Recommendations

[Oldposts]

Topic suggested by Ramanan on Wed Aug 26 12:07:27 .


we the people who read a lot will have our favourite ones.

How about listing them irrespective of what category the book falls into and if possible state why you liked the book ? Ofcourse for Science Fiction and Fantasy, we go to the SF & F forum.

The idea is to get to know good books so that the next time we go to a library or bookshop we know what to look for.

[Oldposts]

I'm a big fan of Latin American writers.
My favorite short-story writer is Jorges Louis Borges. I cannot explain his writing other than say that he plays with Time and History as we know it. His works are mulitfaceted: science fiction, suspense, irony, history, philosophy, humor all are present in a potent blend.

Other phenomenal Latin American writers:
-Gabriel Garcia Marquez (nobel laureate)
-Mario Vargas Llosa
-Jorge Amado

More later. . .

[Oldposts]

I always recommend

Catcher In the Rye - J D Salinger
Franny & Zooey - "

East Of Eden - John Steinbeck
Grapes of Wrath - "

Fountainhead - AynRand
Anthem - "

Roald Dahl's Short Stories

Uncle Dynamite - P G Wodehouse
[Also psmith (p silent) stories ]

The Word - Irwing Wallace

God Of Small Things - Arundathi Roy

More Later..

[Oldposts]

I second Gokul's recommendation of Roald Dahl's short stories. Presently I am reading a collection of essays by J. B. Priestly, fifty years of essays. I just coudln't help grinning throughout some of the pieces. I recommend it for days you aren't in the mood for a long read. .

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My recommendations:

The Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess - I can't describe the impact this book made on me. It's too personal. Read it and u will know.

The Second Lady - Irving Wallace - For sheer entertainment and u will get a lot of lowdown on cloak-and-dagger stuff.

Foundation - Isaac Asimov - Seminal work . I loved the lead character Hari Seldon. u will get to know about pshchohistory.

The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth. To paraphrase the blurb, it's unputdownable ! Thriller of the highest order.

More to follow........

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Krishnan - Second Lady? ))))))))))))))))))

Glad you enjoyed the book as much as I did. But it's full of coincidences, cliches and a worn-out ending. But I enjoyed it all the same, wondering whether Kamal was going to make it a Tamil movie. It certainly has the basics - the double act, I mean. )

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NOV - The Second Lady was one of the first novels I read. Probably it might be the reason why I chose it. Of course, Irving Wallace's The Prize, The Almighty, The Word were equally good.

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My Recommendations.
Roots by Alex Haley
Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance & Lila
both by Robert.M.Pirsig.
Short stories/stories by Jack London.
The fountainhead & Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
J.Livingston Seagull & Illusions by Richard Bach.
To Kill a Mocking bird by Harper.J.Lee
The spy who came in from the cold by John Le carre. His novels are a refreshing change from the usual run of the mill spy novels.

In the above mentioned, Zen and the... and J.L.Seagull are more like a bible to me.

More to come............

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Ramanan: I was moved by Alex Haley's Roots. The way he traces his roots to a obscure village in Gambia,Africa ...and the agony suffered by the African slaves.....immensely moving experience.
Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is another fine work.
I will also suggest books by Stanislaw Lem. He's a great Polish SF writer. His works has been described as a kind of cross between Jorge Luis Borges and Douglas Adams. Try his "The Fururological Congress". Incidentally, the great master Tarkovsky's film "Solaris" was based on a work by Lem.

[Oldposts]

Sorry for the typos :

It should be Futurological Congress .