mathmission
05-24-2006, 03:34 PM
Here are some books I'd recommend...
The Box Man – Kobo Abe – Crazy weird book that takes patients. It’s about people that give up their lives to live in boxes, and watch other people. It has somewhat of a twist at the end, where you begin to question of the 4 independent stories that are told are actually the same person. Decent book, but a little confusing if you are a fast reader. I don’t remember it being all that graphic, but the ending is somewhat ‘dark.’
Things Fall Apart – Achebe – A story of an African man living in a tribe. As I remember, the British come down to colonize, and introduce Christianity. Okonkwo (sp?) must choose between his religion, and the new one being introduced. He makes a decision that commits a crime against his ‘mother earth.’ A good read if you’re interested in African cultures, and emotions relating to other religions.
Time’s Arrow – Amis – A story about an old man living in the USA, is posing as an American. He is actually German, and was a part of the Nazi party years ago. This story is as if you were to put a consciousness into a human, and live his life backwards, literally. He talks about taking food out of his mouth, and, as a doctor, when he operates; he takes them apart (seeing as though it’s all backwards.) You learn that he’s not actually a good doctor, but was part of the team that worked on testing Jews for the Nazis. It’s an interesting story, and an interesting read. Not graphic, but strange.
The Sweet Hereafter – Banks – Story about a small town, and its reaction to a school bus crash. It never talks about the actual crash; just the reactions of the people. How some people want to move on from tragedy, while others want to sue, and continue the feelings. Tells several different perspectives of how people react. Short read, not graphic. Entertaining.
And Then There were None – Christie – Might also be called Ten Little Indians. A mystery novel about ten people that are invited to an island retreat. They are all killed in succession, according to a small poem written on the wall, the child’s poem “Ten Little Indians.” All ten are killed, and you are left to figure out who did it. Don’t read ahead! It’s a good, fun little book if you’re interested in a fun mystery. Not graphic at all (British novel)
Foust* - Goethe (pronounced Gare – ta) – LONG POEM! It’s a lot like Paradise Lost, by John Milton. It is about a man that travels to Hell and back. Read at your own risk, as it’s old, and translated from German. It’s just one of those classics that you might be interested in if you’ve read Paradise Lost.
The Truth Machine - James Halperin – Another fun read. It is about a man that is a genius, and he invents a machine that can tell if a human is telling the truth or not. It starts at his childhood, and goes until his later years. What would happen to society if people were wearing little watch like things, and would flash each time someone lied? How would society change? How would crime change? What they do is change the law…if you kill someone, you are killed. They ask, and you answer, and with a 100% accuracy rate, they will always know. What will this do to human free will? Good read. Nothing overly special, but fun nevertheless.
Pale View of Hills – Ishiguro – Weird…tells the tale of a woman who lived in Nagasaki post WW2, during the dropping of the A-Bomb. It’s one of those novels that talks about society and it’s changes when Americans are introduced into a culture. The real theme, however, is the woman, and how she deals with something more personal: the suicide of her daughter. A ghost seems to be haunting her, and near the end, you begin to question if what she has told you is accurate, or if she’s fabricated the entire thing. Much like Abe, not a fast read through, but an interesting story.
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest – If you’ve seen the movie, you pretty much know what this is about. A man decides that he no longer wants to live on the outside, and have to work. So he fakes having a mental illness to live in a mental hospital. But once there, he learns how things are on the inside. He feels as if trapped by the nurse, as if he is in a prison. He tries to convince the people to break free, and due to his attempts at disrupting schedule, he is treated as a patient, with a lobotomy. Good story, and good movie. IMDB top 100 list, I’m pretty sure.
Laughable Love – Kundera – Tells 4 different stories that are interwoven, examining relationships that cross each other. It’s been a super long time, so I don’t really remember much about it, outside of the fact that I really enjoyed it. It has to do with some people that work in a hospital, and how their lives, and loves sort of cross over. More of one of those ‘human spirit’ books.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Kundera – Made into a movie as well, but never saw it. Takes place in East Europe, and tells the story of a man, his wife, and the man that she has an affair with…I think… And it’s not told in the proper order, out of chronological order that is. There was also something about a child, but it’s been so long, I don’t really remember what happens. I just remember that I really enjoyed the novel. It talks about the man, and his feeling for a mistress (THAT’s what it is!) and how he deals with it emotionally, in terms of also living with his wife. You’ll have to do some checking up on this, but as I remember, pretty good.
