Recomended Reading List

[RideForVengance]

Post lists of books you recomend, of any genre, author, subject... since I can't list every book I've read, I won't bother telling you what not to recomend... but there are so many more that I haven't read, so any books that you deem thought provoking / interesting / good in any manner... let's hear em.

Given the nature of this forum, philosophy or psychology oriented books seem to make more sense, but I'm really interested in reading almost anything.

 

[SoundMaster]

The Warlord trilogy (The Winter King, Enemy of God, Excalibur) by Bernard Cornwell.
Excellent attempt at telling the "king Arthur" legend with as much fact and evidece as possible. No fluff, no magic, no nonsense. Cornwell is a master at historical fiction.

Shogun - James Clavell.
Again, another attempt at historical fiction, this time dealing with feudal Japan. Awesome story - particularly for those that adore Asian female beauty!!

Patriots - AJ Lannguth.
Fantastic narrative that details all you need to know concerning the reasons for the American Revolution, all the major battles, all the major players (including the Brits, as well). Best Rev War narrative I've come across.

And, of course, a few of my favs by my fav non-fiction author: Desmond Morris:

Intimate Behavior - Desmond Morris.
The Human Zoo - Desmond Morris.
The first breaks down all of the reasons behind who - and why - we are in terms of sex, love, bonding, intimacy, etc.
The second details the deleterious effects of the "naked ape" forcing himself to live in cities. Fantastic read.

 

[10293847]

Don Quixote - The Greatest Novel ever written.

 

[Kenneth R.]

you might want to check out the "Books" thread.

some fiction i absolutely love:

series:
George RR Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire (realistic characters, no white vs black fairytales)
Gene Wolfe - The Book of the New Sun (extremely thought provoking tale of distant future as told from a future's perspective)
Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth (good to a point, then the objectivism gets annoying)
Kim Stanley Robinson - Mars Trilogy (might have another official title. essential for anyone who wonders realistically how colonization would likely fare socially, politically, and climatically.)

nonfiction:
The Bible (though some might endeavor to put it on the fiction list, it's the most epic story ever written in either case.)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (this is partly fiction, as it is exaggerated from truth. it recounts the history of a period of chinese dynasties in a historical, socio-political, and mythological manner. an epic glimpse into ancient chinese society.)

 

[Korona]

The Dune series by Frank Herbert - the best bit of Philosophical writing in existence, and a damn good story thrown in on top! This series also has the credit of being among the few books I have read where I agree with every single point made.


Other than that here are non fiction writers who are massivly important and who hugely reward any investigation (although they are a lot more work!):
Jung (writes about psycoanalysis)
Kant "Critique of Pure Reason" (this is on the nature of reality)
Wittgenstein - "Philosophical Investigations" (this is about how language forms our world)
Neitzsche (basically on how we are to live)

 

[RookParliament]

Ham On Rye, Post Office, Notes Of a Dirty Old Man, by Charles Bukowski.
Ask The Dust by John Fante.
Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dosteovsky.
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
The Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

 

[Kenneth R.]

The Dune series by Frank Herbert - the best bit of Philosophical writing in existence, and a damn good story thrown in on top! This series also has the credit of being among the few books I have read where I agree with every single point made.

how could i forget this!!!!!! +1 to this recommendation. great saga.

 

[speed]

There are too many things to list.

My absolute favorite authors are: Lucian, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Bulgakov, and Kafka. You cant go wrong with any of them, or any of their works.

Philosophy: I'd read anything you can find on the ancient Greeks and Romans: from the remaining fragments of the cynics and Epicurus, to Lucretius,the Skeptics, Heraclitus, the discourses of Epictetus, Plotinus, to Caesar's Gallic and Civil War, Petronius, Euripides and Aeschylus, well the list goes on and on. And i already listed Lucian. As one can see, I prefer the ancients thinking to modern.

If one is interested in economic philosophy, try Adam Smith: his writings are far more liberal and humane than one would think; in fact one would be shocked to find out how much different the thought of Smith was from the few quotes one hears all the time in school.

Marx of course, Veblen, Hayek, its all rather interesting.

Well I could mention alot more, and I will state the Bahagata Vita should be read as well. It all depends on your personality really. If you love fantasy, mystery, and horror, I have no suggestions. But if you love fantastic satire, history and the classics, then yes, I have plenty of suggestions.

 

[RideForVengance]

Thanks for all these recomendations, I'll be sure to check those out.


And my small contribution:
1984, Animal Farm - Orwell
Slaughterhouse Five - Vonnegut
Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton
The Stranger - Camus

 

[MasterOLightning]

Yes! Definitely anything by Charles Bukowski.

 

[Cythraul]

I'll recommend some philosophy books that I've read in the past couple of months since that's basically all that I can tolerate reading (I still enjoy Kafka though)...

The Construction of Social Reality by John Searle
The Mystery of Consciousness by John Searle
The Conscious Mind by David Chalmers
Twentieth Century Analytic Philosophy by Avrum Stroll
Renewing Philosophy by Hilary Putnam
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
Ten Philosophical Mistakes by Mortimer J. Adler