BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Amos
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 08:37 PM

Garg:

For your spreadsheet, dude:

Rand, Ayn -- Fountainhead
Umberto, Eco-   Name of the Rose (mystery)
Orwell, George- 1984
Hellerman, Joseph- Catch 22
Scott, Sir Walter- Ivanhoe
Philips, Jenifer- Mists of Avalon
Marquez , Gabriel Garcia - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Varous- 1001 Arabian Nights
Nathanson, E.M. - The Dirty Dozen
Lewis, Roy- The Evolution Man
Barrett, Andrea - Voyage of the Narwhal
Burke, James Lee- White Doves at Morning

A

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Helen
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 09:06 PM

Good work, gargoyle. I haven't read all of your list, and I will come back and do it properly after I get some work done today, but

Under Nevil Shute you have: On the Beach our Requiem for a Wren. It is two books called On the Beach, and Requiem for a Wren. And I said "Too Disdained" but it should have been "So Disdained"

And Amos added this one but it should be Bradley, Marion Zimmer - Mists of Avalon (not Philips, Jenifer) and Heller, Joseph- Catch 22 (not Hellerman)

Also, my own private measure as a former public library librarian of how good I was at selecting books was measuring how long it took for each book to be stolen. Damn that was frustrating! So thanks for the other list.

Also, a couple more to add: I second Amy Tan (not "Tang" as someone said above) - I've read all of hers, and also I read all of Mary Stewart's novels years ago, both the Arthur/Merlin stuff and the potboiler mysteries. One of the few authors I can read and re-read.

Herman Hesse, although maybe he is a bit d & m (deep and meaningful) for this list, and Margaret Atwood, and Dean Koontz, and some of Stephen King's like Dolores Claiborne where he gets away from the sensationalist gory bits.

And...and...and...

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Amos
Date: 27 Jul 03 - 11:43 PM

Helen, thanks for catching my errors there!

A

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 12:01 AM

Helen & Amos - Thanks for the updates - it will take moments to add - but let the thread continue for awhile....so the list isn't redundant...ANYONE can move the corrections into their D-Base.

Hess - Beneath the Wheel (a life-changing book for me - and only found out the definition after visiting the Museum of Torture Germanic/Rothenberg)all of his others Novels are grand, also.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 08:29 AM

I think, Garg, that it depends upon your library.

"ALA Surveys Most Stolen Books Staff -- 5/21/2001

An informal American Library Association survey of libraries' most-stolen books has struck a chord with librarians. After receiving a query from the NPR show "On the Media" about most-stolen books, ALA Press Officer Larra Clark sent out a question to an electronic mailing list regarding library public relations. In about 80 responses, the librarians most often cited books regarding witchraft/occult/dreams/astrology, as well as exam preparation books. The latter category, as well as car repair and sex books, share a characteristic, as one librarian observed: "They all require extensive practice at home, and it takes longer than the four-week checkout period to get good at it." Clark said the list also raised some intellectual freedom questions, and she would talk to the Office for Intellectual Freedom about how libraries might respond. In some cases, libraries have taken measures to actually sell exam books or put books on reference-only shelves."   --from the "Library Journal" website.

Other categories mentioned in an earlier report which is available on the "LJ" website are military entrance study guides, police exam study guides, and religious writings such as the Bible and the Quran.

This agrees with what I've noticed in 30+ years librarianing. The titles you mentioned might well be taken from a school library or from a specific public library and I'd be interested in knowing which one.

Thanks for preparing a bibliography. I'll see that the Reference Dept. gets it, as it will save them time. I want to purchase as many as we can.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 11:50 AM

People STEAL the Bible and the Quran? Does anyone else find that funny?

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Deda
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 12:21 PM

By Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park.

Did no one mention Douglas Addams, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and all sequels)?!?

Well, Rick, if you're still checking back on this thread, this should keep you busy! Quite a required reading list. Looks like fun, if you happen to have several years of free time. Hope all is going well.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: MAG
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 02:49 PM

Yeah, people steal Bibles all the time. Either because it's a version they disagree with, or because they need it for their good work more than the public does.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 04:56 PM

I don't find it as ironic that Bibles and Qurans are stolen as much as I find it worrisome that folks steal the study guides for the police exams.

With cops like that....

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Grab
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 07:20 PM

Nice work, Garg.

