Eggheadbangers unite

[TheRealLazare]

I'm a bit curious about our fans' reading habits ("metal and literature - does it mix?"), so I'd like you all (or those of you who can be bothered) to state your favorite authors and an explanation of why s/he appeals to you.

Let me start this thing off with my own literary preferences:

I am a huge fan of Emily Dickinson because her pen hits me so hard (don't really know why - it just does). I enjoy the poetry of Lord George Gordon Byron as he writes so intensely passionate, and I read B. E. Ellis for his decadent portraits of the modern movement of urbanity. I read Finn Skårderud for his interesting and down-to-earth pieces on psychology, and I read Charles Bukowski because I enjoy most of what came out of the Beat-era, and I think he represents the best of it.

Now it's your turn...

 

[Mocika]

Choosing a favourite writer is not too easy There are so many good books i`ve read and sometimes just that one from an author. Btw, i try to choose.
Merle - has interesting ideas and i like the way he writes. His books makes ppl thinking.
Frans Eemil Sillanpää - i can enter into the spirt of his stories, to feel every word, every minute of his books.
Joseph Heller - for being so critical and sarcastic sometimes. My favourite is: Something Happened.
E.M. Remarque - i like as he writes about emotions and important values in life, although his novels are not happy ones.
I also like Stephen Lawhead fantasy books based on legends and myths and i like Stephen King novels for entertainment too

Poetry: i dont think you will know them: Ady Endre, Radnóti Miklós, both are Hungarian poets.

I think i will find some other writer and poet soon... just let me browse my books

 

[FailingAcension]

I love the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. i also enjoy science fiction books and books with settings in the middle ages.

 

[Mocika]

Oh, yes.. sci-fi. That means I. Asimov and A.C. Clarke to me.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

For sci-fi or fantasy, Phillip K. Dick, Traci Hicks & Margaret Weismann, Piers Anthony (the entire Xanth series is superb), Terry Brooks (Shannara series), the legendary R.A. Salvatore, Stephen King (who wrote my favorite book ever - "The Stand"), Morgan Llywelyn (who particularly moved me w/ "Lion Of Ireland"), Caleb Carr (who produces noir like noone else), Tolkien (duh! of course - I just wanted to bury him all the way down here!), the occasional Danielle Steel novel (smutty & Hollywood - a fantastic combination), and um, lots and lots of comic books.

 

[-Desecrated-]

I really love H.P. Lovecraft's work, but I have been finding myself snuggling up with some Tolkien lately. Must be all the hype from the lord of the rings movie that resparked my interest.

 

[Morgana]

I read a lot of books, so I will come back to this thread quite often
I start with my fave novel "The Eight" by Katherine Neville

In a fascinated way she adds historical facts into it.
So a reader who is not aware of the French revolution, will learn a bit here.

 

[Eldzik]

well, i don't read like a few years ago, but time... day have only 24 hours besides, i'm editor and read in home it's like suicide... ok, when i read i try read something funny, sarcastic...
i am a huge fan of Terry Pratchett and his "Discworld" series for great sense of humour. also i love Andrzej Sapkowski's series about "WiedŸmin" ("Witcher"), because it's much better than Tolkien (REALLY!)...

 

[Karldin]

Hmm... well, I like to read occasionally, and mostly sci-fi/fantasy. Some of my favorite authors would be Terry Pratchett (Discworld is just hilarious, as Eldzik said), Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide must be some of the best books ever, and he has clearly inspired mr. Pratchett to start on his Discworld series), Clive Barker (his books are very weird and very good, imo), Anne McCaffrey, J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan etc, etc.... Animorphs is pretty good as well, but I only read them occasionally and for fun.


Guess what I just saw at the library that I have to rent immediately... an Ulver CD Didn't know they had such things here... *goes to look for more goodies*

 

[Eleria]

I really enjoy the fantasy writings of Reymond E. Feist.
When I started to read Magician I couldn't put it down.
Also Mick Foley and his stories about the wrestling scene.

As for poetry I'd have to say Edgar Allen Poe.

 

[Henrik Main]

I'm currently reading The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Part 4. "So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish". Written by Douglas Adams. The books are really great.

 

[TravisW]

A couple weeks ago, I finished the first Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy---that was a really fun read. After that, I read Bridget Jones' Diary, which was rather funny. Last night I read a bit of Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike, which is part brilliant, part nonsense, and partially made up. I found Born in Blood by John Robinson to be an enjoyable read.
I started rereading Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, which was a book I had laying around from when I was in college (required reading for one of my classes, but I sort of skimmed it)
I pick away at my buddy's collection of Frederic Brown's short stories. If you can find any of his stuff, it's very entertaining.

One book that I've tried to get through, but you pretty much have to read it in one sitting to really get it is The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Another thing that fascinates me is some of the Apocryphal books of the Bible, like the Books of Enoch.
I started reading Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (I can't remember the author) one night......then last night I was re-reading Lords of Chaos while waiting for some recording projects to mix down. That book always puts me in a bit of an annoyed mood, though.

As may be able to tell, I tend to start a few books at a time and pick through them randomly. Either that, or I read them straight through with no breaks.

 

[Odemarkens_son]

Sorry, but I find 'mainstream' beletristic literature boring. I read almost only fantasy and sci-fi, the last exception was "Nein und Amen" by Uta Ranke-Hainemann, but that's another story. One of my favs would be Tolkien, the LOTR was my first full book read in English... and I'm still under the impression of Silmarillion (translated version).
Right now I'm digging through "The Fantasy Hall of Fame" compilation and next I'm probably starting the Discworld series.
@ Eldzik - about "Wiedzmin" (Witcher) sorry but the statement "much better than Tolkien" is ....
unacceptable
well, I consider "Wiedzmin" the book of my life, it's smashing, I love it etc. , but I doubt anyone has the right to say THAT. That was my opinion after reading it for the first time (now I've done it four times, the whole series) but now I think Sapkowski and Tolkien cannot be compared. It's not that Tolkien is better, you just can't compare the two.
Anyway it's a pity that Witcher hasn't been translated and released in the West,
(a Polish book if someone doesn't get it) if anyone wants to know what is it about, I'm here
oh and Hitchhiker's Guide rocks, maybe I should read it again?.....

*starts to download Enter Chaos' samples*

 

[Gaunerin]

Apart from Tolkien (LOTR and Hobbit - can't stand Silmarillion) I can definitely name one author that always comes to my mind with questions like that (and who hasn't been mentioned so far):

Bill Bryson.
Not very "metal" maybe.......but I still enjoy reading his books.
He mostly writes travel literature. Anyway, first book I read was "neither here nor there", a story about him travelling through Europe (he's American).
Great sense of humour, often sarcastic which I like a lot.
Other books include "notes from a small island" (about Britain), three books about the US (one of which is called "I'm a stranger here myself" in which he describes how he got settled in the US again after having lived in the UK for years) and one simply called "down under" (about Australia - who would have guessed that? )

He also wrote a couple of books about the English language.

 

[Morgana]

At the moment I read a biography, Mary Queen Of Scots by Antonia Fraser

 

[Eldzik]

Originally posted by Odemarkens_son


*starts to download Enter Chaos' samples* [/B]

i'm curious your opinion btw: there's another link to samples (faster server) - http://student.ae.poznan.pl/~metalpl/enterchaos

about Sapkowski. you know, i prefer Sapkowski than Tolkien, because is more mature, darker and have sarcastic sense of humour. also sometimes Tolkien is boring for me. anyway, i think translate of "Witcher" doesn't make any sense... it's typical polish book with polish sense of humour

 

[TheRealLazare]

I see a lot of interesting views here. Do any of you write yourself as well? Feel free to post your own poems or lyrics... It would be nice to see the works of the metal environment - especially the Borknagar fans

BTW; What do you think about Beat-literature? (Ginsberg, Bukowsky, Kesey, Burroughs and so on). I think literature from this era is amazing. "Run with the hunted" and "Naked Lunch" are classics! If you haven't read them, you should! They'll fuck up your mind

 

[Ziuwarian]

Actually, I don't read as much anymore than I used to...

mainly fantasy or some book I get from a friend once in a while. Nevertheless, David Gemmel's "Waylander" was a very nice book I read not too long ago. Other than that, Pratchett is very rejoicing to read

 

[Paul]

I'm pretty much into Chinese history lately. There is several books i have read bout this topic, a good one is Sterling Seagrave's Soong dynasty, which is about the turbulent happenings of China's last century, from the decline of Ching dynasty to the 1980'. Practically its a histrory book, but through a familys life, and very entertaining, enjoyable reading, even if you are not interested in China
And I read a lot of others, maybe later... Gotta work

 

[Eleria]

Originally posted by TheRealLazare
I see a lot of interesting views here. Do any of you write yourself as well? Feel free to post your own poems or lyrics... It would be nice to see the works of the metal environment - especially the Borknagar fans

I write all the lyrics for my band, some poetry, and quite a few screenplays.
I'll probably end up posting the lyrics on my bands web page but we have to see what goes on first.

As for beat-literature, I can't say that I've ever read any/or much.

By the way, nice work with Liberated, Lars. I love those lyrics.