Toblo's recommended readingsI am (admittedly) something of a sci-fi freak, but that has never stopped me from enjoying other genres as well - so even if you are not of the same persuation; read on.. (and try some really GOOD sci-fi, too, while you're at it) -To show my self-restraint I've put the sci-fi stuff at the end. |
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'Serious' literature |
| Don DeLillo |
| Underworld is the only book I've read by him so far, but WOW! Admittedly it doesn't 'slip' down like the somewhat more crappy stuff I usually digest, but belive me: IT IS WORTH THE PATIENCE. A very Real tale, told with poetry and insight. It's the kind of book that makes you feel that you are a wiser person after you've read it. |
| Khalil Gibran |
| The Prophet. About the high and the low, the holy and the mundane. Not a religious writer.. more like 'poetic wisdom'. This man is to be taken seriously. -The book is about a prophet who, before he leaves a small backwater village, takes time to answer the villagers' questions about their lives and the world they live in. You will read it (at least once) in one sitting. |
| Fiodor Dostroijevsky |
| (correctly spelled? :)) - The Idiot. Surprise, surprise! It's really a thoroughly likeable book! After the first few pages it is hard to put it down. -The perfectly innocent man meets a society that cannot handle him, and a woman no-one can handle (snappy, huh?:)). A very good read.. Really.. Promise! |
| Montaigne |
| Essays. Short eh.. essays on a large variety of subjects (I think that the word 'essay' was actually created by these books!) (but then again, I think a lot of things). Feels surprisingly contemporary. Relaxed, friendly and wise. -Perfect for reading in your sun-sucking seat with a wine-drink in your hand :). -Get ready to recognize a lot of things you've been quoting without knowing it. |
| Ian Banks |
| One book that you MUST read!! The Wasp Factory.. *GASP!* -OH! And he also writes Really good sci-fi, at times, under the name of Ian M. Banks - 'Consider Phlebas' and other stories taking place in 'the Culture' are well known to many fans of the genre. |
| Balthasar Gracián |
| "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" -I am in two minds about this book. Written in 1637 by a spanish jesuit, it describes how to "make ones way" in the world. -Scruples do not seem to play a large role in this activity, but the (approx) 300 maxims guiding the reader can not fail to make an impression. Cunning, cunning and more cunning. Machiavelli For Regular People :) |
| Noam Chomsky |
| Literature? No, unfortunately the things that he writes about are not things of Fiction. Serious? Yes. Very. Can't say he's easy to read, but you should read something by him anyway, as a form of intellectual self-defense. According to some, the most quoted now living person in the world, he is virtually banished from American media. |
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Detective stories |
| PD James |
| Mmmm.. Let me read some more about the complex Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh, and the way he handles the puzzles and the people he encountres. He is not perfect. He is not infallible. He is just so.. so.. clever and real and professional - and British too (I assume). Contemporary detecting of the highest possible quality. |
| Raymond Chandler |
| - :) You already know about this guy, right? This is the original hard-boiled detective writer. Not at all shallow, as one would suspect. -In the middle of the tough talk, the palpable danger, the bleak criminal world and the bruises there are a lot of sobby romantic things happening . *sob* |
| James Ellroy |
| - Get ready for a punch in the belly. Ellroy writes about the underworld of LA with what simply must be first hand experience. Stark, is a good word to describe it, I think. If you've seen the film made from his book 'LA confidential' (Best detective-flick in AGES) you'll recognize the scenery, the people and the atmosphere instantly. |
Fantasy/horror |
| Will Self |
| - I guess he belongs in the horror-section.. His book titled My Idea Of Fun beats An American Psycho (Brett Easton Ellis) in sickness. -He is also capable of great wit, though, as he demonstrates in The Quantity Theory Of Insanity. -Hilarious, disturbing and deeply engrossing. Will eat your brain. |
| Clive Barker |
