Under-read books [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Semidi

2008-06-24, 06:42 PM

Premsyl

2008-06-24, 06:46 PM

Stranger in a Strange Land.

Stormthorn

2008-06-24, 07:05 PM

Stranger in a Strange Land.

Yea, thats another one. I liked Tunnel In The Sky better, but i doubt that one got read as much as deserved. I also like For Us, The Living. All buy the same dude.

Edit:
as for short stories, i love those things. I must now try to read the man you mentioned.

Ray Bradbury did his best work in shortstories in my opinions. Uncle Einar, the April Witch, Tangerine, Their Will Come Soft Rains, The Pedestrian, Beasts, and so many others.

averagejoe

2008-06-24, 07:19 PM

How was Lolita anyways? Specifically, for what reasons does one like it? It's been a book that I've been considering, but I tend to be leery of romantic titles.

Semidi

2008-06-24, 07:45 PM

How was Lolita anyways? Specifically, for what reasons does one like it? It's been a book that I've been considering, but I tend to be leery of romantic titles.

It's beautifully written, funny, and entertaining. I wouldn't classify it so much as a romance, rather as a dark comedy or a tragic comedy. It does have romantic elements but any romance in it is so perverse that it's hard to take seriously as purely romantic.

RTGoodman

2008-06-24, 08:04 PM

I've read Don Quixote. Read it a couple of times, actually, but they were for classes.

A lot of times I'll read books having never heard of them (or having only heard of them from one or two people) and for a while a lot of people haven't read them, but then eventually it seems like everyone has after a while. All of Neil Gaiman's stuff is like that - I read almost all of his stuff in the past two years, but I never heard anyone else mention him until about a year ago. (Of course, most people that know of him have on read American Gods or Good Omens, so Anansi Boys and a lot of his short stories are still under-read).

I've also read and enjoyed a lot of fantasy novels that a lot of people seem not to have read, but I don't know if they're "under-read" or just not that popular. Stuff by Piers Anthony seems like that even though he has a billion books, and I've yet to meet anyone outside my Modern Fantasy classmates who has ever read Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane (or its sequel, though I only picked it up yesterday).

I also haven't met a lot of people who've read stuff by Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, etc.), but I know he's pretty popular; I think it's mostly because of where I live.

Mr. Scaly

2008-06-24, 09:30 PM

The Dragoncrown Cycle.

Maybe I'm being too hasty but the prequel was most enjoyable so I'm assuming the rest of the trilogy is good too. :smalltongue: My point being that in this world of Dragonlance, Lord of the Ring, Forgotten Realms, Games Novels etc the smaller trilogies get forgotten.

perpetualnoise

2008-06-25, 01:10 AM

Shogun and the whole TaiPan series by Clavel is excellent.

Fri

2008-06-25, 01:41 AM

Momo, or known in some other place as The Grey Gentlemen by Michael Ende.

If I have the power, I'll make that book obligatory reading in every school.

Manga Shoggoth

2008-06-25, 05:08 AM

...and I've yet to meet anyone outside my Modern Fantasy classmates who has ever read Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane (or its sequel, though I only picked it up yesterday).

Dragonsbane is an excelent book that is on my "recommend" list. The sequel is... awful.

I find that Tam Lin by Patricia Dean is rather underrated (although most of the people I have tried to interest in it are put off by the length).

And, working in IT, I find that not enough people read the book of instructions.

The Demented One

2008-06-25, 07:14 AM

Just about anything by Margaret Atwood. Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, Handmaid's Tale...woman is good.

Kortalh

2008-06-25, 07:59 PM

I have yet to meet personaly one person (including english teachers) aside form myself who read all of Don Quixote.

To be fair to English teachers, Don Quixote was written in Spanish. :smallwink:

rubakhin

2008-06-25, 08:43 PM

How was Lolita anyways? Specifically, for what reasons does one like it? It's been a book that I've been considering, but I tend to be leery of romantic titles.

Romantic? It's about a pedophile. :smalltongue:

It's one of my favorite books, if not the favorite. It has this aching, elegiac beauty. This is one of the saddest passages in all of English-language literature:

And I have still other smothered memories, now unfolding themselves into limbless monsters of pain. Once, in a sunset-ending street of Beardsley, she turned to little Eva Rosen (I was taking both nymphets to a concert and walking behind them so close as almost to touch them with my person), she turned to Eva, and so very serenely and seriously, in answer to something the other had said about its being better to die than hear Milton Pinski, some local schoolboy she knew, talk about music, my Lolita remarked:

"You know, what's so dreadful about dying is that you are completely on your own"; and it struck me, as my automaton knees went up and down, that I simply did not know a thing about my darling's mind and that quite possibly, behind the awful juvenile clichés, there was in her a garden and a twilight, and a palace gate--dim and adorable regions which happened to be lucidly and absolutely forbidden to me, in my polluted rags and miserable convulsions [...]

I loved you. I was a pentapod monster, but I loved you. I was despicable and brutal, and turpid, and everything, mais je t'aimais, je t'aimais! And there were times when I knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one. Lolita girl, brave Dolly Schiller.

averagejoe

2008-06-25, 09:34 PM

Romantic? It's about a pedophile. :smalltongue:

What can I say, I'm like an anti-purist. It's about a dude wanting to hook up with a lady, and that's close enough. :smalltongue: (It could gay too, but you know what I mean. I just feel that the subject of people hooking up with people has been done to death, and I've never really gotten much out of it in the first place. I've always had trouble connecting with the thoughts and emotions of others, except for in small incidental ways.)

I mean, it is something that appeals to me, I just didn't completely know what to expect going into it. I'll probably end up reading it soon. It's been awhile since I've been able to read anything that I could really sink my intellectual teeth into, discounting books with titles like Introduction to Electrodynamics or Abstract Algebra. Actually, I have a Tim O'Brien that still needs reading.

Speaking of authors that don't get read enough, Tim O'Brien. A lot of people write about war, but the main difference between O'Brien and the rest is that he's a good writer. (At least, that I've read.) He's very good at the craft of writing, something so often forgotten these days. Probably the finest contemporary author I've read.

RTGoodman

2008-06-25, 11:27 PM

Dragonsbane is an excelent book that is on my "recommend" list. The sequel is... awful.

Yeah, I'm just now finding that out... :smallannoyed:

Cespenar

2008-06-26, 01:28 AM

Momo, or known in some other place as The Grey Gentlemen by Michael Ende.

If I have the power, I'll make that book obligatory reading in every school.

Seconded, with surprise, because it's the first time I've heard anyone ever mentioning this book (which calls for its under-readness).

Jayabalard

2008-06-27, 04:07 PM

H. Beam Piper's "Little Fuzzy"

Devin

2008-06-27, 04:14 PM

Oh my god, Little Fuzzy! My dad had a copy of that book that I used to read. I totally didn't expect it to show up here.

The_JJ

2008-06-27, 08:23 PM

Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Not so much the sequels.

Also, the Once and Future King.

Ozymandias

2008-06-27, 08:38 PM

He's very good at the craft of writing, something so often forgotten these days. Probably the finest contemporary author I've read.

Seriously? There are so many excellent prose stylists - Junot Diaz, Annie Proulx, Michael Chabon et al - writing as recently as the past decade that I must diagree vehemently with that statement.

