Other Recommendations - for the unenlightened

[Marky Lazer]

We have Sci-fi recommendations and fantasy recommendations, but, as some of you might know, there's a whole world besides these marevelous genres. Well, that's the reason for this thread...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Jennifer Government - Max Barry
The Girl in the Flammable Skirt - Aimee Bender
Tumble Home - Amy Hempel
The Ice at the Bottom of the World - Mark Richard
Geek Love - Katherine Dunn
Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
Dead Long Enough - James Hawes
Thank You for Smoking - Christopher Buckley
The Contortionist's Handbook - Craig Clevenger

[to be continued...]

 

[Cobolt]

Can you give me any info on the Jennifer government book, I have seen it and have often considered buying but always walked away unsure if it would be a good read.

 

[Culhwch]

Good idea, Marky. Stickied.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Cobolt,

Jennifer Government is hilarious. It's set in the near future where the big companies have the power. For example, if you work for Nike, it become your surname. The book features John Nike and John Nike... Anyway, an employee of Nike, Hack, is assigned for a big job, he signs the contract without reading it. He should kill some kids as a promotion for the new Nike sneakers. There the s**t begins.

I can't really tell it, but what if you have a look for yourself? Here you can find the first chapter: http://www.maxbarry.com/jennifergovernment/preview.html

 

[Nesacat]

This is a great idea Marky ... there's a world of books out there Am trying to get a copy of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender

Istanbul - Orhan Pamuk
If on a winter's night a traveller - Italo Calviono (a book made up of little books and chapter headings that make up something else as well)
Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (there's a cemetary of dead books ... nothing else need be said)
Paper - [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=-1]Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (for all those who love the written word)
Reef - Romesh Gunasekhara (there's the most amazing cake in this and the book reads like a poem)
Dante's Club - Matthew Pearl (round like a circle in a spiral on the paths of Hell)
Q&A - Vikas Swarup (all you need is life is for someone to ask the right questions at the right time)



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[Marky Lazer]

I haven't even finished, but already going to put the next book on this list:

Torture the Artist - Joey Goebel

 

[iansales]

Some favourite mainstream novels/series...

The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell
Earthly Powers, Anthony Burgess
The Master Mariner, Nicholas Monsarrat
The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe
The LA Quartet, James Ellroy
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Nice Work, David Lodge
The Heart of the Matter, Graham Greene

 

[j d worthington]

Since I don't recall this being limited to fiction, I assume we can put pretty much any category in here, yes? (If not, then I'm sure Marky will have no problem knocking me over the bean...)

The Lion in Winter, by James Goldman (play)
Sleuth, by Anthony Shaffer (play)
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller (play)
The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
The House of the Seven Gables, by Nathniel Hawthorne
Mosses from an Old Manse, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Spectator Papers, by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele
Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift (all right, this can be seen as fantasy/sf, but it was a satire long before it got accepted into those categories. I'd also include "The Battle of the Books" and "A Modest Proposal" as well as "The Tale of a Tub")
The Story of Philosophy, by Will Durant (popular book on the subject, but enjoyable and very informative)
The Outline of History, by H. G. Wells
The Odyssey, by Homer
Beyond Life, by James Branch Cabell
Abbotsford, by Washington Irving (utterly charming account of a stay with Walter Scott, including bits of folklore and traditions, and a very warm and human book)
Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled, by Harlan Ellison (one of his many non-sff books)
Requiem for a Heavyweight, by Rod Serling (play)

I'd include various plays by Shakespeare, Marlow, Webster, etc., but some of my favorites would at least marginally fit into fantasy or horror. I'm sure more will come....

 

[Nesacat]

The Cloud Machinery by Christopher Whyte

I just finished this book. Picked it up on a chance and it's a wonderful little book. It's about a tiny theatre at St Hyginus, in an obscure corner of Venice, which is about to reopen after 7 years. Domenico has been employed to rehearse the company and direct the operas. In the eaves of the theatre Domenico and his lover Rodolfo discover an ageing, half-mad castrato called Angelo Colombani in a room filled with theatrical machinery. It was the failure of his cloud machinery, on a disastrous night seven years before, that led to the closure of the theatre.