Since someone else has broached Stephen King, I'll own up to liking his stuff too. His short stories are a bit spotty, but the "Diff'rent Seasons" collection is brilliant (not supernatural horror, more "character horror" like Dolores Claiborne). Green Mile is pretty good too, but not a patch on the similar story in Diff'rent Seasons. For supernatural, "Firestarter" is OK. Most other horror writers (James Herbert, Dean Koontz, etc) can safely be ignored.

One other horror writer worth reading though is Richard Matheson. "I am Legend" is amazing, and many others worth reading too. Don't bother with "Hell House" though, stick to the original story (by Shirley Jackson I think?).

If you're a *very* fast or dedicated reader, the "Gap" series by Stephen Donaldson is worth a go. He's a pretentious SOB and the writing is often slow, but the scope of the series is seriously impressive. Similarly a bit slow but over a grand scale (and less pretentious) is Tad Willams' "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" series. The former is space-opera S/F (loosely themed on Wagner's Ring), the latter is traditional fantasy.

Changing theme, a book to be appreciated by singers and drinkers is "Whisky Galore" by Compton Mackenzie. Very funny.

Back to S/F, John Wyndham. Nuff said. Although I will mention a few for Garg's spreadsheet ("Day of the Triffids", "The Chrysalids", "The Midwich Cuckoos").

Graham.

PS. I must confess to not seeing the attraction of Ian Banks. I read them and think "So what?" - it feels like a mental McDonalds meal.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Midchuck
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 09:18 PM

The Peter Bowen "Gabriel DuPre" (how do you do an acute accent in HTML, anyway?) books that I mentioned above, in, I believe, both order of publication and chronological order within the stories, are:

Coyote Wind
Specimen Song
Wolf, No Wolf
Notches
Thunder Horse
Long Son
The Stick Game
Cruzatte and Maria
Ash Child
Badlands

The first two are available in a "double" trade paperback, and I believe the second two are also.

They're the type of books where you get to thinking of the characters as your drinking buddies and get upset when you reach the end and remember they're fictional.

Peter.

PS: I'd also second, with gusto, the mention of Lee and Miller's Liad Universe space operas. Those of you who listened to the Woodchucks' Paltalk concert a year or two or three ago might recall a rather confusing song of my own, "Seven Silver Bracelets," that I did as an encore; which was actually a filk on those stories.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 28 Jul 03 - 11:22 PM

Skip the paper-backs Rick.

If it is worth your time and eyes - don't buy 35cent paperbacks....pay the price and get premium books in hard-bound - second-hand.

Considering your request, "can't put down" books....avoid the intellectual crap (I love Thomas Pycheon but it takes you three books to get addicted to Cherry-Coke) (Jane Austin - Pride and Prejudice - that first paragraph about a man who has money needs a wife makes me gag so I can't get past the first page because of waves of high-sea-nausea)

If you are looking for one book (three?) -one that is... drop, pickup, drop, pickup, three minutes.... thirty minutes the Wallace Wallechinsky, People's Almanac can keep you amused in the toilet or the waiting-room.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

As you read through it....you can see why...in our PC world of the 21st Century Ivanho is no longer read in the public schools....but a damn good read it is!

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 02:33 PM

Statement about Jane Austen:

(Jane Austin - Pride and Prejudice - that first paragraph about a man who has money needs a wife makes me gag so I can't get past the first page because of waves of high-sea-nausea)

Jane Austen wrote satire -- her stories were merely vehicles to satirize the society of her day.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 03:05 PM

I'm reading both Sam Pepys and Scott's Ivanhoe at the moment and even though I've read them so many times The characters feel like relatives, they're both great. They're both books "of their time", and I suspect Sam would also not be allowed in yer average high school. Shame.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Helen
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 05:57 PM

pdc said: "Jane Austen wrote satire -- her stories were merely vehicles to satirize the society of her day."

When I first had to try to read Pride and Prejudice, when I was in high school, I totally agreed with Gargoyle:   "Jane Austin - Pride and Prejudice - that first paragraph about a man who has money needs a wife makes me gag so I can't get past the first page because of waves of high-sea-nausea". Part of the problem, I realised much later, was that the teacher seemed to have no idea that it was satire and therefore that incredible idea was never conveyed to us, her students. I knew far too many high school girls, i.e. my classmates, who lived and breathed some of Austen's words in reality, not with their satirical meaning, and the mother in the story - she made me gag even more. Here was I, the potential new age career woman in the making, in an all girls' school being forced to read novels about women who are forced by society and their families to get married at any cost. The horror!