So, yeah, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (especially for nerds and/or hispanohablantes), The Shipping News, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. In that order, I suppose.

Edit: The final meeting of Humbert and Lolita is the saddest scene I've ever read, bar none.

wadledo

2008-06-27, 09:18 PM

All of Pier's Anthony's work seems to be vastly underappreciated, though that might be the whole misogynist thing.
Also, Orson Scott Cards other works besides Enders Game and the Bean Saga never get their due. The Tales of Alvin Maker are brilliant, and I will not say otherwise.

Stormthorn

2008-06-27, 09:38 PM

Anthony and Card eh? I dont know, i know several per[ople who have read them.

Just about anything by Margaret Atwood. Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, Handmaid's Tale...woman is good.
Oryx and Crake. I almost bought that recently.

And in Lolita, HH is attracted to girls who are underage but it isnt strictly pedophilia. It also includes Ephebophilia.

Someone mentioned Gaiman. He definatly isnt read enough by and large. So good.

Ashtar

2008-06-28, 08:57 AM

The Moon is a harsh mistress and most of Heinlein's writing. Also We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.

Pronounceable

2008-06-28, 09:49 AM

Books on elementary physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology. The depth of humanity's ignorance of the universe it inhabits is astonishing.

Dunesen

2008-06-28, 10:29 AM

How many people have actually read a Sherlock Holmes story? Everyone knows about Moriarty, but he was only in one story.

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is my favorite book, so I was surprised to see some of the accolades it got before I even heard of it.

I read almost all of World War Z with intense jealousy, because there's so much there that I wish I had thought of first.

Premsyl

2008-06-28, 04:30 PM

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

doliest

2008-06-29, 12:40 AM

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Ha HA! I seriously only found out that book existed a month ago, so I opened it, read it, and it helped me remeber why I thought Willy Wonka acted like Jigsaw some of the time.

Sir_Norbert

2008-06-29, 08:26 AM

How many people have actually read a Sherlock Holmes story? Everyone knows about Moriarty, but he was only in one story.
Hey, I've read all the Sherlock Holmes stories! (Well, all of Conan Doyle's. There are way too many stories involving the great detective written by other writers for one person to ever find them all, let alone read them.)

Moriarty does appear in one other story -- The Valley of Fear -- and not only is that one of the best stories in the canon, but its version of Moriarty is an immense improvement on "The Final Problem", in which we only get to see him being annoyingly ineffective.

I've read Don Quixote and Lolita. Both wonderful books.

My vote for most under-read goes to Proust, Remembrance of Things Past. It's kind of hard to get into because it's just so d***ed long, but it's a gorgeous and unforgettable novel.

Dunesen

2008-06-29, 08:41 AM

Hey, I've read all the Sherlock Holmes stories! (Well, all of Conan Doyle's. There are way too many stories involving the great detective written by other writers for one person to ever find them all, let alone read them.)

Moriarty does appear in one other story -- The Valley of Fear -- and not only is that one of the best stories in the canon, but its version of Moriarty is an immense improvement on "The Final Problem", in which we only get to see him being annoyingly ineffective.

Well that's one on me. Guess I should have done a quick Wiki search first, but I figured that since Doyle was reluctant to bring back Holmes that he wouldn't bring back Moriarty.

Dallas-Dakota

2008-06-29, 09:00 AM

The hobbit.
The silmarillion. Seriously, in RL, except my family and two people, I have never met anybody who has read the Silmarillion.

averagejoe

2008-06-29, 03:32 PM

Seriously? There are so many excellent prose stylists - Junot Diaz, Annie Proulx, Michael Chabon et al - writing as recently as the past decade that I must diagree vehemently with that statement.

Ah, sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I meant something that seems to often be forgotten when people look at the virtues of a book. That is, I'll rarely hear someone say a book is good because they are good prose stylists; I find that people are more likely to comment on more concrete things such as plot, characters, and so on.

Kato

2008-06-29, 04:39 PM

How many people have actually read a Sherlock Holmes story? Everyone knows about Moriarty, but he was only in one story.

Hey, I also read the whole compilation, though it was... er... disappointing. It might be well written - I've hardly any sense for such things - but the cases and even more the solutions were so... er... dunno. Most modern detective stories are better...Doyle just packed the lest possible scenario and made Holmes present it to the audience. Yeah...i was hoping for more...

Anyway, I recommend the Silmarilion and the related books (I'm not sure what they are called in English... the German titles'd translate roughly into 'News from Middleearth' or so...) It might be even better than LOTR, because it's centuries of events packed together, and there are no annoying Hobbits in it, hehe.
Otherwise... it's hardly under-read, but everything by Terry Pratchett is pretty awesome.

Gavin Sage

2008-06-29, 05:17 PM

Stormthorn

2008-06-29, 10:25 PM

Books on elementary physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology. The depth of humanity's ignorance of the universe it inhabits is astonishing.
Thats...odd.

Im reading a book written in second person. So bombin'.

Serpentine

2008-06-30, 01:24 AM

Im reading a book written in second person. So bombin'.Seriously? A whole novel? Not just a short story?! What is it?! I've been saying for ages that I'd like to read a book written like that!

I was looking up Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH a while ago, and then went to the author (Robert C. O'Brien), and thus discovered that he wrote two other books that hold a place dear yet strange to my heart: Z for Zacharia and The Silver Crown. So I'll put these two forward as underread books, because I've never heard anyone else say they'd heard of them, much less read them, yet heaps of people know Mrs Frisby.

Stormthorn

2008-06-30, 01:46 AM

Seriously? A whole novel? Not just a short story?! What is it?! I've been saying for ages that I'd like to read a book written like that!

Its fairly new and called Halting State. "You" range from a "hetrosexualy challenged" police woman to a programmer with the characters switching every chapter so far. But your always the current character. Its a cyper-punky novel about the theft of all the high-level items from an MMORPG bank. Yes, that is correct. A heist inside a game that draws in real police. Hackers are always a big deal in cyberpunk.

I liked Z For Zacharia

Dunesen

2008-06-30, 01:48 AM

Frank Herbert's Dune.

It should occupy the place that LoTR does, or better yet beyond that. No don't give me anything about it being sci-fi not fantasy, Dune is more fantasy then sci-fi.

(And yes the sequels are inferior, and the modern ones utter crap. I care not!)

Shorter Dune:

Frank Herbet: I'm so intelligent and smart and wonderful that I bet you ordinary people can't even understand a full page of this book.
Reader: Wow, he's right. I can't understand a single line.

Hey, I also read the whole compilation, though it was... er... disappointing. It might be well written - I've hardly any sense for such things - but the cases and even more the solutions were so... er... dunno. Most modern detective stories are better...Doyle just packed the lest possible scenario and made Holmes present it to the audience. Yeah...i was hoping for more...

Keep in mind the Doyle was setting the bar, not trying to overcome it like more modern writers.

And I wouldn't say the're the least possible scenarios. Many of them are perfectly logical, it's just that there weren't enough clues to say "This is the killer" or whatever.

Kato

2008-06-30, 01:53 AM

And I wouldn't say the're the least possible scenarios. Many of them are perfectly logical, it's just that there weren't enough clues to say "This is the killer" or whatever.

