Recommended Reading???

Discussion in 'U.K.' started by Mercy, May 24, 2004.

  1. Mercy

    Mercy Member

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    Hey,
    I know that I should be revising really, but I need some good reads to fill my breaks with (at the moment, it seems to be one long break however).
    So, I was wondering if anyone had any books to recommend. There are so many aspects of the world that I really want to know more about, and seeing as though there is such a wide range of interests and beliefs in this community, I thought I'd ask you guys.
    So...do share....
    Rosie x
     
  2. TheFly

    TheFly Member

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    Hiya Mercy...

    I'm trying to get back into reading fiction...

    Read Catch 22... it is a fantastic book... I found it takes a bit of time to get into because it isn't really one story... it takes in lots of different characters and jumps around a bit... lots of referring back to things that happen previously and stuff... but it is brilliant...

    It deals with the lunacy of war and follows the attempts of one pilot, a great character called Yossarian, who is trying to get himself out of the war... and everything seems to conspire against this ever happening...

    Right now, I'm onto 1984... coz I havn't read it for years... and it seems right to remind myself what Big Brother was originally about... I'm enjoying it as it is much more easy to "get" than Catch 22... and I love a bit of sexcrime too...

    I should be finished before I go on hols... thinking about going for something new... any suggestions?...

    Fly...
    .
    .
     
  3. Xiola

    Xiola One Lonely Seagull

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    The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a touching tale of the strength and survival of a young girl, Celie, in the American Deep South during the years between the two major wars of this centuary. Celie has been raped by her so-called father and married off to a man who beats her because of who she is-or rather, who she is not. Celie then meets Shug Avery, in whom she finds everything she craves-love, strength and support. Slowly Celie begins to grow and flourish, she essentially finds herself.

    The Color Purple has been dubbed a feminist or anit male novel but in reality it is a story of love and of how it reaches us in different forms. It is also a tale of self discovery and of the appreciation of God-in whatever shape or form-in the world. The novel is not "anti" anything but rather a celebration of individuality, of being who you want to be and being proud of it. The Colour Purple portrays a strong main character who fights a world against her in so many ways and who is triumphant-she becomes a resiliant and free thinking woman as opposed to the scared and shy teenager married off to a man she despised. The novel helps us to appreciate that no matter what life throws in our path we can emerge the stronger person. A wonderful tale of hope in the face of the darkest hour, truly worth a read.

    (This is someone elses review not my own...but I agree with everything it says so I thought i would post it instead of wite my own. I'm fealing lazy today!:p )
     
  4. akhc

    akhc Member

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    hmm in between revision :).. try something funny like David Brin's The Practice Effect.. (and wish that the laws of that universe applied to ours)!

    on another note.. I remember revising for my medical finals back in 1994. we had 6 weeks between our last scheduled class and our final exams. after 4 weeks of reading for finals I went to the uni library and checked out my entire quota of books (I think it was 12).. every single one was on classical music.. most covered opera :). in the last 2 weeks I must have done all of 10 hours reading for finals!
     
  5. Hippy_Smurf

    Hippy_Smurf Member

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    Ooh ooh ooh...

    Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez is wonderful. It's kind of a Latin American story of a group of people who's lives cross over with one anothers. It starts off when they're all young and ends when they're 80 or so, telling the story of the love in their lives. It's beautiful.

    As Fly said, if you haven't read 1984 it's well worth the read. I'm reading it at the moment and it's brilliant so far.

    I'd also suggest a book called Nalda Said by Stuart David (the bassist from Belle & Sebastian if that means anything to you). It's about a young man who has a secret that he has to hide from the world,and the efforts he goes to in order to conceal himself.
    They're my top three at the moment.
     
  6. Peace-Phoenix

    Peace-Phoenix Senior Member

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    'Lord Of The Flies' by William Golding, one of my favourite books, also 'Dance Before The Storm' a biography of the Levellers is a great read, very inspiring in many ways....
     
