gunsmoke on 24/4/2009 at 02:36
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
I have this book, picked it up on the cheap at a 2nd hand bookstore. I was sort of stunned at the style and not sure if I'll be able to read it, I got a headache just reading the first page.
So send it to me! :p
j/k
fett on 24/4/2009 at 03:09
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
I don't know how I've missed this recommendation before but I'll definitely have to at least scope these books out.
The fictional adventures of one Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with some pretty cool occultic twists. I've maintained for a long time that Mark Frost is the more talented of the Twin Peaks masterminds (we're going to ignore the Fantastic Four screenplay for now), though not nearly as bizarre nor loved by the media. But he fuckin' rocks.
sh0ck3r on 24/4/2009 at 03:14
I like demagogue's tastes.
rachel on 24/4/2009 at 04:14
Quote Posted by dethtoll
Nobody's arguing that. I'm just saying that promising to do something, in this case
not fuck up a thread arguing about something that's been argued to death, is not the same as actually doing it. Consider it a commentary on TTLG pedantery.
Fair enough. In retrospect, I sounded a bit
Internet is SERIOUS BUSINESS, didn't I? :)
ToolHead on 24/4/2009 at 08:12
Off the top of my head and in no particular order (well, except for the first entry):
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Dense, complex, sprawling, hilarious, tragic, infuriating, cryptic. No other book has influenced me this much since The Lord of the Rings back in the day. Who needs proper endings, anyway?
My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist - Mark Leyner
Just read it if you haven't done so already.
Turn of the Century - Kurt Andersen
One of those books that came out of nowhere and just completely bowled me over.
Plowing the Dark - Richard Powers
One of the most beautifully written books I've ever read.
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
Masterfully written, moving and engaging.
Perdido Street Station - China Miéville
Gritty, noir steam-fantasy brimming with originality. Suffers from the 'too much of a good thing'-syndrome at times, but when it works, it fucking works.
Cryptonomicon- Neal Stephenson
Easily Stephenson's best novel - and that's saying quite a lot, in my book. I can reread the madcap Norway-ramming sequence again and again. "Abandon shit, abandon shit!" Epic stuff.
Schizmatrix - Bruce Sterling
Gritty no holds barred hardcore Eighties cyberpunk in space. With aliens. As much as I like his later stuff, this is Sterling at his best and most original.
Diaspora - Greg Egan
Mindblowing. If you have more than a passing interest in artificial intelligence and the whole man/machine consciousness debate, this is for you.
Feersum Endjinn - Iain M. Banks
Original, funny, thought-provoking and stylish as hell.
Also, I'll second/third/whatever House of Leaves, The Illuminatus Trilogy and The Windup Bird Chronicles. Oh, and anything Gibson.
june gloom on 24/4/2009 at 08:31
I may be the only person on the planet who thinks Stephenson is a fucking hack.
This thread is great, though- I'm going to have to check out Perdido Street Station.
Scots Taffer on 24/4/2009 at 09:11
Perdido Street Station has been recommended to me so many times it's silly that I still haven't looked it up.
ToolHead on 24/4/2009 at 13:12
Perhaps Stephenson isn't the most talented writer out there, but calling him a hack is going too far IMO. He's seemingly incapable of writing a satisfying ending that's not either over the top Hollywoodesque (Cryptonomicon) or just plain sloppy (Anathem), and sometimes (especially in his later works), all his main storyline does, really, is act as a delivery system for (sometimes over-) long scientific and/or philosophical discussions.
But he's a tremendously fun writer. And highly original, too. At the heart of the oftentimes complex and hard-to-wrap-your-mind-around ideas that the books revolve around, there is genuine wit, as well as a wealth of memorable characters and scenes and pure storytelling joy.
I love him to bits, flaws and all.
gunsmoke on 24/4/2009 at 13:14
Quote Posted by dethtoll
This thread is great, though- I'm going to have to check out
Perdido Street Station.
Me too. Read the wiki, and it sounds too cool.
SlyFoxx on 24/4/2009 at 14:20
"The Shining" by Stephen King
Best read alone at night and during a bad thunderstorm.
Nonfiction by Asimov. He did four books (must have been back in the 70's) that were collections of his essays published in magazines and the like.
Asimov on Numbers, Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy. Much might be a bit dated but the man had a way of making complex scientific subjects understandable to the every man and making them fun at the same time. Much like that one teacher you had whose passion for the subject matter was infectious.
