Originally posted by jarrydHi jarryd - I think I know u - u saw me on this chess site when I was supposed to be doing carrers!!!!!
george orwell 1984 and animal farm are both good, also liked bram stokers dracula, mary shelleys frankenstein, robert louis stevensons dr jekyll and mr hyde, oscar wildes the portrait of dorian gray.
isaac asimovs robots and foundation series were excellent. so was stephen donaldsons gap series. rated arthur c clarkes rama rama. these are sci fi.
then steph ...[text shortened]... nt fantasy set.
the best of course is tolkiens the lord of the rings.
jarryd the tolkien clan.
The best books I have read are the northern lights series, his dark materials, by Phillip Pullman - there class!!!!
Originally posted by muffin manYeah - I second the recommendation the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman - they are excellent!
Hi jarryd - I think I know u - u saw me on this chess site when I was supposed to be doing carrers!!!!!
The best books I have read are the northern lights series, his dark materials, by Phillip Pullman - there class!!!!
However - I cant believe that no-one has mentioned "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams! You really need to read all five parts:
"The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"
"Life, the Universe and Everything"
"So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish"
"Mostly Harmless"
Best book I have ever read! 😀
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Originally posted by Power SurgeI enjoyed the "His Dark Materials" trilogy too. I was surprised at the level of trauma in books where children are very much part of the target audience. Some parts I found particularly harrowing (none more so than the scene where the boy comes out of a wooden hut clutching a dried fish (for he has no daemon of his own)).
Yeah - I second the recommendation the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman - they are excellent!
However - I cant believe that no-one has mentioned "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams! You really ...[text shortened]... the Fish"
"Mostly Harmless"
Best book I have ever read! 😀
As for the excellent Douglas Adams, he once remarked "Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever". My recommendation for some slightly lighter (than most of the books already mentioned) - though no less rewarding - reading would be anything by Wodehouse. Evelyn Waugh in particular was something of a fan:
"Mr Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in."
If you derive pleasure from reading absolute masters of the English language then PG Wodehouse fits the bill as well as any other.
Further comments by Evelyn Waugh: http://www.drones.com/waugh.html
A tiny selection of quotes:
~He trusted neither of them as far as he could spit, and he was a
poor spitter, lacking both distance and control.
Money in the Bank (1946)
~From The Code of the Woosters:
I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.
~From Inimitable Jeeves:
...aunt calling to aunt like mastodons bellowing across the primeval swamp.
~From Blandings Castle:
A sort of gulpy, gurgly, plobby, squishy, wofflesome sound, like a thousand eager men drinking soup in a foreign restaurant.
~From The Girl on the Boat:
Dark hair fell in a sweep over his forehead. He looked like a man who would write vers libre, as indeed he did.
~From Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves:
‘Don't you like this hat?‘
‘No, sir.‘
‘Well, I do,‘ I replied rather cleverly, and went out with it tilted just that merest shade over the left eye which makes all the difference.
~From Summer Moonshine:
Like so many substantial citizens of America, he had married young and kept on marrying, springing from blonde to blonde like the chamois of the Alps leaping from crag to crag.
~From Summer Moonshine:
Whatever may be said in favour of the Victorians, it is pretty generally admitted that few of them were to be trusted within reach of a trowel and a pile of bricks.
PS: Even rwingett is an admirer.
PPS: But don't let that put you off 😉
lets see
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
The gunslinger vol1
Drawing of the three vol2
wastelands vol3
wizard and glass vol4
wolves of the calla vol 5
song of susannah vol 6
The dark tower vol 7
All volumes are out and very very good.
I also recommend any of the harry potter books
Philosophers stone
chamber of secrets
prisoner of azkaban
goblet of fire
order of the phoenix
and half blood prince which is not out yet. These books are all nonstop vacation.Any who have read would probably give me a recomendation for suggesting these.
Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes
(im sure there are translations to english, cos many unis at usa use it as an example of excelent actual literature... Somewhat tough -but u can open it at any page in search for an answer, and for sure it will bring up to you a coherent response... kind of an an oracle 🙂 - )
A must read
Regards
Michael (aka LittleBear_
"Summerhill" and "Niell! Niell! Orange Peel!" by A. S. Niell are good. They are about a boarding school that gives kids near-complete freedom (nonfiction).
The Dragonlance Legends trilogy rocks.
"Dorsai!" is great sci-fi. I forget the author.
Anything by Isaac Asimov is of course great.
"Ilium" is wierd but interesting sci-fi crossed with the Trojan War.
The Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte are awesome. They treat the King Arthur legends from the perspective of how they may have actually happened.
"Enders Game" by Orson Scott Card is incredible, as are "Enders Shadow" and "Shadow of the Hegemon."
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EDIT: Ha, T-grand. I usually rotate the Stephenson, Pirsig, Rand and Hoftadter plugs pretty evenly, don't I?For an interesting autobiography, try Stephen Fry's ''Moab is My Washpot''. It contains exchanges like this between the 18-year-old Fry and the Bishop of Malmesbury:
BTW, aspiring Cult of Maths members would do well to read a book called ''A Concise Introduction to Pure Mathematics''. Imagine my delight at finding its author lecturing one of my courses!
''"Certainly, certainly! Um, may I ask you, young man, I know this is not good prison form and you really don't have to answer, but may I ask you nonetheless ... what, ah, are you in for?"
"Oh the usual," I said carelessly. "Churchmen."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The senseless slaughter of clerics. I murdered four minor canons, two archdeacons, a curate and a suffragan bishop in a trail of bloody carnage that raged from Norwich to Hexham last year. Surely you read about it in the Church Times, my lord? I think it made the third page of the late racing extra."
"All right, now. That's enough of that, Fry."
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Bishop, you must forgive my freakish humours. In here we laugh that we may not weep. It was theft, I'm afraid, my lord. Plain old credit-card fraud."''
Originally posted by royalchicken😀
For an interesting autobiography, try Stephen Fry's ''Moab is My Washpot''. It contains exchanges like this between the 18-year-old Fry and the Bishop of Malmesbury:
''"Certainly, certainly! Um, may I ask you, young man, I know this is not good prison form and you really don't have to answer, but may I ask you nonetheless ... what, ah, are ...[text shortened]... at we may not weep. It was theft, I'm afraid, my lord. Plain old credit-card fraud."''
Stephen Fry is terrific. As it happens, he played the part of Jeeves in the Jeeves & Wooster series that was on British television screens several years ago.
I remember seeing him on "Have I Got News For You" (funny, clever, topical/current affairs quiz show) where he was asked about rumours that he and the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, did in fact know each other quite well. His reply: "Well, yes, but I wouldn't say that I had penetrated his inner circle".
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Originally posted by T1000True. However, this book is quite cheap, a good read, and written by a fellow who labels equations with elaborate drawings of ''Stanley the Shark'' during lectures, and isn't trying to be funny.
Imagine your horror when you see that every lecturer you'll get from now on has his/her own (expensive) book on the required reading list!
Originally posted by T1000That, sir, is priceless 😀.
😀
Stephen Fry is terrific. As it happens, he played the part of Jeeves in the Jeeves & Wooster series that was on British television screens several years ago.
I remember seeing him on "Have I Got News For You" (funny, clever, topical/current affairs quiz show) where he was asked about rumours that he and the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, did in fac ...[text shortened]... well. His reply: "Well, yes, but I wouldn't say that I had penetrated his inner circle".
Originally posted by royalchickenLOL. Does Stan represent anything in particular or does your lecturer simply have a predilection for drawing members of the Chondrichthyes family and labelling them with somewhat old fashioned British Christian names at a time when he should be feeding the fires of curiosity and slaking the thirst for knowledge of Imperial's brightest minds?
True. However, this book is quite cheap, a good read, and written by a fellow who labels equations with elaborate drawings of ''Stanley the Shark'' during lectures, and isn't trying to be funny.
Originally posted by deathbypawnI have been hard pressed to find another Stephen King fan on this site- Thank you Deathbypawn!!
lets see
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
The gunslinger vol1
Drawing of the three vol2
wastelands vol3
wizard and glass vol4
wolves of the calla vol 5
song of susannah vol 6
The dark tower vol 7
All volumes are out and very very good.
I also recommend any of the harry potter books
Philosophers stone
chamber of secrets
prisoner of ...[text shortened]... nonstop vacation.Any who have read would probably give me a recomendation for suggesting these.
The Gunslinger has always been my favorite series, but I haven't yet read the volumes that have been released recently. I'm currently involved in another series, so The Gunslinger has to take the backbench for awhile yet.
Which leads me into the series I am reading now. We'd had a discussion about this series on this site when I first started it, and everyone had said they grew bored after a certain book and gave it up. But I just can't put it down!!
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
Excellent series. I'm on book 10 now, the last book he has out to date. The character development is excellent, the storyline is excellent. What I really love about it is the "whodunnit" element. You spend all your time trying to figure out who this person is, who killed that person, etc. After I am done with book 10 I am going to start completely over and try to figure everything out on my own before the next book comes out. I am more excited about that than finishing this book!
So that would be my recommendation. Sci-fi genre by the way.
ncrosby🙂