Book Club: Suggestions for April [Archive]

abbey

03-07-2008, 5:04 PM

Suggestions will close on the 14th this month since we're behind schedule.

Before suggesting anything, please go over the format for suggestions (http://forums.explosm.net/showpost.php?p=373884&postcount=2).

You are free to suggest a book that was suggested last month, but if it didn't get in the poll last time, it probably won't this time.

Also, don't bother suggesting books that are longer than 350 pages. We want to make it easy for people to read these books in one month, so we have to have a limit on length.

WiseOldTabbyCat

03-07-2008, 5:16 PM

Dune by Frank Herbert.

USER WAS PUT IN TIMEOUT FOR THIS POST. (http://forums.explosm.net/bankamp/)
Reason: Try actually reading the first post next time.

person

03-07-2008, 5:23 PM

Dune by Frank Herbert.

Are you serious? Read the suggestion format man.
Anyway, I hope you don't mind, abbey, but I found Anthem to be a great suggestion last month and just want to make sure somebody suggests it this month. So:

Title: Anthem
Author: Ayn Rand
Genre: Fiction (not quite sure what to group it under, maybe sci-fi.)
Pages: 272

Synopsis:
Anthem is written as the diary of Equality 7-2521, a young man living in a future in which people have lost all knowledge of individualism, to the point of not even knowing words like "I" or "mine." Everyone lives and works in collective groups, with all aspects of daily life dictated by "councils" -- the Council of Vocations, the Council of Scholars, etc. His curiosity leads him to forbidden discoveries and eventually to exile, where he makes the greatest discovery of all.

Review:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joan DeArmond, Fact Forum News, Dallas
In her usage of the English language she combines clarity of expression with prose of poetic grace. Here, indeed, is an anthem-an anthem, not in the idiom of music, but in the more difficult medium of words alone. This is the most beautiful, the most inspiring novel this reviewer has ever read. It is an ethical and philosophical rather than a religious dedication to freedom and the individual.

You can read the first page here. There's also an excerpt you can read, and the back cover for a bit more synopsis.

Matt

03-07-2008, 5:36 PM

Title: The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God & Other Stories
Author: Etgar Keret
Genre: Fiction/Short Stories
Pages: 200

Synopsis/Review:

Came in second place last month!

Via Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Bus-Driver-Wanted-Other-Stories/dp/1592641059): Etgar Keret's The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories stings and thrills with fierce fables of modern life. Set in landscapes ranging from "this armpit town outside Austin, Texas" to "this village in Uzbekistan that was built right smack at the mouth of Hell," these stories lay their plots' central tensions out plainly: "Dad wouldn't buy me a Bart Simpson doll," one begins. Then they take off like little roller coasters, careening through the pathos of Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son, the clowning of David Sedaris's Barrel Fever, the in-your-face violence of Quentin Tarantino, and the bewildered alienation of Franz Kafka. But readers need not know any of Keret's sources to enjoy his stories fully. The Israeli writer's aphorisms leap off the page and lodge themselves in the mind: "There are two kinds of people, those who like to sleep next to the wall, and those who like to sleep next to the people who push them off the bed." Keret's vernacular prose is fun to read, and his vision of the world is weirdly comforting. Happiness never really flourishes, but small hopes and graces abound.

Cob450

03-07-2008, 6:08 PM

Probably too many people have read this already, but I haven't read it in a while so:
Title: Foundation
Author: Isaac Asimov
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: (hardcover version on Amazon) 256

Synopsis:
From Amazon:
Foundation marks the first of a series of tales set so far in the future that Earth is all but forgotten by humans who live throughout the galaxy. Yet all is not well with the Galactic Empire. Its vast size is crippling to it. In particular, the administrative planet, honeycombed and tunneled with offices and staff, is vulnerable to attack or breakdown. The only person willing to confront this imminent catastrophe is Hari Seldon, a psychohistorian and mathematician. Seldon can scientifically predict the future, and it doesn't look pretty: a new Dark Age is scheduled to send humanity into barbarism in 500 years. He concocts a scheme to save the knowledge of the race in an Encyclopedia Galactica. But this project will take generations to complete, and who will take up the torch after him?

Cob450

03-07-2008, 6:14 PM

Title: Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!: Cartoonist Ignores Helpful Advice
Author: Scott Adams
Genre: not sure, it's a collection of entries from his blog
Pages: 368

Synopsis:
From Amazon (Booklist review):
Adams, creator of the wildly popular Dilbert comic strip and 23 books, including the best-selling Dilbert Principle (1997) and Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook (1997), ventures out to write his first non-Dilbert book, ostensibly against the best advice of his fans. Taken from Adam's Dilbert blog, he offers more than 150 short pieces covering every slice of life beyond the workplace, such as tips on how not to dance like a dork, comic relief on the fears of terrorism, the not-so-subtle differences between men and women, embarrassing public-bathroom moments, appropriate uses for your own clone, and so on. One can't help comparing this random collection of quips to similar observations by Dave Barry (who gets a mention), and the results are just as witty. You will constantly find yourself thinking "I wish I had said that," while you admit to sharing all of his politically incorrect thoughts that we don't dare speak of. Seemingly without consciously doing it, Adams reveals much about his personality, fears, and inner thought process.

Kmaster

03-07-2008, 6:36 PM

Title:The Sun Also Rises
Author:Ernest Hemingway
Genre:Not quite sure
Pages:253

Synopsis:
From Amazon:
The quintessential novel of the Lost Generation, The Sun Also Rises is one of Ernest Hemingway's masterpieces and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway's most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century

Matt

03-07-2008, 6:46 PM

A collection of blog posts by the guy who does Dilbert is the closest thing to the definition of boredom I've ever heard of.

History

03-07-2008, 6:56 PM

Title: Running With Scissors: A Memoir
Author: Augusten Burroughs
Genre: Autobiography
Pages: 336

I saw the movie based off of this book and it was off the wall. I'll probably read it even if it doesn't get picked, but I figured that I would suggest it.

Synopsis: (From Amazon.com)

This memoir by Burroughs is certainly unique; among other adventures, he recounts how his mother's psychiatrist took her to a motel for therapy, while at home the kids chopped a hole in the roof to make the kitchen brighter. Not all craziness, though, this account reveals the feelings of sadness and dislocation this unusual upbringing brought upon Burroughs and his friends. His early family life was characterized by his parents' break-and-destroy fights, and after his parents separated, his mother practically abandoned Burroughs in hopes of achieving fame as a poet. At 12, he went to live with the family (and a few patients) of his mother's psychiatrist. At the doctor's home, children did as they wished: they skipped school, ate whatever they wanted, engaged in whatever sexual adventures came along, and trashed the house and everything in it, while the mother watched TV and occasionally dusted. Burroughs has written an entertaining yet horrifying account that isn't for the squeamish: the scatological content and explicit homosexual episodes may limit its appeal. Recommended for the adventurous seeking an unsettling experience among the grotesque. Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Matt

03-07-2008, 7:28 PM

I saw the movie as well. It was definitely off the walls, but more often than not it was only off the walls. They forgot to be entertaining at the same time. Maybe the book does a better job.

Cob450

03-07-2008, 7:30 PM

A collection of blog posts by the guy who does Dilbert is the closest thing to the definition of boredom I've ever heard of.

It's not all office humor, you know. He talks about all sorts of things ranging from politics to personal experiences and everything in between, and he has very interesting ideas.

abbey

03-07-2008, 7:37 PM

Running With Scissors is definitely one of the best books I've ever read, and I'd love to read it again.

NVM

03-07-2008, 9:16 PM

Title: Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 304

The first season of the new show, Dexter, was loosely based on this novel.

Synopsis: (From Amazon.com)

Meet Dexter Morgan. He's a highly respected lab technician specializing in blood spatter for the Miami Dade Police Department. He's a handsome, though reluctant, ladies' man. He's polite, says all the right things, and rarely calls attention to himself. He's also a sociopathic serial killer whose "Dark Passenger" drives him to commit the occasional dismemberment.

Mind you, Dexter's the good guy in this story.

Adopted at the age of four after an unnamed tragedy left him orphaned, Dexter's learned, with help from his pragmatic policeman father, to channel his "gift," killing only those who deal in death themselves. But when a new serial killer starts working in Miami, staging elaborately grisly scenes that are, to Dexter, an obvious attempt at communication from one monster to another, the eponymous protagonist finds himself at a loss. Should he help his policewoman sister Deborah earn a promotion to the Homicide desk by finding the fiend? Or should he locate this new killer himself, so he can express his admiration for the other's "art?" Or is it possible that psycho Dexter himself, admittedly not the most balanced of fellows, is finally going completely insane and committing these messy crimes himself?

