Literature

[CodeZTM]

After reading the discussion about the "books that make you dumb", I've realized that many people here have quite an interesting taste in literature.

ANYWAY!

The purpose of the thread is to describe your favorite genre of literature, what kind of books you enjoy to read, what cliche novels that disgust you, and your favorite work of literature. Also, a list of suggested readings would be wonderful. I'm looking for new literature to explore.


Just basically a general discussion of literature.

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My favorite genre of literature is a strange mixture of Romanticism and Magical Realism. I also love literature steeped in famous folklores. Wuthering Heights and The Wood Wife.

The Wood Wife, in my opinion, was one of the single best novels ever written. I love the mystic realism portrayed, as well as the gorgeous scenery portrayed in the author's words. Plus, Tuscon is just an awesome setting. ^_^

My least favorite genre of work is science fiction. X_X I've never been into the whole "space world" thing. Even the SF works that are set on earth just disgust me. Most are tackily written with plots that rely soley on technological devlopments and how they go wrong.

Also, I've found that Stephanie Meyers has turned romantic angst into an art form, taking away its tacky exterior. Plus, I appriciate any author that takes a cliche and makes it into something new and vibrant (AKA: VAMPIRE KNOCK OFFS)



Oh, and my suggested reading list:

1. The Wood Wife - Terri Windling

-As described above, a work of literature that makes gorgeous use of setting and mysticism. Creates a visually stunning atmosphere that both writers and artists can appriciate. Works to show the way of the world, as well as pain that those with the "sight" have.
-10/10

2. Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer

-Turning an agnsty romantic love into a beautiful and stunning work of literary art. Also takes the cliche of vampires and creates them into a new type of being.
-9/10

3. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

-Shows that love is a confusing and complicated matter. This isn't the typical "love triangle" or "love story". This takes the matter of love, social status and economic wealth and combines them together to create a dark vortex of death and depression.
-9.5/10

4. Sam's Letters To Jennifer/Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas - James Patterson

-Both show the true extent of human emotion and love. While both novels made me cry my eyes out of both frustrations and sadness, it was a good cry. It shows how the human factor is nothing to be trifled with. Also incorporates the themes of death and loss, and how the human spirit can move past any tragedy.
-10/10 (Sam's Letter's To Jennifer)/10/10 (Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas)

5. Battle Royale - Koushun Takami

-A work of grusome and gorey literature. Takes the survivalist nature of humans, and shows how man's inate need to survive overpowers most everything. Yet also incorporates the various themes of paranoia and sadism.
-10/10

[inthesto]

Sadly, I don't read nearly as much as I should. I estimate that 90% of the reading I do is on internet forums and IRC (yet I still somehow manage to be more well-read than most people).

Recently, I've only been reading non-fiction. My bookshelf gets more and more cluttered with philosophy and psychology books that I hardly ever read. The exception is Three Kingdoms, which is an awesome work on levels I can't begin to comprehend. It's wonderful insight to Chinese culture and great commentary on the bitterness of history (note that anyone who's remotely heroic tends not to survive for more than half a page). Otherwise, I'm trying to find a book that sheds a new light on the modern version of the mind-body problem, but I've yet to find anything particularly enlightening.

As for recommended books, I always have to pitch a sale for The Princess Bride. I've had the book since I was twelve, and every time I read it, I feel like I understand just a little bit more about it. The movie is entertaining in its own right, but the book has levels of depth that no movie can begin to touch. It's about having every childhood notion you ever held in your head being shattered to pieces, and then putting it all back together in light of living in a plain and unforgiving world.

Other than that, I think everyone should read Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. It's easy and intuitive as far as philosophy goes, and it's the root of (what I think to be) an incoming crisis as neuroscience becomes more and more developed.

Dostoyevsky's Notes From The Underground is always a good laugh for those of us introspectors out there.

