'Must-read' books

[Dayvo]

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Broke Through Britain by Pete Mortimer

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Ah, Lanark - what a great piece of work!

Some things I might pick on dellzeqq's list - Ivan Illich in particular... Jane Jacobs, perhaps. Although I would probably go for Lewis Mumford if I had to chose my favourite urbanist.

Oh, I forgot Abe Kobo's The Woman in the Dunes. And Rudy Rucker's White Light. And George Perec's La vie, mode d'emploi. And lots of others.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

"Bad Science" by Ben Goldacre. Recently published guide to how to spot the bull**** in the media's reporting of science, and much else. Reads as easily as Bill Bryson (also highly recommended) and doesn't assume any understanding of science.

Seconded (I assume you're talking about "A Short History of Nearly Everything", which is a great companion to the excellent "Bad Science"). I'd also add:

all of George MacDonald Fraser's books
Dangerous Parking by Stuart Browne
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
On The Beach by Nevil Shute (and lots of his other books)
Frost on My Moustache by Tim Moore
The Rotter's Club by Jonathan Coe
Twelve Bar Blues by Patrick Neate
Earth Abides by George R. Stuart

They should keep you going for a bit.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

And (how could I forget?) Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and George and Arthur by Julian Barnes. And most of Margaret Forster's books. And Pat Barker's "Regeneration" trilogy. And all her other books.

 

[Chuffy]

I'll have to give Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance another go. I tried, I really did, but I could never make it beyond about half way through. I just found it grindingly boring. Maybe I was just too young.

Smug, pompous and thoroughly annoying. It made a lasting impression on me, but not in a good way.

Siddhartha - I had to ration myself to 10 pages a day to give myself time to digest it properly.

Blazing Saddles - Matt Rendell. No, seriously. It sparked my interest in cycle racing and the dodgy side of so many Tour winners and riders.

Aside of that, the Moomintroll books by Tove Jansen. Beautifully written and very wise.

 

[stephec]

I'm not in to fiction, so Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson. It's worth it just for the one line, "I arrived in Liverpool just in time for the National Littering Championships," quality.

 

[derall]

Too many to mention. Far too many to mention. It's a fluid thing this authorship lark. But I'll mention one anyway!

Let's go for Alasdair Gray. Not "Lanark". But "Poor Things".

Superb. Wish I'd written it!

Great books both, but from Gray I'd have to pick 'A History Maker'

 

[Ghost Donkey]

Apart from some of the excellent suggestions mentioned already I can suggest American Psycho - Brett Easton-Ellis. Not pleasant in places but very good.

I'll be looking at some of the other ones listed I haven't read yet

 

[Noodley]

Peter Pan.

 

[surfgurl]

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Marie Remarque.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Oh, yes. Best story books ever for the kids. We've just finished Comet in Moominland and we're starting on Moominland Midwinter tonight. Strange and wonderful.

I would agree. Her adult writing is beautiful too. I could have, should have, put her Summer Book, on my short-stories collection list. Wise is indeed the word. She was a great woman.

 

[Lardyboy]

Right then, here we go.......

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Grapes Of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Trial - Franz Kafka
Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
For Whom The Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thomson
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Underworld - Don DeLillo
Master And Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John Le Carre
War Of The Worlds - HG Wells
Catch22 - Joseph Heller
The Antipope - Robert Rankin
Wilt - Tom Sharpe
A Very British Coup - Chris Mullen
Heart Of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

Plus more I can't think of at the moment.

 

[marinyork]

Quite a few recommendations for Master and Margarita here. Find this interesting, none of the book groups I've ever been in have mentioned it much.

 

[PaulB]

If no-one's mentioned David Peace's books, then I'd like to recommend them. Even if you don't like football, I think everyone who appreciates good writing should read his "The Damned United", a fictionalised account of Brian Clough's 44 days in charge of Leeds United, a team he apparently despised. It's a superbly well executed idea and has led me to read all his other books which are predominantly dark and full of menace. A cracking new young writer and I'd strongly suggest them.

 

[another_dave_b]

The Lion in Winter - James Goldman
An Inspector Calls - J B Priestley
The Flashman Papers - George MacDonald-Fraser
Emperor - Colin Thubron
West with the Night - Beryl Markham
God Emperor of Dune - James Herbert
The Lost World - Arthur Conan-Doyle
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin