Hard read

[old tanker]

Most of the high school required reading list was torture. Cliff's Notes saved the day. Nineteenth century English was mostly ostentatious and ponderous, Mark Twain being the notable exception. A pox on the Bronte sisters.

 

[BloodyThumb]

I read a lot. Mostly history but a touch of most anything. I have books all over the house I am afraid and someday maybe I will get all the bookcases together in one place.

My absolute favorite book of all time won a Pulitzer, though I am sure some would not consider it a classic. I am one of those people who cares very little about what other think.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. One of the few books I have read over and over.

 

[rockquarry]

I read a lot. Mostly history but a touch of most anything. I have books all over the house I am afraid and someday maybe I will get all the bookcases together in one place.

My absolute favorite book of all time won a Pulitzer, though I am sure some would not consider it a classic. I am one of those people who cares very little about what other think.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. One of the few books I have read over and over.

Like Lonesome Dove, most of McMurtry's stuff is well worth reading, but he's written a few losers.

 

[BloodyThumb]

Like Lonesome Dove, most of McMurtry's stuff is well worth reading, but he's written a few losers.

Agreed. I have read several, but LD stands out among them to me, every time I read it.

I even like his son's music and was a fan of his quite a while before I realized they were father/son.

 

[CalifEd]

And don't sell "Atlas Shrugged" short for a more modern novel with real substance. Ayn Rand penned a real masterpiece in my opinion. I wish everyone had to read Atlas Shrugged to graduate from high school.

Bryan

Actually, Atlas should be read at least 3 time; High School, when you are around 35 with a wife and kids, and when you retire.

The first book that I can remember getting into, not just reading, was Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; the light broke over the horizon, reading could be an experience.

Some of my other pleasurable re-reads that come to mind are:
MM Kay, The Far Pavilions and Shadow of the Moon,
William Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,
Stephen King, The Stand,
Herman Wouk, Winds of War and War and Remembrance, (The books, not the mini-series),
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince,
Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind,
anything by Asimov, Heinlein, Clark, Niven, Anderson (SciFi)

 

[rwsmith]

I'll try to keep it short but I LOVE reading, always have. Here are some classic books that affected me profoundly.

Moby Dick
All The King's Men
Catch 22
Siddhartha
Islands In The Stream
Macbeth
The Art of War
The Bible, specifically Ecclesiastes and the Gospels
A Clockwork Orange
Tao Te Ching


If you don't like Hemingway, I present this, which I consider to be a jam-up piece of writing:

Then they were over the first hills and the wildebeeste were trailing up them, and then they were over mountains with sudden depths of green-rising forest and the solid bamboo slopes, and then the heavy forest again, sculptured into peaks and hollows until they crossed, and hills sloped down and then another plain, hot now, andpurple brown, bumpy with heat and Compie looking back to see how he was riding. Then there were other mountains dark ahead. And then instead of going on to Arusha they turned left, he evidently figured that they had the gas, and looking down he saw a pinksifting cloud, moving over the ground, and in the air, like the firstsnow in a blizzard, that comes from nowhere, and he knew the locusts were coming up from the South. Then they began to climb and they were going to the East it seemed, and then it darkened and they were in a storm, the rain so thick it seemed like flying through a waterfall,and then they were out and Compie turned his head and grinned and pointed and there, ahead, all he could see, as wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun, was the square top of Kilimanjaro. And then he knew that there was where he was going.

 

[rwsmith]

Actually, Atlas should be read at least 3 time; High School, when you are around 35 with a wife and kids, and when you retire.

The first book that I can remember getting into, not just reading, was Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; the light broke over the horizon, reading could be an experience.

Some of my other pleasurable re-reads that come to mind are:
MM Kay, The Far Pavilions and Shadow of the Moon,
William Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,
Stephen King, The Stand,
Herman Wouk, Winds of War and War and Remembrance, (The books, not the mini-series),
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince,
Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind,
anything by Asimov, Heinlein, Clark, Niven, Anderson (SciFi)

I thought 'Atlas Shrugged' would make a decent pamphlet. The idea of the movers and shakers going on 'strike' was
intriguing, but it didn't need 900 pages to make that point.

 

[Legendarylawman]

Lord of the Pigs in High School. But I didn't read it. Solid D.

 

[crasig]

My favorite reads are "NOIR" classics (Hardboiled Fiction). I have everything RAYMOND CHANDLER wrote, & most of ROSS MACDONALDS works, + DASHIEL HAMNETs . I also enjoy DOUGLAS REEMANS Naval fiction, Adventures by Hamond Innes,
*SPECIAL MENTION: International Intriques by ERIC AMBLER ( A favorite was his "A PASSAGE OF ARMS") +
A book called "THE FAR ARENA" by RICHARD BEN SAPIR (which changed the way I look at the modern world ) + many others. I read to escape TO MORE INTERESTING VISTAS, & for relaxation. I save my good books - SO I can re-read them in a few years. Also a huge fan of FILM NOIR, & have collected favorites of them as well.
See pix below - of favorite Noirs, & recommended favorite Books.
Hope you find them amusing, C.

 

[bk42261]

Some of Griffin's novels were very entertaining, and some were just trash.

Same with Tom Clancy,,,,,

 

[Mister Coffee]

The first book that I can remember getting into, not just reading, was Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; the light broke over the horizon, reading could be an experience.

I had the same experience, but with a different book. Funny how that happens.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Those who like fiction set in the south will enjoy the Penn Cage series written by Greg Iles. I forget all the titles, but there are several in the series. They can be read as standalones, but are even better read in order. While not exactly difficult reads, I find the characters to be believable, and the fairly complex plots to be entertaining.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Same with Tom Clancy,,,,,

I liked all the Clancy novels that were written by Clancy himself. The ones written by others and styled as "Tom Clancy's _____ by Joe Blow" are much inferior.

 

[45Smashemflat]

I have only read one book in my life. The Damned Engineers. They made me read it at Officer Basic Engineer Course at Ft Belvoir in 1984. So, I have that going for me!

Ok, another to add to the list…

 

[45Smashemflat]

Someone mentioned Roger Pinckney earlier. His short stories in various outdoor/shooting magazines (Gray's, for example) are outstanding. His few novels are good too. A great southern writer gone too soon.

Setting aside his politics, King's The Stand (the original and the later full version) were quite, good to me.

 

[Mister Coffee]

I read a lot. Mostly history but a touch of most anything. I have books all over the house I am afraid and someday maybe I will get all the bookcases together in one place.

My absolute favorite book of all time won a Pulitzer, though I am sure some would not consider it a classic. I am one of those people who cares very little about what other think.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. One of the few books I have read over and over.

I liked the movie of The Last Picture Show, but I haven't read the book. Do you happen to know if it's any good?

 

[Krogen]

I liked all the Clancy novels that were written by Clancy himself. The ones written by others and styled as "Tom Clancy's _____ by Joe Blow" are much inferior.

Agreed. At first I didn't notice the imposter author. It only took a few pages to figure out it wasn't Clancy's writing, and was poorly done. I admit to picking up a second book and it just confirmed my initial impression. Perhaps I'm overly harsh, but in my opinion, Clancy sold out.

 

[BloodyThumb]

I liked the movie of The Last Picture Show, but I haven't read the book. Do you happen to know if it's any good?

Well…. I liked it. I enjoyed the movie too but the book was better.