[quote]malonetd wrote:
Catch-22
1984
Watchmen
– Off the top of my head[/quote]
Word. Haven’t read Watchmen, but Catch-22 is amazing. I read it at a very memorable and defining point in my life and that book has stuck with me everyday since the moment I put it down. Yossarian lives.
[quote]GDollars37 wrote:
IvanDmitritch wrote:
Blood Meridian (absolutely amazing book)
The Master and Margarita
The Brother’s Karamazov
That’s uncanny, those are the next three fiction books on my bookshelf, hoping to get through them all within six months.
Top five for me:
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Brave New World
The Road
In Pharaoh’s Army
The Transformation of War[/quote]
You are going to love Blood Meridian. It’s one of those novels you can read over and over again without getting bored. I’d be interested to know how you think it compares to The Road…I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve heard it’s not McCarthy’s best.
I’m really not a big fan of fiction anymore. I used to read a ton of poorly written(in retrospect)sci-fi novels that turned me off I think. I enjoyed The Fountainhead. It’s a bit tedious at times and seemed to drag on forever, but I’m glad I read it.
The one book I recommended to anyone that reads, regardless of their taste in styles, is Ghost Rider by Neil Peart. It’s pretty damn powerful to see how a man rebuilds his life after eventually losing everything that really matters(his wife and daughter). No matter how life kicks me in the balls after that, I always know that it could be worse, and that life goes on no matter what.
Currently, I am enjoying the hell out of The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. If you are into meditation, interested in finding your way in life, or look below the surface for the true lessons in life, pick up a copy of this. You won’t be disappointed.
I will just name a few great ones off the top of my head
Brothers Karamazov -Dostoevksy
Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy O’Toole (probably the funniest book ever written)
Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
Blindness - Jose Saramago
Last Temptation of Christ - Kazantzakis
(I know, that’s five, not three)
The best three I read this year were:
1 The Count of Monte Cristo
2 Guns Germs and Steel
3 Neil Gabbler’s biography of Walt Disney
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
The best three I read this year were:
1 The Count of Monte Cristo
2 Guns Germs and Steel
3 Neil Gabbler’s biography of Walt Disney
[/quote]
2 Guns Germs and Steel
I’ve been eyeing this one. Is it really pretty good?
[quote]Razorslim wrote:
Uncle Gabby wrote:
The best three I read this year were:
1 The Count of Monte Cristo
2 Guns Germs and Steel
3 Neil Gabbler’s biography of Walt Disney
2 Guns Germs and Steel
I’ve been eyeing this one. Is it really pretty good?[/quote]
It pretty much explains everything in simple, easy to understand writing. I mean everything.
[quote]entheogens wrote:
I will just name a few great ones off the top of my head
Brothers Karamazov -Dostoevksy
Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy O’Toole (probably the funniest book ever written)
Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
Blindness - Jose Saramago
Last Temptation of Christ - Kazantzakis
(I know, that’s five, not three)[/quote]
Confederacy of Dunces is a hysterical read. It’s definitely one of my all time favorites. Mongoloid!
I Claudius and Claudius the god- Robert Gtaves
On War- Carl vonClausewitz
The Prince - Nicolo Machiavelli
Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
Robots of Dawn, The Naked Sun, Caves of Steel - Isaac Asimov
any of the Gor series- John Norman Good, mindless, mysogynistic fun…
Remember, Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend… inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Sirens of Titen by the late Kurt Vonnegut
I thought both were absolutely amazing, and I consider myself a person who reads a lot. However, I may be biased toward Gatsby because I live literally five minutes from the place the people Fitzgerald based the book off of lived.
Brothers Karamazov -Dostoevksy
Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol
Fathers and sons - Ivan Turgenev
Elected Effinities - Goethe
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
The House of the Dead - Dostoevsky
Demian - Hermann Hesse
To anyone who said the bible, you get no credit towards getting to heaven. Probably the most over read and under observed piece of literature of all times. Yeah read it once, but read something else you will get more insight in to the human soul from any of the authors that I posted above then you will from the majority of the authors in the bible. No need to argue this point because it is a FACT.
Atlas Shrugged, for sure. I started it over the summer and got halfway through, and I’ve decided that, if I accomplish anything over break, it will be this book.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Good from start to finish.
The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies. The Dark Elf trilogy is an excellent work of fiction that is very easy to get into. They definitely aren’t very deep, though, so if you’re looking for something easy to pick up and read casually, these would be a good investment.
[quote]BlakeAJackson wrote:
To anyone who said the bible, you get no credit towards getting to heaven. Probably the most over read and under observed piece of literature of all times. Yeah read it once, but read something else you will get more insight in to the human soul from any of the authors that I posted above then you will from the majority of the authors in the bible. No need to argue this point because it is a FACT.[/quote]
Dude,
It’s not a FACT. It’s all subjective. Someone might get more out of the Bible than anything on your list.