[Otohiko]

I wish I could be as elaborate as I usually am, but truth is I'm not as compulsive a novel reader as people might think. I have trouble "dedicating" myself to longer novels unless I really feel compelled by something or someone to read them, so a lot of what I do read tends to fall under non-fiction (history and politics especially, which I can read in any amounts) and poetry.
Same reason I don't watch a lot of movies or anime (understatement - I hardly watch any most of the time!) - unless I feel like I'm directly learning something (i.e. getting factual information) from it or am getting resonating imagery (i.e. poetics) from it, I feel like it's passive way to spend time to just sit there and follow stories. I can focus well when I have to, though.

Fiction?

Far and above, Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" is my favorite novel, ever.
Dostoyevsky follows not far behind, with "Brothers Karamazov" being my favorite.
Actually most of my fiction tastes are of Russian origin.

I like reading Nietzsche, go figure where you'd put that.

Otherwise, lately I've set myself a goal of learning to recite a large amount of Russian and English poetry, which I so far have not really achieved

[OhmGautama]

My favorite genre of literature is science fiction. I primarily enjoy fiction even fantasy based such as The Hobbit. I am not sure if there is a genre which disgusts me , however I am probably not someone who would read quite a bit of romance novels. My favorite author is Philip K Dick. I enjoy his science fiction because of the philosophical questions he brings up in his works which frighten and amaze me. The piece of literature which I would recommend one read if one is interested in Philip Dick is a short story he wrote called "I hope I shall arrive soon". My favorite work of literature is actually a poem by Dylan Thomas called "Fern Hill". Very beautiful.

[krzT]

Yay Wuthering Heights! Soooooo much better than Jane Eyre, imho. >_>

Anywho, I don't think I ever had a particular style of literature I like. A couple novels from my lit class in hs have made my favorite books list. These would include: Crime and Punishment, The Age of Innocence, and The Poisonwood Bible. I guess I tend to enjoy stream of consciousness styled writing (which is DEFINITELY not for everyone...I don't even think I started liking them until fairly recently ><), but Jonathan Safran Foer books (my fave being Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) really hit home for me for some reason.

In general, I tend to experiment with what I read...I guess trying to pick up anything that sounds remotely interesting to me. I recently went through a classic European fiction stage with Dumas (the Count), Austen (Pride & Prejudice...of course =P), and Hugo (Les Mis). Unfortunately, I tend to buy books faster than I can read them and now I have such a long queue of stuff to go through.

But yeah, as far as suggestions go, I'd definitely pitch for Dostoevsky, Dumas, and Foer.

[godix]

I tend to have eclectic reading taste, although if I want something simple that doesn't require much effort from me I tend towards sci-fi. A year or two ago I started occasionally going to the library then wandering around up and down different sections until I saw something that grabbed my interest.

As far as books I'd recommend:

Neal Gaiman - Almost anything he's written. Neverwhere is probably his best for enjoyment while American Gods would be the one most classed as 'literature' instead of just a book.

Terry Pratchett - Again almost anything. Small gods is probably his most accessible, it's after he developed his own style but requires zero knowledge of the other books.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb and Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb by Richard Rhodes - Rather dry but still interesting. A very detailed account of the science, scientist, politics, and spying over nukes.

Parliament of Whores by P. J. O'Rourke - It's rather outdated by now but still an entertaining book about politics. As the author himself says "I have tried to present a factual - data-filled, at any rate - account of how this government works. Which is complicated by the fact that it doesn't."

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - If you need me to tell you what this is then you're not intelligent enough to understand the book anyway so forget about it.

[krzT]

As far as books I'd recommend:

Neal Gaiman - Almost anything he's written. Neverwhere is probably his best for enjoyment while American Gods would be the one most classed as 'literature' instead of just a book.

Terry Pratchett - Again almost anything. Small gods is probably his most accessible, it's after he developed his own style but requires zero knowledge of the other books.

Good Omens??

[JaddziaDax]

harry potter yaoi fanfiction...


O:

[requiett]

My least favorite genre of work is science fiction. X_X I've never been into the whole "space world" thing. Even the SF works that are set on earth just disgust me. Most are tackily written with plots that rely soley on technological devlopments and how they go wrong.

You mean bullshit like Animatrix, The Second Renaissance, which is on your favorites list in your profile?

I'll give it up for House of Leaves, Ender's Game, and Watchmen.

[mexicanjunior]

Ummm...Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, the sports section of my newspaper...