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Top Five Books

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snout
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Post by snout »

Groomyd wrote:The Dice Man is one the most over rated books in the history of over rated books.

Worth a holiday read but apart from that you aint missing a thing! Most people who talk about it probably have not even read it!
It's an enjoyable novel but it can be dangerous if you take it a bit too seriously!

What I learned from the book is a handy decision making device... if you have a decision to make and you really cannot decide what to do, boil it down to two options (perferably neither of them involving a conveyor belt). Give the decision to the toss of a coin, e.g. "heads" for turn left and "tails" for turn right. As soon as you see the result, you will know which one you really wanted to do and you should follow that path whether it is what the coin told you to do or not.

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Post by primitive man »

There is a follow up book set 20(?) years later by same author called Son of the Dice Man - but it is not worth reading.

2- Do some work :(

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Post by murf »

nash0819 wrote: What I learned from the book is a handy decision making device... if you have a decision to make and you really cannot decide what to do, boil it down to two options (perferably neither of them involving a conveyor belt). Give the decision to the toss of a coin, e.g. "heads" for turn left and "tails" for turn right. As soon as you see the result, you will know which one you really wanted to do and you should follow that path whether it is what the coin told you to do or not.
Thats exactly what I do!

Always have a coin on you when contemplating transfers :wink:

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Post by X-Man »

Groomyd wrote:The Dice Man is one the most over rated books in the history of over rated books.

Worth a holiday read but apart from that you aint missing a thing! Most people who talk about it probably have not even read it!
It's a book of its own time, just like Zen IMHO.

I think that there's a distinction between books you enjoy and books that you recognise as 'great literature' even though you may not enjoy them. Two recent books I've read illustrate the point. John Banville, 'The Sea', . Full of wordy prose, (including huge numbers of words I have never heard of before in my life). Full of big themes about death, relationships, love etc etc. Utterly dreary and boring IMHO.

OTOH Julian Barnes' Arthur and George was really enjoyable. As well as being about 'big' ideas such as race, truth, being 'English', proof v belief, it was just an interesting story, well told.

Whic one won the Booker Prize 2005? The one that seemed to be endless words...

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Post by Billy Whiz »

uncsimes wrote:
Billy Whiz wrote:Garp - John Irving
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Complicity - Iain Banks
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig

I've read Zen twice but on neither occasion managed to finish it. This is becauses the final quarter of the book disappears up its own philosophical backside. But the first two-thirds of it is so good it gets into my Top Five anyway. It's as much a way of life - or thinking about life - as a book.

Ahh, Thomas Hardy. Showing your dark side Billy W by picking Jude though! Used to love Hardy. Under the Greenwood tree prob my favourite, albeit slightly less well known/rated than some of the others. Also like the Mayor of Casterbridge - just how much bad luck (or Fate) can one guy stand!! Not read any Hardy for ages though.

Think Owen Meaney references Hardy quite a bit, which fits in fantastically with the Meaney story, being all about Fate, which is what Hardy does best.

How about Anna Karenina as well. Not only is it a great book, but its also the book of choice for many other authors to use - i.e. being carried under a characters arm to indicate that they are literary and tragic!! Milan Kundera and Ian McKewan are 2 that I can think of who have used this!
I read Anna Karenina about three years ago (I have a long commute to work!) My advice is - don't bother. It's well over 1,000 pages and it could have been done better in, say, 600 (just how interested in the financial problems of 19th-century Russian farmers can you be?) And the key event of the book (when she throws herself under a train) is dealt with in a couple of paragraphs, and barely referred to again. Also, at that point, when Anna dies, you've still got another 200 pages to plough through, having lost your central character.

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Post by cherylhoney »

Groomyd wrote:The Dice Man is one the most over rated books in the history of over rated books.

Worth a holiday read but apart from that you aint missing a thing! Most people who talk about it probably have not even read it!
Well I'll probably be on holiday by the time a read it anyway! I've just noticed that you have put Coming up for Air in your list. I've not read that but I've always meant to as I enjoyed 1984 and Animal Farm. Another one to add to my list!

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Post by Vannie »

1984 - George Orwell
Beyond a Boundary - CLR James
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevksy
Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
Nathaniels Nutmeg - Giles Milton

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Post by mikeg13 »

Some wonderful books selected in most lists there are a couple of my favs.
But mine is
Porterhouse Blues
Catch 22 when I read it made me think in a totaly different way
Naked and the Dead
any of Steinbecks books
Name of the rose

Will try to read some of other peoples list favs that have not as yet read, especialy Dice Man picked it up loads of times but for some reason never got around to it, seems you either love or hate it

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Post by Spacman9 »

Good to see my favourite author John Irving cropping up regularly. I'm with unc on Cider House Rules, but Garp and Owen Meany run it close. Don't be put off by the film of the Cider House Rules with Micheal Caine, as so often with great books made into films it doesn't do the book justice at all.

John Steinbeck is another of my favourites. Sometimes a bit slow but great stories like East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath.

Other shouts include Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes and The Alchemist by Paul Coelho - very simply written but with a potentialy inspiring message.

Also had a spell of being hooked on late 80s yuppie downfall books like Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolff and Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney.

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Post by Billy Whiz »

A few votes for 1984 I see. I guess we all did it at school didn't we? I read it again recently and was surprised at the cardboard-thin characters, the unconvincing relationship between Winston Smith and the girl in the office, and their laughable "seduction" in the woods, which must be the worst-written sex scene in literature. Having said that it's an astonishingly original novel of ideas, and chillingly predicts the current culture of political correctness and the nature of Blair's Britain, where if you don't agree with the Government's thinking you are either forced to change your habits (eg smoking in pubs) or re-educated (through propaganda and Government lies) until you do. In the war between Oceania and the other super states it also predicts the growing polarisaton between East and West, Islam and democracy. If Orwell were alive today he'd be saying "I told you so."

Not sure what he'd make of Big Brother though!

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Post by Razorback »

Tony Towners Tache wrote:
Murf

I know where you are coming from as I said I had no desire to read King for ages but the Dark Tower series really is different from the other stuff.


If you haven't read them already, you should try the following short story collections by Stephen King (I've highlighted my favourites in each collection);

Night Shift - Jerusalem's Lot + One For The Road
Skeleton Crew - The Mist
Different Seasons - Apt Pupil + Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption

Don't have a top 5 myself, but Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend' is probably my favourite of the books that I've read...

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Post by Tony Towners Tache »

Razorback

I have read Jerusalem's Lot and The Shawshank Redemption but not the others. I will try them as soon as I have had a go at The Dice Man.

Cheers

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Post by uncsimes »

Razorback wrote:
Night Shift - Jerusalem's Lot + One For The Road
Skeleton Crew - The Mist
Different Seasons - Apt Pupil + Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption

Don't have a top 5 myself, but Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend' is probably my favourite of the books that I've read...
Read Night Shift ages ago. Jerusalem's Lot was the one where the car gets stuck in the snowdrift - precurser to Salems Lot I think. Was one for the Road the one with the filling station? Think it got made into a film? Didn't this book also include the 'Springheel Jim' one that also got made into a film. There was one about some machine that had a life of its own as well after someone got squished in it. Didn't rate that one as much. Might have to try to dig it out again to give it another read - been at least 20 years so should see how it compares to stuff I've been reading lately.

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Post by murf »

Was 'The Lawnmower Man' by Stephen King?

I read it and it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the (absolutely dreadful) film that is supposed to be based on it.

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Post by uncsimes »

murf wrote:Was 'The Lawnmower Man' by Stephen King?

I read it and it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the (absolutely dreadful) film that is supposed to be based on it.
That was King as well. Not seen the film, but can't imagine the fat naked guy eating all of the grass coming across all that well at the cinema!

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Post by murf »

uncsimes wrote:
murf wrote:Was 'The Lawnmower Man' by Stephen King?

I read it and it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the (absolutely dreadful) film that is supposed to be based on it.
That was King as well. Not seen the film, but can't imagine the fat naked guy eating all of the grass coming across all that well at the cinema!
Presumably the screenwriter couldn't imagine it either so it isn't in the film. The similarities are basically that there is a bloke in it with a lawnmower. Nothing else.

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Post by uncsimes »

murf wrote:
uncsimes wrote:
murf wrote:Was 'The Lawnmower Man' by Stephen King?

I read it and it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the (absolutely dreadful) film that is supposed to be based on it.
That was King as well. Not seen the film, but can't imagine the fat naked guy eating all of the grass coming across all that well at the cinema!
Presumably the screenwriter couldn't imagine it either so it isn't in the film. The similarities are basically that there is a bloke in it with a lawnmower. Nothing else.
It's only a very short story from memory. Bird wants lawn cutting. Fat bloke turns up to do it. Bird comes home to find fat bloke has taken all his clothes off and is demonically eating all of the grass rather than using a lawnmower. From memory, that's about it. Not much to make a film out of really.

