beowulf (in translation), and parts of Pearl, Piers Plowman, Canterbury Tales, not in translation. I majored in English too.

I would like to read The Wanderer particularly. In those Mary Stewart books Merlin sings a song based on The Wanderer and it is very beautiful. I can't say I'm very fond of the U2 song, I'm afraid

I ended up doing my Honours essay for my B.A. on Merlin--I always had an interest in Arthurian legend, but now it's an obsession. The obsession kind of started after a re-reading of T.H. White's The Once and Future King when I decided I just had to read Malory--White is always referring to Malory. I have read parts of quite a few of the medieval works now, but I have to admit I still find the modern versions easier and more fun

As for The Idylls, they rock!

Any other recommendations??!! There actually is a lot of stuff I haven't read, I know!

Your tastes just seem similar to mine.

------------------
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold

[This message has been edited by scatteroflight (edited 01-03-2002).]

 

[mistyrose]

Originally posted by 80sU2isBest:
"Mister God, This Is Anna" - Fynn
"Les Miserables"(abridged version, or you'll be reading 900 pages about architecture) - Victor Hugo
"Little Princess" - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Les Miserables the abridged version? Sacrilege! I read the book in all its 1,466 pages. Loved it.

tania


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I can't even say the bloody word Achhhhhtung Baby"--Larry

 

[theSoulfulMofo]

Originally posted by scatteroflight:
Glad to see some other people like The Dark Is Rising--I don't think enough people know about that series! Harry Potter is fine, but really, I think there is better children's lit out there.

Other children's book I read similar to The Dark Is Rising are: Lloyd Alexander's Black Cauldron series (remember the Disney PG-13 movie?), Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea series, and Terry Brook's original Shannara series (yeck, finally grown out of those Brooks books, after starting college.. the Shannara series are just getting ridiculous)

I've read parts of Beowulf (in translation), and parts of Pearl, Piers Plowman, Canterbury Tales, not in translation. I majored in English too.

I would like to read The Wanderer particularly. In those Mary Stewart books Merlin sings a song based on The Wanderer and it is very beautiful. I can't say I'm very fond of the U2 song, I'm afraid

Yeah, reading the original Canterbury Tales in Medieval English is pretty cool-- it's almost like reading some hip-hop lyrics, cuz all you're doing is reading it phonetically (once you're used to the little language quirks).

You can find The Wanderer in the Penguin series "The Earliest English Poems" or a hard-to-find book called "A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse" by Roger Scruton, which has an excellent translation PLUS the original Old English text on the facing page.

But Zooropa's The Wanderer, .... man, that song and The First Time goes hand-in-hand like peas and carrots... they just bring tears to my eyes...

Your tastes just seem similar to mine.

In college, I took mostly classes that dealt with early English stuff, like Beowulf and the Battle of Maldon, but then.. I also took a bunch of (post-)modern stuff, like Pynchon, DeLillo, Gibson, Ballard, Baudrillard, Jameson, etc. etc.

It gave me a greater appreciation of U2's 90s era... actually, made me a pretty big ZooTV fan, now that I could much more appreciate the humor and sarcasm.

Yeah, it's pretty funny that I'd be interested in the extremes of past and future literature.


[This message has been edited by theSoulfulMofo (edited 01-03-2002).]

 

[pub crawler]

Originally posted by scatteroflight:
I would like to read The Wanderer particularly. ...I can't say I'm very fond of the U2 song, I'm afraid

 

[oliveu2cm]

I didn't come in here instantly b/c I'm a bit ashamed my reading has slacked off lately!!

But I just received three new books so I'm off and running again.

I have sooo many favorites that I'm sure when I go home and thumb through my collection I'll have more to add. I have a very eclectic reading taste. Off the top of my head:

*Lord of the Flies (not ring, thats on the list to read)
*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (wow! amazing book!)
*Message from Nam by Danielle Steele -for all the romantics out there.
*Gone With the Wind - another great book for any Civil War buff like myself
*Boy's Life - Robert McCammon- an absolutely fascinating book, about a boy growing up and all the magic and mystery - his writing is so descriptive and hilarious and I swear you won't be able to put it down.
*The Centaur - one of my favorites from high school.
*The Little Prince this would be my favorite "children's book.

btw, on my website under the "summer reading" link I have some books I've read that Bono has mentioned reading & enjoying & using in his work. Also, at www.u2literary.com there is a more thorough compilation of many books there that relate to U2's work which, IMO, are always worth a read.

To be noted, these are the books Bono said he's reading now:
The New Testament - Eugene Peterson.
The Books of Wisdom - Eugene Peterson.
The Heart is deceitful above all things - J.T. Leroy.
My Dark Places - James Elroy.
Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being - Ted Hughes.

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"Songs are the language of the spirit... the melodies are how you sing to God. It's a deep language. But they can't explain everything, because really great songs touch places that you can't explain." -Bono

** U2 Take Me Higher ** <--my "spoons"

Jazz man bass man cool -bluey-

*If I didn't have my spoons, I'd go insane!*

[This message has been edited by oliveu2cm (edited 01-04-2002).]

 

[scatteroflight]

Originally posted by pub crawler:

You KNOW you're surprised at my lack of enthusiasm for that song.

Yeah, the Prydain Chronicles and the Earthsea series (haven't read the latest one yet! very much looking forward to it!) are great, especially Earthsea...wow. I never tried the Shannara books. They looked too much to me like yet another series that was derivative of LOTR, but then again, I never gave them a chance.

------------------
You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold

[This message has been edited by scatteroflight (edited 01-04-2002).]

 

[Sperber]

Catcher in the rye is way cool! And so is "The song of love" by B. Spears!

------------------
beLIEve

 

[bono-vox]

Originally posted by hotasahandbag:
hi y'all- lots of really great suggestions-- i would also have to go with angela's ashes, but one glaring omission in this thread (maybe because everyone has read him) is anything by john steinbeck. peace, lynn

Of mice and men, loved that book

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And if you look, you look through me.

L'amore giunger
L'amore
E non so pi pregare
E nell'amore non so pi sperare
E quell'amore non so pi aspettare
miss_smith@emailaccount.com e-mail me
The perpetually handsome Mullen appears to have stopped ageing around the time of The Joshua Tree.
"It doesn't matter what songs we sing.
I'm a drummer. Chicks dig me." -Larry
Larry likes to play drums." - Bono
"Larry's always been noticed cos he's the pretty one." - Adam
"Bono, if you still haven't found what you're looking for, look behind the drumkit." - Boy George
A man so handsome, he will never be let sing in this group!"
-Bono, introducing Larry at Irving Plaza, NYC 2000