It wasn't until I studied Austen again at university with a Professor who had specialised in and who obviously loved her work that I realised it was satire. I had steered clear of her between high school and then.

Another author to add: Fantasy/SF author C. J. Cherryh - especially the Gate of Ivrel series (can't remember the series name, but I think that this is the first title in it).

And Richard Matheson rules! One of the best writers of short stories that I have ever read. I think he also writes screenplays, sometimes for the tv show called The Outer Limits, which pushes the boundaries of ethics and philosophy and the meaning of life, IMHO.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Burke
Date: 29 Jul 03 - 06:27 PM

I second Lois McMaster Bujold. Space opera at it's best. About half of our English faculty have been caught up in it. Be careful when reading The Vorkosigan Series, several of the earlier books have been reissued in compilations. Start with Cordelia's Honor (Shards of honor and Barrayar combination) or Young Miles (Warrior's Apprentice, Mountains of Mourning, and The Vor Game).

For mind candy I've also been reading Alan Dean Foster's Pip and Flinx series. It starts with The Tar-Aiym Krang.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Micca
Date: 30 Jul 03 - 03:18 PM

I omitted, in my list above Frederic Brown,a master of short stories with an interesting, and often surprising, twist
and
Eric Frank Russel for his really odd sense of humour, try "Wasp", "next of Kin"(novels), or "and then there were none" a short story in I think "The Great Explosion" collection

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Peter T.
Date: 31 Jul 03 - 10:00 AM

The only problem with Ivanhoe as a book is that Elizabeth Taylor isn't in it. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Leo Condie
Date: 31 Jul 03 - 10:04 AM

read 45 by Bill Drummond. One of the funniest books there is.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 31 Jul 03 - 10:59 AM

Liz was a distraction, Peter. That was definitely HER year. What year was it?

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Micca
Date: 31 Jul 03 - 12:52 PM

1952!!! Rick!

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 05 Aug 03 - 04:29 AM

Anything by Dean Koontz, he has a new book out today, good reviews, i forgot what its called, but I'm sure it will be in the bookshop windows.john

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Jenny Islander
Date: 05 Aug 03 - 05:03 PM

Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael mysteries. There are about two dozen of them, set in and near the Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul, in Shrewsbury, during the terrible civil war in England in the 12th century. They are about people and faith and miracles and everyday choices and another world you sort of fall into. No preaching, no dogma, no chunks o' exposition--just ordinary souls and beautiful writing.

Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak mysteries--absolutely! They're hilarious no matter where you're from, but if you are Alaskan the in-jokes will have you snorting apple juice out your nose. She also makes you cry.

The novels of Father Andrew Greeley. He's an opinionated geezer with deep understanding of human nature, great faith, and a long love affair with Chicago. You can gobble them up like potato chips, but they stick in your mind. My favorite is The Cardinal Virtues.

Who wrote Endymion--Shelley? Anyway, it's a huge long poem that is basically about sleep. Which is what I use it for when my everything hurts.

The Chinese fantasies of Barry Hughart: Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen. There's nothing like them. Just go read. But not with your mouth full.

Hope this helps!

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Micca
Date: 05 Aug 03 - 05:58 PM

Endymion ? Jenny Islander.. you mean
" a Thing of beauty is a Joy forever
Its beauty increases it will never..."??
Thats John Keats that is

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: South Side
Date: 06 Aug 03 - 05:04 PM

Try anything by Tim Sandlin. He wrote about six fiction novels and they are all a little twisted. "Social Blunders" "Sex and Sunsets" I forget the rest right now but he made me laugh. Carl Hiasen ?? on the spelling but extremely funny stuff as well.

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Aug 03 - 11:46 AM

Micca, do you mean the Frederick Brown who is known for the world's shortest short story:

The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.

LOL,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: A different kind of 'GREAT BOOK' thread.
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 07 Aug 03 - 12:55 PM

Helen, thanks for the reminder of C.J. Cherryh. I like the Gate of Ivren series, too (a/k/a The Morgaine Saga), but my favorites are the Chanur series. What I like about her writing is that she lets you figure things out for yourself instead of feeding all the answers to you.

Anything by James Crumley (more hardboiled than Mike Hammer, but lots better written).

And anything by Dick Francis or James Lee Burke, two of the few authors I buy in hardback.

Rick, hope the treatment is going well.

Lin