Bright Lights, Big City – McInerney – Strange book about the 80s, and night clubs. It tells the story of a successful business man that is drawn into night clubs and drugs. The thing that made this story interesting is that it’s told in second person. “You walk down the street, and see a man. You wonder to yourself if he’s one of them, or just another person, on just another street.” Something like that. Good book, and super fast read. Not very big at all, but neat.
1984* - Orwell – COMMUNISM! That’s what this one is about. It’s actually about a futuristic society that is run by Big Brother. And one man starts to break away from the same mundane existence. If you’ve read Anthem by Aynn Rand, it’s sort of like that.
Blindness – Saramago – Difficult read! If you’re looking for something easy, stay away. This book is about a nation (unnamed) that is struck with an illness of blindness. But it’s a white blindness. All are affected, except one woman, who fakes having it so she can be with her husband, a doctor. This is especially hard to read because the paragraphs are long, and there are no quotation marks, indicating who is talking. In essence, the author makes you feel blind as to what’s going on. This story lays out what he thinks will happen to human society if everyone is blind. How animalistic some of us are when it comes to survival. Graphic scene in the middle (sexual violence, and murder) but a very good story. Tough to get through. One of my favorites, but very very heavy!
Mother Night – Vonnegut – Per all of Vonnegut’s stories, this is a very light book. Mother Night is about a man, American, living in Germany during WW2. He is a play write that is recruited by the government to be an American Spy. The man joins the Nazi party, and spies for the Americans (none of this is actually in the novel) The story tells of how this man lives after the war, seeing as though
Player Piano – Vonnegut – I’ve not read this…but in terms of Vonnegut, I hear it’s a must. The one thing that I do know is that the chapters are rather long, in terms of his writing style, so not necessarily as fast a read.
Time Quake – Vonnegut – Very fast read about a man, Kilgore Trout, who is a science fiction writer. I don’t remember the date, but what happens is that on said date, everyone jumps back ten years. They are forced to do everything exactly as they were supposed to, and sort of lose free will, until they reach the time quake again. At that moment, everyone seems to be shocked out of their state of control, and such. Good funny story.
Picture of Dorian Gray* – Wilde – Great story about a man who asks for eternal life, and is granted it by a woman. She paints a portrait of him, and says that the picture shall age, but he never will. The one downside is that he must never look at the picture. If he does, all the years will be given to him, and the painting shall return to a new look. It’s an older one, but a good book to read if you’re looking for a classic.
The Box Man – Kobo Abe – Crazy weird book that takes patients. It’s about people that give up their lives to live in boxes, and watch other people. It has somewhat of a twist at the end, where you begin to question of the 4 independent stories that are told are actually the same person. Decent book, but a little confusing if you are a fast reader. I don’t remember it being all that graphic, but the ending is somewhat ‘dark.’
Things Fall Apart – Achebe – A story of an African man living in a tribe. As I remember, the British come down to colonize, and introduce Christianity. Okonkwo (sp?) must choose between his religion, and the new one being introduced. He makes a decision that commits a crime against his ‘mother earth.’ A good read if you’re interested in African cultures, and emotions relating to other religions.
Time’s Arrow – Amis – A story about an old man living in the USA, is posing as an American. He is actually German, and was a part of the Nazi party years ago. This story is as if you were to put a consciousness into a human, and live his life backwards, literally. He talks about taking food out of his mouth, and, as a doctor, when he operates; he takes them apart (seeing as though it’s all backwards.) You learn that he’s not actually a good doctor, but was part of the team that worked on testing Jews for the Nazis. It’s an interesting story, and an interesting read. Not graphic, but strange.
The Sweet Hereafter – Banks – Story about a small town, and its reaction to a school bus crash. It never talks about the actual crash; just the reactions of the people. How some people want to move on from tragedy, while others want to sue, and continue the feelings. Tells several different perspectives of how people react. Short read, not graphic. Entertaining.
And Then There were None – Christie – Might also be called Ten Little Indians. A mystery novel about ten people that are invited to an island retreat. They are all killed in succession, according to a small poem written on the wall, the child’s poem “Ten Little Indians.” All ten are killed, and you are left to figure out who did it. Don’t read ahead! It’s a good, fun little book if you’re interested in a fun mystery. Not graphic at all (British novel)
Foust* - Goethe (pronounced Gare – ta) – LONG POEM! It’s a lot like Paradise Lost, by John Milton. It is about a man that travels to Hell and back. Read at your own risk, as it’s old, and translated from German. It’s just one of those classics that you might be interested in if you’ve read Paradise Lost.
The Truth Machine - James Halperin – Another fun read. It is about a man that is a genius, and he invents a machine that can tell if a human is telling the truth or not. It starts at his childhood, and goes until his later years. What would happen to society if people were wearing little watch like things, and would flash each time someone lied? How would society change? How would crime change? What they do is change the law…if you kill someone, you are killed. They ask, and you answer, and with a 100% accuracy rate, they will always know. What will this do to human free will? Good read. Nothing overly special, but fun nevertheless.
Pale View of Hills – Ishiguro – Weird…tells the tale of a woman who lived in Nagasaki post WW2, during the dropping of the A-Bomb. It’s one of those novels that talks about society and it’s changes when Americans are introduced into a culture. The real theme, however, is the woman, and how she deals with something more personal: the suicide of her daughter. A ghost seems to be haunting her, and near the end, you begin to question if what she has told you is accurate, or if she’s fabricated the entire thing. Much like Abe, not a fast read through, but an interesting story.
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest – If you’ve seen the movie, you pretty much know what this is about. A man decides that he no longer wants to live on the outside, and have to work. So he fakes having a mental illness to live in a mental hospital. But once there, he learns how things are on the inside. He feels as if trapped by the nurse, as if he is in a prison. He tries to convince the people to break free, and due to his attempts at disrupting schedule, he is treated as a patient, with a lobotomy. Good story, and good movie. IMDB top 100 list, I’m pretty sure.
Laughable Love – Kundera – Tells 4 different stories that are interwoven, examining relationships that cross each other. It’s been a super long time, so I don’t really remember much about it, outside of the fact that I really enjoyed it. It has to do with some people that work in a hospital, and how their lives, and loves sort of cross over. More of one of those ‘human spirit’ books.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Kundera – Made into a movie as well, but never saw it. Takes place in East Europe, and tells the story of a man, his wife, and the man that she has an affair with…I think… And it’s not told in the proper order, out of chronological order that is. There was also something about a child, but it’s been so long, I don’t really remember what happens. I just remember that I really enjoyed the novel. It talks about the man, and his feeling for a mistress (THAT’s what it is!) and how he deals with it emotionally, in terms of also living with his wife. You’ll have to do some checking up on this, but as I remember, pretty good.
Bright Lights, Big City – McInerney – Strange book about the 80s, and night clubs. It tells the story of a successful business man that is drawn into night clubs and drugs. The thing that made this story interesting is that it’s told in second person. “You walk down the street, and see a man. You wonder to yourself if he’s one of them, or just another person, on just another street.” Something like that. Good book, and super fast read. Not very big at all, but neat.
1984* - Orwell – COMMUNISM! That’s what this one is about. It’s actually about a futuristic society that is run by Big Brother. And one man starts to break away from the same mundane existence. If you’ve read Anthem by Aynn Rand, it’s sort of like that.
Blindness – Saramago – Difficult read! If you’re looking for something easy, stay away. This book is about a nation (unnamed) that is struck with an illness of blindness. But it’s a white blindness. All are affected, except one woman, who fakes having it so she can be with her husband, a doctor. This is especially hard to read because the paragraphs are long, and there are no quotation marks, indicating who is talking. In essence, the author makes you feel blind as to what’s going on. This story lays out what he thinks will happen to human society if everyone is blind. How animalistic some of us are when it comes to survival. Graphic scene in the middle (sexual violence, and murder) but a very good story. Tough to get through. One of my favorites, but very very heavy!
Mother Night – Vonnegut – Per all of Vonnegut’s stories, this is a very light book. Mother Night is about a man, American, living in Germany during WW2. He is a play write that is recruited by the government to be an American Spy. The man joins the Nazi party, and spies for the Americans (none of this is actually in the novel) The story tells of how this man lives after the war, seeing as though
Player Piano – Vonnegut – I’ve not read this…but in terms of Vonnegut, I hear it’s a must. The one thing that I do know is that the chapters are rather long, in terms of his writing style, so not necessarily as fast a read.
Time Quake – Vonnegut – Very fast read about a man, Kilgore Trout, who is a science fiction writer. I don’t remember the date, but what happens is that on said date, everyone jumps back ten years. They are forced to do everything exactly as they were supposed to, and sort of lose free will, until they reach the time quake again. At that moment, everyone seems to be shocked out of their state of control, and such. Good funny story.
Picture of Dorian Gray* – Wilde – Great story about a man who asks for eternal life, and is granted it by a woman. She paints a portrait of him, and says that the picture shall age, but he never will. The one downside is that he must never look at the picture. If he does, all the years will be given to him, and the painting shall return to a new look. It’s an older one, but a good book to read if you’re looking for a classic.