Despite his penchant for vivisection, it's hard not to like Dexter as his coldly logical personality struggles to emulate emotions he doesn't feel and to keep up his appearance as a caring, unremarkable human being. Breakout author Jeff Lindsay's plot is tense and absorbing, but it's the voice of Dexter and his reactions to the other characters that will keep readers glued to Darkly Dreaming Dexter, as well as making it one of the most original and highly recommended serial killer stories in a long time. --Benjamin Reese

Norik

03-07-2008, 9:16 PM

Title: I Am The Messenger
Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Mystery/Drama
Pages: 368

Synopsis:
When Ed Kennedy, an underaged cab-driver, inadvertently stops a bank robbery, his life changes forever. Because that's when he receives the Ace of Diamonds. That's when he becomes the messenger.

Review:
Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Messenger-Markus-Zusak/dp/0375836675)

Kmaster

03-08-2008, 11:16 AM

Title:The Perks of Being A Wallflower
Author:Stephen Chbosky
Genre:Young adult novel/Epistolatory novel
Pages:224

Synopsis:
From Amazon:
What is most notable about this funny, touching, memorable first novel from Stephen Chbosky is the resounding accuracy with which the author captures the voice of a boy teetering on the brink of adulthood. Charlie is a freshman. And while's he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. He's a wallflower--shy and introspective, and intelligent beyond his years, if not very savvy in the social arts. We learn about Charlie through the letters he writes to someone of undisclosed name, age, and gender, a stylistic technique that adds to the heart-wrenching earnestness saturating this teen's story. Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids face in high school--how to make friends, the intensity of a crush, family tensions, a first relationship, exploring sexuality, experimenting with drugs--but he must also deal with his best friend's recent suicide. Charlie's letters take on the intimate feel of a journal as he shares his day-to-day thoughts and feelings:

I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report due on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why.

With the help of a teacher who recognizes his wisdom and intuition, and his two friends, seniors Samantha and Patrick, Charlie mostly manages to avoid the depression he feels creeping up like kudzu. When it all becomes too much, after a shocking realization about his beloved late Aunt Helen, Charlie retreats from reality for awhile. But he makes it back in due time, ready to face his sophomore year and all that it may bring. Charlie, sincerely searching for that feeling of "being infinite," is a kindred spirit to the generation that's been slapped with the label X.

Hypnotic

03-08-2008, 1:15 PM

Title: The Things They Carried
Author: Tim O'Brien
Genre: Short story/war
Pages: 272

http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0767902890/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205003394&sr=8-2

Synopsis/Review
Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is a book that transcends the genre of war fiction. Actually, it transcends the genre of fiction in general. Although labeled "a work of fiction" on the title page, the book really combines aspects of memoir, novel, and short story collection. I think you could use Audre Lorde's term "biomythography" to describe this book.

The first-person narrator of this book (named, like the author, Tim O'Brien) is a writer and combat veteran of the Vietnam War. The book actually deals with events before and after the war, in addition to depicting the war itself; the time span covers more than 30 years in the lives of O'Brien and his fellow soldiers.

"The Things They Carried" is an intensely "writerly" text. By that I mean that O'Brien and his characters often reflect directly on the activities of storytelling and writing. As a reader, I got the sense that I was being invited into the very process by which the book was created. This is an extraordinary technique, and O'Brien pulls it off brilliantly.

This being a war story, there are some truly disturbing, graphic, and violent scenes. But there are also scenes that are haunting, funny, surreal, or ironic. O'Brien depicts a memorable group of soldiers: the guilt-wracked Lieut. Cross; Kiowa, a Native American and devout, Bible-carrying Baptist; the sadistic but playful Azar; and more.

While this book is a complete and cohesive work of art, many of its component stories could stand alone as independent pieces of literature (in fact, I first encountered the title story in an anthology). But however you classify it, I consider "The Things They Carried" to be a profoundly moving masterpiece.

Chocoholic

03-08-2008, 3:40 PM

Review:
Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Messenger-Markus-Zusak/dp/0375836675)

Jesus Christ. You pick an amazing book like I am the Messenger and can't even write a review for it?! I guess I'll do this book justice.

I loved this book. Being a dark comedy lover, almost all the laughs in here will come out of Ed's sarcastic views about things. The humor is comparable to that of Chuck Palahniuk (which is a plus to me). But even when everything seems happy and light, many of the undertones and dark and quite depressing. Ed may think he doesn't care and that everything is fine within his life (minus the fact that he's illegally driving taxis) but deep down it really isn't. And that is what makes this so good. To Ed, his card quests are really just ways to uncover a mystery and help others in need. In all reality however, the quests are really helping Ed. You'll see him go through just about every emotion possible. I am the Messenger is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, which is exactly what life is like.

I honestly think everyone will enjoy this book. Plus it's not too long, so those of us with actual lives may actually be able to finish it.

dalton

03-08-2008, 3:43 PM

Title: Johnny Got His Gun
Author: Dalton Trumbo
Genre: Anti-war story
Pages: unknown

Synopsis/Review
During World War I, an American soldier named Joe Bonham awakens in a hospital and realizes his arms, legs, ears, and face have been destroyed by an artillery shell. After nine years of lying in bed, he begins to tap messages in Morse Code by moving his head. He communicates with a nurse and asks for someone to help him either die or leave the hospital to join a freak show.

While its theme is strongly anti-war, Trumbo notes in the foreword that he removed the book from publication on the eve of World War II because he did not want its message to obscure the issues around that war.

The film is also used in the video for One by Metallica if any of you are interested and thats what really peaked my interest in this book.

abbey

03-08-2008, 3:58 PM

Are you serious? Read the suggestion format man.
Anyway, I hope you don't mind, abbey, but I found Anthem to be a great suggestion last month and just want to make sure somebody suggests it this month. So:

Title: Anthem
Author: Ayn Rand
Genre: Fiction (not quite sure what to group it under, maybe sci-fi.)
Pages: 272

Synopsis:
Anthem is written as the diary of Equality 7-2521, a young man living in a future in which people have lost all knowledge of individualism, to the point of not even knowing words like "I" or "mine." Everyone lives and works in collective groups, with all aspects of daily life dictated by "councils" -- the Council of Vocations, the Council of Scholars, etc. His curiosity leads him to forbidden discoveries and eventually to exile, where he makes the greatest discovery of all.

Review:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joan DeArmond, Fact Forum News, Dallas
In her usage of the English language she combines clarity of expression with prose of poetic grace. Here, indeed, is an anthem-an anthem, not in the idiom of music, but in the more difficult medium of words alone. This is the most beautiful, the most inspiring novel this reviewer has ever read. It is an ethical and philosophical rather than a religious dedication to freedom and the individual.

You can read the first page here. There's also an excerpt you can read, and the back cover for a bit more synopsis.
Since you did a crap job of actually putting in the quote and the links, here's the link to my original post for people:

http://forums.explosm.net/showpost.php?p=373981&postcount=3

dalton

03-08-2008, 4:19 PM

Title:Angela's Ashes
Author:Frank McCourt
Genre:Autobiography
Pages:426

Synopsis

From amazon:
"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting clichés about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty, and frequent death and illness, and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings of a compelling memoir. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Title:The Pact
Author:Jodi Picoult
Genre:Teenage love story
Pages:500+

Review

This is a real page turner. Emily and Chris were born six months apart, lived next door to one another and grew up together. Their families were close and each felt part of the others family. As they got older, the enivitable happens and they fall in love, both families are happy. Then at 17, Emily dies from a gunshot wound to the head, as part of an apparent suicide pact with Chris, only Chris survives.

The book alternates between the past, tracing the history of Chris and Em's relationship and Now, as Chris faces an uncertain future.

The reader see all sides of the story and as such knows all the secrets of the characters. You are waiting all the way through the story for some of the big secrets to be shared, especially one that affects Emily.

NVM

03-08-2008, 4:24 PM

Jesus Christ. You pick an amazing book like I am the Messenger and can't even write a review for it?! I guess I'll do this book justice.

Well most of the people suggesting books haven't read them.

Chocoholic

03-08-2008, 4:36 PM

Really? Well then damn. I was under the assumption that the people suggesting the books had read them (or at least part of it). My bad.

Not RobD

03-08-2008, 10:18 PM

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71G21N1TSFL._SS500_.gif
Title:The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death
Auther: Jean-Dominique Bauby
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 144
Synopsis: A memoir written by Elle magazines editor using only his left eye, who suffered a rare stroke to the brain stem.