Okay, I'll give you that one... but it's not what I expected...ikemodern novels where you can make your own conclusion's and hope to be smarter than Holmes, because he secretly investigates there and checks that and then it is sime secret African poison or a snake from India or something... It was just no fun if you can't work with the detective.

captain_decadence

2008-06-30, 02:04 AM

Okay, I'll give you that one... but it's not what I expected...ikemodern novels where you can make your own conclusion's and hope to be smarter than Holmes, because he secretly investigates there and checks that and then it is sime secret African poison or a snake from India or something... It was just no fun if you can't work with the detective.

There is, I'm not making this up, a group of most modern mystery writers that has as its requirement(maybe just a pact with no associated group, can never remember) "a reader must be able to solve the crime with the clues given in the book, though it can be as hard as you want it to be".

A writer almost got kicked out because all the clues pointed to the narrator and he left the room before the murder. This wasn't something he described to the other suspects and the police but stated in the book as it was written in the third person limited (with this character as the person it followed). The trick was that the book never said he didn't go back in the room...

I really like books on religion but that's just me. I'm infinitely fascinated by them. There is a great book I read called "the Name of the Wind" that rocks but I can't remember the author. Well worth tracking down.

Solo

2008-06-30, 02:06 AM

Thats...odd.

Im reading a book written in second person. So bombin'.

What does second person look like?

captain_decadence

2008-06-30, 02:06 AM

What does second person look like?

It looks like you.

No, really. Second person looks like you.

Serpentine

2008-06-30, 02:40 AM

What does second person look like?First person: I, me, my, we.
Second person: You, your.
Third person: He, she, they, his, hers, theirs.

Actually, a question: What would one that includes "we", and therefore both "I" and "you" be? Example: We went into town. You walked, I rode my bike. Just first person?

Dunesen

2008-06-30, 02:46 AM

There is, I'm not making this up, a group of most modern mystery writers that has as its requirement(maybe just a pact with no associated group, can never remember) "a reader must be able to solve the crime with the clues given in the book, though it can be as hard as you want it to be".

A writer almost got kicked out because all the clues pointed to the narrator and he left the room before the murder. This wasn't something he described to the other suspects and the police but stated in the book as it was written in the third person limited (with this character as the person it followed). The trick was that the book never said he didn't go back in the room...

On the one hand, it's a cop-out to bring out a piece of evidence at the end that wasn't mentioned before. "What you didn't notice, dear sidekick, is that the brownie the victim had eaten contained walnuts in it, triggering his allergy." (the most random example I can think of involves a storyline in WWE when Steve Austin got hit by a car, but I won't even go there)

But at the same time, a really good writer could introduce something that wasn't explicitly mentioned, or perhaps is not common knowledge (poison X smells like almonds), and it wouldn't seem like a pathetic twist.

Solo

2008-06-30, 02:59 AM

First person: I, me, my, we.
Second person: You, your.
Third person: He, she, they, his, hers, theirs.

Actually, a question: What would one that includes "we", and therefore both "I" and "you" be? Example: We went into town. You walked, I rode my bike. Just first person?

I've only seen bad (lemon) fics written in that kind of style.

Artemician

2008-06-30, 04:39 AM

Shorter Dune:

Frank Herbet: I'm so intelligent and smart and wonderful that I bet you ordinary people can't even understand a full page of this book.
Reader: Wow, he's right. I can't understand a single line.

?

The main gist of Dune's pretty easy to understand. I mean, I read it when I was twelve, and I understood well enough, aside from the backstory and whatnot. But the main plot's simple enough.

Dunesen

2008-06-30, 05:03 AM

?

The main gist of Dune's pretty easy to understand. I mean, I read it when I was twelve, and I understood well enough, aside from the backstory and whatnot. But the main plot's simple enough.

It's a joke I read years and years ago. I personally had some trouble reading it because of all the terms Herbert made-up; having to check the glossary interrupts the narrative flow.

Sir_Norbert

2008-06-30, 05:30 AM

Actually, a question: What would one that includes "we", and therefore both "I" and "you" be? Example: We went into town. You walked, I rode my bike. Just first person?
Grammatically, "we" is normally called the first person plural, but linguistics geeks like to point out that it's actually a collective rather than a plural -- as you just pointed out, it isn't "I and another I" in the same way that "apples" is "apple and another apple".

Well that's one on me. Guess I should have done a quick Wiki search first, but I figured that since Doyle was reluctant to bring back Holmes that he wouldn't bring back Moriarty.
He was just playing tricks with the chronology. After killing off Holmes, there was so much demand for more Holmes that Doyle wrote Hound of the Baskervilles, which is set a few years before Holmes died as he wasn't willing to resurrect him -- though after that he gave in and did just that. Valley of Fear does the same thing with Moriarty, except this time it stops there and he stays dead.

There is, I'm not making this up, a group of most modern mystery writers that has as its requirement (maybe just a pact with no associated group, can never remember) "a reader must be able to solve the crime with the clues given in the book, though it can be as hard as you want it to be".

A writer almost got kicked out because all the clues pointed to the narrator and he left the room before the murder. This wasn't something he described to the other suspects and the police but stated in the book as it was written in the third person limited (with this character as the person it followed). The trick was that the book never said he didn't go back in the room...
You're not making it up, but you're bending the facts by calling it "modern" :P The group you're talking about was formed in the 20s, and the novel you carefully avoid naming (and I will also not name it, so as not to spoiler anyone who hasn't read it) was published in 1926.

It's true that ever since then, mystery writers have been influenced by the requirement, and a number of the Sherlock Holmes stories are criticised today for being "unfair", but.... it's easy to find examples up to the present day of writers not taking the requirement too literally. In the case of the writer who nearly got kicked out of the group, one of the most prominent members, and one whose works are still read and admired today, voted in favour of the writer. (And let's not be too harsh on Doyle; many of his stories are perfectly fair and regarded as classics, even by today's standards.)

captain_decadence

2008-06-30, 10:01 AM

Sorry if the facts were a bit dodgy, I was remembering it off the top of my head and didn't bother to look it up.

Ravenlord

2008-06-30, 12:13 PM

It's a joke I read years and years ago. I personally had some trouble reading it because of all the terms Herbert made-up; having to check the glossary interrupts the narrative flow.

Dune isn't hard to understand in my opinion. There was like two or three times I had to check something in the glossary - the things he doesn't explain are usually deduceable from the context. Not to mention that a lot of those 'unknown' words are not even his own invention - they just got nicked from arabic languages.

two_fishes

2008-06-30, 01:13 PM

Some of the books listed make me scratch my head. Dune? Under-read? Are you kidding? Margaret Atwood? Neil Gaiman? Stranger in a Strange Land? These are some of the most popular and widely-read books and authors of their genres. I'm not knocking their quality, I'm just saying, these are not under-read novels & authors!

There is a little know author named Edward Whittemore (http://www.jerusalemdreaming.info/) who deserves to be much more widely read than he is. His books were out of print for a long time, but they are currently being printed by Old Earth Books (http://www.oldearthbooks.com/whittemore.htm).

Dunesen

2008-06-30, 01:41 PM

"A great book is one that everyone wants to have read, but nobody wants to read." -Mark Twain.

Over the weekend Roger Ebert wrote an essay on Triumph of the Will, the infamous Nazi propaganda "documentary." It's an interesting read because he questions the idea of if it's even a great movie the way something like Citizen Kane or the Godfather is. While those latter movies did things film hadn't done before or excelled at telling immortal stories, Triumph is remembered to this day because of its role in the history of propaganda (one of the major, lasting contributions the Nazi party gave to humanity).

Yet, Ebert asks, how many people have seen the movie recently, or at all? Every film student or scholar knows about it because of its historical value, but as a documentary it's nothing, it's clearly staged, and if more people actually watched it, its reputation would undoubtedly change.

For the record, I've only seen it once, a few years ago. Some of the things that show how staged the entire thing is I can somewhat recall, others I'll look out for if I ever watch it again.

Here's a link to the essay, it's worth reading. (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/REVIEWS08/911177318)

The idea that some of the books mentioned in this thread are not under-read makes me think of this essay now. Sure, so many people on boards like this (where we're all nerds) have heard of Dune and Neil Gaiman. But how many people in general have?

It's like asking how many non-film scholars/students/buffs have seen Triumph of the Will? Or Breathless, or City Lights? In America, at least, entertainment consumption is mostly limited to whatever is current. There aren't really any wide-release revivals for classic movies or trends where everyone is reading Hemingway. If Oprah hadn't included East of Eden in her book club, it's doubtful there would be half as many people today who have read it without it being assigned in school.

Sure, everyone read the Da Vinci Code when it was popular (and we are all the stupider for it), but in ten years how many people will pick it up? There will be new, current bestsellers at the time. Harry Potter could very well have lasting appeal, much like Star Wars has, because the main audience at the time was children, and as they grow up they'll retain that fandom.

But the rule is that whatever may last through the years as a classic isn't really something that will be popular, or that most people will be truly familiar with.

two_fishes

2008-06-30, 02:02 PM

I won't deny that there are many under-read classics out there, I just don't think Dune, Margaret Atwood, or Neil Gaiman belong on that list. They are all still in print by major publishers and moving thousands of books every year. Atwood and Gaiman both usually make best-sellers lists whenever something new by them comes out. Lots of people are reading these books! Heinlein maybe less so, but any fan of science-fiction will likely have read at least one or two of his books.

Archonic Energy

2008-06-30, 03:17 PM

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

you obviously don't come from the UK.
it's virtually reqired reading over here!

i would guess in wales it IS required reading!

Dunesen

2008-07-01, 02:55 AM

Heinlein maybe less so, but any fan of science-fiction will likely have read at least one or two of his books.

I haven't read anything of his. Or Orson Scott Card, or Harlon Ellison. Of course, my interests are really diverse, so it's not like I care about becoming well-versed in any one genre.

Spiryt

2008-07-01, 07:50 AM

The Good Soldier Švejk. (Or however it sounds in English)

This is actually careful statement, beacuse I'm not sure if it's under-read. Anyone in the playground had read it?

Anyway this is one of the best books I've ever read.

Fri

2008-07-01, 08:43 AM

Momo by Michael Ende... wait I've already said that.

It seems that different country have different under read classic book. For example, a lot of good book haven't been translated to my country, but Sherlock Holmes had always been here and always popular. It baffles me when you guys said it's under read, but I realized it might be under read somewhere else.

I'm somewhat a bibiliophile so I track down classic book and my book proficiency is better than most of my friends.

What about... Jules Verne's book? Isn't it under read in most of the world? Sure Dune is the LOTR of Sci-fi, but you gotta give some to the grandfather of modern sci-fi. 20.000 leagues under the sea has always been one of my all time favourite.

And.. just curious. How many of you have read the original Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass?

Mindscrew.

Jayabalard

2008-07-01, 10:23 AM

Some of the books listed make me scratch my head. Dune? Under-read? Are you kidding? Margaret Atwood? Neil Gaiman? Stranger in a Strange Land? These are some of the most popular and widely-read books and authors of their genres. I'm not knocking their quality, I'm just saying, these are not under-read novels & authors!Ageed. Perhaps it could be attributed to age differences, but I can't see how you can really call yourself a science fiction fan if you haven't read Heinlein; Stranger is probably his most well known ( it was on the reading list when I was in high school).

Telonius

2008-07-01, 11:33 AM

Under-read books ....

Lost Horizon, James Hilton
Pilgrim's Regress, C. S. Lewis
The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen King

And far more philosophy and nonfiction books than I'd care to mention.

Serpentine

2008-07-01, 11:44 AM

Pilgrim's Regress, C. S. LewisSomething to do with Pilgrim's Progress?

Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen KingWoooo! One of my favouritest books ever!

Devin

2008-07-01, 12:28 PM

I've read Eyes of the Dragon and both Alice books. ^_^

It was kind of neat hearing that Flagg was in more books.

Telonius

2008-07-01, 01:36 PM

Something to do with Pilgrim's Progress?

It's Lewis's own allegory, written in a (vaguely) similar style as Progress. Personally I liked it a lot more than the Screwtape Letters, although among his "adult" works it's Screwtape that gets all the press.

Stormthorn

2008-07-01, 05:21 PM

I've only seen bad (lemon) fics written in that kind of style.

Hmm...while most lemon fics are bad i always though the phrase itself was more akin to "written by a horny fifteen-year-old girl" than "not good".

Fri

2008-07-02, 01:26 AM

Ah, I remember something else. Watership Down? Is it still well read right now? It's an Epic-with-capital-E story about real rabbits. I used to describe it as 'Lord of The Rings, With Rabbits"

GrassyGnoll

2008-07-02, 02:11 AM

Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark and all its sequels
Shade's Children
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Kurt Vonnegut books
1984
House of Leaves
Fog Juice

Serpentine

2008-07-02, 02:24 AM

Ah, I remember something else. Watership Down? Is it still well read right now? It's an Epic-with-capital-E story about real rabbits. I used to describe it as 'Lord of The Rings, With Rabbits"It's better read than his other one, Plague Dogs. Well, I haven't read Watership Down... but I've met more people who have than have read the other. It's very good! About dogs... obviously.
Also, if you like an Epic story about rabbits, how about an Epic story about cats? Tailchaser's Song, by Tad Williams I think (could be wrong about that, but I'm pretty sure it was him). I should read that again sometime...

Dallas-Dakota

2008-07-02, 02:26 AM

Dunesen

2008-07-02, 04:06 AM

And.. just curious. How many of you have read the original Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass?

I've read both Alice and Looking Glass.

And I want to add C.S. Lewis-The Screwtape Letters here.

Dunesen

2008-07-02, 04:55 AM

Ageed. Perhaps it could be attributed to age differences, but I can't see how you can really call yourself a science fiction fan if you haven't read Heinlein; Stranger is probably his most well known ( it was on the reading list when I was in high school).

Oh please. Science-fiction is as wide-ranging a genre as comedy is. The only thing that defines science-fiction is that it employs fictional elements that have, at the very minimum, a tenuous connection to science. Hence, science-fiction.

To say that any one author, or book, or movie, or series, is somehow required by every single fan of the genre is ludicrous. What circumstances would you look at? The heft of the work, the legacy, the popularity?

