all your favourite books

[Lisa]

since we have threads about comics and films i felt one about books was neccessary. and here it is. so go on then, five favourite books...
(hmm, this is pretty hard actually, i should have thought more about this before i started)

1. on the road by jack kerouac
2. the catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger
3. a clockwork orange by anthony burgess
4. watership down by richard adams
5. the female eunuch by germaine greer

(this list is by no means the same today as it will be tomorrow. typical indecisive libran for you)

my favourite poets are e.e.cummings, allen ginsberg, emily dickinson and walt whitman.

in case you can't tell, i'm a literature student with a passion for american literature, especially beat writers.

[Tom]

im not really into the whole literature thing, although i love reading. i think that a lot of "popular" books can be just as intellectually challenging as so called classics. why dont you ever find thrillers/crime novels on reading lists?
to be fair though, one of my favourite books is the outsider by albert camus, which i discovered by studying english in college.

[andytheamazing]

good books for now..

On the Road
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Sophie's World
Lord of the Rings
1984
Silence of the Lambs
Harry Potter
Cat's Cradle
Kinky Friedman

[emma]

'american psycho' and 'the rules of attraction' by bret easton ellis.
'the bell jar' by sylvia plath
anything by oscar wilde.
'memoirs of a geisha' by arthur golden.
'the melancholy tale of oyster boy' by tim burton (more a collection of poems but whatever).

i'll read pretty much anything though. depends on how bored i am.

is this limited to fiction? because 'the murder of tutanhkamun' by bob brier is a pretty fucking amazing piece of non-fiction if you ask me. then again, i'm a bit of a loser in that respect.

oh, and my favourite play evereverEVER is 'a streetcar named desire' by tennessee williams. i just love it. although the film version of it was practically the shittest thing ever.

[Jimi [Committee]]

the best book ive ever read has to be valis by philip k. dick.
cant stand harry potter.

[emma]

diceman said:

cant stand harry potter.

good.

[Natalie]

Sorry for not posting a list of 5 but I think it'd kill me
Being a theatreslut, most of my favourite books are plays etc, so I won't bore you with an exhaustive list. Although anything by Wilde or Ibsen is usually well received.

I like A Clockwork Orange, even though I'm not entirely sure why.

I like things primarily that are a little more lighthearted (i do enough hardcore reading as it is for my course, meh) and that make me laugh, like Round Ireland With A Fridge and all that series. Having said that though, I have a great big feck-off book on Stalin on my bookshelf here, to satisfy my inner geek

Currently reading the The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Because I'm cool like that.

[Ben]

My dad is a prodigious reader. He owns epic books that could kill a small animal if dropped on them. For example, he owns Stalingrad and Berlin by A. Beevor (his actual name!), and they're so big they make me cry inside.

[Mark [Communications]]

My favourite books have to be the Flashman series (George McDonald Fraser) chronicling the life of Harry Flashman. They're very funny if you like that kind of thing, and give us such famed quotes as "Damn your eyes"

Also, for the scientists out there I would reccomend anything by Isaac Asimov. In particular The Rest of The Robots, a series of short stories that are really interesting, and full of lateral ideas on why things occur as such. Anyway, any books by him are worth a read

[anna]

since nobody's done it yet, I'll have to name some classics (even though I do also like the beat and popular stuff)
tolstoi, dostojevski, poe, mann, brecht, wilde, joyce, kafka, camus, sartre.... you know..

if i had to name a favorite book, it'd have to be a childrens book, so i go for Alices Adventures In Wonderland

oh and does anybody know haruki murakami? He's japanese and a really entertaining (modern) writer. Love all his stuff!

[Natalie]

Brecht and Sartre! I like you instantly

[anna]

well with brecht you kind of grow up in Germany and either you really like him or not, but his plays and poetry are great. since you said you liked plays, so you know which is a good theatre in manchester? (doesn't have to be a big one.. might as well just be for little independent productions)

[Ben]

the cornerhouse on Oxford Road sometimes puts on stuff (and also has a cinema for independant shows), you have the Palace Theatre opposite the cornerhouse, and the Opera House just off Deansgate. Can't think of any more

[pamplemousse]

anna said:

well with brecht you kind of grow up in Germany and either you really like him or not, but his plays and poetry are great. since you said you liked plays, so you know which is a good theatre in manchester? (doesn't have to be a big one.. might as well just be for little independent productions)

The Library theatre is good, it's the big round building at the top of oxford road as you go into town on the bus. Saw translations there a couple of years ago was quality
Charlie

[anna]

sounds good thanks; I'll definitely check what's they're putting on.. haven't seen a decent theatre play in ages.
The cornerhouse seems to be a better spot for films though; haven't been there yet, but it'd the only place I've seen so far, that's showing more independent stuff..

[Lisa]

i work at the opera house, selling ice creams and stuff...we've got beauty and the beast on for the next two weeks...not quite brecht, but in my opinion, slightly more entertaining. As a drama student (sort of) i should probably love old bertolt but i don't. I suppose a lot of his theory is interesting but the plays themselves are kinda dull. As for other theatres you've missed off the exchange which is great and cheap, and the contact which does lots of new, studenty, experimental stuff. Also there is the lowry,well worth the tram ride into salford, and occasionally the octagon is worth the bus ride into bolton.

[Natalie]

The Exchange is my favourite theatre in the world. Ever.

[Tev]

anna said:

if i had to name a favorite book, it'd have to be a childrens book, so i go for Alices Adventures In Wonderland

Studies that at A Level, was fun ;D

[Lisa]

you really studied that at a level? good lord! i suppose you could study a children's story, valid literature and not exactly a kids book at all... but jeeezus, at a level? come on!

[Natalie]

I did truckloads of Brecht at A-level. Now that was hard work.

[Simon]

hmmm:

1984
His Dark Materials trilogy
High Fidelity
The Virgin Suicides

[Tom]

high fidelity was a good read if i remember. the film was also well worth a look

[Rob]

Hmmm... I would have to say any of the following:

Burmese Days by George Orwell
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The 39 Steps by John Buchan

There are plenty of others too, I just can't we remember at the moment...

[elaine]

I've just read "Der Steppenwolf" by Herman Hesse. In english though despite vain attempts at bilinguality (a valid word?). and it was excellent. very very cool. has anyone else read it?

i was thinking might make a good film, but then it might get spoilt by the befouling hollywood factory.

[anna]

since i'm german, yes of course! it's a classic and a good one as well.. if you don't let yourself bein put off by some sloghtly hippieish tendencies, you might like his other stuff as well