THROUGH THE HISTORY OF THE FORUMS SO FAR THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF DISCUSSOINS ABOUT LITERATURE AND MENTOINS OF BOOKS AUTHORS ETC

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TEN BOOKS OR SHORT STOREIS OR PEICES OF LITERATURE, IT CAN BE POEMS, SCIENCE FICTION EVEN SOFT CORE PORN COMEDY!!(I LOVE THE CONFESSOINS BOOKS BY TIMOTHY LEE FOR EXAMPLE VERY FUNNY AND AS THE SEREIS WENT ON THE(LIGHT) PORN WAS LESSENED IN FAVOR OF THE COMEDY AND A NUMBER OF MOVEIS WERE MADE!)

GO TO IT

FARENHEIGHT 451 WAS A BRADBURY STORY I NEVER READ(IT WAS FILMED IN THE LATE SIXTEIS WITH OSKAR WERNER IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY!)

BUT ONE OF HIS SHORT STORYS "FROST AND FIRE" IS ONE OF MY  FAVORITE ALL TIME SCI FI STOREIS!!!

DURING THE NIGHT SIM WAS BORN...........AND HE WOULD LIVE JUST 8 DAYS!!

hmm... top ten fiction, what a tough question. I think I will leave out non-fiction, because there are many philosophical works I could include, but it would be tough to compare those with the fiction novels. anyway, here goes...

1. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

2. The Iliad & The Odyssey - Homer

3. The Lord Of The Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

4. 1984 - George Orwell

5. Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

6. Ulysses - James Joyce

7. Dracula - Bram Stoker

8. Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

9.Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

10. Animal Farm - George Orwell

How about 10 favorite authors?

J. R. R. Tolkien

Robert A. Heinlein

Thomas Sowell

Graham Hancock

Gordon R. Dickson

Larry Niven

Robert B. Parker

Jeff Cooper

David Eddings

Roger Zelazny

and "The Stand" and the Dark Tower books are almost enough to put Stephan King in, even though I don't care for a lot of his other work.

LARRY NIVEN, ONE OF THE GRAETS!! ILOVED "RINGWORLD"

HAVE YOU RAED "INCONSTANT MOON " STORMY?

YOU WOULD ALSO KNOW "SOLDEIR ASK NOT" BY GORDEN R DICKSON ONE OF THE DORSAI STORIES(if i remember correctly), I THINK IT WON A NEBULA OR HUGO AWARD IN THE early seventeis

dude wrote: LARRY NIVEN ONE OF THE GRAETS!! ILOVED "RINGWORLD" HAVE YOU RAED "INCONSTANT MOON " STORMY? YOU WOULD ALSO KNOW "SOLDEIR ASK NOT" BY GORDEN R DICKSON ONE OF THE DORSAI STORIES, I THINK IT WON A NEBULA OR HUGO AWARD IN THE early seventeis

I really enjoy Niven's short story "Inconstant Moon" a lot!  Given the popularity of SciFi disaster movies, I don't understand why it was never made into a major motion picture.  I seem to remember that it was made into a TV show for one of the anthology programs that used to be popular, but that it was of rather pedestrian quality. 

Also the short story collection by the same name that includes "Inconstant Moon" is uniformly great.

And yes I know "Soldier Ask Not" very well.  All of Dickson's "Childe Cycle" books are brilliant work, IMO.  I'm quite sure it won the Hugo award, though I don't remember whether it also won the Nebula.

Buks are fer eggheadz & nerdz!

My homie Eminem don't read, an hes a moor beter poemer then any off yur old dead writrs! Get reel!

Sined,

Bollockwhiff

 Okay then, Dude, I'll be serious. Some great literature I've enjoyed:

Jane Austen - Mansfield Park

Jane Austen - Emma

Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre

Cervantes - Don Quixote

Charles Dickens - David Copperfield his best!

Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities

Henry Fielding - Tom Jones very funny!

Thomas Hardy - Far From the Madding Crowd tragi-comic!

Anthony Trollope - Barchester Towers

William Makepeace Thakeray - Vanity Fair a sprawling comic masterpiece!

I also enjoy the poetry of Byron -- funny and moving!

I'll leave the fantasy, sci-fi and modern stuff for another post!

Happy reading, proggers!

