The Forum Reading List

Mario4Ever

Mario4Ever

A price for everything.
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Mario4Ever
In this thread, we will be able to discuss books we have read. You have the option to recommend a book to us (not just something that you consider to be good, but something you consider a must-read), advise us against reading a book (in either case, you must provide a reason), or to discuss a book already mentioned. No genres or works are off-limits (including religious texts), but there is only one rule. Should you opt to advise us against reading a book, it cannot be because you personally disagree with the author or the ideas presented within the text, or vice-versa. You can, however, express these sorts of opinions should you decide to discuss a work. I look forward to seeing how this thread unfurls.

Must-read: Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

While it only covers the evolution of the French justice system, the work details the evolution of justice from physical torture to rehabilitation, offering insight as to when, how, and why we developed the need for prisons as well as insight into the basis on which criminal actions are judged.
 
I'm quite enjoying Moby Dick by Herman Melville, even if I'm a slow reader and the extreme American...ness of the book confuses me sometimes.
 
That one's a classic. It stands in my mind as an excellent description of the consequences faced if one devotes oneself to a single cause while disregarding everything else in life.
 
I hate classics. I just could never finish them...
 
If we're talking about real literary quality, then here is some required reading at my school that I really enjoyed:

~Lord of the Flies
~The Great Gatsby
~The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
~Tuesdays With Morrie (<3<3<3<3<3)
~Fahrenheit 451

Also some other series/books I like that have "literary quality:"

~A Wrinkle In Time series
~Fight Club (I definitely don't recommend reading this until you're at least 16, lol)

Feel free to discuss any book I mentioned.
 
Lord of the Flies...it's one people either love or hate. I personally love it. I think that it demonstrates the fragility of our societal structure and reveals true human nature through the shift from keeping the tribe together to a survival of the fittest mentality. It also provides us an idea of the strength of the hive mind mentality (specifically how it can drive people to do things they wouldn't do alone).

Gatsby I also like, though I found it too short (I read it immediately after The Sound and the Fury, and I am used to reading books that are at least 300 pages long). I liked the contrast between "old money" and "new money" and identified with Gatsby's resistance to change, though I disagreed with the idea of being able to relive the past. It's ultimately a counterproductive endeavor. For an interesting take on this idea, I recommend Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, which depicts one man's struggle to cope with the change around him (essentially the decline of his way of life (tribal African customs) in the face of Christian missionary work).

I haven't read any of the others you listed (heard Fight Club was good though), but I've seen the film version of Tuesdays With Morrie. Not a bad movie, and I could understand Morrie's worldview given his situation ("We must love one another or die"), but I don't think it's plausible in real life, at least not yet. Individuals are naturally focused on their own needs, their "altruism" often extending no further than familial ties (there are exceptions, but none of these are motivated simply out of a desire to help others while expecting nothing physically, mentally, and/or emotionally in return).
 
The Tempest.

Oh, and Don Quixote.

Make sure you get a recent translation for both of them, and you'll find that they're great. I also liked A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare too.
 
Dr. Javelin said:
The Tempest.

Oh, and Don Quixote.

Make sure you get a recent translation for both of them, and you'll find that they're great. I also liked A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare too.
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I've always preferred Shakespeare's tragedies (The Tempest being my favorite of his plays -- I like the way Prospero in a sense makes those who've wronged him stand trial for their actions (unwittingly, of course)...reminds me of Hamlet), though Nick Bottom is hilarious in A Midsummer Night's Dream, particularly in his bad acting (Pyramus and Thisbe) and his behavior immediately after his head is transformed to that of a donkey.
 
Remilia Bloody Scarlet said:
I'm quite enjoying Moby *bleep* by Herman Melville, even if I'm a slow reader and the extreme American...ness of the book confuses me sometimes.
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I've never heard of Moby Bleep by Herman Melville. Do you by any chance referring to Moby Díck?
 
