THE GREAT "I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK" THREAD.

Mott the Hoople said:
Interesting side note. A colleague I work with was born in and raised in Singapore and has actually visited Changi Prison the location for King Rat.
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I have such a limited life, by choice, I don’t care to flying or long ship rides. I like terra firma. I live through books, fantasy, horror, romance, history, science, the arts, philosophy, music...
I am never limited, there is always something to read.
 
Frank Apisa said:
Credit to Ugly Truth's "Best way to kill time" thread: https://www.justplainpolitics.com/showthread.php?92340-Best-way-to-kill-time

While posting there, it became apparent that "reading" was a favorite of many people. So...here is a thread devoted to recommending books you've read...and commenting on 'em.

I'm going to start with one of my all time favorites...James Clavell's Shogun.

Damocles mentioned that he has read it several times...and I have read it twice. (It is that kind of book.)

So...what else have we got?
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To me, books are a very personal choice, and I don't really like to make recommendations to people who might not share the same interests as me.
But I will give a few "life time achievement awards" to books that were absolutely gripping and riveting to me.
Even many years after having read them, they still have left a mark on me.

Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
The Guns of August - Barbara Tuchman... In this landmark, Pulitzer Prize–winning account, renowned historian Barbara W. Tuchman re-creates the first month of World War I: thirty days in the summer of 1914 that determined the course of the conflict, the century, and ultimately our present world. Beginning with the funeral of Edward VII, Tuchman traces each step that led to the inevitable clash. And inevitable it was, with all sides plotting their war for a generation. Dizzyingly comprehensive and spectacularly portrayed with her famous talent for evoking the characters of the war’s key players, Tuchman’s magnum opus is a classic for the ages. (Amazon summary)
The Discoverers - Daniel J. Boorstin ...An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him. In the compendious history, Boorstin not only traces man's insatiable need to know, but also the obstacles to discovery and the illusion that knowledge can also put in our way. Covering time, the earth and the seas, nature and society, he gathers and analyzes stories of the man's profound quest to understand his world and the cosmos.
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky....The Brothers Karamasov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons―the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, is social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture. (Amazon summary)
The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago is Solzhenitsyn's masterwork, a vast canvas of camps, prisons, transit centres and secret police, of informers and spies and interrogators and also of heroism, a Stalinist anti-world at the heart of the Soviet Union where the key to survival lay not in hope but in despair. The work is based on the testimony of some two hundred survivors, and on the recollection of Solzhenitsyn's own eleven years in labour camps and exile. It is both a thoroughly researched document and a feat of literary and imaginative power. This edition has been abridged into one volume at the author's wish and with his full co-operation (Amazon summary)
The Harry Potter Series (Yes, I like geek books) - JK Rowling
Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner...The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruption and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecological and economic disaster. In his landmark book, Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West. Based on more than a decade of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden--an Eden that may only be a mirage (Amazon summary)
 
Phantasmal said:
I have such a limited life, by choice, I don’t care to flying or long ship rides. I like terra firma. I live through books, fantasy, horror, romance, history, science, the arts, philosophy, music...
I am never limited, there is always something to read.
Click to expand...

I commend you for your broad and eclectic taste in books.
I like to sample the rich tapestry of life myself. I generally like to bone up on some dense classic literature, but then break it up with lighter reading.

I recently finished the classic "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, and then read the pop science fiction "Ready Player One"...and thoroughly enjoyed both! Conrad is actually incredible because he is perhaps the best writer of English prose I have ever encountered....and yet he is Polish, not even a native English speaker!

I am currently reading a simple, mind popcorn adventure paperback by Clive Cussler ("Odessa Sea") and I think I will follow that up with a classic from Russian literature, "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin - it is a novel about a Dystopian future in a totalitarian state, and Orwell basically took Zamyatin's idea for his "1984" novel. Naturally "We" was banned in the Soviet Union until perestroika for its subversive message.
 
Cypress said:
I commend you for your broad and eclectic taste in books.
I like to sample the rich tapestry of life myself. I generally like to bone up on some dense classic literature, but then break it up with lighter reading.

I recently finished the classic "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, and then read the pop science fiction "Ready Player One"...and thoroughly enjoyed both! Conrad is actually incredible because he is perhaps the best writer of English prose I have ever encountered....and yet he is Polish, not even a native English speaker!

I am currently reading a simple, mind popcorn adventure paperback by Clive Cussler ("Odessa Sea") and I think I will follow that up with a classic from Russian literature, "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin - it is a novel about a Dystopian future in a totalitarian state, and Orwell basically took Zamyatin's idea for his "1984" novel. Naturally "We" was banned in the Soviet Union until perestroika for its subversive message.
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Ready Player One was very interesting. I was astonished anyone was going to try to make a movie out of it. But I saw the movie...and they did an adequate job of a very difficult book to translate.
 
I like books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the Classical World, particularly about the Athens of the Persian and Spartan wars. It is fascinating to see how many different versions can arise out of a fairly limited collection of facts, and it's a fascinating time anyway, though I find it gets tedious when they all begin hero-worshipping mass-murderer Alexander 'the Great'.
 
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Frank Apisa said:
Ready Player One was very interesting. I was astonished anyone was going to try to make a movie out of it. But I saw the movie...and they did an adequate job of a very difficult book to translate.
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I really like that book, and could not figure out for the life of me how they would translate it to film. Thanks for the insight!
 
iolo said:
I like books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the Classical World, particularly about the Athens of the Persian and Spartan wars. It is fascinating to see how many different versions can arise out of a fairly limited collection of facts, and it's a fascinating time anyway, though I find it gets tedious when they all begin hero-worshipping mass-murderer Alexander 'the Great'.
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I also find classical antiquity compelling to read about, and I recently added ancient Chinese history to the mix...which is incredible stuff.

On classical antiquity, I currently have two books in my rotation in that genre: "The Great Transformation" by Karen Armstrong, which sheds a lot of light on the philosophical and spiritual traditions which, weirdly. arose almost simultaneously in Greece, Israel, India, and China in the 9th century BC. Then there is "Travels with Herodotus" by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, which is an unusual, but very cool fusion of his travels around the world as a journalist juxtaposed with the travels and adventures of the ancient Greek historian Herodutus. Pretty good stuff!
 
Cypress said:
I also find classical antiquity compelling to read about, and I recently added ancient Chinese history to the mix...which is incredible stuff.

On classical antiquity, I currently have two books in my rotation in that genre: "The Great Transformation" by Karen Armstrong, which sheds a lot of light on the philosophical and spiritual traditions which, weirdly. arose almost simultaneously in Greece, Israel, India, and China in the 9th century BC. Then there is "Travels with Herodotus" by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, which is an unusual, but very cool fusion of his travels around the world as a journalist juxtaposed with the travels and adventures of the ancient Greek historian Herodutus. Pretty good stuff!
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I must try those, particularly 'The Great Transformation'. I've currently been attending a pretty up-to-date class on Classical Greek History and Drama, and mostly comparing it with fairly well-worn novels from my earlier reading, Mary Renault and such, and our Latin class is fairly strongly into current 'Civilization' broadcasts on BBC. I think that, in a way - and I always find it with our own language translated into English - often knowing a bit of the original gets in the way of histories/novels by people who manifestly don't know a much as they think. It's many years since I did Greek, but for examination purposes I learned bits of Aeschylus by heart, and the 'translations' we are given seem pretty dire! With Roman stuff the problem is suddenly realising that writer are not as knowledgeable about mere facts as you might suppose. Roman characters in novels, for instance, when riding, often rise in the stirrups, which they presumably import from the future, since the Romans didn't have any. This is what frightens me off Chinese - I did a bit in the RAF, and I remember how our lecturers used to fall about laughing at Ezra Pound's much admired translations, and just what heavy weather the characters seemed to be. Here, I am blankly ignorant, but have friends who are not. Such is life. If you could recommend something, I'd love to try it.
 
