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Miscellaneous => The Lounge => Topic started by: TheQuirk on 20 July 2003, 12:19

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: TheQuirk on 20 July 2003, 12:19
Seeing as how we have a movie poll, I might as well ask people as to what books they like (no limit!). I will start off with three great books I read:

1) Ender's Game
2) Ender's Shadow
3) To Say Nothing of the Dog
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: xyle_one on 20 July 2003, 15:37
dune. all 6 of them (not including the new ones)
chronicles of amber- all 10 novels (not including the novellas and new books)
shogun by james clavell
most larry niven novels and short stories (bordered in black was rad   ;)   )
cats cradle by kurt vonegut
this book im reading right now about the "theater of the absurd". its like a history and a who's who of the theater of the absurd.
the last temptation of christ by nikos kazantzakis (spelling?)
catcher in the rye. and i have no idea why i liked it   :confused:  
so far i like tai pan, another novel by james clavell. i havent gotten very far into it yet. (yes, im reading multiple books right now   :cool:  

i have yet to read enders game, though it is on the list of books i want to read. i have quite a stack i am going through right now   ;)   (my father gives me like 5 books everytime i go home on the weekends   :D   )

edit---------

damn, i use a lot of smilies

[ July 20, 2003: Message edited by: ecsyle:951 ]

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: xyle_one on 21 July 2003, 02:33
i can see this thread going places  :rolleyes:
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Fett101 on 21 July 2003, 05:42
Well... here's some of the ones that happen to be on my shelf.

Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the series.
Star Wars novels are dandy. So is the Harry Potter series.
Lord of the Rings
Alice In Wonderland
1984
Snow Crash
American Psycho
Tom Sawyer
and lest I forget, Hop on Pop.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: jasonlane on 21 July 2003, 07:16
Jail Bird (kurt vauneger)
Crime and Punishment
MR Jones (Phillip K Dick)
1984
Brave New World
Tender is the night
We can build you
Song lines (Chatwin)
Utz (Chatwin)
Foundation (asimov)
The Robots of Dawn
Tortillia Flat (Steinbeck)
Cannery Row
The Tempest (Shakespeare)
King Lear
Less than Zero (Ellis)
On the Road (Kerouac)

[ July 20, 2003: Message edited by: Zardoz ]

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: TheQuirk on 21 July 2003, 10:07
quote:
Originally posted by ecsyle:951:
i can see this thread going places   :rolleyes:  


Unfortunately, not many people read books these days. =\ A real pity.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Faust on 21 July 2003, 10:24
The obvious one: Faust!
And:
Solzenhitsyns (spelling?) first circle,
George Orwells animal farm and 1984,
(all) Terry Pratchett books and my little viking Nietzsche library.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Pissed_Macman on 21 July 2003, 13:41
-Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
-Dirk Gently Series
-Pretty much anything else by Douglas Adams
-Star Wars books, particularly the Thrawn Trilogy, the X-Wing series, the Hand of Thrawn Trilogy, the New Jedi Order series, and a handful of other great books (I've read close to fifty SW books and I've still got a little ways to go)
-Any of the Year's Best Science Fiction books
-Chindi
-Deepsix

There are many more good books I've read, but unfortunately they aren't coming to mind at the moment.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: NikS on 21 July 2003, 15:33
lots of Russian writers.
sorry for any misprints.

* "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" (all of 'em)

* (mmm... don't know how their name is written in English correctly) Everything by Strugatsky brothers

* "The Firm" (the movie sucks)

* (Almost) everything by Sergey Lukjanenko

* "Adventures of smart(or howzit in English?) soldier Shweik" (damn it rocks  (http://smile.gif) )

* Alexander Bushkov's "Svarog"

* Everything by Boris Akunin

and lots of other really good books I can't remember now  (http://smile.gif)
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: xyle_one on 21 July 2003, 21:07
quote:
Originally posted by TheQuirk:


Unfortunately, not many people read books these days. =\ A real pity.


yeah. its depressing, like when i went camping with the "crew". it was mid afternoon, i was sitting back in my chair, in the shade, reading. The looks i got from my freinds was hilarious. Then they would come over and ask what i was doing, like they have never seen anyone read before. I would say, "i'm reading." and they would shake their head and say something like-"how strange" or something just as stupid.

oh yeah, Douglas Adams rocks. So does Hunter S. Thompson. Everything i have read by Asimov has been rad too. There was this book i read a long time ago, i think it was called "A Canticle for Leibowitz", i really enjoyed that one. It was dark & depressing.

