Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the single funniest piece of literature ever.
I also like political non-fiction like On Liberty by John Stuart Mill. Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics by Warren Kinsella was also an excellent read, one of those books that every time I put it down, I'd be back 15 minutes latter.
Although, this summer, I'm gonna tackle Crime and Punishment so that could change everything.
I actually had the pleasure of meeting Douglas Adams, he used to go to a posh school in the town were I lived, so he felt an affinity for the place, I felt like blowing the **** out the place, but thats another story. Re Hitchhikers, the first three books, radio show and 12 part tv series were good, the last two books pure bollox and as for Dirk Gently, I won't even go there. Oh yea, re meeting him, it was when he was signing 'The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul (?) I didn't get him to sign it, but we had a long natter about Zaphod and Trillian.
Del
Driftwood: Well, I got about a foot and a half. Now, it says, uh, "The party of the second part shall be known in this contract as the party of the second part."
Fiorello: Well, I don't know about that...
Driftwood: Now what's the matter?
Fiorello: I no like-a the second party, either.
Driftwood: Well, you should've come to the first party. We didn't get home 'til around four in the morning... I was blind for three days!
Hm. My favorite book tends to change according to my mood, but right now it's 'The Silmarillion' with 'Watership Down' a close second.
Suzene
I have to admire your perserverence, I have never been able to voluntarily read a Tolkien book. We read the Hobbit at school because we had to, but the Ring trilogy or anything else, I waited forthe film.Originally Posted by suzene
Del
Driftwood: Well, I got about a foot and a half. Now, it says, uh, "The party of the second part shall be known in this contract as the party of the second part."
Fiorello: Well, I don't know about that...
Driftwood: Now what's the matter?
Fiorello: I no like-a the second party, either.
Driftwood: Well, you should've come to the first party. We didn't get home 'til around four in the morning... I was blind for three days!
Just one?
I absolutely love The Catcher in the Rye. I don't know what it is exactly, except that I can totally relate to Holden.
Harry Potter books are great too...I just started reading the first one cause I was bored and it was there...suddenly I was like 3 chapters in and totally hooked.
The Wars by Timothy Findley was a great book, I reccomend it to everyone.
Re: Just one?
I had to read Catcher in high school.... I can completely understand why it's the primo book for serial killers and assassins, it's THAT mind numbing...
Just out of curiousity, Swifty, but do you have a middle name, and are you going to go by your full name soon??
Hehehe, that's what happened to me: I read the first one because everyone was shoving it down my throat... now I've read all five current books and waiting with baited breath for book six to get released...
Never even heard of it before now... what's it about?
Allan 'HappyCanuck' Crocker
"Hey... Philosophers love wisdom, not mankind."
- Stephen Pastis, Pearls Before Swine
Something by Robert Rankin.
Can't narrow down a single book though.
Failing that, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?(/Blade Runner) by Philip K.Dick, or one of the Bio of a Space Tyrant books by Piers Anthony.
Re: Just one?
Are you saying something here.......?
uhhhhh.... Pedro.... nahhh I hate my full name... SwiftaliciousFoxio.... just doesn't have a good ring to itJust out of curiousity, Swifty, but do you have a middle name, and are you going to go by your full name soon??
"Robert Ross is a Canadian officer caught up in the nightmare world of World War I trench warfare; a world of mud and smoke, chlorine gas and rotting corpses. In this world gone mad, he performs a last desperate act to declare his commitment to life in the midst of death."
It's apparently partly based on old letters from Findley's grandafther (I think that's who it was) from the first world war. It's fantastic.
I'm on this early 19th century sci-fi, action/adventure thing right now. I'm a huge fan of the Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Plus anything from H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, I love Tolkein. Issac Asimov, Ian Fleming and C.S. Lewis are favorites as well.
P.S. Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" is a good read for anyone into contemporary fantasy.
The Chronicles Of Narna. In perticuliar The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. When I was younger this book series was the greatest thing I ever read.
Now I usually read Stephen King books when I'm not reading comics. Or else Star Trek ones the original series of course.
Richard Vasseur
I second that. Not only was it funny as hell but it really made me think about what in the world was going through Adam's head at the time of his writing it, besides a number of chemicals.
I'd also like to add The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by H.W. Brands. Growing up here in Philly I used to go down to the site of Franklin's house and just wander around taking in all that was there in the way of his inventions, philosophies, etc...
It's a great book for anyone.
Speaking of the Hitchikers Guide, has anone read the new one, now in book stores? I loved the books, but I'm not sure yet if I wasnt to buy this one,...
New book? You mean like a sixth book for the "Trilogy"? I know I recently saw a compilation with a side story for Zaphod. Is that the one?
This is what I was reffering to.
Ben
Holy Sas! Look at that. Never heard of it but luckily I work across the street from a book store so I'll checkit out and let ya's know whats up with it.
EDIT: Just googled it and here is what I found...
In May of 2002, Harmony (US) and Macmillan HB (UK) will publish posthumously the final book by Douglas Adams, the revered creator of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, and numerous other bestselling novels. Titled THE SALMON OF DOUBT: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time, this new work is a compilation of writings recovered from the hard drive of Adams’s beloved MacIntosh computer. Included are short stories, essays, lectures, and articles, many published for the first time in book form, and the crown jewel: ten never-before-published chapters of Adams’s longtime work-in-progress, THE SALMON OF DOUBT.
Looks like it's just a collection of unfinished work that Adams' would have been late to press with anyway. I might check it out.
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