[Quiet Man Cometh]

One book at a time please, but post as often as you like, so long as someone else posts first. ;)

The List Thus Far...

Page 1 (at default post count per page)
1. War and Peace - Tolstoy
2. Paradise Lost - Milton
3. All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
4. The Princess Bride - Goldman
5. Watchmen - Moore & Gibbons
6. The Odyssey - Homer
7. The Secret Life of Bees - Kidd
8. The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Erikson
9. The Arrival - Tan
10. House of Leaves - Danielewski
11. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
12. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Konigsburg
14. Anthem - Rand
15. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Verne

Page 2
16. This Book Will Change Your Life - Carey
17. The Chocolate War - Cormier
18. Frederick - Lionni
19. Speak - Anderson
20. Unwind - Shusterman
21. The Brothers Lionheart - Lindgren
22. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha - Cervantes Saavedra
23. The Bible (compilation)
24. The Epic of Gilgamesh
25. The Sanctuary - Khoury
26. The Giver - Lowry
27. The Alchemist - Coelho

Page 3
28. Inferno - Alighieri
29. Flowers for Algernon - Keyes
30. The Quran
31. At The Mountains of Madness - Lovecraft
32. The Inheritor - Bradley

Page 4
33. The Fault in Our Stars - Green
34. The Romance of Arthur - Eds. Lacy and Wilhelm
35. Clockwork Angel - Clare
36. I Am Legend - Matheson
37. Breakfast of Champions - Vonnegut

Page 5
38. Saga - Vaughan and Staples
39. The Victorian City - Flanders
40. Whipping Boy: Search For My 12 Year Old Bully - Kurtzweil
41. Death by Video Game - Parkin
42. reMIND - Brubaker
43. Puddle Pug - Norman & Yamaguchi
44. Good Omens- Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Page 6
45. V for Vendetta - Alan Moore
46. Carry On - Rainbow Rowell




1. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

Starting with a big'un! Yes, you must read this because it's just a good book, and a surprisingly easy read once you have all the characters straight. The story of Prince Andrew really shows how life and circumstance can change someone over the course of a story. He's on the list of my favourite literary characters.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

2. Paradise Lost -- John Milton

It isn't considered the greatest poem written in English for nothing. (Dante fans will quite ferociously dispute its crown as the greatest in *any* language).

Milton wasn't a humble guy, and he didn't aim low. The first stanza of the poem is him calling Homer and Virgil amateurs and claiming to have Almighty God as his personal muse (and the implication that he himself is a prophet...)

Regardless, he wanted to write the greatest epic ever, and, well, between the War in Heaven and the Fall of Man, you can't really get much more epic.

The man's breadth of knowledge is staggering, his abilities as a poet are at times sublime, and the sheer achievement in not only creating such an incredible epic, but at the same time deconstructing the epic form with the satirical portrait of Satan as a hero, provides endless depths of study.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

3. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

This book was banned in Nazi Germany for failing to glorify German warfare, if I recall correctly. The author arguable was exiled over it, though not officially, again, if I remember correctly.

The book offers a veteran's view of warfare in WWI, and is just a fascinating read. It was, for me, the first time I had read anything personal that wasn't from the Allied side of the war (North America, Britain, and France). If shifted my perspective on warfare and the lives of soldiers.

I should read this again. I'd read more of Remarque's books if I were able to find copies in English, or any copies at all. He wrote many. As it is, this and one other have been the only books of his that I've been able to get.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

4. The Princess Bride: S. Morganstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, by William Goldman

If you've only seen the movie, you don't even know half the story. It's hard to really say which version is better -- Goldman wrote both, and he's a screenwriter by trade, the movie is a simple and complete, while the book is dizzying and leaves nothing but questions.

Don't get me wrong, the entire charming plot of the movie is there in the book, just like you remembered it, but there's also a frame of postmodern meta-fictional boon-within-a-book-within-a-book going on... and no, S. Morganstern never existed.

Regardless! One should read it just for experience, there's really nothing else like it, at least that I've come across.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

5. Watchmen - Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

A series of 12 comics usually found together in graphic novel format. It's hard to describe everything there is to be found in the comic, and there's a lot, from the overarching plot line to the small details and stories that happen in between. The movie was an excellent visual representation of the book, and many lines are verbatim from the comics, but it toned things down in terms of ending, some character details, and the alternate universe in general.

One can look at Watchmen as an alternate take on the superhero comics. Really, what compels someone like Superman to fight for the benefit of human kind?

