Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Drinks - Hippo Lite about 10 hours ago
  • Alexis Taylor - Beautiful Thing about 10 hours ago
  • "I feel like an awesome guitar hero": DiS Meets Hinds about 13 hours ago
  • "We never stopped doing things": DiS Meets The Longcut 1 day ago
  • Jenny Wilson - Exorcism 2 days ago
  • Mouse on Mars - Dimensional People 2 days ago
  • DiScover Diron Animal 3 days ago
  • The Damned - Evil Spirits 5 days ago
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

Your are viewing a read-only archive of the old DiS boards. Please hit the Community button above to engage with the DiS !

Boards

Music Social More…

Book reccomendations?

TheShapeOfPunkToCome [Edit] [Delete] 95 replies 15:44, 10 January '08

I need some good books to read, currently reading A Short History of Almost Everything and just bought Catch 22.

Anybody?

Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »

View Nested Linear
  • Melmoth the

    Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin. Best book ever.

    HADDOCK | 10 Jan '08, 15:44 | X
  • AMAZING BOOK!!!!

    hendonturnstile26 @Pad1 | 10 Jan '08, 15:58 | X
    • Every book thread recently

      I've mentioned Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow. It's a verse novel about werewolves in LA. Kind of Palahniuk-esque. It's fucking amazing. Please can someone else read this...

      JGJug | 10 Jan '08, 15:47 | X
      • here you go...

        `This free-verse novel about the lusts and longings and furies of
        a group of lycanthropes in Southern California may just turn out to be one
        of the literary highlights of the decade. It's odd, intriguing, absorbing,
        at times beautiful and always unique. At last a writer has appeared who is
        unafraid to do something new with an old form. I wolfed it down.'

        JGJug @JGJug | 10 Jan '08, 15:48 | X
        • Oh yeah

          I read this on your recommendation and it was great :)

          commandercool @JGJug | 10 Jan '08, 15:59 | X
          • Hurrah!

            I'm glad that somebody took some notice. Thank you.

            JGJug @commandercool | 10 Jan '08, 16:18 | X
        • I like the sound of this

          it's now on the wish list.

          Cheers.

          My recommendation:

          Stoner by John Williams

          As one of the amazon reviewers put it; "quiet, somber, compact and gracefully written".

          Couldn't agree more.

          la_testa_di_scimmia @JGJug | 10 Jan '08, 15:59 | X
    • coupland is good

      but don't read the two most recent works ( jpod and gum thief) try microserfs.

      cmac @LoveRhymesWith | 10 Jan '08, 16:00 | X
    • A Prayer For Owen Meany

      by John Irving.

      awisgard | 10 Jan '08, 15:52 | X
      • How does this compare to

        World According To Garp?

        commandercool @awisgard | 10 Jan '08, 15:57 | X
        • I've not read Garp

          but it's next on the list. Owen Meany is one of the best books I've read in bloody ages, so I'd guess that it compares quite nicely.

          awisgard @commandercool | 10 Jan '08, 16:00 | X
          • Garp is excellent

            Also one of the best books I've read in the past few years.

            Enjoy :)

            commandercool @awisgard | 10 Jan '08, 16:04 | X
            • As always

              The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien, which is a stunning satire on academic debate set against the backdrop of a surreal english village where bicycles are objects of lust and the protaganist has conversations with his soul.

              If you're looking for a book which is complex, effortlessly imaginative, hilarious and uniquely written then this is for you!

              SurfsUp @awisgard | 10 Jan '08, 16:02 | X
            • The Damned United

              Bamos was very, very right about this one.

              thewarn | 10 Jan '08, 15:55 | X
            • i am reading

              the last party by John Harris.

              i expect you have read it already. Failing that, the new naomi klein book.

              gamecat | 10 Jan '08, 15:55 | X
            • If you like Catch 22, but Heller's other books too

              IndieAndy_Jones | 10 Jan '08, 15:57 | X
              • *buy

                IndieAndy_Jones @IndieAndy_Jones | 10 Jan '08, 15:57 | X
            • Hard Boiled Wonderland by Haruki Murakami

              House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
              Count of Monte Cristo

              commandercool | 10 Jan '08, 15:57 | X
              • my Murakami book relates more to music

                and mentions Talking Heads alot.

                (more appropriate for a music forum)

                Farewell_My_Lovely @commandercool | 10 Jan '08, 16:06 | X
                • If you're looking for a music-related Murakami novel

                  You'd probably be best with Norwegian Wood.

                  commandercool @Farewell_My_Lovely | 10 Jan '08, 16:09 | X
                  • Yeah, but everyone says go for that one

                    especially Waterstones staff

                    "We recommend"

                    if i wanted your recommendations i'd ask like TheShapeOfPunkToCome has.

                    Dance, Dance, Dance is under-rated. And his relationship with the young girl who listens to talking heads is electric. And i mention it because i'm thinking of reading it again this week. I read Wild Sheep Chase again a month ago and it put me in the mood.

                    Farewell_My_Lovely @commandercool | 10 Jan '08, 16:13 | X
                    • typo

                      i like his schoolfriend. Great character. And the sheepman

                      Farewell_My_Lovely @i_compromise | 10 Jan '08, 16:25 | X
                    • norwegian wood isn't really about music

                      music and music taste is usually just incidental to Murakami novels and their characters. Reiko plays a guitar as therapy, the kid likes the beatles. There's always some classical music in their somewhere. 'I lay on the bed listening to brahms' It's the one thing that seems a bit stilted in his work. It never really has anything to do with the plot.

                      Patricide @commandercool | 10 Jan '08, 16:30 | X
                      • A Forest In Norway

                        The title of the book in Japan is "A Forest In Norway"

                        this was due to a mis-translation of the title of the Beatles song on japanese versions of Rubber Soul in the 60s. But we got the regular title re-translated back..

                        When Noako talks about being alone in a forest, thats why she imagines it. Because of the title.

                        Music plays an extremely important role in Murakamis life and his novels. There is no way you can dismiss the music. Even if you dont see the point of it being mentioned. Even if it is just pop culture.

                        Murakami was looked down on his peers for many years as a POP novelist. Full of triviality. But it is the warm heart of his writing, and the rhythmn is perhaps the most important element of his prose.

                        Farewell_My_Lovely @_vikram | 11 Jan '08, 17:04 | X
                        • you sound like a textbook

                          what's your opinion or did you just think that post through more than i'm used to seeing on here??

                          Music may be important to the author but you'd never say it was central to Norwegian wood. Nostalgia seems to be a bigger feature than music in a few murakami novels.

                          The music is always incidental and i meant literal music not the prose style which isn't very rhythmic anyway. On the road could be classed as rhythmic but not really murakami's work. It's just often poetic prose that flows brilliantly.

                          It's use is as i've said often to give a character more of a personality, a character who is depicted as liking brahms or classical music is often older, set in his ways whereas the youth seem to always like talking heads or the beatles. As the plots of his stories go i just don't think that's what the reader is asked to dwell on. I never see music in his work as more than evoking a mood in a character or a memory but not a big symbol or catalyst to any of the action.

                          Patricide @Farewell_My_Lovely | 11 Jan '08, 17:19 | X
                          • I started a thread the other day

                            http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/2763949

                            roastthemonaspit | 10 Jan '08, 15:57 | X
                            • Anything by.....

                              John Irving (in particular A Prayer for Owen Meany) and Hunter Thompson & John Fante!

                              Lo-Pan @roastthemonaspit | 10 Jan '08, 15:58 | X
                          • I've just read

                            'On Chesil Beach' by Ian McEwan in two days flat. It was excellent, much preferred it to that fart in a bottle 'Atonement'.

                            I can back up the recommendation of 'The Damned United' wholeheartedly and will add 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen as my own ten pence. My fave book ever, tough but worth sticking with!

                            jmags | 10 Jan '08, 15:58 | X
                            • Does he do a cop out ending in that one?

                              Is it all a dream at the end?

                              Or is it all real in the end?

                              Or is it all a story at the end?

                              Farewell_My_Lovely @jmags | 10 Jan '08, 16:14 | X
                          • DUNE

                            or lolita.

                            BEATER | 10 Jan '08, 15:59 | X
                          • yeah I read when I was travelling....

                            its takes a bit of getting use to but it is a really good book once you tune in. A rollicking good yarn some might say!

                            Lo-Pan @DeadWhores | 10 Jan '08, 16:09 | X
                          • Yes

                            powerfullll stuff. Are you reading it for Uni?

                            max21 @DeadWhores | 10 Jan '08, 16:26 | X
                          • Yes.

                            And it was brilliant. Read The Iliad too, that's fantastic.

                            Sibley @DeadWhores | 10 Jan '08, 17:29 | X
                          • oh yes

                            I loved it, but not as much as The Iliad. The images from both will probably stay with me forever

                            twicetwoequalsfour @DeadWhores | 12 Jan '08, 17:40 | X
                          • read

                            Ali Smith - Boy Meets Girl
                            Donna Tartt - The Secret History...

                            I'm currently in a Thomas Hardy phase and wishing I lived in Wessex...

                            heartlessromantic | 10 Jan '08, 16:39 | X
                          • also

                            is it harsh to recommend a dictionary?

                            heartlessromantic | 10 Jan '08, 16:44 | X
                          • Bonjour Tristesse

                            The Great Gatsby
                            Lolita
                            The Rachel Papers

                            TheAbsoluteGirl | 10 Jan '08, 17:09 | X
                            • motley crue

                              the dirt

                              tugger @TheAbsoluteGirl | 12 Jan '08, 16:28 | X
                          • I highly recommend

                            'Naive. Super' by Erland Loe. It is by far one of the best books I have ever read.

                            Zing | 10 Jan '08, 17:19 | X
                          • after the first three

                            dune starts to get a bit silly.
                            that 'proper' trilogy is immense.