Or are you going to say that people who mainly like cyberpunk and android fiction have to be intimate with a work of space opera sci-fi? SF has it's own subgenres, not everyone goes between them all.

I can understand someone saying that any science-fiction fan should be familiar with Star Wars (not necessarily have to watch it), because that's something that isn't just known within the genre, but is a true pop-culture milestone. But I would never say that every true SF fan has seen Metropolis, regardless of its importance, because honestly, how many people watch silent films?

WalkingTarget

2008-07-02, 08:09 AM

House of Leaves

Fixed that for you. :smallbiggrin:

Only Revolutions was good too (and I have a friend who managed to get his mitts on a copy of The Fifty Year Sword, but he hasn't let me borrow it yet :smallmad:)

Dervag

2008-07-02, 09:27 AM

it seems like some books jsut dont get enough readers. I have yet to meet personaly one person (including english teachers) aside form myself who read all of Don Quixote. Thats one book that doesnt get read enough. Another is Lolita. I really liked Lolita but the only one i know who has read it is the overly-helpfull woman at the nearby library who normaly works in the childrens section.The problem with both books is that their reputation gets in the way of their success. Everyone is at least vaguely familiar with the character of Don Quixote, which weakens the book for a modern reader. To make matters worse, it's written as a parody of a style of fiction that's been dead for roughly four hundred years. So it doesn't work as well now as it did in Cervantes' time.

Lolita, similarly, is known as "that book about the pedophile." Nobody really wants to read a book about a pedophile. So the complexity of the actual story gets lost in the summary.

I've also read and enjoyed a lot of fantasy novels that a lot of people seem not to have read, but I don't know if they're "under-read" or just not that popular. Stuff by Piers Anthony seems like that even though he has a billion books...He has a highly specific style that not everyone likes; it cuts his audience.

Frank Herbert's Dune.

It should occupy the place that LoTR does, or better yet beyond that. No don't give me anything about it being sci-fi not fantasy, Dune is more fantasy then sci-fi.I didn't care for it that much. Baroque messianic fiction doesn't do it for me, I guess.

What about... Jules Verne's book? Isn't it under read in most of the world? Sure Dune is the LOTR of Sci-fi, but you gotta give some to the grandfather of modern sci-fi. 20.000 leagues under the sea has always been one of my all time favourite.The problem is that Verne strived for sensationalism over sense. His stories were wonderful (literally, full of wonders). But they lose their real impact in an era when we actually know what flying machines and submarines and missions to the moon look like. Thus, they are of more historical interest than literary interest to a modern audience.

Oh please. Science-fiction is as wide-ranging a genre as comedy is. The only thing that defines science-fiction is that it employs fictional elements that have, at the very minimum, a tenuous connection to science. Hence, science-fiction.

To say that any one author, or book, or movie, or series, is somehow required by every single fan of the genre is ludicrous. What circumstances would you look at? The heft of the work, the legacy, the popularity?

Or are you going to say that people who mainly like cyberpunk and android fiction have to be intimate with a work of space opera sci-fi? SF has it's own subgenres, not everyone goes between them all.

I can understand someone saying that any science-fiction fan should be familiar with Star Wars (not necessarily have to watch it), because that's something that isn't just known within the genre, but is a true pop-culture milestone. But I would never say that every true SF fan has seen Metropolis, regardless of its importance, because honestly, how many people watch silent films?Thing is, Heinlein's work underpins a lot of other genres of science fiction. Certainly some of his characters do. The libertarian streak that informs cyberpunk arguably traces back to Heinlein, for instance.

I can easily imagine being a science fiction fan who has never read any Heinlein, but it is not a state of being I would recommend. Unless you're deliberately avoiding Heinlein because you're allergic to authors whose names begin with the letter "H" or something, you should probably read at least a few of his better books. They're actually pretty good.

Serpentine

2008-07-02, 09:34 AM

I accidentally read some of Lolita a while ago... I found it in my dad's linen cupboard (what it was doing there I don't know :smallconfused:), opened it up to a random page, started reading... and didn't stop for several chapters. I think I was meant to be doing something else at the time <.< Another one to add to the list of books I ought to read...

Telonius

2008-07-02, 10:31 AM

More under-read books...

The original Grimm Brothers' compilation of children's stories. (Red-hot iron shoes for you, evil witch!)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark Twain.

Albub

2008-07-02, 10:53 AM

Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart. I'll be impressed if moar than a dozen people on this board have read it. I found it in a used bookstore in the old part of town in Prague. It's a great book though, try and track it down.

WalkingTarget

2008-07-02, 11:02 AM

Smeik

2008-07-02, 11:09 AM

Whoever mentioned "The Good Soldier Švejk and his Fortunes in the World War"(that's what it seems to be called in english), I can only second it.
It's really good, but sadly nearly no one has ever read it.

And I also have to second Momo, which is even underread here in Germany, because everyone only reads Michael Ende's Neverending Story and forgets that he's written other books as well.

And I'd like to add the books of Astrid Lindgren, especially Mio, my Mio and Brothers Lionheart, which are some of the best children's books that exist. But sadly, nobody seems to read them...

averagejoe

2008-07-02, 12:07 PM

I've found Heinlein to be much overrated. I mean, I've enjoyed a few of his books, but I don't think I've read one that hasn't made me roll my eyes at some point. The argument can be made that his books are "important," but that criterion is only of interest to scholars, really. Most people (understandably) want to read books that they'll get some sort of enjoyment out of. And I honestly have to say that even the books of his I've enjoyed haven't added significantly to my scifi reading experience, and I would have no trouble calling myself a fan of science fiction had I not read him.

Dunesen

2008-07-02, 12:38 PM

I can easily imagine being a science fiction fan who has never read any Heinlein, but it is not a state of being I would recommend. Unless you're deliberately avoiding Heinlein because you're allergic to authors whose names begin with the letter "H" or something, you should probably read at least a few of his better books. They're actually pretty good.

Well from about 1999-2006 I didn't read a whole lot because I had discovered film (not just movies, but film) and I was constantly going to libraries to get movies and discover all the masters like Scorsese, Kubrick, Ozu, Sturges, Lang, Hitchcock, and so on. Even the directors I don't really care for like Bergman and Fellini I've seen a good handful each, just because they're so respected.

So there's a lot of books that are considered classics that I haven't read. Being stuck in Iraq is giving me a good chance to rediscover reading, and I have knocked out quite a few books; literally thousands of pages of graphic novels, mostly Showcase and Essentials, but also a fair number of regular novels like Cell, World War Z, Maltese Falcon, the Thin Man, all of Tim Dorsey's books to date. I've gotten through two out of three volumes of Lovecraft I own and the first of a trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt, leaving the third Lovecraft and the second TR (since the final book hasn't been written yet).

But I'm trying to mainly get caught up on a lot of books I've wanted to read or wanted to read on my own (not assigned in school or something).

So I've got over a dozen Shakespeare plays, half a dozen Hemingway, a few Steinbeck, a couple Twain and I've just discovered William Gibson (which I wish I had done a decade ago), picking up several of his books.