The book reads like a piece of classical music almost, maybe something by Mozart. It's elegantly written with a polished surface that does not however hide the disturbing pyschological undertones.

j.d. ... I like your choices

 

[j d worthington]

Thank you. Same here. I've heard mention of The Cloud Machinery before, but never knew much about it ... sounds like the sort of book I'd definitely enjoy.... This is worse than being a kid in a candy shop, carte blanche and five minutes to closing....

 

[Drex]

I tried to do a post here yesterday, but guess I fumbled. Anyway, glad to meet you all. Nice to be surrounded by others of the same interest. Your forum has lead me to many new avenues of sci-fi to explore and many of your suggestions listed here will go far with me. Now I don't have any other BOOK suggestions, but, if you don't mind E-BOOKS, then I stumbled across some GREAT ones this week! Since I recently lost my job, I've been spending alot of time surfin' lately and seem to have found many new different sci-fi sites. My current favorite (besides this one!) is one that has some really hot new sci-fi/fantasy stories and GREAT art. The stories have me totally hooked, I've read all the submissions so far and keep going back throughout the day to find more! The site is designed all around a mythical world named Mernac, and authors and artists from around the world keep adding interrelated stories to it. The next phase of the site will even include gaming (RPG)!

The site is still in Beta mode, so it's not yet open to the public, but if anyone reads this and wants to get into it, I'm currently a Beta Tester & could probably get you in as one.

Just send me a message & I'll see what I can do. Again, glad to meet you all & look forward to a long-term connection with you all.

 

[Rane Longfox]

Marky - I would definately classify Jennifer Government as sci-fi, personally...
Damn good book though, I agree

 

[sielah]

Marky - I would definately classify Jennifer Government as sci-fi, personally...
Damn good book though, I agree

George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh have apparently been trying to make a movie out of it for the last few years. Given what they did to "Solaris", it's probably for the best that it's stuck in development hell

 

[Shrodinger's Cat]

John Gribbin: In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics & Reality
( I bought this prior to reading my all-time favorite novel, Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson, to help me understand both Quantum Physics and the Schrodinger's Cat theorey, and not only did it help me understand and interpret Wilsons novel, it also founded my extreme interestest in Quantum physics and mechanics, and was an magnificent read.)

Robert Anton Wilson: Prometheus Rising
( The best non-fiction book I have ever read. Everything within its pages is breathtaking and fantastic, even moreso than most fiction! This can be applied to everyone, and it indeed helps. An utterly fantastic read, mind-blowing and literally life-altering.)

James Gleick: Chaos
( Probably the most acessable book on the most unacessable topic. Intriguing, engaging nonfiction history book and science primer.)

Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything

Robert Service - Stalin: A Biography

Robert Service - Lenin: A Biography

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

 

[star.torturer]

Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything

its good isnt it

all books are great, so i cant recomend any of them

 

[Shrodinger's Cat]

its good isnt it

all books are great, so i cant recomend any of them

He really put in perspective, for me, with that book - how absolutley huge the universe is, and how mind-bogglingly small Earth is. It's almost funny. Very good book though, yes indeed.

 

[Rane Longfox]

I thought a Short History of Nearly Everything was one of Bryson's weakest books, actually. I would recommend both "Down Under" (or "In a Sunburned Country" in the US) and "Notes from a Small Island" much more highly.

 

[Shrodinger's Cat]

I haven't read any other Bryson books, so I cannot compare it to anything. What do the books you mentioned have to deal with? It's the scientific (which Bryson is weak at) theme, as well as the deep-in-space-the-universe-is-*******-huge motif that pulled me in.

 

[star.torturer]

good science and history and fun and jokes given tough Longfox

though all books are still good

 

[Rane Longfox]

@ SC - They're books documenting his travels. Around Australia and the UK respectively.