Post: #1

What's your favourite novel?

Post: #2

Post Office by Charles Bukowski

Post: #3

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (and The Tell of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu)

Post: #4

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Post: #5

The Stanger by Albert Camus

Post: #6

For Whom the Bell Tolls
Hemingway

Post: #7

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

Post: #8

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

the only book I read over and over again, like rewinding a movie

Post: #9

I wouldn't necessarily say it's my favorite, but The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is the best book I've ever read.

Post: #10

DUNE by Frank Herbert

Post: #11

Looking For Alaska by John Green. Even though the main character is a big time beta male who falls for and pedestalizes a trashy slut.

Post: #12

The Fountainhead ~ Ayn Rand

Post: #13

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Post: #14

(01-11-2012 05:37 PM)mofo Wrote:  The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I'm reading The Pilgrimage by Coelho now which is great. The Alchemist is next on my list.

Post: #15

Der Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. It is a novel way, way ahead of its time. Its time is still to come, amazing.

Post: #16

(01-11-2012 06:31 PM)G.L.Piggy Wrote:  Post Office by Charles Bukowski

can you explain why? i just finished reading this book the other day and thought it was overrated. a few good laughs in the beginning chapters but pretty forgettable after that.

1984 has to be my favorite novel. read it in high school and finished it in 3 days. have been rereading it every year since then.

Post: #17

Empresas y Tribulaciones de Maqroll el Gaviero by Álvaro Mutis

Post: #18

(01-12-2012 05:18 AM)Caligula Wrote:  Empresas y Tribulaciones de Maqroll el Gaviero by Álvaro Mutis

Looks awesome...think I'll set a goal to be able to read in spanish.

Post: #19

(01-12-2012 05:51 AM)Iceinthewater Wrote:  

(01-12-2012 05:18 AM)Caligula Wrote:  Empresas y Tribulaciones de Maqroll el Gaviero by Álvaro Mutis

Looks awesome...think I'll set a goal to be able to read in spanish.

Otherwise this is a great translation - http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Misadve...0940322919

Post: #20

Explosion in a Cathedral (Alejo Carpentier).

Currently reading The Death Ship by B. Traven and I think it's going to be a draw between it and Carpentier's book...

Post: #21

don't understand the crazy behind "the alchemist" either. there were so many reviews i read prior to reading the book and they all stated that the novel was life changing. i like the messages behind the book and i think people can learn from it. but for the most part i thought the writing was underwhelming. i understand how it's intended to be written in a parable style so the prose was really simple... but shit, this was just a mediocre book that didn't really excite me whatsoever. after a while all of the philosophical jargon just got to be incredibly pretentious.

Post: #22

Elementary Particles

http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Particl...952&sr=1-1

Covers a lot of what we talk about here on the forum.

Post: #23

(01-12-2012 05:41 PM)wolf Wrote:  Elementary Particles

http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Particl...952&sr=1-1

Covers a lot of what we talk about here on the forum.

This is a close second for me. Really excellent. Houellebecq's "Whatever" has a sharp view of the new realities of the sexual market. He's extremely pessimistic about the sexual revolution, the rise of feminism and multiculturalism. Unsurprising as he was abandoned as a kid by his hippie mother who went off to live on a commune.

One of the greatest and most clear-sighted writers alive today.

Post: #24

Agree on THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES being important, but I like THE PLATFORM better. THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND was a good attempt at going in the right direction, just blew a tire toward the end. Couldn't make sense of the movie version, but I don't speak a word of French.

Post: #25

Sorry but for me Coelho is a mediocre writer.

La Fiesta del Chivo by Vargas Llosa

100 años de Soledad by Gabo Márquez

Rayuela by Cortázar

Harry Potter 3, 6 and 7