| - Remember the movie Hellraiser? Clive Barker, at his best, is something one Does Not Forget. Unique, complex and terrifying. My absolute favourite at a time. Now writes books which start in his old (Fantastically Exciting - Can't Put Down) style, but end somewhat anti-climactically *sigh*. DEFINITLY worth reading, though. -But start with the old stuff (The Damnation Game, Imajica, The Great And Secret Show) before you put your time and money on the newer titles (although Sacrament IS hard to put down *groan*). |
| Stephen King |
| - Well, yes, I actually DO have something to say about him that you might not know! I (seriously) think Rage (Written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman) is the best book he's ever written - a REAL classic, that should not be snubbed off as 'mere' horror. The Catcher In The Rye left me completely cold when I read it, because I'd read a book about the same thing that was a hell of a lot better - Rage was it. Other good stuff - Dance Macabre (his analysis of the whole horror genre), The Stand, Salem's Lot and The Talisman. Writes very good short stories, at times. Seems to be losing his edge, if you ask me (after Needful Things). |
| Robert Silverberg |
| - Mixes fantasy with a touch of sci-fi.. You will enjoy Lord Valentine's Castle. Take it from me. |
| J.R.R Tolkien |
| - OK! OK! -Just thought I'd mention him, for forms sake. You DO know he's great, don't you? |
| Julian May |
| - Enjoyable fantasy popcorn-stuff :) |
Humor |
| Irvine Welsh |
| - Didn't know where else to put him cause he's so damn funny! -Well known from the hit movie Trainspotting, his books read just like it. He is at times sad, with his descriptions of the dregs of humanity, and at times hilarious with his other-worldly (twilight-zone:ish) twists of their reality. Read the story where truck-drivers are the ulimate celebrities, or the story where God is a lazy, miserable asshole, and decides that someone else should be punished for that. Everything I've read by him has also been at the speed of light - and irresistable like a black hole (HECK! -I should be a writer myself!). |
| Douglas Adams |
| - YES, YES, YES! He is such a bright light in my life that I hardly know he's there! I have serious trouble communicating with people who haven't read The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy five times! If you haven't read him yet, take sick-leave from your work/ study/ unemployment and don't dare come to this site again until you've read him!! -It may seem I'm a bit harsh, but it's really for your own good! |
| Terry Pratchett |
| - Good for a few laughs :) -Eat 'em like popcorn. His Best book is the one he wrote together with Neil Gaiman (of Sandman fame): Good Omens. Funny Funny Funny :) -Somehow lacks the 'flatness' that often makes Pratchett's books lose their punch after the first 78 pages. Oh.. Hogfather is Really good, though. |
| Hugh Laurie |
| - The Gunseller. Has a very peculiar style.. the events that take place are not often 'funny' in themselves.- Most of the funny stuff goes on in the main characters mind. As he dilutes his whiskey more and more, it goes from being a 'Famous Grouse', throgh being a 'Vaguely Familiar Grouse' to being an 'I'm Sure I've Seen That Grouse Somewhere Before'. I think he's got a new one out now.. got to get it. |
| Michael Marshall Smith |
| This guy could just as well be placed in the sci-fi section.. OR in the "psychosis-inducing" section, if I had one :) - For some reason he can really get to me, and start me thinking about uncomfortable things.. while I'm laughing my head off! Sci-fi in the house of mirrors, where domestic appliances are the superior intelligence gathering force; just treat them nice, OK? In "Only Forward" the world is divided into Neighbourhoods with gigantic walls between them, and every possible lifestyles accomodated Somewhere.. |
Sci-fi |
| Frank Herbert |
| - Great writer! One of my absolute favourites, any category. Has written the well-known book Dune (and the following book series), which takes place in a future feodal space-imperium. -The intrigues are incredible.. the events monumental, and the future society crafted down to the last mindboggling detail. Read Now! Follow the Word of the Prophet Muad Dib of perish at the hands of the fremen! |
| Greg Egan |
| - The most spaced-out stuff I've ever read. Incredibly readable. He puts as much story into his short-stories, that you'd be lucky to find in an entire novel by any other author. He has to be insane. Read Axiomatic (short stories) and Distress (reality tears at it's seams as mathematicians unravel it's deepest secret) right after you've read Dune.. |
| Neal Stephenson |
| - MY HERO! The Humor! The Coolness! The Insanity! Read Snow Crash and Interface (written under the name Stephen Bury) immediately! Snow Crash: The notion of 'nations' is only still alive in the undeveloped world. Now is the time of the franchise-state! Some incredibly twisted ones exist, and the only really responsible ones are Uncle Lee's Greater Hong Kong and New Sicily (Relax! - This is a MAFIA WATCH zone) |
| Bruce Sterling |
| - A heavy guy.. has written some pretty 'light' stuff earlier, but seems to get better all the time. Read Heavy Weather and Holy Fire to see what I mean. |
| Orson Scott Card |
| - Has a style that is very much of his own. In his tremendously exciting book Enders Game (and in most of his others) he mixes stirring action with ethical dilemmas, played out by almost living characters. The first time I can recall being really Moved by a book was when I read Ender's Game! |
| Isaac Asimov |
| - Classic stuff *sob*. He really is incredibly enjoyable in his somewhat corny (read 'old skool') way! His famous Foundation trilogy will completely fill your head with a vast stellar empire and it's majestetic downfall to dust. -Heroism, adventure and .. you'd find me and BEAT ME UP if I gave away the plot!! VAST! VAST! VAST! Read everything he's written! |
| Greg Bear |
| - THIS guy can really drag you into his Gargantuan stories! -Has something of 'space opera' over him, at his best. Not ALL of his books are as good though. Start with Blood Music. Then read the rest, anyway. All of it. |
| David Brin |
| - Writes 'space opera' of a modern cut. In 'his' universe, earth has recently been discovered by the 'civilization of the five galaxies'. The strange thing about humanity (and therefore dangerous, in this very conservative civilization) is that they seem to have attained sapiency without help from superior races (evolution is scoffed at). -Normally a race gets 'uplifted' by a patron race, and then serves them for an eon as payment. The earthlings are a 'wolfling' race, without parents, and the universe is a very dangerous palce. Think 'Hans and Gretchen', if you will. Brin is very good, at times, but he does to much flagwaving about how damn good the human race is. -A somewhat 'cheap' way of making readers feel good, I think (seen The Postman?). Sadly enough it works on me too. *chagrin at my own weakness for flattery* |
| William Gibson |
| Neuromancer, Count Zero.. I'll say Nooo more! :) |
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Science |
| Edward O. Wilson |
| Edward O. Wilson is a big name in the science of 'Sociobiology', which is , basically, the science of how our biological nature as a spieces and individuals affects our behaviour against eachother. -This is, I have become aware, not a big 'hit' amongst many people, who do not like to acknowledge any such influences aside from that of culture. -This attitude I do not understand.. *supressing urge to rave* .. *phew*.. Read some of his stuff, why don't you? "In search of Nature" is a collection of essays on and around the subject, that is highly accessible and entertaining! In his (as far as I know) latest book, "Conscilience", he argues that Sociobiology could be the link that connects the humanitarian sciences with the 'natural' sciences (or whatever the other kind is called); since 'humaniora' is a product of our culture, and culture is (to a large part) a product of our biological nature. PS - DO Read some of it before you tell me how much you hate it ;) |
| Stuart Kauffman |
| Talks about 'self-organizing systems', like those in biology, where there is no central control, but complex systems nevertheless operate at a level of dependability which can (in my opinion) not be rivalled by the engineering of us paltry humans. ;) In "At home in the Universe" he describes, amongst other things, how our existence is a natural consequence of the laws of nature; without the need for 'outside intervention'. |
| John H. Holland |
| "Emergence - From Chaos to Order"... yup! I am a confirmed fan of the science of Complexity. Can't claim to understand all of it, but it is Just SO Cool! :) |
| Simon Singh |
| "The Code Book" tells the story of encryption.. so HOW can this book be so readable?! |