Review: (http://www.amazon.com/Diving-Bell-Butterfly-Memoir-Death/dp/0375701214)At the age of forty three he suffered a massive stroke that led to his paralysis, a victim of "locked-in syndrome". That is he was perfectly cognizant, but unable to move any part of his body except his left eyelid. Two days after the book was published in France, he died.

The book is truly a testament to the human spirit, and the healing powers of the mind. Far from being a "woe-is-me" feel sorry for myself biography, Bauby rises above that to embrace the life he remembers. A life that sometimes took for granted the simplist of tasks such as shaving, eating, or merely forming a word.

Obviously no one lives their life aware of every minute detail as it passes by (except maybe poets), and in fact it's not until something's taken away that we really appreciate it. However, Bauby's book made me grateful and appreciate what I have, and even if just for a little while forget about what I don't.

timbot

03-08-2008, 11:20 PM

Wait, the dude wrote a book using only his left eye? How in the world did he pull that off?

Tweek

03-08-2008, 11:54 PM

Wait, the dude wrote a book using only his left eye? How in the world did he pull that off?
A helper went through every letter of the French alphabet and when they got to the right letter, he would blink.

abbey

03-09-2008, 12:08 AM

No wonder it's only 144 pages.

Tweek

03-09-2008, 12:16 AM

Yeah but apparently it is really good.

dalton

03-09-2008, 1:34 AM

I was jus talking about that book yesterday. It's a bit like Johny got his gun which i suggested further up where the person can only communicate through a slight movement in there body. I'm guessin the man used morse code.

GCBC

03-09-2008, 6:52 AM

TheFirstFormat

03-10-2008, 11:14 AM

Title: The Virgin Suicides
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 256

Synopsis:
From Amazon:
Eugenides's tantalizing, macabre first novel begins with a suicide, the first of the five bizarre deaths of the teenage daughters in the Lisbon family; the rest of the work, set in the author's native Michigan in the early 1970s, is a backward-looking quest as the male narrator and his nosy, horny pals describe how they strove to understand the odd clan of this first chapter, which appeared in the Paris Review , where it won the 1991 Aga Khan Prize for fiction. The sensationalism of the subject matter (based loosely on a factual account) may be off-putting to some readers, but Eugenides's voice is so fresh and compelling, his powers of observation so startling and acute, that most will be mesmerized. The title derives from a song by the fictional rock band Cruel Crux, a favorite of the Lisbon daughter Lux--who, unlike her sisters Therese, Mary, Bonnie and Cecilia, is anything but a virgin by the tale's end. Her mother forces Lux to burn the album along with others she considers dangerously provocative. Mr. Lisbon, a mild-mannered high school math teacher, is driven to resign by parents who believe his control of their children may be as deficient as his control of his own brood. Eugenides risks sounding sophomoric in his attempt to convey the immaturity of high-school boys; while initially somewhat discomfiting, the narrator's voice (representing the collective memories of the group) acquires the ring of authenticity. The author is equally convincing when he describes the older locals' reactions to the suicide attempts. Under the narrator's goofy, posturing banter are some hard truths: mortality is a fact of life; teenage girls are more attracted to brawn than to brains (contrary to the testimony of the narrator's male relatives). This is an auspicious debut from an imaginative and talented writer. Literary Guild selection.

Kin-x

03-11-2008, 12:04 PM

Title: Mister B. Gone
Author: Clive Barker
Genre: Fiction/Horror
Pages: 256

Synopsis:
Jackabob Botch, a demon from the ninth layer of hell asks you just to burn his book. And yes I do mean you.

Review:amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Mister-B-Gone-Clive-Barker/dp/0060182989)

I sugest not going to wikipedia for this one because it gives you the entire story. :(

jimrazor

03-12-2008, 7:46 AM

Title: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

I would love to read it :) (was my suggestion last month;)

dalton

03-12-2008, 12:21 PM

I would love to read it :) (was my suggestion last month;)

Yeh, that sounds pretty good.

schlachthof.funf

03-12-2008, 5:25 PM

Title:The Alchemist
Author:Paolo Coelho
Genre:Fiction/fable
Pages:208

Synopsis: from Amazon:
The charming tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world, is compelling in its own right, but gains resonance through the many lessons Santiago learns during his adventures. He journeys from Spain to Morocco in search of worldly success, and eventually to Egypt, where a fateful encounter with an alchemist brings him at last to self-understanding and spiritual enlightenment. The story has the comic charm, dramatic tension and psychological intensity of a fairy tale, but it's full of specific wisdom as well, about becoming self-empowered, overcoming depression, and believing in dreams. The cumulative effect is like hearing a wonderful bedtime story from an inspirational psychiatrist. Comparisons to The Little Prince are appropriate; this is a sweetly exotic tale for young and old alike.

