Your favorite literature

So here's the deal- I've been an avid Ayn Rand reader for the past year or so, and I've read the Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, and The Virtue of Selfishness. Although I love her writing, I've sort of tired of it. I want to start writing song lyrics as well, so I'm looking for some kind of intellectual inspiration. So, my question to you is, who are your favorite authors/books? This isn't supposed to be like "Yeah Harry Potter 3 was awesome", mind you, I'm looking for some more classic literature, be it british or american, that is reflective, insightful, and applicable to modern-day life.

I was considering picking up Jack Kerouac's On The Road. Is that a good read? Do you have any other suggestions?

Take some writer from the beat generation, or Henry Miller.

Richard Brautigan - Trout Fishing In America (I'm 14 and i do read stuff like that!), and yes, he was a genius

Love all the work by the following authors:

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ernest Hemingway
John Dos Passos
Bill Bryson
Michael Moore
Isaac Asimov (inc non-fiction)
Martin Amis
Franz Kafke
Gunther Grass
Steven Donaldson

oh,and of course, Neil Peart!

 

Just finished reading Chronicle Of A Death Foretold (marquez)
and the worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read:

The Celestine Prophesy by James Redfield

utter crap and not only a load of nonesense but incredibly poorly written

Avoid this at all costs-trust me!

mirco wrote: Reed Lover wrote: Love all the work by the following authors: Gabriel Garcia Marquez Ernest Hemingway John Dos Passos Bill Bryson Michael Moore Isaac Asimov (inc non-fiction) Martin Amis Franz Kafke Gunther Grass Steven Donaldson oh,and of course, Neil Peart!   Just finished reading Chronicle Of A Death Foretold (marquez) and the worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read: The Celestine Prophesy by James Redfield utter crap and not only a load of nonesense but incredibly poorly written Avoid this at all costs-trust me! Reed, can you find good translations of García Márquez books? He is a very prolific and imaginative writer, one of the fathers of magic realm, a latinamerican movement with good exponents during the 60/70. Another latin americans that can be of your taste are Julio Cortazar, Jorge Borges (both argentinian) and Mario Vargas Llosa, from Ivan and Cesar land, Perú.

Yes,translations are available. Marquez is an established world-famous author and no doubt his books are available in many languages.
I have read some  Cortazar, translated by the same person who translated my copy of Marquez's "Chronicle"-Nicaraguan Sketches (?Nicaragua tan violentemente dulce ?) and one called Hopscotch (I cant recall the original title)but it was a long time ago.Although he has an South American name I always thought he was French for some reason()

Clive Barker is really intersting, "Weave World" is one of the crazziest things I've ever read. Great book. Lots of good stuff, read Epics like Homer, and Virgil, and Chaucer (easy to read if you're English, especially if also French.)

Edited by Rob The Plant

mirco wrote: Take some writer from the beat generation, or Henry Miller.

 

Really, Henry Miller is the UNICUM!  One of my favorite authors - he is very thoughtful and unformal one, also able to discribe different accidents and situations as no-one...

Though, be careful if you cannot stand with a dirty kind of humor...

Manunkind wrote: YES! This is one thread I will be coming back to again and again!  Henry Miller (Tropic of Cancer

 

Do you remember that scene with some Indian in a toilet?

tuxon wrote: I found Imagica from Barker to be a better read, good writer this Barker Character

Barker is one of my favorite authors - not the most prolific, by any means (whatever happened to part two of 'Galilee', Clive? ), but well worth it from the 'books of blood' short stories (don't let the title put you off) to the Epics, 'Great & Secret Show' and 'Imagica'. Those aside, however, I still find myself going back to re-read 'Weaveworld' every now and again....

I think I secretly fancy Immacolata

James Lee wrote: I like his short stories a lot more than his novels...but apart from Robert Aickman, I think he's the best modern horror writer. For my part, I fancy Jacqueline Ess...

Hemingway has a lot of wanderful short stories. In fact, during his Paris years (described in A moveable feast) he survived by selling such stories to american newspapers.