1.- Jorge Luis Borges: The most progressive writter in history, combines elements of reality and fantasy (real-marvellous movement) in such a manner that you believe everything. (Best Book: El Aleph)

2.- Julio Cortazar: Almost like Borges, but his books are more dense. (B.B:Rayuela)

3.- Isaac Asimov: True and intelligent Sci Fi (B.B: Foundation)

4.- Edgard Alan Poe: Tales of Mystery and Imagination scare the sh!t out of me.

5.- Mario Vargas Llosa: Just read The War of the End of the World, an historic fantastic book.

6.- Franz Kafka: The Trial and Metamorphosis are masterpieces.

7.- Ray Bradbury: Farenheit 451 Satire and political, a masterpiece.

8.- Willliam Shakespeare: Hamlet and Macbeth are nasterpieces, can't believe he wrote Romeo & Juliet.

9.- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: Don Quixote is a must have. The best book ever written in Spanish.

10.- Steven King: The Shining, Autopsy Room 4, Different Seasons are enough reasons to consider him a genius.

Iván

ivan_2068 wrote: 1.- Jorge Luis Borges: The most progressive writter in history, combines elements of reality and fantasy (real-marvellous movement) in such a manner that you believe everything. (Best Book: El Aleph) 3.- Isaac Asimov: True and intelligent Sci Fi (B.B: Foundation) 4.- Edgard Alan Poe: Tales of Mystery and Imagination scare the sh!t out of me. 7.- Ray Bradbury: Farenheit 451 Satire and political, a masterpiece. 8.- Willliam Shakespeare: Hamlet and Macbeth are nasterpieces, can't believe he wrote Romeo & Juliet. 9.- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: Don Quixote is a must have. The best book ever written in Spanish.

Great selections, Ivan! I'm due to re-read Quixote soon. I first read it in my early 20s! Fabulous! Every fan of fantasy should read it!

Re ol' "Shakey" (Billy Jigglejavelin?), yes, he did write the immortal "Homeo & Drooliette," but he didn't originate the Italian story/legend on which it was based. R&J is another masterpiece! In varying degrees (& according to individual taste, of course) all of Shake's plays are masterpieces! That's why we still read them. Immortal stuff!

Do you read him in Spanish or English, might I ask?

Thanks, and a belated welcome to the Archives,

Peter

Thanks for the welcome Peter, I'm glad to be here.

Do you read him in Spanish or English, might I ask?

In English, there's no way to read Shakespeare in other language without loosing the rythm and the rhyme.

I went to see Hamlet in our first Theater but it was in Spanish, left after 5 minutes, even when the artists were excelent, it wasn't the same.

Re ol' "Shakey" (Billy Jigglejavelin?), yes, he did write the immortal "Homeo & Drooliette," but he didn't originate the Italian story/legend on which it was based. R&J is another masterpiece! In varying degrees (& according to individual taste, of course) all of Shake's plays are masterpieces! That's why we still read them. Immortal stuff!

A few years ago I read that Shakespeare had a legion of students, and that some of his less important plays were written mostly by his students, he only changed a few things.

IMHO This could be posible for two reasons:

1.- He has too many works even for him.

2.- Some great painters as Tizziano, Rafael Sanzio, Michaelangello, etc had their Academies (in the greek sense) and many of their paintings had only one or two brushes by them, it's proved some lesser works by those great artists were mostly painted by students that followed their styles.

Don't know if you heard this before? and Do you believe it's posible?

Iván

 'Tis possible, but not likely -- too much unity of style. Shake was a superstar (deservedly) in his own day. I don't think that his ego and artistic integrity would have allowed him to attach his name to works by junior, inferior writers.

Why "too many plays?" That argument holds little water.

Great writers are often very prolific! Do you realize just how many books your fave Asimov wrote? Hundreds! Ever take stock of Dickens' output? (Fourteen -- mostly lengthy -- major novels, plus numerous newpapers, journals, etc!)

How many books and stories has your buddy King written?

10 would be difficult to choose. 5 fits me better.

J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the rings.

Homer Iliad and Odissey

Bulgakov Master and Margarita

Goethe Faust

Servantes Don Quixote

Many people here talk of Bradbury. The short story The Blue bottle is very fine, to my taste.

. I don't think that his ego and artistic integrity would have allowed him to attach his name to works by junior, inferior writers.