Stephen King is (was?) such a big name though that the appearance of 'Based on a story by Stephen King' on the Movie Blurb is a great selling point. I'm sure King is more than happy to be paid piles of cash for Studio's to use his name on their films, however flimsy the link to his actual story is!

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Post by eric cauldhame »

Top 5

The Wasp Factory - best book from my favourite author. Horrific, Original, Fantastic.

Slaughterhouse 5 - Pure genius. You get the impression that this is what it must feel like to be at war - none of your literary descriptions of heroism and life in the trenches, but just an exploration of what it must feel like to be there. Billy Pilgrim feels happier in Dresden than anywhere else, despite the horror and death (So it goes), and due to his experiences with the Tralfamadorians (don't be put off by this!), he is consigned to always re-live the Dresden days, never knowing when he'll be transported back. Unique, thought provoking, moving, funny, original, well written, easy to read, short. Whats not to like.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Causes the reader to think, although no idea what is going on in the last part of the book! I love the bit about the 'shim fix' for the BMW bike. The rider won't accept the quality inherent in the 'coke can' solution, even though it is the perfect answer to the problem, as it's not an expensive part manufactured to German quality standards in the BMW factory.

Catcher in the Rye - Nothing much happens, but it captures the spirit of disaffected youth/growing up perfectly. Ultimately positive, despite the spirit of disaffection through the book

Lolita - Nabakov has created the most perfect writing ever. The first half of this book is unbelievably good, although it does tail off slightly with the 'chase' in the second half. Humbert represents the real threat of everyday evil. He's not an evil Overlord, just an ordinary guy with twisted feelings. He represents the real threat to our society, far more so than Bin Laden, Hussain, Bush et al.....

Tough choices.
Good thread.

If you haven't read Lolita or Slaughterhouse 5, then I recommend that you go out and buy them Now. You will not regret it.

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Post by Razorback »

uncsimes wrote:
Razorback wrote:


Night Shift - Jerusalem's Lot + One For The Road
Skeleton Crew - The Mist
Different Seasons - Apt Pupil + Rita Hayworth & The Shawshank Redemption

Don't have a top 5 myself, but Richard Matheson's 'I Am Legend' is probably my favourite of the books that I've read...
Read Night Shift ages ago. Jerusalem's Lot was the one where the car gets stuck in the snowdrift - precurser to Salems Lot I think. Was one for the Road the one with the filling station? Think it got made into a film? Didn't this book also include the 'Springheel Jim' one that also got made into a film. There was one about some machine that had a life of its own as well after someone got squished in it. Didn't rate that one as much. Might have to try to dig it out again to give it another read - been at least 20 years so should see how it compares to stuff I've been reading lately.
'Nightshift' contains the following (I've highlighted in bold those which have been made into films);

Battleground
The Boogeyman
Children of the Corn
Graveyard Shift

Grey Matter
I am the Doorway
I Know What You Need
Jerusalem's Lot
The Last Rung on the Ladder
The Lawnmower Man
The Ledge

The Man Who Loved Flowers
The Mangler
Night Surf
One for the Road
Quitters,Inc
Sometimes They Come Back

Strawberry Spring
Trucks
The Woman in the room

'Jerusalem's Lot' & 'One For The Road' are both Salem's Lot related, the first set before the main novel, the second set two years after...

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Post by snout »

Razorback's avatar reminds me that one of my fave books of all time is "V for Vendetta" by David Lloyd and Alan Moore. OK, it's a comic but "that last inch...", it hurts.

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Post by thelip »

nash0819 wrote: "that last inch...", it hurts.
:shock:

Typical City fan :wink:

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Post by snout »

thelip wrote:
nash0819 wrote: "that last inch...", it hurts.
:shock:

Typical City fan :wink:
Not sure how to react to that, with a :wink: or a :?

Have you read VfV?

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Post by September0987 »

1 - LOTR
2 - Silmarillion
3 - Hobbit
4 - Hamlet
5 - LOTF (Lord Of The Flies)

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Post by Pouzar »

Every time I tried to make out a top 5 book list it ended up sounding pretentious. So to Hell with Ulysses, Unc, much as I love it. 'History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.' Here's 5 I just plain like.
1. A Walk in the Woods. by Bill Bryson. I still laugh when I think of this book, the story of Bryson's cracked attempt to walk the Applachian Trial with his lunatic companion. The passage on bear attacks is unforgettable.
2. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer (sp?) - One of the most difficult books to put down even for a minute. He grabbed me by the throat on page 1 and I didn't want him to let go till it was done. I felt like I was in that storm on Everest fighting for my life.
3. Handcarved Coffins - Truman Capote. You know about In Cold Blood. This is Capote's other true crime story. Not book length. You can find it in his collection entitled Songs for Chameleons. You will never forget it.
4. The Maltese Falcon - Dashiel Hammett, and The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. I just love these guys. Hammett stands the test of time better but I still enjoy Chandler's crazed prose more. I have read every word these guys have ever published.
5. A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush - Eric Newby. Great story of quitting a stupid job on a whim and heading off for adventure in the Hindu Kush. It's always been my secret dream although I'd prefer Ladakh.