I've read this book three times, spending a fair amount of time just looking at it, as -not being an avid comic reader- I took me a while to realize that the illustrations have as much to contribute to the story as the writing.

[Lawtan]

Are classics allowed?

6. Odysseia (The Odyssey)

Okay, so the Odyssey is one of the foundational pillars for the journey in an adventure. In addition, it is the source to coin the phrase "between a rock and a hard place." The Odyssey is also (besides the Illiad) one of the best sources for how the gods and values were portrayed in ancient Greece...which was a major influence on Rome...which influenced most of the Western World.
Also, with a transforming demi-goddess misandrist, a nymph/sea monstress, sirens, and a host of other mythological beasts, it is a fine read.

[Liethell]

7.The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd.

Set in South Carolina of the United States in 1964, and focused on 14-year old girl coming from a broken family. All I can say is I constantly had to put the book down to cry a little.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

Okay, breaking the trend of literary classics here.

8. The Malazan Book of the Fallen -- Steven Erikson

Quite simply the most ambitious fantasy series ever written. In a narrative that spans upwards of 22 books now (10 for the main cycle), chronicling a history that sprawls across 300,000 years and myriad worlds, it is a novel that in every possible way deserves the title of "Epic". (except for the part about epics being sung in dactylic hexameter...)

The story follows (among many, many other things) the fate of the Malazan Empire, and it is the tale of soldiers, generals, empresses, peasants, mages and gods. Like the Homeric tales Erikson draws from, the gods (and demigoddal "Ascendants") play a large and active role in the narrative.

This is military fantasy at it's best, featuring an eclectic cast of grizzled, crusty veterans of the Malazan military machine, and the horrible trials they go through in the various wars they're forced to fight. Make no mistake: these are brutal and bleak books that fully illustrate the horror of warfare and the difficulties of a soldiering life, but there's also a thread of heroism, self-sacrifice, and compassion that gives meaning to it all.

It's a world a high magic, with continent-wrecking clashes of sorcery and ritual magic that can enact genocide on entire races. And speaking of races, Erikson blows away his competitors with the intricacy and imagination of his invented cultures (he's an archaeologist by trade). Nowhere to be found are one-note orcs and stereotyped elves, but instead fully fleshed-out unhuman societies treated with a surprising humanity in their portrayal. The T'lan Imass, in particular -- Erikson's brand of undead, stand out as a true achievement within the genre for what he manages to do with them.

Now it must be said, these books are massive. We're talking 10,000 pages and 3.5 million words, featuring a cast of literally thousands of characters. It is a tale not to be undertaken without commitment, but the rewards are like nothing else I have ever read. Erikson has made me weep both in joy and sorrow, rage at injustice, induced crippling depression at the unfair deaths of truly noble characters, made me howl with laughter (and how often does epic fantasy manage that?), surge with excitement in breathtaking battle scenes, and somehow somehow after spending SO much time in this world, left me ravenous for more at the end of The Crippled God. I could read nothing but this series for the rest of my life, and be content. (And thankfully Erikson is even now releasing a prequel trilogy with plans for a sequel trilogy after, as well as spin-off novellas and companion books. His world is truly so vast and intricate, that there is no limit to the stories that can be told within it, and he never fails to deliver.

If you're looking for the evolution of fantasy, finally casting off the fetters of Tolkien and growing into something very much approaching true literature (not that Tolkien wasn't literary, rather the genre has declined from that for some time and is only now beginning to reach those heights once more) -- this is it. Right here. This is not escapist adolescent power fantasy by any mark. This is the human condition writ large across a larger-than-life canvas soaring to the most majestic of heights and plummeting to the uttermost depths.

For anyone who is a fan of the genre (and especially of "door-stopper fantasy"), and even for those who think fantasy is childish and irrelevant to the literary canon, I can give it only my most sincere recommendation. These books changed my life.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

9. The Arrival - Shaun Tan

A story told in pictures, the only "words" are written in a gibberish language that, in places, resembles bits and pieces of languages that do exist. It's set in an imaginary world and tells the story of an immigrant trying to adapt to life in a world he knows nothing about.

The story is told in the artwork, which is fascinating in and of itself. It varies from eerie to whimsical, quirky, or just strange. Colour ranges from sepia to greyscale and resembles old photographs or journal pages. It's a book that can effectively be read by anyone, from anywhere.

[Fauxreal]

10. House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski

I wouldn't say this is a book, so much as an experience.

Much of this text is not in the traditional format. Which at first I thought would be annoying. Turning the book around in a circle to read a for a moment.

Side note, there is a 'soundtrack' to the book created by POE, who is actually Mark's sister. It is actually how I found the book.