[ July 21, 2003: Message edited by: ecsyle:951 ]

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: jasonlane on 21 July 2003, 22:19
Vurt

is a great book, cyberpunk......hmmmmmm cyberpunk

Also anyone read "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland, a must read!!!!

[ July 21, 2003: Message edited by: Zardoz ]

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: TheQuirk on 22 July 2003, 03:01
(http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2001/20011026l.gif)
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: xyle_one on 22 July 2003, 03:41
quote:
Originally posted by TheQuirk:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2001/20011026l.gif[/IMG]

fucking awesome   (http://smile.gif)

[ July 21, 2003: Message edited by: ecsyle:951 ]

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Pissed_Macman on 22 July 2003, 03:47
Anyone read the Salmon of Doubt? Too bad Douglas Adams is dead.  :(
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: jasonlane on 22 July 2003, 04:37
quote:
Originally posted by Macman: pimpin da streets o seattle:
Anyone read the Salmon of Doubt? Too bad Douglas Adams is dead.   :(  


No. What is it about??? (in no less than 200 words)
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: suselinux on 22 July 2003, 05:45
As We Know It: Coming to Terms with an Evolved Mind
--by Marek Kohn (The BEST book I have ever had the pleasure of reading.  I couldn't put it down finished it in like a week.  Really interesting, he sites a study saying that Canada is a safer place compared to the States because of universal healthcare.  Life makes a little more sense after reading this book, its basically about sociobiology, and why we think the way do, because we are just animals in the end)

Stephen Hawking's books are really good, he knows who he's writing for, so they are really easy to read.

A Brief History of Time, and every other book by
-- Stephen Hawking
 
The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism  
-- by Fritjof Capra

Buddhism Plain and Simple
--by Steve Hagen   (this like my bible, if you can defanitley read this book it will change your life, for the better of course)

Atheism: The Case Against God
--by George H. Smith  (you've got to be careful who you tell when you say you read stuff like this, so I'm not forcin' views on anyone here OK)

The Satanic Verses
-- by Salman Rushdie  (frankly I never figured out what all the kafuffel was about, but I know almost nothing about Islam)

and some others I can't remeber the names of I'll look em up on Amazon if I'm not too lazy
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: slvadcjelli42 on 22 July 2003, 05:53
Yeah!! Douglas Adams!! Had to say that. So, basically, anything by him (except, I haven't read that salmon one, sorry.) The "Hitchhiker's Guide" Series... Of course, the "Dirk Gently" pair  ;)  Yeah, it sucks that he's dead  :(   :(   :(

Also: 1984, The Stand, EVERY "Dark Tower" book, The Hot Zone, Catch-22, Signal to Noise, Fahrenheit 451, Logan's Run... I could go on, but I won't...
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Pissed_Macman on 22 July 2003, 05:55
quote:
Originally posted by Zardoz:


No. What is it about??? (in no less than 200 words)



The Salmon of Doubt was supposed to be the title of the Dirk Gently book he was working on when he died. No one knows what the title means though. The Salmon of Doubt book they put out after he died is a collection of some of his writings from magazines and interviews with him, some very interesting stuff (I found out he was a Mac dude  (http://smile.gif)  ) and the last part of it is what he was in the process of working on for the real Salmon of doubt, which was very good even though there's not much of it. A terrible tragedy he never was able to finish it because it would have been a great book.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Fett101 on 22 July 2003, 05:56
quote:
Originally posted by Macman: pimpin da streets o seattle:
A terrible tragedy he never was able to finish it because it would have been a great book.


As would the HGTTG movie. Goodness knows what limbo it's in now.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: jasonlane on 22 July 2003, 05:57
I shall read it, it's now officially on my list. cool  ;)
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: slvadcjelli42 on 22 July 2003, 06:02
THAT'S what the Salmon of Doubt is/was/(is/was) supposed to be??? I've got to get that! I don't know why I haven't already. Wow...

