So after you finish a great book it's hard to choose the next. I mean, what if it isn't nearly as good? What if it lets me down? Even if a book is a completely different genre it can still not be the same quality as the last book you've read. When in doubt I always seem to go back to my favorite author. Not really because he's so terribly good at it, but his books make me work for the ending. Of course I'm talking about Umberto Eco.
Over the last few years I had sort of dropped out of literature to battle health problems and depression. I really didn't believe books would ever intrigue me again. However, one summer semester at Broome Community College changed everything for me. Our teacher, not really wanting to spend the next 8 weeks blathering on about examples in a text book decided that we were all going to buy the book "Baudolino" and us that as our text. I found myself completely entranced by all the hidden references, and words I would have to underline and come back to. This book actually forced me to keep a pencil and sometimes even a notebook in hand to mark something or copy a quote down that I found fantastic, or at least warranting a second look.
' This is literature,' I remember thinking. And it wasn't the kind of literature tha tyou read for readings sake. It was that plus the added bonus of WANTING to read it and remember things, and go back to them several times. Some people may find it tedious to constantly have to be looking up words while reading a book, but I relished the experience. Never before had my mind been so tested. I WANTED to understand it all. I am by no means an above average reader, but something about Eco's novels pulls me in and won't let me escape until I've read the story as fully as I am capable.
And knowing this I have re-vamped my reading list in order of how I'll probably read them. If you read this, and want to recommend something please do comment.
The List:
Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams
Enchantment - Orson Scott
Foucaults Pendulum - Umberto Eco
Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams
Kafka By the Shore - Haruki Murakami
1984 - George Orwell
Wraeththu - can't remember author off hand.
End.
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The Amzing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon is a bright, ambitious novel with the most wonderful characters. It won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2000 and tells the story of a Czech emigrant in NYC who works with his cousin to create a best-selling comic book series.
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren won the fiction Pulitzer in 19...39? and is written in the rambling roundabout style we often associate with William Faullker. It's a political novel based on the real life of Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana told by a one of his under-the-table type men; mixed in is the drama of Jack Burden's own life. Lovely, lovely, rich book.
But looking at your list, perhaps you'd prefer The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Yes, the one the movie was based on; and though I haven't seen the movie, the novel is just sparse and gorgeous.
Geez, I could go on forever; I'm going to be finishing up my English major this fall. I'm putting you on my buddy list so we can swap reccomendations. :)
thanks for the recommendations...
Yes, it depresses me as well when the next book isn't half as good as the previous book I read
Did Orson Wells write 1984? I always thought George Orwell was the only one who produced a book using that title.
You're right about 1984. I have the bad habit of crossing names myself.
People should definitely read, I think it makes you smarter.
Unfortunately, I haven't found much to read lately and have taken to writing stories and books instead. I hope to finish my current work within the next few months.
It so refreshing to find other avid readers as myself. When I start talking about books, I feel as though I am alive. I always try to get others to read and sadly they'd rather watch TV. I've always believed reading was fundamental as it opens up new worlds and ways of thinking.
One book I found challenging the first time I read it is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's about a book written by an elderly man that passed way about a tape of photographer whose house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and keeps growing. This is usually where I lose people lol. The way it is written it has two stories in one and the story of the tape and photographer directly affects the life of the main character reading the book.
That's all jumbled up lol. Despite my inability to explain properly, it's no less of an excellent book. I've only met one person, a girl at hot topic that has read it. It's riddled with codes and decipheres as well as the two main stories. I'm going to stop now lol
The Lovely Bones is also an excellent book but may seem feminine. It's a touching story of a young girl who is raped and murder and tells her story from heaven as she watches her family greive and grow.
I've googled your books and added yout o my buddylist. Maybe you'd consider doing a list of books you've already read that others might enjoy?