  7. PinkMoon

    PinkMoon Senior Member

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    do you know by any chance where i could get that book? i love stuart!
     
  8. PinkMoon

    PinkMoon Senior Member

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    as for books.. one of my favourite books ever is the little prince.. a beautiful book by antoine st expery (who knows how to spell it).
     
  9. Dandelion_Blood

    Dandelion_Blood Gremlin

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    Zen and the art of Motorcycling.. Phylisophical book.. really gets the old brain cogs turning.. and enjoying time out... from the usual turning of cogs.. perhapes turns them the other way and greases them a little! Its being a really good book and showing me a good time... well worth the read.
     
  10. DoktorAtomik

    DoktorAtomik Closed For Business

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    The Dark is Rising : Excellent magical story dripping in Arthurian and Celtic mythology. Purports to be a teenager's book, but I've yet to find an adult that doesn't love it.

    The Prophet : If hippies had a bible, this'd be it. More words of wisdom than you can shake a stick at, and it's impossible to disagree with a single damn one of them. The cheaper option is to read it online!

    Cider With Rosie : A wonderfully poetic look at the world that we've left behind. Laurie Lee was one of a generation of authors (recently-ish deceased) to remember life in rural England before the advent of the motor car.

    The Silmarillion : Read this book if you want a deeper appreciation of the Lord of the Rings. Learn the origins of the White Tree of Gondor! Discover that Gandalf is really an angelic being from before the dawn of time! Marvel as you read of the creatrion of the races of elves and men!

    Flatland - A Romance of Many Dimensions : One to twist your brain in knots! Hyperspace and multi-dimensional realities explained!
     
  11. Spyder

    Spyder La dah de dah

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    the bell jar -sylvia plath
    On the Road - jack karoac
    the catcher in the ry - cant remember the guys name arrrrrrrggh
    much ado about nothing - shakespeare
     
  12. Claire

    Claire Senior Member

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    Went to a talk on Sylvia Plath on Friday night...very good:) ... the cider wasn't bad either:p

    Anyway... I like:

    The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe
    Sexing the Cherry - Jeanette Winterson
    No Logo - Naomi Klein
    .. oh and anything by Noam Chomsky... oo, and was reading through some old Whizzer and Chips albums this evening too which are pretty cool:)

    Love Clairexxx
     
  13. showmet

    showmet olen tomppeli

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    Chomsky wrote Whizzer and Chips?
     
  14. Claire

    Claire Senior Member

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    Of course!! gosh showmet! not only can you not grasp the english language but you know nothing of literature either:p ;)
     
  15. DoktorAtomik

    DoktorAtomik Closed For Business

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    Aaaaarrrrggggghhhh!!!! Break out the razor blades!!!! My god, if ever there was a more hideously depressing book ever written, I've yet to read it! I regularly lend my copy of the Bell Jar to people I really dislike!
     
  16. Summertime

    Summertime Member

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    The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, although I found it a little intense, so it's not easy reading. :) Also, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley- kinda like 1984. Also, Animal Farm by George Orwell, if you've not read it- great book especially if you've studied Russian history. Erm, can't think of any more at the moment but will post if I can! Good luck with exams by the way :)

    Summer. xx.
     
  17. Summertime

    Summertime Member

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    Antoine de St. Exupéry ;) I love that book- we read it in French. :) It's the one with the hat and the elephant and adults perceptions isn't it?

    Summer. xx.
     
  18. Xiola

    Xiola One Lonely Seagull

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    :D Tis my favourite book! You really should read it Mercy!
     
  19. Dandelion_Blood

    Dandelion_Blood Gremlin

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    That spyder man said it any way but my next suggestions is
    On The Road excellent book...
     
  20. Alomiakoda

    Alomiakoda Boniface McSporran

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    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH

    Oh deat God that is the most boring play I have ever read in my life. DON'T DO IT!!!!
     

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