Oh! and that movie! I've seen that! Well, let's put it this way, I've seen a movie which had that title and was incredibly similar to the book, lol, because it looks like you might be thinking of something different from what i'm thinking of. The movie i saw, though, was terrible in my opinion. It was extremely similar to the text (except for the huge chunks that are missing) yet, in my opinion, awful. I don't know how that is, but it is.  :confused:
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: jasonlane on 22 July 2003, 06:12
Always the way though, something deep inside of always thinks it's wrong to compare books to films and visa versa. It's like comparing and oil painting to a water colour....Now that's not cricket.

[ July 21, 2003: Message edited by: Zardoz ]

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: jasonlane on 22 July 2003, 06:31
quote:
Originally posted by suselinux:
As We Know It: Coming to Terms with an Evolved Mind
--by Marek Kohn (The BEST book I have ever had the pleasure of reading.  I couldn't put it down finished it in like a week.  Really interesting, he sites a study saying that Canada is a safer place compared to the States because of universal healthcare.  Life makes a little more sense after reading this book, its basically about sociobiology, and why we think the way do, because we are just animals in the end)

Stephen Hawking's books are really good, he knows who he's writing for, so they are really easy to read.

A Brief History of Time, and every other book by
-- Stephen Hawking
 
The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism  
-- by Fritjof Capra

Buddhism Plain and Simple
--by Steve Hagen   (this like my bible, if you can defanitley read this book it will change your life, for the better of course)

Atheism: The Case Against God
--by George H. Smith  (you've got to be careful who you tell when you say you read stuff like this, so I'm not forcin' views on anyone here OK)

The Satanic Verses
-- by Salman Rushdie  (frankly I never figured out what all the kafuffel was about, but I know almost nothing about Islam)

and some others I can't remeber the names of I'll look em up on Amazon if I'm not too lazy




Visions - Michio Kaku.

Interesting book very sciency (overly sometimes), what the human race can achieve in the next 10, 20 ,50 & 100 years kind of deal. A lot of nano tech stuff. Can't ever recall M$ being part of the picture, apparently in 100 years computers will actually work!
   :D  

A Brief History of Time - excellent what bit's I've read. Should finish it!

[ July 21, 2003: Message edited by: Zardoz ]

Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Fett101 on 22 July 2003, 08:14
quote:
Originally posted by Dirk Gently:
The movie i saw, though, was terrible in my opinion.


Probbaly the BBC mini-series thing. Very low budget. Out on DVD now.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Pissed_Macman on 22 July 2003, 10:04
I just read a short story called Lobsters by Charles Stross (From the Year's Best Sci-Fi 19) where the entire future is open source and the main character actually makes his living making other people rich for free. The only people to still use Microsoft was communist Russia and they were uploading lobsters to the internet. It was a very strange story.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Fett101 on 22 July 2003, 10:05
quote:
Originally posted by Macman: pimpin da streets o seattle:
and they were uploading lobsters to the internet. It was a very strange story.


What were they smoking?
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: Pissed_Macman on 22 July 2003, 15:43
The population was also down because intercourse was out of fashion and everyone was into bondage and stuff.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: slvadcjelli42 on 23 July 2003, 04:55
quote:
Originally posted by Fett101:

Probbaly the BBC mini-series thing. Very low budget. Out on DVD now.



Ooh, yeah that sounds like it (definitely low budget  ;)  ). was strung together like a movie, though, had me fooled. oh well.
Title: Poll: Your Favorite Books
Post by: worker201 on 23 July 2003, 21:58
Fiction:
"Infinite Jest" - David Foster Wallace
"Microserfs" - Douglas Coupland
"Invisible Monsters" - Chuck Palahniuk
"Youth in Revolt" - CD Payne
"Random Acts of Senseless Violence" - Jack Womack

Nonfiction:
"Skipping Towards Gomorrah" - Dan Savage
"Fast Food Nation" - Eric Schlosser
"All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger" - Lloyd Kaufman
"Fight the Power" - Chuck D
"Faster" - James Gleick
"Culture Jam" - Kalle Lasn

and of course Tolkien, Adams, Fitzgerald & Hemingway