As Navidson investigates this phenomenon, he finds that the internal measurements of the house are somehow larger than external measurements.

Thanks Wikipedia!
So anyway. Yes there is a house, that is bigger on the inside. I would say this is a story about the house. But that would be leading you down a 'five and half minute hallway, that keeps going...'

Honestly there is nothing I can say that will prepare you for this book.
I tried to read this book almost 10 times before I actually got into it and finished it and I wondered what took me so long. I guess it's a slow start. But a grand book nonetheless.

If I could choose any book to get a first edition of... this would be on the top of that list.

[Salone]

11. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Brave New World could be said to be the older but usually ignored cousin to Orwell's 1984. It takes a more realistic approach to a dystopian society, where constant distraction and instant gratification keep the masses pacified. A 'savage' from the outside world is brought in to this society, and is horrified to see what man has become while he is paraded around as some sort of curiosity. The book itself deals with serious subject matter and what 'values' really mean to different peoples as well as how they deal with conflicting cultures.

Also there are happy pills called "Soma" and in the 1960's a muscle relaxant named "Soma" was introduced, so Aldous either gets points for accuracy or someone in a pharmaceutical company is a real bookworm.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

I see your Brave New World and raise you

12. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin

Brave New World's piecemeal predecessor, We was written by Zamyatin around the 1920's but it was published in pieces by a press in Chechnya as Bolshevik Russia wasn't all that fond of it. Zamyatin himself was exiled multiple times from Russia, if memory serves. I think it was around 1960 before the book saw print in its full form.

Society is now modeled after machines, with people physically separated from nature following mass genocide that killed 97.8% of the population, I think. We is a document written by "D503," a character in charge of building a space faring vessel that will bring their civilization to other planets. The intention behind the document it to praise the system and show others why their world order is ideal. The writing style is a little odd, with half finished sentences here and there. I can't help but find the "reasoning" behind how this society works to be understandable, creepy, weird, and sinister. It's definitely an unusual book.

[Fauxreal]

13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg

So this book is a *young adult* novel. But it is a classic. This is the book that helped me want to become a museum curator. It's about kids that run away from home - and stay in the Met, in New York.

This is an easy read for most adults, but fun. A little mystery, a little humor, a lot of classic story.

[Lawtan]

*Seeing as how Brave New World and We are present*

14. Anthem - Ayn Rand

Anthem is likely the only book by Rand that I'll like. It is a shorter novel, placed in a "utopian" caste society. Technological progress is strictly monitored, if not in decay, and all concept of the individual has been stripped. However, one optimistic tunnel-worker (Equality 7-2521) has a curse: he thirsts for knowledge beyond his caste.

Overall, the way the setting of the story goes, it echoes both We and Brave New World, but with a slightly more optimistic/realistic turn, in my opinion. The rebels neither win (We) nor lose (B.N.W.), but find a place for themselves. The ending is beautiful to me (I won't spoil it), and I am more sympathetic towards Rand's other works after reading this one.

Were there to be a corner for Dystopian Works: 1984, Brave New World, We, Anthem, and 'Timaeus' and 'Critias'(Atlantis)

[Quiet Man Cometh]

You can hardly say that in We the rebels win.

Haven't read most of those books but what I liked about We, and in part what was creepy about it, was that it still felt relevant to my time, while I couldn't help but get a dated feel from Brave New World.

[Lawtan]

*Shrugs* - In relativity. We: Minor uprising started| Anthem: upstarts survived| 1984: Crushed the upstart| Brave New World: Slaughter the upstarts|
...anywho...

15. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
Just...yes! Okay, to explain why I love this (and other Verne works), I'll have to explain about Verne's influences. You see, Jules Verne wrote science fiction based on scientific journals and articles he would read. He combined that with the realms of possibility in his works.

In Journey to the Center of the Earth, Verne took data on the geological findings of his time, along with the various new creatures we were discovering, a Snorri Sturluson, and his own inventive mind to create a chaotic, beautiful, and wonderful realm under the Earth. He altered the formula for the heat as one approached the core to instead make it a searing tropical/jurrasic interior underneath a "root system" of lava.

Now, this is an odd thing for me to like, because as some of you may know I can be rather rigid about facts and the like, but wondrous places and the exploratory feel would be what I love, and Verne's professor is funny as I'll get out. Journey through the Center of the Earth was a book I wanted and worked to understand, enjoyed an adventure in, and came away learning about as much as I would from an introductory textbook. Honestly, I wish that modern sciences could feel that way.