I've heard Heinlein's name here and there, but I've never heard anything that made me want to check him out or made me think "I HAVE to read this guy's work." Starship Troopers goes a long way in discouraging me, even if the movie was nothing like the book.

Dunesen

2008-07-02, 12:40 PM

I want to add Earth Abides to this list. It's pretty simple on character, but the idea of a virus almost wiping out humanity was pivotal to the Stand (my favorite book when I was a teenager; read it four times in high school). And I liked the reflections on how the Earth would react to humanity dwindling to nothingness.

Serpentine

2008-07-02, 12:48 PM

The original Grimm Brothers' compilation of children's stories. (Red-hot iron shoes for you, evil witch!).I'd love to read that, if I could just get my hands on a copy.

Destro_Yersul

2008-07-02, 01:25 PM

Well, let's see.... *flips through bookshelf*

Couple of older ones here. 'Outland', by Alan Foster, that was good. They made a movie of it. It had Sean Connery.

Dan Simmons, 'The Fall of Hyperion', that was good too.

Asimov's robot novels, Agatha Christie's Poirot, anything by Gordon Korman...

Oh, and 'Spiggot's Quest', by Garry Kilworth. An Author so obscure that his page on Wikipedia consists of four sentences and a list of things he's written. Most of which don't even have a page of their own.

averagejoe

2008-07-02, 01:45 PM

I've heard Heinlein's name here and there, but I've never heard anything that made me want to check him out or made me think "I HAVE to read this guy's work." Starship Troopers goes a long way in discouraging me, even if the movie was nothing like the book.

Actually, Starship Troopers is probably the poorest of Heinlein I've read, and one of the poorest books. It's less of a book about futuristic army guys fighting aliens and more a treatise on Heinlein's views about war, the military, and related topics, and most conversation served no other purpose than to get those views out there. (At some point I believe he blamed gang violence on the refusal of some parents to spank their children. That conversation went to kind of a wierd place.) Point is, the movie isn't just nothing like the book, it more or less stands opposite. (Incidentally, I wouldn't reccomend either one.)

I'd actually reccomend Job: a Comedy of Justice, just because it was funny, though that was one of the less "sci-fi" Heinlein I've read.

Fri

2008-07-02, 02:33 PM

The problem is that Verne strived for sensationalism over sense. His stories were wonderful (literally, full of wonders). But they lose their real impact in an era when we actually know what flying machines and submarines and missions to the moon look like. Thus, they are of more historical interest than literary interest to a modern audience.

Yeah, I consider it steampunk. It's real steampunk from the steam age itself... (Well, steampunk doesn't have to use steam, does it?)

Woot Spitum

2008-07-02, 02:34 PM

The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen by Lloyd Alexander. I don't think I've met anybody who has read any of Alexander's books outside of The Chronicles of Prydain series (despite having met a lot who think of The Black Cauldron as a Disney movie rather than book two of a five book series. I've liked every single one of Alexander's books that I've read, but Prince Jen is my favorite.

Telonius

2008-07-02, 02:56 PM

I'd love to read that, if I could just get my hands on a copy.

I know they have an English translation on Amazon - not sure if they ship to Oz. (Though if you speak German at all, you should really read it in the original dialect.)

Telonius

2008-07-02, 02:58 PM

I'd actually reccomend Job: a Comedy of Justice, just because it was funny, though that was one of the less "sci-fi" Heinlein I've read.

Seconded!
Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along, move along.

Devin

2008-07-02, 03:17 PM

I'm going to reccomend the entire Oz series after the first one. My mom didn't know there was more than one, and she didn't realize that The Wizard of Oz was a book first.

RebelRogue

2008-07-02, 04:47 PM

It's a joke I read years and years ago. I personally had some trouble reading it because of all the terms Herbert made-up; having to check the glossary interrupts the narrative flow.
However, if you're into that kind of thing, I heartily recommend "A clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. Actually, I recommend it anyway: with minimal patience you'll learn to read Nadsat pretty fast.

Devin

2008-07-02, 05:57 PM

It's weird that you pick up Nadsat so quickly while you're reading. When you first start, it's very discouraging, but before long, it's not even an effort. The words feel perfectly natural.

RebelRogue

2008-07-02, 07:02 PM

It's weird that you pick up Nadsat so quickly while you're reading. When you first start, it's very discouraging, but before long, it's not even an effort. The words feel perfectly natural.
Exactly. And I like the fact that it isn't just a cool gimmick: it really does create a linguistic barrier between the reader and the atrocities Alex and his droogies do, making them somehow seem less atrocious.

Jack Mann

2008-07-02, 08:00 PM

All of Pier's Anthony's work seems to be vastly underappreciated, though that might be the whole misogynist thing.

I shouldn't think anyone could underappreciate Piers Anthony, having given him a try.

I'll toss out a recommendation for The Innkeeper's Song, by Peter Beagle. Good stuff. Honestly, outside of The Last Unicorn, I'd say his stuff doesn't get read enough.

Zarrexaij

2008-07-02, 08:56 PM

It's weird that you pick up Nadsat so quickly while you're reading. When you first start, it's very discouraging, but before long, it's not even an effort. The words feel perfectly natural.Indeed. I understand it so well, I've fallen into a "nasty" habit of using Nadsat in my speech and writing. It drives the people around me crazy, so I've tried to stop. :smallredface:

But I can't resist saying the word "horrorshow" when something is good. :smalltongue:

In fact, just from context Nadsat is pretty easy to understand after a while.

On the subject of underread books, I've found almost no one who is into horror has heard of Clive Barker. Clive Barker is such a great horror author. He also writes fantasy. If you like Stephen King, you'll live Clive Barker. He's tons more intense and he doesn't drone on, though he writes quite vividly. The Damnation Game is a very interesting novel in particular. It's a nice spin on Faustian stories.

Semidi

2008-07-02, 10:00 PM

I forgot about Clive Barker, indeed, I think Damnation Game is really good... But it loses me about 3/4 of the way through. Some parts are pure grotesque genius though,

The zombie dog and her zombie puppies! Brilliant! In an evil, demented sort of way.

Stormthorn

2008-07-02, 10:47 PM

I found it in my dad's linen cupboard (what it was doing there I don't know ),

Thats sounds...like an ackward find.:smalleek:

I once had someone ask me what the book was about while i was reading it. Their face did this:
:smallconfused:
:smalleek:
:smallfrown:
:smallyuk::smallfurious:

I have sense learned not to answer questions so bluntly.

Serpentine

2008-07-02, 11:43 PM

Not as awkward as the pornography comic I found in grade 4 :smallamused:
It was just sitting there in the bookshelf! It's not like I went searching for it! D=

How many books are there in the Oz series? I figured Return to Oz must've been just a movie they made to go with it. That's an underwatched movie...

I've heard of Clive Barker, but I can't think whether I've actually read anything. May have just seen it on the shelf.

Stormthorn

2008-07-02, 11:53 PM

My experiance with Barker ends at watching Yahtzee review the video game Clive Barker's-Jericho

Or as he put is "Clive Barker's: Clive Barker's-Jericho, by Clive Barker"

RTGoodman

2008-07-02, 11:55 PM

How many books are there in the Oz series? I figured Return to Oz must've been just a movie they made to go with it. That's an underwatched movie...

