Favorite book?
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
I tried so hard to like those books, but they were just ponderous. It was the last time I purchased a book based on cover art/author recommendation.
I shall not name a favorite. I don't want to leave one out.
I'll be the first cultie to say Fight Club. Probably more a favorite because of the impact it had on my life. Haunted a close second, though I do think it needed editing. There's tons of close thirds.
"They sold you hippies grunge, hip hop, now liberty activism."
1. On the Road, Kerouac
2. The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway
3. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
4. Fight Club, Palahniuk
5. Journey to the End of the Night, Celine
Is that The Giver in your picture Gonzo?
Looks like Spunck's life is dull and pointless.
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
I tried so hard to like those books, but they were just ponderous. It was the last time I purchased a book based on cover art/author recommendation.
I shall not name a favorite. I don't want to leave one out.
I don't fault you for not loving it. I have yet to meet another Gene Wolfe fan in the real world.
I just started reading books I like so..... survivor
"The Warmth of Blood" 30 min Short Film
One of my all-time favorites is Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I read this book about once every year. Classic!
Do not speak- unless it improves on silence.
The Monkey Wrench Gang By Edward Abbey
Fight Club
Choke
Enders Game By Orson Scott Card
Survivor
star wars:heir to the empire - timothy zahn
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
I tried so hard to like those books, but they were just ponderous. It was the last time I purchased a book based on cover art/author recommendation.
I shall not name a favorite. I don't want to leave one out.
books don't have feelings. they're not gonna cry if you forget one.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Fight Club and Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
“Those who argue that art and philosophy are proof of human worth neglect to mention that, in the scheme we have devised, artists and philosophers are powerless and largely without prestige. Art, music, and philosophy are merely poignant examples of what we might have been had not the priests and traders gotten hold of us.” - George Carlin
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Ulysses by James Joyce
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman
The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway
"My hopes lay shattered like a mirror on the floor
I see myself and I look really scattered
But I lived my broken dreams"
- Daniel Johnston
World War Z - Max Brooks
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for whoever has shed his blood with me shall be my brother. And those men afraid to go will think themselves lesser men as they hear of how we fought and died together.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I've read it numerous times since I was sixteen(I'm 26). It had huge impact on me. This is like asking me for a favorite band or album,there's just too many to mention. But if I were stranded on a desert island if I had On the road I'd be content with my entertainment but pissed off that I was stranded on a desert island.
A child born blind doesn't know they're blind until someone tells them.
i think choke is my favorite, i like the idea of a man with great potential but choosing a different path for specific circumstances, although i can't relate directly, i feel some relation to victor
# 1: Perfume - Patrick Suskind; you start smelling thing everywhere...
# 2, a the same position: American Gods - Neil Gaiman & Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
# 4: The game - Neil Strauss; is so fun to me 
Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis. Although i'm partway through The Rules of Attraction and thats pretty awesome. And yes On The Road is amazing
1984 by George Orwell.
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk.
Anarchist Cookbook by Exodus.
I think Rant was so much better than A Clockwork Orange and I didn't care too much for Survivor bc of how incredibly slow the first 2/3s of the book were.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Why do I know that name??
I'll research it tomorrow.
depends on the criterion...
short stor(y/ies) - Mark Richard's The Ice at the Bottom of the World - narrowly edges out my beloved Amy Hempel in overall short story collection.
authorial voice - Fight Club, still the best narrative out there, in my mind.
sheer mindnumbing effort and "I wish I had written it" - House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, talk about keeping all your stuff together over a sprawling manuscript, the multiple threads, the hidden agendas, all of it woven together so perfectly.
shock value, debate, discussion - The Bible by God (and a bunch of men.) No other book claims more armchair authorities (lest maybe Catcher in the Rye), promotes debate to the point of bloodshed, survives time regardless of global efforts to rid the world of it, and has so many story arcs, themes, sub-plots, morality plays, and if read properly and followed properly, imparts a positive quality of life to the reader. Everyone should read it once, if for no other reason than to have an inkling of an idea should you find yourself in a discussion about it (you will, trust me).
character development - The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, yeah yeah it was an Oprah pick, but then so was "The Road' so don't let that little sticker (that JF fought so hard to have removed, so kudos to him - he basically told the publisher "hey, I wrote the book, not Oprah" I liked him already) fool you. Great subtleties of character, perfectly balanced variety, and all told in a very convincing voice with realistic dialogue.
technical prowess - The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger, the amount of editing and detail that went into making this book is unreal. Having sat in on two of his intensives, you could call me biased, but hearing first hand about an author who makes excel spreadsheets and comparative graphs showing his adjective to noun ratios, well, that is dedication of a wholly different level. You can write clever, you can write twist, but to do both AND be the closest thing to technically perfect in your writing, well, that's why I love it so much.
fictionalized history - The Hours by Michael Cunningham, the best example of why stories work best when grouped by threes, MC tackles three characters, three genres, three separate times, and beautifully brings them together in a stunning finish that doesn't make the reader cry foul.
makes you cry every time - Sophie's Choice by William Styron, the movie's good, but like always, the book is so much better, so much more the intimate experience. I've read it sooo many times, but every time it gets me. This book never fails me.
honorable mentions: The Road and anything C.M., Survivor, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Wired, the entire Hannibal series by Thomas Harris, Push, anything B.E.E., The Bicycle Diaries...