                            soapy @laughingboypaul | 10 Jan '08, 19:00 | X
                          • I second the Tom Robbins recommendation

                            JGJug @laughingboypaul | 10 Jan '08, 19:44 | X
                          • .

                            Cheers for all these people, think it will take me about 10 years or so to read all of them though!

                            TheShapeOfPunkToCome | 10 Jan '08, 18:49 | X
                            • Last 3 books I've read have been amazing

                              Of Mice and Men
                              Lolita
                              The Outsider

                              Art_Student @TheShapeOfPunkToCome | 10 Jan '08, 18:51 | X
                              • Of Mice And Men takes like, an hour to finish

                                Farewell_My_Lovely @Art_Student | 11 Jan '08, 16:50 | X
                              • the outsider

                                is my second favourite book ever!

                                walkingwithwolves @Art_Student | 12 Jan '08, 14:30 | X
                            • whoever recommended 'the third policeman'

                              is damned right, one of the greatest books ever written. it's totally bizarre and has a fantastically chilling conclusion.

                              any murakami is awesome too - my favourites of his are probably the dance dance dance/wild sheep chase double bill mentioned above. murakami is one of those special authors who makes every detail, charachter and sensation you feel whilst reading stay with you forever ....

                              shishapangma @TheShapeOfPunkToCome | 10 Jan '08, 18:58 | X
                          • fear & loathing on the campaign trail

                            by hunter s.thompson
                            my favourite hst book, well written plus it's nice and topical this year.

                            bruce campbell if chins could kill. very entertaining if you're interested at all in cult horror or independent cinema.

                            stephen fry the hippopotamus. i keep recommending fry's novels because no one i know believes me that they're well written funny books with good plots and all that. well they are, and this one is probably the best.

                            soapy | 10 Jan '08, 19:06 | X
                          • A Dictionary...

                            Axis | 10 Jan '08, 19:22 | X
                            • .

                              *Ahem* recommendations

                              TheShapeOfPunkToCome @Axis | 10 Jan '08, 19:48 | X
                          • -

                            Minor thread hijack but is Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs worth buying?

                            KayB | 10 Jan '08, 19:24 | X
                            • Loved catch 22

                              soo much

                              good choice

                              enjoy

                              creakyknees | 10 Jan '08, 19:53 | X
                              • Slaughterhouse 5

                                by Kurt Vonnegut. Lovely.

                                CHARLESVERNI | 10 Jan '08, 20:02 | X
                                • The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

                                  The devil visits Moscow with a giant talking cat and begins to systematically execute all the leading lights of the arts, before granting Pontius Pilate redemption from a neverending nightmare and throwing a great ball for all the worst people in history. The best book I've ever read.

                                  Panic @CHARLESVERNI | 10 Jan '08, 20:35 | X
                              • It's just titled Popular Music

                                I read it a couple of years ago and I remember it being good.

                                JGJug @Vanjuska | 10 Jan '08, 21:26 | X
                                • What's the film supposed to be like?

                                  I can't imagine it's anywhere near as good as the book.

                                  JGJug @Vanjuska | 10 Jan '08, 21:35 | X
                                  • wow

                                    Shit, that's scarey how similar our lists would be. And I don't even know you (or anyone whose read The Russian Debutantes handbooks)

                                    Heartily recommend all Roth, Auster and DeLillo

                                    BrightEyes2 @_vikram | 10 Jan '08, 21:06 | X
                                    • Less Than Zero

                                      The book behind 'Song For Clay (Dissapear Here)' by Bloc Party

                                      ganners | 10 Jan '08, 21:39 | X
                                      • Books

                                        Miss Wyoming - Coupland
                                        The Dharma Bums - Kerouac
                                        Are you experience - William Sutcliffe
                                        Oscar Wilde
                                        Nick Horby - a long way down
                                        the moon is down - steinbeck
                                        keep the aspidistra flying - orwell
                                        bob dylan - chronicles

                                        UnluckyBeast | 10 Jan '08, 21:52 | X
                                        • Murakami Again

                                          There's been a few recommendations for him so far (with good reason), but my favourite is 'Kafka on the Shore'. There's a few musical references in there too...

                                          GaryLloyd10 @UnluckyBeast | 11 Jan '08, 16:58 | X
                                          • ^i've just reserved this at the library

                                            .

                                            shes_so_high @GaryLloyd10 | 11 Jan '08, 19:38 | X
                                      • ...

                                        The Sound and The Fury - Faulkner
                                        Sister Carrie - Dreiser
                                        another one for Notes from the UG - Dostoevsky
                                        Nausea - Sartre
                                        The Gay Science - Nietzsche...lots of lovely aphorisms and short lyrics. Its his most readable work I think and its no disservice to read him in a purely literary way, but its even better if you want to take something more from it

                                        twicetwoequalsfour | 12 Jan '08, 17:33 | X
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »
View Nested Linear
« Back to Social

Report this thread
Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2018 DROWNED IN SOUND