iolo said:
I must try those, particularly 'The Great Transformation'. I've currently been attending a pretty up-to-date class on Classical Greek History and Drama, and mostly comparing it with fairly well-worn novels from my earlier reading, Mary Renault and such, and our Latin class is fairly strongly into current 'Civilization' broadcasts on BBC. I think that, in a way - and I always find it with our own language translated into English - often knowing a bit of the original gets in the way of histories/novels by people who manifestly don't know a much as they think. It's many years since I did Greek, but for examination purposes I learned bits of Aeschylus by heart, and the 'translations' we are given seem pretty dire! With Roman stuff the problem is suddenly realising that writer are not as knowledgeable about mere facts as you might suppose. Roman characters in novels, for instance, when riding, often rise in the stirrups, which they presumably import from the future, since the Romans didn't have any. This is what frightens me off Chinese - I did a bit in the RAF, and I remember how our lecturers used to fall about laughing at Ezra Pound's much admired translations, and just what heavy weather the characters seemed to be. Here, I am blankly ignorant, but have friends who are not. Such is life. If you could recommend something, I'd love to try it.
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Yo, Iolo...

...I was stationed at RAF Sturgate and RAF East Kirkby in Lincolnshire way, way back.

Just mentioning.
 
Frank Apisa said:
Yo, Iolo...

...I was stationed at RAF Sturgate and RAF East Kirkby in Lincolnshire way, way back.

Just mentioning.
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Per Ardua ad Astra! Oddly enough, I did my squarebashing at West Kirby, followed by, amongst others, Worth Matravers, a camp in Bristol that later became a women's prison, Hereford and at Bomber Command HQ. They offered me aircrew, but I remembered I used to get sick on children's swings. Happy Days!


ays!
 
iolo said:
I must try those, particularly 'The Great Transformation'. I've currently been attending a pretty up-to-date class on Classical Greek History and Drama, and mostly comparing it with fairly well-worn novels from my earlier reading, Mary Renault and such, and our Latin class is fairly strongly into current 'Civilization' broadcasts on BBC. I think that, in a way - and I always find it with our own language translated into English - often knowing a bit of the original gets in the way of histories/novels by people who manifestly don't know a much as they think. It's many years since I did Greek, but for examination purposes I learned bits of Aeschylus by heart, and the 'translations' we are given seem pretty dire! With Roman stuff the problem is suddenly realising that writer are not as knowledgeable about mere facts as you might suppose. Roman characters in novels, for instance, when riding, often rise in the stirrups, which they presumably import from the future, since the Romans didn't have any. This is what frightens me off Chinese - I did a bit in the RAF, and I remember how our lecturers used to fall about laughing at Ezra Pound's much admired translations, and just what heavy weather the characters seemed to be. Here, I am blankly ignorant, but have friends who are not. Such is life. If you could recommend something, I'd love to try it.
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Re: Chinese history....I was actually lazy and started out by not reading a book. But by watching a well-regarded video lecture series on 5,000 years of Chinese history. I learned more about China in those 30 lectures, than I knew collectively in my whole life!

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/from-yao-to-mao-5000-years-of-chinese-history.html

These Great Courses look a bit pricey when buying them off the interwebs....but I am pretty cheap and found out that our local libraries carry these Great Courses video lectures.
 
Cypress said:
To me, books are a very personal choice, and I don't really like to make recommendations to people who might not share the same interests as me.
But I will give a few "life time achievement awards" to books that were absolutely gripping and riveting to me.
Even many years after having read them, they still have left a mark on me.

Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
The Guns of August - Barbara Tuchman... In this landmark, Pulitzer Prize–winning account, renowned historian Barbara W. Tuchman re-creates the first month of World War I: thirty days in the summer of 1914 that determined the course of the conflict, the century, and ultimately our present world. Beginning with the funeral of Edward VII, Tuchman traces each step that led to the inevitable clash. And inevitable it was, with all sides plotting their war for a generation. Dizzyingly comprehensive and spectacularly portrayed with her famous talent for evoking the characters of the war’s key players, Tuchman’s magnum opus is a classic for the ages. (Amazon summary)
The Discoverers - Daniel J. Boorstin ...An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him. In the compendious history, Boorstin not only traces man's insatiable need to know, but also the obstacles to discovery and the illusion that knowledge can also put in our way. Covering time, the earth and the seas, nature and society, he gathers and analyzes stories of the man's profound quest to understand his world and the cosmos.
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky....The Brothers Karamasov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons―the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, is social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture. (Amazon summary)
The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago is Solzhenitsyn's masterwork, a vast canvas of camps, prisons, transit centres and secret police, of informers and spies and interrogators and also of heroism, a Stalinist anti-world at the heart of the Soviet Union where the key to survival lay not in hope but in despair. The work is based on the testimony of some two hundred survivors, and on the recollection of Solzhenitsyn's own eleven years in labour camps and exile. It is both a thoroughly researched document and a feat of literary and imaginative power. This edition has been abridged into one volume at the author's wish and with his full co-operation (Amazon summary)
The Harry Potter Series (Yes, I like geek books) - JK Rowling
Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner...The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruption and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecological and economic disaster. In his landmark book, Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West. Based on more than a decade of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden--an Eden that may only be a mirage (Amazon summary)
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To give you an idea what precocious kid I was I read Gulag before I read LOTR when I was 12.
 
Cypress said:
I commend you for your broad and eclectic taste in books.
I like to sample the rich tapestry of life myself. I generally like to bone up on some dense classic literature, but then break it up with lighter reading.

I recently finished the classic "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, and then read the pop science fiction "Ready Player One"...and thoroughly enjoyed both! Conrad is actually incredible because he is perhaps the best writer of English prose I have ever encountered....and yet he is Polish, not even a native English speaker!

I am currently reading a simple, mind popcorn adventure paperback by Clive Cussler ("Odessa Sea") and I think I will follow that up with a classic from Russian literature, "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin - it is a novel about a Dystopian future in a totalitarian state, and Orwell basically took Zamyatin's idea for his "1984" novel. Naturally "We" was banned in the Soviet Union until perestroika for its subversive message.
Click to expand...

I’ve been meaning to read Heart of Darkness for quite a while. I know it was the inspiration for the movie Apocalypse anow.
 
Cypress said:
I also find classical antiquity compelling to read about, and I recently added ancient Chinese history to the mix...which is incredible stuff.

On classical antiquity, I currently have two books in my rotation in that genre: "The Great Transformation" by Karen Armstrong, which sheds a lot of light on the philosophical and spiritual traditions which, weirdly. arose almost simultaneously in Greece, Israel, India, and China in the 9th century BC. Then there is "Travels with Herodotus" by Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, which is an unusual, but very cool fusion of his travels around the world as a journalist juxtaposed with the travels and adventures of the ancient Greek historian Herodutus. Pretty good stuff!
Click to expand...
I would strongly urge you to read Colleen McCollough’s Masters of Rome series.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
I’ve been meaning to read Heart of Darkness for quite a while. I know it was the inspiration for the movie Apocalypse anow.
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You could literally read it in a weekend. It is only around a hundred plus pages. More of a novella than a novel.

The context of the story was also something I did not know much about - the Belgian occupation of the Congo and the vast atrocities committed against the native people. That book actually inspired me to learn more about the holocaust in the Congo. The culprit? As you would expect, corporate greed, profiteering, and colonialism run amuck.
 
Cypress said:
You could literally read it in a weekend. It is only around a hundred plus pages. More of a novella than a novel.

The context of the story was also something I did not know much about - the Belgian occupation of the Congo and the vast atrocities committed against the native people. That book actually inspired me to learn more about the holocaust in the Congo. The culprit? As you would expect, corporate greed, profiteering, and colonialism run amuck.
Click to expand...
I’ve watched some excellent film analysis on how the Heat of Darkness is interpreted through the characters of Apocalypse Now that are fascinating. Particularly the changes in Captain Willard’s character as he gets closer to his mission of killing Colonial Kurtz.

 
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