I’m not arguing ‘this point’, I’m calling you out for making a ridiculous statement.
How much credit do you think you’re going to get towards ‘getting to heaven’ with your bad-ass, faux-intellectual, mini-rant about a book billions of people have looked to for insight and comfort for thousands of years?
[quote]sen say wrote:
Dude,
It’s not a FACT. It’s all subjective. Someone might get more out of the Bible than anything on your list.
I’m not arguing ‘this point’, I’m calling you out for making a ridiculous statement.
How much credit do you think you’re going to get towards ‘getting to heaven’ with your bad-ass, faux-intellectual, mini-rant about a book billions of people have looked to for insight and comfort for thousands of years?
[/quote]
I hope you are not another crusading Christian or I will defiantly burn. It is funny how so many of you are willing to drop your beliefs and take up the side of the sword when someone disagrees or challenges your bible. It is not subjective it is reality. If you are attacking me then you obviously took nothing from the Bible, or at least the New Testament. Your faith is subjective, that is why I stopped going to church and calling myself a Christian. I could not stand the hypocrisy from everyone else, or on my own part. I believe in reason, science, and killing when needed. Find were the bible supports any of those and then tell me how you justify your attack and insult against my opinion based on the teachings in the bible.
It�??s a Fact was a joke. I knew that it would draw out someone with no sense of humor and Strong Religious Beliefs to attack me. I just can�??t pass up the opportunity to create irony. Sorry. Try not to let someone over the Internet shake your faith so much next time. This applies even if you are not a Christian and just someone who think I was out of line.
Sensay, How are you gonna argue w/ him?
He said its a FACT.
Now he’s drawn you out as a Religious Zealot.
Dude, quit while your behind, hes waaaay above us. He’s discovered the flaw in religious thought. Run Away!!!
[quote]sen say wrote:
Dude,
I think that I addressed this in my above post.
[quote]sen say wrote:
2) I’m not arguing ‘this point’, I’m calling you out for making a ridiculous statement.[/quote]
Is it your duty to call out people for ridiculous statements? I think that this may be your own huge ego. Especially since you resort to direct insult in the end.
[quote]sen say wrote:
3) How much credit do you think you’re going to get towards ‘getting to heaven’ with your bad-ass, faux-intellectual, mini-rant about a book billions of people have looked to for insight and comfort for thousands of years? [/quote]
First I am not looking for credit to get to heaven. As for people looking to this book for insight and comfort for thousands of years, their is no arguing with that, except that the majority of people have not been educated or given the book for thousands of years. Mass distribution of the bible didn’t really happen till movable type. You might remember that. And world education is still not in the foreseeable future. That being said, most Christians that I met when I went to church had never read the bible in its entirety. Also, it is interesting to note that there are other religious texts that you could read that would not only broaden your horizons but my re affirm your faith. I think that many people turn to the bible for comfort as you stated and other religious texts as well. Now I ask you to look around you in the world and decide how much of the killing that occurs happens in the name of God? Maybe it is just me, but I think it might be time to find answers in other places.
I wanted to address each of your points as I hate when people skip replying to my entire posts.
[quote]emdawgz1 wrote:
Sensay, How are you gonna argue w/ him?
He said its a FACT.
Now he’s drawn you out as a Religious Zealot.
Dude, quit while your behind, hes waaaay above us. He’s discovered the flaw in religious thought. Run Away!!![/quote]
What does one gain from holding such a belief is what should be asked when approaching new ideas or information, or taught and generally accepted beliefs systems? At least that is how things would be in my ideal world.
[quote]emdawgz1 wrote:
Sensay, How are you gonna argue w/ him?
He said its a FACT.
Now he’s drawn you out as a Religious Zealot.
Dude, quit while your behind, hes waaaay above us. He’s discovered the flaw in religious thought. Run Away!!![/quote]
nice quote in your profile by the way.
[quote]BlakeAJackson wrote:
emdawgz1 wrote:
Sensay, How are you gonna argue w/ him?
He said its a FACT.
Now he’s drawn you out as a Religious Zealot.
Dude, quit while your behind, hes waaaay above us. He’s discovered the flaw in religious thought. Run Away!!!
nice quote in your profile by the way.[/quote]
You should read the whole speech. It’s something all Americans would do well to read.
Its called “Citizenship in a Republic” By Theodore Roosevelt.
The second greatest President in U.S. history.(imho)
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_a_Republic
I enjoyed the read. Thank you for the recommendation. If anyone else has a half hour to 45 min they should take the time to read it as well. I will read it again in a day or so. He is of sound reasoning, and I will reflect deeper upon the next reading.