Wow... I though there were about 5 or 6 (that's how many one of my friends had read), but according to Wikipedia there are apparently a LOT more than that. As in, there are the so-called "Famous Forty" core books, and then a bunch of non-canonical, apocryphal, and others. And to make matters worse, those bay Baum are in BOTH categories! :smallsigh:

Dryken

2008-07-03, 12:49 AM

"I, Lucifer" by Glen Duncan remains one of my all-time favorite books that no one has heard of.

xanaphia

2008-07-03, 01:08 AM

Farmer Giles of Ham by Tolkein. It's a lovely 55 page story that no-one has read.

I'm going to have to read some of these. Next library visit...

Dunesen

2008-07-03, 09:29 AM

However, if you're into that kind of thing, I heartily recommend "A clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. Actually, I recommend it anyway: with minimal patience you'll learn to read Nadsat pretty fast.

I have read Clockwork Orange, though I think it was after I had seen the movie, so I already knew some of the lingo. But I found it easier to read anyway, perhaps because there wasn't so much different from the society Burgess describes and ours compared to the differences in Herbert's and ours.

Spiryt

2008-07-03, 09:32 AM

Farmer Giles of Ham by Tolkein. It's a lovely 55 page story that no-one has read.

I'm going to have to read some of these. Next library visit...

Oh, that was funny. Indeed, fine book.

Dunesen

2008-07-03, 09:38 AM

On the subject of underread books, I've found almost no one who is into horror has heard of Clive Barker. Clive Barker is such a great horror author. He also writes fantasy. If you like Stephen King, you'll live Clive Barker. He's tons more intense and he doesn't drone on, though he writes quite vividly. The Damnation Game is a very interesting novel in particular. It's a nice spin on Faustian stories.

I've always taken Clive Barker to be pretty famous, especially within the horror genre.

I know he's moved into video game production, perhaps that's why he isn't making the NYT bestseller list every year like King is. I've only read one book of his, but it was certainly better than Dean Koontz.

Fri

2008-07-03, 10:34 AM

And Clive Barker got those series of horror film. I even know him from his film first (though I absolutely can't watch horror movies. Horror Novels are fine).

I prefer Abarat though. A really trippin journey and the surrealist illustration are great.

Telonius

2008-07-03, 11:59 AM

The Book of the New Sun series, by Gene Wolfe.

Devin

2008-07-03, 12:07 PM

I was going to say there were at least fourteen, but I suppose the Wikipedia article would be more informative(although I couldn't seem to find Dorothy of Oz, in which Dorothy stops an evil Jester with a magic wand). When I was younger, I would go to the library and pick out ten or so Oz books to read. ^_^ Return to Oz(which I intend to watch again) is a mixture of the second and third books.

On the subject of Clive Barker, I've only read Mister B. Gone, which is a great book. My brother had heard about it and wanted to buy it from a bookstore, and when he got it, I decided to read it to. It really feels like there's a person inside the book talking to you, to the point where I wouldn't want to read the book again for fear of spoiling the illusion and seeing that there are only static words on a page.

GrassyGnoll

2008-07-03, 02:17 PM

Not as awkward as the pornography comic I found in grade 4 :smallamused:
It was just sitting there in the bookshelf! It's not like I went searching for it! D=

Bah, 4th grade? I found "Your Penis is Important" (at least that was the phrase that most stuck with me) when I was 5.

Stormthorn

2008-07-03, 03:52 PM

LordOfTheDucks...your 'location'...its sooo brilliant!

Destro_Yersul

2008-07-03, 04:16 PM

And your location is exactly like mine, only with more capitals.

Jorkens

2008-07-10, 10:19 PM

Hmmm, there are a few books in this thread that I'd leave out of a recommendations thread for being too obvious. Oh well.

Seriously? A whole novel? Not just a short story?! What is it?! I've been saying for ages that I'd like to read a book written like that!
Italo Calvino - If On A Winter's Night.

Well, half of it's written in second person, the other half (it's in alternating chapters) consists of a series of first chapters of books that you never manage to find the rest of...

My favorite underread book: Flann O'Brien - The Third Policeman. It's very subtle, quite deep, often sad, rather surreal and most importantly very very funny. I mean, frequently laugh out loud funny. The precise plot isn't that important, the genius is in the details - the mollycule theory of bicycles, omnium, and a series of increasingly verbose footnotes about about the great scientist De Selby. I can't explain it, just read it.

Noone seems to have heard of Nigel Dennis - Cards of Identity either, which is a shame. It's another one that combines clever and funny in a very effective way.

Serpentine

2008-07-11, 06:25 AM

Bah, 4th grade? I found "Your Penis is Important" (at least that was the phrase that most stuck with me) when I was 5.That sounds educational. This one involved a man and a woman stuck on a board in the middle of the ocean and the woman... surviving on... fluids.

Looks like I need to look around for 2nd-person novels... And it's good? Readable?

Dunesen

2008-07-20, 11:42 AM

My favorite underread book: Flann O'Brien - The Third Policeman. It's very subtle, quite deep, often sad, rather surreal and most importantly very very funny. I mean, frequently laugh out loud funny. The precise plot isn't that important, the genius is in the details - the mollycule theory of bicycles, omnium, and a series of increasingly verbose footnotes about about the great scientist De Selby. I can't explain it, just read it.

That's not the one mentioned on Lost, was it?

Enlong

2008-07-20, 12:16 PM

Inkheart and Inkespell are good books, but I'm not sure if it's under-read or not.

Smeik

2008-07-20, 12:27 PM

Inkheart and Inkespell are good books, but I'm not sure if it's under-read or not.

It depends in which country you are. Here in germany they are definitely not underread, but one of the most successful children's fantasy books. But apparently, outside of Germany it seems to be different. s the third book actually already translated to english?

namo

2008-07-21, 01:34 PM

Nobody mentioned Zelazny ! The Amber series are well-known enough, though not read enough, but he's also done very good short stories as well as the amazing Lord of Light.

Destro_Yersul

2008-07-21, 02:02 PM

I'd forgotten about Zelazny!

The Amber series is definitely worth reading. It was awesome. Haven't read any of his other work though.

Jorkens

2008-07-22, 02:17 PM

That's not the one mentioned on Lost, was it?
Well, I saw a recent edition that had a quote from one of the creators of Lost to the effect that anyone who read The Third Policeman will have a lot more material to theorize about Lost, so in that sense, yes. I don't know if it got mentioned by name - it wouldn't surprise me.

Emperor Tippy

2008-07-22, 02:41 PM

The Empire of Man series by John Ringo and David Weber is pretty good.

Bryn

2008-07-22, 05:23 PM

I can't say whether or not Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings) is widely known. Based on the number of mentions gathered on TV Tropes (a highly accurate and scientific measurement :smallamused:) it is not, and therefore I say that it deserves to be, simply because it is very well written indeed. Very dark, but not depressing, as the books always have a sense of dark humour; the characters are interesting, and the plot is a lot of fun.

Tragic_Comedian

2008-07-22, 06:10 PM

James Joyce's books. The only people who read them seem to be A) From Dublin or B) Literature scholars. I can understand that, because they are very complicated, but they're good. I really like Dubliners.

Destro_Yersul

2008-07-22, 06:22 PM

Isn't James Joyce that Irish guy who wrote Finnegans Wake? I should see if I can find that some time.

Tragic_Comedian

2008-07-22, 06:26 PM

Yeah, he wrote Finnegans Wake. It comes with it's own language.

Phae Nymna

2008-07-22, 11:38 PM

Zarrexaij

2008-07-22, 11:50 PM

I don't care much for Machiavelli. :smallsigh:

On the subject of Mr. Barker: it just seems anytime I bring him up, people go "Who?" or go "Oh God, that guy that made that godawful game Jericho." (personally I liked the game :smallredface:) He just doesn't seem to be a big name, especially one not brought up often in horror fan circles.

Dunesen

2008-07-23, 02:54 PM

Well, I saw a recent edition that had a quote from one of the creators of Lost to the effect that anyone who read The Third Policeman will have a lot more material to theorize about Lost, so in that sense, yes. I don't know if it got mentioned by name - it wouldn't surprise me.

Numerous books have been mentioned on Lost, and the producer/creators have said that any title mentioned has clues about the series. Honestly, the only reason I read Watership Down, A Wrinkle in Time and the Epic of Gilgamesh was because they were mentioned. Third Policeman and Turn of the Screw should be on my To Read list, but I've got a foot locker literally overflowing with books out here that I have yet to read.

Dunesen

2008-07-23, 02:59 PM

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince
Seriously though, no one I know has read it either because they were disinterested or because they thought it was like the anti-bible or something. (I've read that too.)

I had to read the Prince in college, and honestly there wasn't anything in it that was exceptionally quotable or would fit on an inspirational poster (besides the standard "Better to be feared than loved."), which may be why he isn't as well-read today.

hamishspence

2008-07-24, 10:00 AM

Concerning The Prince: It was interesting, but I found The Discourses rather more interesting: more Republic-centred.

Fri

2008-07-24, 11:03 AM

Kalev

2008-07-25, 06:13 AM

The Magus, by Fowles.

Very dark. Not at all what I expected.
Maskedly sadistic, but without doubt a work of literary art.

Vaire

2008-07-25, 08:46 AM

Anyone ever heard of The Little World of Don Camillo (not sure if I spelled it right) I read it senior year in High School. Awesome book.

Space-Is-Curved

2008-07-25, 11:21 AM

There are a few books that I think belong in this list.

Out of the Silent Planet - C. S. Le wis
Paralandra - also Lewis

These are both part of a trilogy, but I've only read the first two. In my opinion the first is best, but they are very different styles. The first is more science fiction based, like a Jules Verne novel, and the second is more philosophical and religious. I've heard that the third book, That Hideous Strength, has almost nothing science fiction related in it.

Also, The Lord of the Rings seems to be remarkably well known but under-read by most people my age. I read it in seventh or eighth grade, but most people I know have only seen the movies. It's a shame because they know nothing about the best parts of the story. The scouring of the shire was my favorite part of the series, and the barrow wights were great as well, but they are left out of the movies entirely.

Vaire

2008-07-30, 08:59 AM

I thought of a few more
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay (If you like Lord of the Rings, you'll like this)

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (One of the best dealings with Time Travel)

Roverandom by Tolkein

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (Why is it that people only read The Narnia stuff and the Screwtape Letters? The rest of his stuff is brilliant as well.)

As far as Heinlein's stuff goes, I know everyone reads Starship Troopers (which is an excellent book) but I honestly preferred Have Spacesuit Will Travel. Great Sci-fi for the younger set. It's how my Dad sucked me in.

Fri

2008-08-04, 11:47 AM

Thought another one.

What about... Bartimeaus Trilogy? It's my favourite young adult adventure-magical novel. I like it more than Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter or even His Dark Material.

Bartimeaus and Nathaniel's relationship, and especially, Nathaniel's character development is really amazing. He started almost like harry potter in the first book, but ended up as someone completely different at the last book.

klangley

2008-08-04, 12:39 PM

A phenomenal book that really needs to be a movie. It's a detective story set in mythical 6th century China, involving a crime so heinous that it offended the Gods. It's funny, romantic, and terrifying by turns, and the descriptive passages will leave your mouth hanging open. And I defy anyone to read the part about Number Ten Ox's sword-dance duel with a ghost and not cry.

It has two sequels that are... not bad. You'll want to read them because you'll be inlove with the characters, but don't expect the same quality.

Dragor

2008-08-04, 01:11 PM

Fri

2008-08-04, 01:22 PM

my favourite part is how Nathaniel started as a typical boy protagonist and ended up as something else. You know, he started really, really close to Harry Potter. Maybe, if Harry lay down his angst and follow his ambitionist side (like the one that the sorting hat told him) he might ended up like nathaniel.

My second favourite part is the setting. Really cool.. magipunk? What's the setting called. It's victorian age in modern era, with magic. Where The Great Brtain is still the dominant force, and the colony never rebelled (or rebelled and failed). Well thought, with cool history and such, and way more thorough and logical than Harry Potter.

After that, the magic. Well, it's closer to real life, because I know it's derived from real life magic with djinns and spirits. But that make it... tighter. The only thing a magician can do is to summon djinn, but they can do various things with it.

Huh, now it reminds me on Code Geass.

It also reminds me on another trilogy about a wide eyed boy protagonist and his descent into darkness...

Anakin Skywalker anyone?

But this one is far better and believable.

Drascin

2008-08-04, 01:23 PM

Thought another one.

What about... Bartimeaus Trilogy? It's my favourite young adult adventure-magical novel. I like it more than Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter or even His Dark Material.

I have the first book, found in a random section in a bookstore. The book is really entertaining, and Bartimaeus is mighty fun*. And a long time afterwards, I learned it was a trilogy. I am still searching for the other two.

*Particularly the footnotes

Shikton

2008-08-04, 01:42 PM

And I'd like to add the books of Astrid Lindgren, especially Mio, my Mio and Brothers Lionheart, which are some of the best children's books that exist. But sadly, nobody seems to read them...

I'll have to agree with you on Mio, min Mio. My favourite since I was a kid. Need to pick up the movie again too, makes me all nostalgic.

I'd say anything by David Gemmell. Not sure how big he is, really, but I've not met anyone (online or offline) who have read anything by him. My favourite would be "Morningstar". First person throughout the book. Fun times.

SMEE

2008-08-04, 02:12 PM

Shogun and the whole TaiPan series by Clavel is excellent.

I second this. James Clavel Asian saga is awesome.

Dervag

2008-08-04, 02:35 PM

There are a few books that I think belong in this list.

Out of the Silent Planet - C. S. Le wis
Paralandra - also Lewis

These are both part of a trilogy, but I've only read the first two. In my opinion the first is best, but they are very different styles. The first is more science fiction based, like a Jules Verne novel, and the second is more philosophical and religious. I've heard that the third book, That Hideous Strength, has almost nothing science fiction related in it.I've read all three. Lewis wasn't really trying to write science fiction. The 'science' was mostly a plot engine to get his characters where he needed them to be.

In That Hideous Strength, Lewis takes things a lot closer to home. It's fairly good if you like Christian fable. Though I have to confess I don't agree with Lewis's views on gender, and those views are one of the major 'morals of the story.'