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What book should I read next?

Archibald Nixon

Archibald Nixon

anti-life coach
After I FINALLY finish the 20-book Aubrey-Maturin series soon, I'm at a loss, although I have no shortage of unread books on the shelves. The most promising/likely:

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. Another classic that's been on the back burner for way too long.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Heard much about this and of his other works; been told this is the one to start with.

There's a lot of science fiction I need to catch up on. As for the rest:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. May as well plow through it and see what the fuss is about. Might start with something smaller of hers first, but I do plan to read it at some point.

For Whom the Bell Tolls / Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. Can't decide which...might depend on how much machismo I feel I need a shot of.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. His untimely death a couple months ago reignited my curiosity about him, and this gigantic book has been challenging me like Everest.

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. Another supposed postmodern masterpiece I've been meaning to get to, like, forever.

H.P. Lovecraft: A Life (biography) by S.T. Joshi. I read an earlier, somewhat perfunctory bio --this one looks better in every way but it's a tome, even by biography standards. My interest in Lovecraft ebbs and flows as well; I fear I'll lose interest before I'm through.

The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer. I badly need to brush up on my history, but again: a tome, not to mention depressing.

Don Quixote by Cervantes. So much literature I've read grows out of this one work that it's been difficult to keep putting it off.

Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. Always good to get your perspective changed every now and then.
 
The Crying of Lot 49! It's a fairly quick read if I recall, and has that quirky feel to it. Much more readable than Gravity's Rainbow (imo of course, but I read to be entertained and to get lost in some other place).

;)
mm
 
If you're gonna read Atlas Shrugged, I'd recommend reading two of Rand's earlier books before you do. Those are Anthem and The Fountainhead. You won't understand some of the crap she's babbling about in Atlas Shrugged until you've read those two.

You should also realize she escaped Stalinist Russia to come to the US and write crappy screenplays and lengthy tomes on philosophy.
 
missmanners said:
The Crying of Lot 49! It's a fairly quick read if I recall, and has that quirky feel to it. Much more readable than Gravity's Rainbow (imo of course, but I read to be entertained and to get lost in some other place).
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I tried GR once and found it impenetrable, but I was much younger then & considerably more wooden in my both my tastes and reading comprehension.

Conchaga said:
If you're gonna read Atlas Shrugged, I'd recommend reading two of Rand's earlier books before you do. Those are Anthem and The Fountainhead. You won't understand some of the crap she's babbling about in Atlas Shrugged until you've read those two.

You should also realize she escaped Stalinist Russia to come to the US and write crappy screenplays and lengthy tomes on philosophy.
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I didn't know about the screenplays --are they really crappy? And I have a copy of Anthem so I'll probably zip through that first. I was hoping to get to Fountainhead sometime later but if it's a necessary next step...

When I start the Rand books we should do a back n' forth discussion thread here. :teach:
 
Anthem was actually alright, from what I remember. I started reading Atlas Shrugged while working (5 dollar book bin, and it was the only non-Romance novel) but the store closed down before I got the chance to finish it and the new store I went to was much too busy for idle reading.
 
Atlas Shrugged. Though, I'd recommend you get the book on tape or CD, and let someone else read it to you. It's makes the irony sting more.
 
Depression aside, don't be put off by its depth. Actually, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is fascinating.
 
And you must read some Heinlein....


...Who IMHO is as wonderful a wordsmith as Hemingway, who will get my vote as no one has voted for him yet.
 
Snow Crash. Neal Stephenson has a unique voice, and if you like this one, you'll definitely like his other stuff.
 
curiousa2z said:
And you must read some Heinlein....


...Who IMHO is as wonderful a wordsmith as Hemingway, who will get my vote as no one has voted for him yet.
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I've read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers, both of which I enjoyed. He can be slightly didactic and some of his oeuvre is dated at this point, but the work seems to anticipate the latter, and he's a sharp enough writer that one can get past both easily. I've found many sci-fi writers to be good on the science and/or ideas while actually being shitty writers, and reading them feels like a chore --in some cases, a punishment. Heinlein thankfully doesn't belong in that group.
 
The interesting thing about Heinlien is that his later work is MUCH differernt than his early stuff.

Something like JOB: A Comedy of Errors is in another universe (or several of them) from his more traditional SF books (which are quite often geared for younger readers).
 
Read Atlas Shrugged. The Fountainhead is probably better as a novel but AS has all of Rand's shit in it. This does of course, unfortunately, also include that 60+ page speech at the end.

Even if you don't appreciate her philosophy you can still enjoy the book though, IMO. It's a nice story etc.
 
Crap, I missed the Hemingway option. I read the semi-autobiographical WWI one. What was it? "A Farewell to Arms"! Very good.

Before noticing that it was a tossup between "Atlas" and "Stranger". Both are on my list.

In fact one of my biggest regrets in life is that my Aunt, who I lived with a couple times when I was starting out after college and I loved more than anyone I can think of except possibly my Dad, had a copy of it. Because she was a lifelong Democrat with a hate of guns and I was afraid it was some liberal garbage, I never read it. By the time I found out the opportunity I'd missed I was in Portland and she was in Minneapolis, dying of lung cancer.

After the funeral it was one of about three things from her place that I'd absolutely resolved I would get, but I couldn't find it anywhere. :(
 
I had trouble with Atlas Shrugged the first time I read it. Not the concepts, just the mind numbing size of it. I've been rereading it this last couple of weeks and I've been breezing through it.

That might have something to do with the contemporary parallels.... :S
 
evenflow said:
I had trouble with Atlas Shrugged the first time I read it. Not the concepts, just the mind numbing size of it. I've been rereading it this last couple of weeks and I've been breezing through it.

That might have something to do with the contemporary parallels.... :S
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And the fact that it has a very slow start - first 100 pages or so are hard to read the first time round. Once you know what's coming you appreciate them a lot more. After a while - well, then it's just plain fucking awesome. :)
 
That would be a problem for me, if a book doesn't hook me in the first 30-50 pages, it goes in the donations box. I have Atlas Shrugged somewhere and keep moving it to the basement bookshelves.

;)
mm
 
missmanners said:
So, AN, which one DID you decide on? Or have you left the arcade yet?
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BITCHES DON'T KNOW ABOUT MAH JHONNG

Still haven't finished the Blue at the Mizzen (you have to understand that the only place/time I get to read these days is on the subway), but it's looking likely that it'll be Stranger in a Strange Land. If/when I do Rand, I want to plow through it in order, as Conchaga recommended. Same goes for the postmodern heavyweights, like Pynchon & Wallace --I'd like to do several in one long shot. What it comes down to is that my desire to catch up on a mountain of science fiction simply outweighs the other interests.
 
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