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Post by benwootton »

American psycho - not best of anything but definitely the most disturbing!

certainly a disturbing read..but it was compelling,

i remember buying it an airport and not putting it down until i finished it when on hols in spain.

its probably the book i lent to the most people when i was at school (well
6th form) and everyone had a reaction.

i bought a few of his other books and read all of them,
but never that impressed.

worth picking up as often in book shop mix and match offers

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Post by AkNotSpur »

An extremely tough one...but here goes:

Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisted.
The decline of an aristocratic Catholic family; written in the most beautiful English and liberally sprinkled with Waugh's razor sharp wit.

Thomas Hardy - The Mayor of Casterbridge.
My favourite classic: a drunken 21 year sells his wife at a fair and reaches the heights over the following 21 years during his, self imposed, alcohol-free punishment. Then - at age 42...his demons return!

Paul Scott - The Raj Quartet.
A truly epic tale of the end of British rule in India. The final book, A Division of the Spoils, is the most dramatic and probably the best, but the sum is definitely greater than the individual parts.

John Fowles - The Magus.
More twists than an early 60's dance marathon - when your servant becomes your master!

Hunter Davies - The Glory Game
Still the best book ever written about football; or, for that matter, any other sport.

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Post by Pouzar »

Good choices, Ak. I don't know if The Glory Game is the best book ever written about any sport, but it is a landmark. He was the first to spend a year with a team and write about it. It really provides insight into the lives of the footballers of that era. The fact that it's about Spurs may have influenced you, but I really enjoyed it. There's a great book written by a guy who spent a year with brilliant madman U.S. college basketball coach, Bobby Night. I think it's called A Season on the Brink.
It's written for an American audience but I loved The Miracle of Castlesangro (sp?) the story of the tiny Italian town whose team made it up to the second highest level of Italian footie. The author is nuts and it's written for footie newbies, but it's still gripping.
The best sports writing in the U.S. is about baseball.

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Post by AkNotSpur »

Pouzar wrote:Good choices, Ak. I don't know if The Glory Game is the best book ever written about any sport, but it is a landmark. He was the first to spend a year with a team and write about it. It really provides insight into the lives of the footballers of that era. The fact that it's about Spurs may have influenced you, but I really enjoyed it. There's a great book written by a guy who spent a year with brilliant madman U.S. college basketball coach, Bobby Night. I think it's called A Season on the Brink.
It's written for an American audience but I loved The Miracle of Castlesangro (sp?) the story of the tiny Italian town whose team made it up to the second highest level of Italian footie. The author is nuts and it's written for footie newbies, but it's still gripping.
The best sports writing in the U.S. is about baseball.
I also enjoyed your list, Pouzar. The Big Sleep was very close to making my list, but it's also one of my Top 10 movies and I think that Bogie and Bacall now cast too much of a shadow over the book for me to judge it purely on its own merits.

Naturally, the fact that the Glory Game is about Spurs is a major influence on my choice (and opinion); I once sat next to Davies at a game and we had a very lively conversation about Sports writing! In England, traditionally, most of the best sports writing has been about Cricket, but I think that football now attracts the best newspaper journalists because the Cricket pages are full of copy from ex-players with a few test caps, an Oxbridge degree, but little to offer as writers.

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Post by thelip »

Pouzar - Good call with "The Miracle Of Castel De Sangro" fantastic book as I have mentioned elsewhere on this forum.

Ak - How can you enjoy Thomas Hardy? I was forced to read this book at school and hated every second of it. Maybe I should revisit it now?

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Post by AkNotSpur »

thelip wrote:Ak - How can you enjoy Thomas Hardy? I was forced to read this book at school and hated every second of it. Maybe I should revisit it now?
I read all of Hardy's novels for relaxation during the University holidays as a nice break from my law books. If I'd been forced to read any of them for English Lit at school I might feel the same way as you, Lip, because those lessons certainly gave me a life-long aversion to Jane Austen.

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