Thats why I mentioned Academy in the greek sense, parts of Socrates works were developed by his students, including Plato who wrote the Dialogs, Michelangello was helped when painting the Sixtine Chappel, Tizziano signed many paintings done 90% by his students, in those years the student's work was considered property and could be signed by the master, because they were considered helpers and trainees. I don't doubt of Shakeys integrity, but in those years morality had a different conception.

But it's only supositions of people who need to write about something in order to eat , the point that Shakeaspeare is to English literature what Cervantes is to Spanish literature, and I love both.

Iván

ivan_2068 wrote: . I don't think that his ego and artistic integrity would have allowed him to attach his name to works by junior, inferior writers. Thats why I mentioned Academy in the greek sense, parts of Socrates works were developed by his students, including Plato who wrote the Dialogs, Michelangello was helped when painting the Sixtine Chappel, Tizziano signed many paintings done 90% by his students, in those years the student's work was considered property and could be signed by the master, because they were considered helpers and trainees. I don't doubt of Shakeys integrity, but in those years morality had a different conception. But it's only supositions of people who need to write about something in order to eat , the point that Shakeaspeare is to English literature what Cervantes is to Spanish literature, and I love both. Iván

 Right on, Ivan the Not-So-Very-Terrible! There seems to be no real way to conclusively prove it one way or another anyway, as in the old "Was Shakespeare gay? Did he pen his sonnets for a man (young actor), a woman, or for an upper-class client's use?"

 Interesting topic for discussion, but needs a time machine to resolve.

Ah Cervantes.

His work rendered in English makes me wish I could read Spanish.

I HAVE NOT READ A GREAT MANY NOVELS(TAKES A LONG TIME FOR ME!!)

TOP TEN(IT COULD CHANGE NEXT WEEK)

1:ROBERT HEINLEN BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS

2:LARRY NIVEN

INCONSTANT MOON

RAMMER

BORDERED IN BLACK

RINGWORLD

IN FACT JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING!!

3 JOE HALDERMAN THE FOREVER WAR(LOTS OF PHYSICS FOR THOSE INTERESTED,THERE HAS BEEN TALK OF TURNING THIS INTO A MOVIE)

WILLIAM HOPE HODGESON

A FEW WORDS:WILLIAM HOPE HODGESON WAS ALATE 19TH EARLY 20TH CENTURY AUTHOR(BORN IN NOVEMBER 1877 HE WAS KILLED IN APRIL 1918 WHILE ATTACKING A GERMAN BUNKER JUST BEFORE THE END OF WWI) HE WROTE SOME OF THE STRANGEST STORIES OF THE SUPERNATURAL EVER IMO HP LOVECRAFT GREATLY ADMIRED HIM!

MANY OF HIS STORIES DEALT WITH THE SEA AND ITS MYSTERIES(HE WAS A SIALOR) AND EVEN THOUGH HE HATED HIS TIME AT SEA IT IS THERE THAT HE DREW INSPIRATION FOR SOME OF HIS STORIES,FOR EXAMPLE THE DERILECT IS ABOUT AN OLD ABANDONED SHIP THAT LITERALY TRIES TO EAT  THE MEN WHO EVENTUALY FIND HER!

THERE WERE NO ELDER GODS OR ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS IN HIS STOREIS BUT MANY STORIES DEALT WITH "OUTSIDE FORCES" OF A HORRIFIC NATURE SOME OF HIS WORK HAS EVEN BEEN DESCRIBED AS PROTO SF AS TO HIS USE OF EQUIPMENT TO EITHER ATTRACT OR REPEL THESE FORCES

HIS "CIRCLE DEFENCE" WHICH CONSISTED OF A NUMBER OF COULERED ELECTRIC CIRCLES(LIKE FLOUROS) WHICH USED IN COMBINATIONS COULD ATTRACT OR REPEL FORCES HAS APPEARED IN THE WORKS OF OTHER AUTHORS WHO WERE INFLUENCED BY HIM EG DENNIS WHEATLEY ETC THIS DEFENCE FIRST APPEARED IN THE STORY THE HOG ABOUT AN EXPERIMENT THAT GOES HORRIBLY WRONG AND ALMOST UNLEASHES THIS FORCE ON THE WORLD

THE HOG IS PART OF A GROUP AF STORIES ABOUT A SUPERNTURAL INVESTIGATOR CALLED "CARNECKI" SOME OF HIS INVESTIGATIONS TURN OUT TO BE HOAXES BUT THE REST!!!..........LETS JUST SAY YOU HAVE TO READ THEM FOR YOURSELF(AFTER READING THE WHISTLING ROOM YOU WILL NEVER LOOK AT LIPS THE SAME WAY AGAIN!!!)

THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND IS ABOUT A VERY STRANGE HOUSE AND WHAT HAPPENED TO ITS INHABITANTS,I DONT KNOW WHAT HODGESON WAS ON WHEN HE WROTE THIS BUT IT IS VERY HALLUCINATORY AND QUITE BRILLIANT IN ITS WAY!!

HIS LONGEST WORK IS THE NIGHTLAND SET MIILLIONS OF YEARS FROM NOW AS A GROUP OF HUMANS TRY TO SURVIVE IN A BUILDING CALLED "THE LAST REDOUBT" ONE MAN FINDS OUT THAT ANOTHER GROUP OF HUMANS EXISTS AND SETS OUT TO FIND THEM.HE SETS OUT INTO A TRULY NIGHTMARISH WORLD  FULL OF STRANGE CREATURES AND UNSEEN BUT FELT FORCES.

I USE THE WORDS "FORCES" ALOT BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT MANY OF HIS STORIES DEAL WITH ,SOMETHING UNSEEN,JUST BEYOND THE ABILITY OF HUMAN SENSES TO DETECT CLEARLY BUT SOMETHING GHASTLY AND NIGHTMARISH THAT MANIFESTS ITSELF WHEN THE RIGHT SET OF CONDITIONS IS ENCOUNTERED

BECAUSE HIS STORIES WERE WRITTEN SO LONG AGO THERE IS I VICTORIAN FEEL TO HIS PROSE IN FACT THE NIGHTLAND WAS WRITTEN IN A SEVETEENTH CENTURY STYLE AND HAD TO BE REEDITED IN MODERN ENGLISH FOR REPRINTING

AS I HAVE INDICATED HIS STORIES ARE GENERALLY NOT ABOUT "GHOSTS" AS SUCH(ALTHOUGH THEY DO APPEAR!) BUT THEY ARE MORE ABOUT SOMETHING LARGER, SOMETHING MONSTEROUS, AN ALL ENCOMPASSING ENTITY JUST OUT IN SPACE THAT NURTURES WHAT WE HUMANS WOULD CALL SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA AND MANIFESTS ITSELF THROUGH THESE PHENOMENA WITHOUT ACTUALLY UNLEASHING ITSELF FULLY(ALTHOUGH IT TREIS!)

IF YOU HAVE READ HIS STOREIS THEN I HOPE MY WORDS HAVE DONE HIM JUSTICE IF NOT...DO YOURSELF A FAVOR!!

BY THE WAY I HAVE LENT MANY OF MY HODGESON BOOKS AND THEY HAVE DISSAPEARED WITH LAME EXSCUSES LIKE "I LOST IT" (WHICH IS A PITY BECAUSE THE NIGHTLAND IS OUT OF PRINT I BELIEVE) MOST OF MY FREINDS WHO HAVE READ HODGESON LOVE HIS WORK AS DO I

IF YOU CAN FIND HIS STOREIS DONT HESITATE TO READ THEM THEY ARE AN............EXPERIENCE!!! AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THEM

5 WILLIAM HOPE HODGESON

CARNACKI THE GHOST FINDER:THE NIGHTLAND:THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND:BOATS OF THE GLEN CARRIG:CAPTAIN GAULT

I THINK THAT WILL DO FOR NOW

by the way i beleive at least one of hodgesons stories became or was used as the basis for an episode of a tv sci fi horror sereis but i have no information to back this up can anyone help?

"the night land is a tale of the remote future billions of years after the death of the sun it ,is one of the most potent tales of the macabre ever written":H P LOVECRAFT

join the club jim

have you played the discworld games on computer

in a similar vein to pratchett may i suggest the warlock inspite of himself by christopher stasheff

of course there are always the "confessions" books...about as low brow as you can get.....but very funny!!!

I agree with Jim.... I am an avid reader, but aside from Poe and a few books on skeptism (Carl Sagan's DEMON HAUNTED WORLD), I read a lot of popular fiction.

James Patterson - (Alex Cross novels)

John Sanford (John Camp) - (Lucas Davenport Novels)

King, Koontz, Barker....

