Great Books Thread

by Open mind 119 Replies latest social entertainment

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  Open mind

  The Silence:
  
  Thanks for those recommendations and especially for including what you liked about them.
  
  Open Mind
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  TheSilence

  any time ;)
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  Open mind

  Keyser sore:

  anything from Kurt Vonnegut

  I forgot about reading "Slaughterhouse Five" in school. Vonnegut's irreverence troubled me and got me thinking (a little).

  BTW, what's the meaning of "Keyser sore"? (If you feel like telling.)

  Open Mind
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  keyser soze

  BTW, what's the meaning of "Keyser sore"? (If you feel like telling.)

  Keyser Soze was a fictional character from the movie Usual Suspects. Everyone was afraid of him, but he was only a legend who didn't really exsist.
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  nvrgnbk

  You absolutely must see that movie Open mind!

  Kevin Spacey plays the role.
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  Paralipomenon

  Three books that I think everyone should read at least once in their life:
  
  1. To Kill A Mocking Bird
  2. Animal Farm
  3. The Alchemist
  
  Otherwise I enjoyed the following:
  The "Myth" series I enjoyed as a fantasy humor series.
  "Ender's Game" was excellent, but I was disappointed with the sequels
  
  I just finish reading "Soon I Will Be Invincible", very entertaining.
  
  I also read alot of non-fiction, but those I classify as education, whereas the above are entertainment
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  Seeker4

  OK, this thread was about the 5 books that had the greatest influence on me, excluding a few of the obvious ones, and not necessarily my favorite five or five I'm reading now, or just five good books. Good question. Chronologically, they would be:
  
  
  1. The Day on Fire, James Ramsey Ullman's fictionalized biography of the French poet Rimbaud, because it taught me about the world of words, passion for art, the artist's way of living. Read it at 12-13 years old. A close second here would be The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer - read about the same age and it showed me a lot about great writing and storytelling.
  
  2. The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham, a great novel about one man's search for spiritual meaning. it introduced me to a lot of Eastern ideas about life, and to the idea of life as a search or journey. Read in my mid-teens, 20s, 30s....
  
  3. Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I'm also not a Rand groupie, but found her idea's fascinating and liked the way she made me question certain assumptions I'd long held. Helped to open my mind.
  
  4. The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu. This was a huge eye opener. Showed me what a real "holy book" should actually look like - clear, simple, concise and you can read the whole damn thing in an hour - or study it for a lifetime. Also, no god, no guru or teacher, no clergy, no preachers, no angels or devils. No commandments, no angry creator eager to kill off his creations. Just a great, great way of thinking about and living life.
  
  5. Henry Miller on Writing - collected passages from Miller's books. Miller was a great writer - obscene, sexual, athletic, artistic, musical, traveler, lived life completely on his own terms. He was one of the few people who actually lived the tao te ching. Showed me what a life could be, and what a writer could do - if he was willing to be honest and fearless and filled with the joy of living. Helped me to embrace the sheer sensuality of our physical existence - from food to sex to sports to my sense of place to everything.
  
  S4
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  little witch

  Would you all throw empty beer cans at me for saying that I can't wait untill the new Harry Potter book comes out?

  But the question was, what we have already read, right? Ok,,,,,

  To Kill a Mockingbird

  Where The Red Fern Grows

  Flowers In The Attic (someone had a more dysfunctional upbringing than me, turns out)

  The Bible

  The Cat In The Hat

  (Not necessarily in that order) Oh, and thanks for the fun topic Dear
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  mrsjones5

  Keyser Soze was a fictional character from the movie Usual Suspects.

  Every time I see that name it cracks me up. I loved that movie!
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  Open mind

  Keyser Soze: Please pardon my inability to properly read your name. I've always read your name as Keyser "Sore" instead of "Soze". Go figure.

  Nvr: "Usual Suspects" plug. Great. Now I've got to add to my "must see" movie list. .... Anybody have any extra vacation time they don't know what to do with and would like to share?

  Paralipomenon:

  Looks like "To Kill a Mocking Bird" keeps coming up. I know the gist of it and have the movie (haven't watched it yet). Guess this will make it onto my gotta read B4 I die list.

  Seeker4: Ditto re: The Tao Te Ching.
  I forgot about Henry Miller. Now I remember being so shocked when I read "Tropic of Cancer". I had seen my share of pornography, but his obscene writing style woven into the day-to-day affairs of life was jarring to me when I read it. (Mid 20's).

  Little witch:

  LOL. So, at this point in your life, would you say The Cat In The Hat holds more meaning for you than The Bible?

  Please keep them coming folks. I'd like to be able to use this thread as a resource. Thanks again.

  Open Mind