Foam on The Daze, Boris Vian
her very lifestyle is a sin
"Irina Marina is the blackest person I've never met. She also hates books. She buys them with her drug dealer money just to shoot them full of holes with her drug dealer gun." - labelleza
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
The Promise by Chaim Potok
Fight Club by Chuck
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The list goes on and on but that are some highlights for me 
I'll research it tomorrow.
which one? kafka or murakami? theyre both fdamn dirty foriegners
Actually, both, I had meant Haruki Murakami originally.
The Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Not to be a douche, but i am going to have to ask for proof that you have actually read the entire book.
"Tuffy, you're a Dalek, but only because you're only being kept alive by metal, science and hatred." - ScubaSteve1729
I believe only ten people in the world have read that book and will never believe otherwise until i read it.
I've read it. It took me a few years and the purchase of a very expensive out of print book from the 1940's with page-by-page annotations.
It would be most impressive if someone who lists their age as 16 had made their way through all of it even without understanding half.
"Tuffy, you're a Dalek, but only because you're only being kept alive by metal, science and hatred." - ScubaSteve1729
I believe, Tuffy, that you are one of the ten, then.
Rum Diaries, Hunter S. Thompson
I'm not sure why, but this book had a profound impact on me as a teenager. I felt like I knew what being an adult would feel like after I read it.
i remember the thrawn trilogy. that's how i started building my comprehension. i read thirty seven (or more) star wars novels, as well as jedi academy series books and so forth. i like the thrawn tril best. clever books.
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play hard, like it's work to be done.
Not to be a douche, but i am going to have to ask for proof that you have actually read the entire book.
still just getting through the thread, i was just about to call bullshit
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play hard, like it's work to be done.
Not to be a douche, but i am going to have to ask for proof that you have actually read the entire book.
still just getting through the thread, i was just about to call bullshit
Ha! Same here. Bullshit³
Well fine doesnt make much difference to me. I'm not even sure why i would waste time lying about that, you'd think if i'd lowered my self to that i would have thought to have perhaps changed my age or something to make a more convincing lie. But I guess I'll just fester in my corner having 'not' consumed all those 600 some pages of Joyce's genious (plus what i remember to be quite a lengthy introduction) and having attained a higher understanding of the subcoinsious.
But on a more serious note I liked it better than Ulysess and no matter what anyone says it's still my favorite book by James Joyce, most of all i apprieciate the genious behind the work. I assure you with the amount of time that went into reading it and researching it to claim im lying is practically an insult. Though I by no means think I completely grasped everything he said (who could?) I left with a well enough understanding of what he was putting across and definatly got through the entire thing. Thank you for your coinfidence ladies and gentlemen good day/night/morning/dusk whatever.
Its not as much the length, but the way its written and the language he uses.
How has Finnegan's Wake helped you attain "a higher understanding of the subcoinsious"?
Also, what are your thoughts on Wake's postulative Fourth Age vis-a-vis the Viconian Cycle Theory? And which age do you believe we are now in? No need to go to great lengths; a short summary of your views will do.
"Tuffy, you're a Dalek, but only because you're only being kept alive by metal, science and hatred." - ScubaSteve1729
Impossible to narrow down, so here's an assortment:
The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, by Haruki Murakami
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer
My favourite book of all time is um Ask the Dust by John Fante, he was a genious. Mostly though I just enjoyed it more than I enjoyed any other book, though many have come very close, they just haven't got quite there. Genious.
Also, what are your thoughts on Wake's postulative Fourth Age vis-a-vis the Viconian Cycle Theory? And which age do you believe we are now in? No need to go to great lengths; a short summary of your views will do.
I personally believe, that we, U.S. Americans... need more maps... um...
I haven't read Finnegans Wake. I have, however, made love to a mermaid in the sea.
thanks for sharing.blackhawk tactical pants.
— Spambot
"I could have done worse!" exultantly cried the murderer Lebret, sentenced at Rouen to hard labor for life. — Félix Fénéon
But on a more serious note I liked it better than Ulysess and no matter what anyone says it's still my favorite book by James Joyce, most of all i apprieciate the genious behind the work. I assure you with the amount of time that went into reading it and researching it to claim im lying is practically an insult. Though I by no means think I completely grasped everything he said (who could?) I left with a well enough understanding of what he was putting across and definatly got through the entire thing. Thank you for your coinfidence ladies and gentlemen good day/night/morning/dusk whatever.
Not to be a dick or call bullshit again, but it makes it hard to believe you when you don't know how to spell genius or definitely.
Anyway, Crime and Punishment is still my favorite book, though Moby Dick and The Magus have been up there trying to mix things up for a while.
That... was a manatee.
And she loves you.
"Tuffy, you're a Dalek, but only because you're only being kept alive by metal, science and hatred." - ScubaSteve1729
fight club, clockwork orange and written on the body
Requeim For A Dream
A Clockwork Orange
Fight Club
The Giver- even though it's a low reading level, it's always been one of my favorites.
Man is the cruelest animal.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vages
The Wave
The Road
Snuff
The Catcher and the Rye
Lord of the Rings
"kafka" is czech for crow
jmodus da man!
wut about Christopher Moore? eneyone..
i recommend Lamb: the Gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal
could be the most ingenious, if not best work of fiction ever ever
Jitterbug Perfume
Lamb
Kafka on the Shore
Fluke
A Clockwork Orange
Island of the Sequined Love Nun (honorable mention)
The Wave
The Road
Snuff
The Catcher and the Rye
Lord of the Rings
The Catcher In The Rye actually.
I've been wanting to read Crime and Punishment for a while now. Will I have to put a lot of effort into it? Or be completely devoted? It doesn't seem like an easy read.
Jeremy
your right im sorry i miss spelled it.
Miss Spelled was my nicknaem in hihh shcool.
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides