For some light, but not mindless reading:
Arturo Perez-Reverte, "The Flanders Panel" (it's about chess, among other things)
Wilkie Collins, "The Woman in White"
Wilkie Collins, "The Moonstone"
Umberto Eco, "The Name of the Rose"
Milan Kundera, "The Joke" (maybe that already belongs to my next category)
A bit "heavier":
Thomas Mann, "Doktor Faustus"
Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Brothers Karamasov"
Lion Feuchtwanger, "Die Jüdin von Toledo" (whatever that may be called in English)
Hermann Hesse, "The Glass Bead Game"
One you'll either hate or love:
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings
A must-read for any nerd:
Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
Originally posted by NordlysDespite the respect I feel for your tastes and your list, I would
For some light, but not mindless reading:
Arturo Perez-Reverte, "The Flanders Panel" (it's about chess, among other things)
Wilkie Collins, "The Woman in White"
Wilkie Collins, "The Moonstone"
Umberto Eco, "The Name of the Rose"
Milan Kundera, "The Joke" (maybe that already belongs to my next category)
A bit "heavier":
Thomas Mann, "Doktor Faustus" ...[text shortened]... ad for any nerd:
Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
personally erase Perez-Reverte (IMO the guy is overrated) and
replace it with Mario Vargas Llosa's "The city and the dogs".
Doktor Faustus... ah
*removes hat*
And from Hesse I would go for Steppenwolf. I read it when I was 14
and almost blew my mind. Kafka's letters to the father are a must
as well.
Huxley's Brave New World could also be in it.
The rest is pure gold. Nice list 😉
..you will find the nero wolfe detective series by rex stout a nice read....the books cover a time period from the 1920's thru to the late 1970's...all take
place in new york city ( except for a trip to montenegro )...the vocabulary is
both versatile and contextual to the passing times as is the technology and historical references as the decades pass...they are short...can be read in an evening and sometimes in a hour as some books have three murder cases to a book...sold now only in paperback but all are available at all bookstores and of course on line....two contrasting detectives...nero wolfe the rational intellectual who does not like women, is a gourmand, raises orchids and never leaves the house and his associate, archie, who in a long forgotten tradition ( not to found on this low life chess site ) is a gentlemanly pursuer of the ankle wrapped in fishnet....he is active and witty...there is also a host of recurring characters who all lend a nice setting...one revisits nero wolfe to find the interesting and the familiar...i could go on but there is an ankle wrapped in fishnet standing by my computer ready to to to church...so i must stop...
The post that was quoted here has been removed..it is the same story line...that is why gandalf tells them to look for him
in the east in three days and he willl return as gandalf the white...it is
gandalf the grey resurrecting as the savior after the crucifixion dressed in white and coming on easter ( the east in 3 days )....tolkien led c. s. lewis
to chrisianity ( c. s. lewis wrote narnia ) but tolkien felt bad that c. s. lewis
chose to become a protestant rather than a catholic devotee as was tolkien...
Originally posted by reinfeldSmaug likes it because he is in it.
..it is the same story line...that is why gandalf tells them to look for him
in the east in three days and he willl return as gandalf the white...it is
gandalf the grey resurrecting as the savior after the crucifixion dressed in white and coming on easter ( the east in 3 days )....tolkien led c. s. lewis
to chrisianity ( c. s. lewis wrote narnia ) but to ...[text shortened]... that c. s. lewis
chose to become a protestant rather than a catholic devotee as was tolkien...
Originally posted by SeitseI had never heard about Perez-Reverte until I got the book a few weeks ago, so I don't know if he's overrated. Sure, the book has its flaws, but I really enjoyed reading it. I haven't read anything by Mario Vargas Llosa, might look into it.
Despite the respect I feel for your tastes and your list, I would
personally erase Perez-Reverte (IMO the guy is overrated) and
replace it with Mario Vargas Llosa's "The city and the dogs".
Doktor Faustus... ah
*removes hat*
And from Hesse I would go for Steppenwolf. I read it when I was 14
and almost blew my mind. Kafka's letters to the father ...[text shortened]... ll.
Huxley's Brave New World could also be in it.
The rest is pure gold. Nice list 😉
My first book by Hesse was "Demian". I read it around the same ago you read the Steppenwolf, and it caused me to read half of the Hesse collection of my parents. My taste has changed, and I find some of it almost unreadable now, but I still love the Glasperlenspiel.
Oh yes, Kafka should be in the list as well. And many others, of course...