Review: from Amazon:
Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.

Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."

HoneyAndCinnamon

03-14-2008, 12:03 AM

The alchemist is a great book to suggest! Definitely one of my favorites of all time. Its a shorter book and very easy to read. Like many other folk/fable tales, there is a moral to the story, but you would have to read the entire book to understand the moral of this story, and believe me there is a great one ^_^.

ericssin

03-14-2008, 12:30 AM

yeah it's good haven't read an English version yet hope it's well translated.

may I suggest a book too?

Title: Of Love and Other Demons(Del amor y otros demonios)
Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
pages: arround 147 pp

Synopsis:
In the slave market in a tropical Columbian seaport, venturing to buy a string of bells, the Marquis's twelve-year-old daughter Sierva Maria is bitten by a rabid dog. 'No medicine cures what happiness cannot,' the wily physician Abrenuncio advises her father. García Márquez's magical novel of doomed love tells of Sierva Maria's incarceration in the convent of Santa Clara where Cayetano Delaura, the young priest sent to exorcise the virulent demon of her sickness, falls in love with her.

Garcia Marquez quick ass specially if you read it in sapnish :)

timbot

03-14-2008, 12:55 PM

I read Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and really liked it. I've been meaning to pick up another of his novels, but still haven't. I'd definitely like to see this as the book for April.

DannyD

03-14-2008, 7:08 PM

Title: Running With Scissors: A Memoir

Wow! I was just going to suggest this book! It's fantastic and my favorite part is when he compares the taste of his boyfriends semen with alfalfa and then is tempted to ask the fat roommate if all guys taste like alfalfa xD

Title: The Virgin Suicides

This was an amazing book. The point of view was fantastic and it was depressing in what can only be described as a "good" way

Title: Anthem

Not going to lie, this was one of the crappiest novellas I have ever read... I thought we said no books you would read in school. We read this one and had objectivism shoved in our thoughts every day for three months. It is not too bad of a book but if your not into philosophy I would not suggest looking into it too deeply.

Matt

03-14-2008, 8:01 PM

You actually had Anthem as a required reading in school? Was this a college philosophy class or just high school?

Norik

03-15-2008, 9:23 AM

Well most of the people suggesting books haven't read them.

I've read I Am The Messenger. Twice.
I was just tired when I made that post.
Geez.

INTUNEevolution

03-15-2008, 9:43 AM

This is my favorite book of all time. It's written by a poet and is the most beautiful work of literature I've ever read. Consider this book, it has very powerful lines.
And hey, he's an obscure author, so you can pretend to like him for the ladies and look really cultured at the same time.

Title: Samedi, The Deafness
Author: Jesse Ball
Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: From Publishers Weekly
Unspecified cataclysm threatens in this unconventional debut spy fable from poet Ball. As mysterious suicides are staged daily on the White House lawn, James Sim, a loner and professional mnemonist (someone who can memorize large amounts of data), comes upon a man stabbed in a park. The man's dying words cast light on garbled notes left by the White House suicides that threaten something very big and very bad in seven days' time. Following the dead man's clues (over seven days in as many chapters), Sim cracks ciphers, explores hidden passages of a fictional, labyrinth-like verisylum and struggles to find a straight answer about Samedi, the figure seemingly at the center of the matter. The suicides continue, and the only good advice comes from female pickpocket Grieve, who goes by false names, spies on Sim and falls for him. There are flashbacks to conversations with Sim's childhood imaginary friend (an invisible red owl named Ansilon) and a detailed, history of the fictional 18th-century inventor of the verisylum. Ball writes scenes that read like prose poetry and cultivates a Beckett-like alienated digression rather than standard plot mechanics. The results are highly imaginative but hard going. (Sept.)
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Review: Best read the reviews and the excerpt online, here's the link.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0307278859/ref=dp_proddesc_0/105-1105083-5542006?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books