Tolkien... of course. And Carroll. CS Lewis..... I love the fantasy genre. (Harry Potter too!!!) "Where the Wild Things Are" Maurice Sendak (great art too) is my favorite children's book.  

Of course I also have to read Manuals, Penal Code, Case Histories and text books to stay on top of THE GAME>>>> with twenty years in, only 7-8 to go. Then a real job.

OKAY PETER, bring down the ax.

P.S ARE YOU REFFERING TO CLIVE BARKER OF "HELLRAISER" FAME? IF SO

Jim Garten wrote: All pretty low brow, for which I apologise, but I have to say, the 'classics' tend to leave me pretty cold - I dont know why, I've just never been able to get into them, and I've tried them all - Dickens , Hardy , Cervantes , Bronte . Oh, God - I'm so shallow......... I'm bound to be chucked off the site now!!!!

Not at all Jim! Almost any reading is good reading -- those who read (books) at all for pleasure are an ever-shrinking tiny minority!

I didn't always enjoy Victorian novels, but had to read them to get my degree, and gradually acquired a taste for them. Did you enjoy (be honest, now) your first-ever cigarette? Coffee? Scotch? Probably not.

I also read fantasy, sci-fi, motorcycle mags, and mainstream fiction. My nose isn't always buried in a thick "high-brow" Victorian novel. (I alternate.) You may want to try Feilding's Tom Jones one day. Funny and ribald  -- a classic for those who don't like classics!

Re the mainstream stuff, I've read the first five or so of Patrick O'Brian's 20-book seafaring series (from whence came the excellent film "Master and Commander").

Really great stuff: good character development, lots of thrilling action, & your country's rich naval heritage! (Watch Nelson and the boys pound the pee out of ol' "Nappy's" navy!)

Keep reading!

I came to the HARRY POTTER stories late, assuming that they were just children's books.  I was totally mistaken.

I find them literate, quite readable and enjoyable for adults.  Good stuff, no one gets tossed out on their account.

dude wrote:  may i suggest the warlock inspite of himself by christopher stasheff

VERY, very entertaining book!

No offense to Master Rideout, but I give it ***** 5 stars.

I came to the HARRY POTTER stories late, assuming that they were just children's books.  I was totally mistaken. I find them literate, quite readable and enjoyable for adults.  Good stuff, no one gets tossed out on their account.

I totally agree - I've read all 5 several times - and seen both films. Am currently keeping an eye out for when "Prisoner..." tickets become available locally - coz it's nearly out!

Pratchett is cool - I've read nearly all the Discworld books (I never buy the hardbacks!).

Read classics at uni, because I wanted to get on (off?) with this girl who did English - but it took me a loooooooooooooong time to get through Ulysses. Don Quixote's a moderately good laugh though - and I discovered Zola, who appeals to my dark nature... and I don't mean the loud-mouthed, overpaid footballer

dude wrote: P.S ARE YOU REFFERING TO CLIVE BARKER OF "HELLRAISER" FAME? IF SO

Yes!!!

I've read most of his novels, but I've never seen ANY of the movies.... I've always preferred books to movies anyway. Movies never have the detail and development (sigh). I alway send up wondering why the cut certain parts or characters... 

  
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Stormcrow wrote: I came to the HARRY POTTER stories late, assuming that they were just children's books.  I was totally mistaken. I find them literate, quite readable and enjoyable for adults.  Good stuff, no one gets tossed out on their account.

Great series!!!! My wife and I read them to the kiddies using different voices for the characters. Great fun.

I thought the movies were a bit too juvenile. They could have made them a bit more appealing to adults. I heard that "Prisoner" has  a different director. Could be a good thing.  

The rumours have it that he used to direct horror and porn movies.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/ - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/

"Prisoner" may well have more adult appeal than Rowling otherwise would have wanted... I'm imagining Hermione in a dungeon with a very large dog...

Indeed - I thought that Rowling had some kind of personal vendetta against him when I read "OOTP".

Maybe Rowling is writing the book to appeal to those of Harry age, so it progresses in style and import to the audience? I did notice that as Harry's aged, the issues harry deals with become more mature.

I forgot about DUNE. Any Frank Herbert fans?

danbo wrote: I forgot about DUNE. Any Frank Herbert fans?

YUP!