Do you have autocensor on? Be a man and deactivate that so you can stop ruining my posts and pretending you're funny when you essentially make fun of your own bloody mistake.
 
Remilia Bloody Scarlet said:
Do you have autocensor on? Be a man and deactivate that so you can stop ruining my posts and pretending you're funny when you essentially make fun of your own bloody mistake.
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No I was just making the point that whether that word is bleeped out should depend upon it's context so the censors are flawed. Wait, you CAN turn it off? Thanks for informing me.

EDIT I took the censors off someone actually called me an f-ing moron on that gadaffi thing for posting that Friday parody of all things. How can anyone be allowed to do this?!! Aren't there anti-flaming rules?!
 
Marwikedor said:
Remilia Bloody Scarlet said:
I'm quite enjoying Moby *bleep* by Herman Melville, even if I'm a slow reader and the extreme American...ness of the book confuses me sometimes.
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I've never heard of Moby Bleep by Herman Melville. Do you by any chance referring to Moby Díck?
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Marwikidor, if you're going to post, do us all a favor and make it meaningful rather than as inane as possible. Anyway, to the person with the relevant post, what is it about the book's American-ness that you find confusing at times?
 
Fine I read Nintendo Power, Electronic Gaming Monthly etc. As for the actual Books I read I've read most books people here have mentioned. No one has mentioned Catcher in the Rye. The Most Dangerous Game is a great book.
 
Mario4Ever said:
Anyway, to the person with the relevant post, what is it about the book's American-ness that you find confusing at times?
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Hmm, I guess it's all the sailor slang and references to 19th century American (or at least Nantucket) culture. I'm Australian, so I'm not exactly very savvy to that sort of thing...
 
I would highly recommend Catch-22. It manages to pull off being one of the funniest and most soul-crushingly depressing books I've ever read.
 
Herr Shyguy said:
I would highly recommend Catch-22. It manages to pull off being one of the funniest and most soul-crushingly depressing books I've ever read.
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You should also recommend Animal Farm and A Brave New World
 
Remilia Bloody Scarlet said:
Mario4Ever said:
Anyway, to the person with the relevant post, what is it about the book's American-ness that you find confusing at times?
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Hmm, I guess it's all the sailor slang and references to 19th century American (or at least Nantucket) culture. I'm Australian, so I'm not exactly very savvy to that sort of thing...
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I see.
 
Marwikedor said:
Herr Shyguy said:
I would highly recommend Catch-22. It manages to pull off being one of the funniest and most soul-crushingly depressing books I've ever read.
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You should also recommend Animal Farm and A Brave New World
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Don't forget about 1984...gotta love Orwell.
 
Let's see...I am Ozzy, Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography. It juggles the serious with the insane, and it reads like you're talking to the guy.

god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens are both excellent, and I recommend them to theists and non-theists alike. He makes interesting arguments concerning religious extremism and other such topics (when he's not using religious texts to rip said texts apart), and the memoir's just hilarious.
 
Mario4Ever said:
god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens are both excellent, and I recommend them to theists and non-theists alike. He makes interesting arguments concerning religious extremism and other such topics (when he's not using religious texts to rip said texts apart), and the memoir's just hilarious.
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You're not subtle, you insensitive douchecanoe. Why do I never see you criticize atheist extremists?
 
Yeah, how about I find a random extremist theological document and put it up here.

Ah here we go, On the Jews and Their Lies by Martin Luther. Because this thread was definitely designed to house a theological debate.

Note: Personally I think that Martin Luther is a moron in this book, there's nothing wrong with Jews or any other religion (except maybe Sadism) in my opinion. I was simply using it to prove my point that religion does not belong in this thread at all.

Also I would post the THIS IS STUPID image from Homestuck but it's been overused as of late.
 
Dr. Javelin said:
there's nothing wrong with Jews or any other religion (except maybe Sadism)
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Sadism is not a religion.
 
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