Favourite authors/books?

[Karma In The South]

Ive seen a couple of threads like this in the past, I dunno how recently its been done but Id like to see what other people are reading.

Currently my favourite author is Mark Billingham, hes an English stand up comedian who writes graphic crime novels. 'Sleepyhead' is my favourite of his, the first of his books I read.

At the moment Im reading 'American Psycho' by Brett Easton Ellis, which was made into a movie a couple of years ago. Good book, very funny.

[Barreta_jetstream1]

Well I'm reading "A brief history of time" at the minute. I'm not kiding!

(P.S. If you don't know, this is a book by Stephen Hawkin about the origins of the universe. Very deep)

[Slasher]

Robert Rankin, the armageddon series. Elvis with a time sprout inplanted in his head while tryin to save the world. Soooo funny.

[hairbndrckr]

Stephen King "From a Buick 8" here currently.

[moody_fa_loonie]

Im reading "the art of steal" by frank abagnale Jr....if ur into crime an that u gotta get this one...very ****n interesting, i was reading and was like holy **** hes a ****n smart criminal but that ****er ended up getting caught and still makes his millions doin an honest ****n living an didn't have to repay one ****n dime. That my friends is truly ****n amazing! A must read book

[iiholly]

I'm reading "The Lord of the Flies", and my favorite author is Jack Kerouac.

[Jolly McJollyson]

I just finished "East of Eden." My favorite author is John Steinbeck.

[Lordathestrings]

Just finished "The Last Continent" from Terry Pratchett (favourite author). Now I'm re-reading "Noble House" from James Clavell.

[Azrael]

Well - reading right now:

Nicola Tesla´s Autobiography
Johann Wier "De Praestigiis Daemonum" (reprint from 1586)
Agrippa of Nettesheim "Magical Works" (original from 1870)
George R.R. Martin "The song of fire and ice" (9 Books)

[PRSplaya]

My favourite book has got to be Bram Stoker's "Dracula"

[aiwass]

I'm a certified Wilbur Smith nut. The man has got his sh*t together when it comes to vivid imagery.

[Leedogg]

My favorite author book combo would be Daniel Quinn's Ishmael. An extremely enlightening piece. I would definately recommend it you, iiholly, if you are kerouac fan. I'm currently reading Darwin's Origin of species for a Darwin class I'm taking here at school

[Karma In The South]

I never got Kerouac. I read 'On The Road', which was good initially but I thought it just dragged on too long. Then I tried reading Desolation Row and gave up.

Ive read one Terry Pratchett book and I wanna read more.

[Gainer]

My favourite author is Stephen King, my favourite book is his "The Stand" or "It".

[iamthe_eggman]

Black Tiger at Le Mans by Patrick O'Connor.

[chris mood]

It's been awhile since I had the chance to read a book that wasn't some sort of manual or something. The last craze I was on when I used to read a lot was Herman Hess, I really enjoyed his books.

[iamthe_eggman]

Hey, I thought of another favourite book:

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the entire 6-part (or however many books) trilogy by Douglas Adams. My favourite book in the trilogy is "Young Zaphod Learns To Play It Safe", but all of the books are equally engaging, hilarious, captivating, etc. The characters are at once real yet bizarre and outlandish.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Wow, I really feel like reading it again!

[the fool]

One of the books I'm reading is Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. Anyone read this book? It's so cool!!! It's about this guy who lost his arms, legs, sight, hearing, and speech during the war. He basically feels like a fetus. Go figure....

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy is definitley one of my favs.

[Slasher]

They made a film o Johnny Got His Gun. Cue Metallica "One" video and lyric about losing arms legs and souls.

[iiholly]

Originally posted by Leedogg
My favorite author book combo would be Daniel Quinn's Ishmael. An extremely enlightening piece. I would definately recommend it you, iiholly, if you are kerouac fan. I'm currently reading Darwin's Origin of species for a Darwin class I'm taking here at school

One of my teachers just reccomended that book to me today. Kind of creepy.



"I never got Kerouac. I read 'On The Road', which was good initially but I thought it just dragged on too long. Then I tried reading Desolation Row and gave up. " posted by Karma in The South



A lot of people don't get Kerouac I think to really appreciate his work you have to know a little about the guy. He created a new form of writing called spontaneous prose. Basically he would take drugs, and write an autobiographical book in about a week or less.
I'm pretty sure you mean Desolation Angels, and that is one of Kerouac's greatest supposedly. I found some of it amusing. One seen he mourn the death of a mouse which he killed. Then another moused died, and he though it was the old mouses' friend, and had commited suicide. Pretty funny stuff. Atleast, I thought so.

[the fool]

hey slasher- are u for real?

when did they made this movie for johnny got his gun? I have never heard of it. Who's the actor? is the movie any good?

I didn't know that the metallica song was inspired by the book. cool!

[the fool]

r u guys talkin about kerouac the beatnik? i like his poetry. have u guys read any?

[iamthe_eggman]

Originally posted by the fool
hey slasher- are u for real?

when did they made this movie for johnny got his gun? I have never heard of it. Who's the actor? is the movie any good?

I didn't know that the metallica song was inspired by the book. cool!

Dunno if this is the same thing, but I saw the movie from which Metallica took scenes for the One video long before I ever saw the One video. It was pretty interesting, but at the same time cheesy.

[iamthe_eggman]

Originally posted by iiholly
A lot of people don't get Kerouac I think to really appreciate his work you have to know a little about the guy. He created a new form of writing called spontaneous prose. Basically he would take drugs, and write an autobiographical book in about a week or less.
I'm pretty sure you mean Desolation Angels, and that is one of Kerouac's greatest supposedly. I found some of it amusing. One seen he mourn the death of a mouse which he killed. Then another moused died, and he though it was the old mouses' friend, and had commited suicide. Pretty funny stuff. Atleast, I thought so.
[/B]


.... you feeling alright there? :confused:

[concrete chaos]

right now im reading 'torture garden' by octave mirbeau [spellcheck on surname tho]

most french authors words are tasty in my brain..

english - JG ballard !!!

books are like bands cant get enough of all thats available

[iiholly]

Originally posted by the fool
r u guys talkin about kerouac the beatnik? i like his poetry. have u guys read any?

Yes we are talking about the beat. His poetry is okay, but his novels are the best of his work I'd like to think. There are plent of great beat poets, but I don't Jack's poetry was the best.

[iiholly]

Originally posted by iamthe_eggman



.... you feeling alright there? :confused: [/B]

I have a morbid sense of humor, what can I say?

[iamthe_eggman]

Originally posted by iiholly
Originally posted by iamthe_eggman



.... you feeling alright there? :confused:

I have a morbid sense of humor, what can I say? [/B]

No, not the content of what you said... more the way you said it...

...if you catch my drift...

[iiholly]

I have caught it.

[u10ajf]

Ursula LeGuinn. Sci fi/fantasy writer who avoids the usual crap cliches and writes compelling and humanly interesting stories.
Philip K. Dick, Read Radio Free Albemuth, it's brilliant sci fi with lots of ingeious and mad ideas. It was his last book before he died, wasting away on a diet of stimulants (amphetamines, like Kerouac) that he used to help hiim meet deadlines, including, ultimately, his own. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep became the basis for the film bladerunner. The Minority Report became the basis for the same titled film with Tom Cruise. I haven't seen the film but the short story is in a compilation called "The days of Perky Pat" and is possibly the best short story I've ever read.
I've just finished reading an hilarious book called "The Quantity Theory of Insanity" by Will Self. It's damn funny and examines a very odd concept and its influence on other wise disperate lives of various people.
Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaiden" is a brilliantly written distopian novel. I haven't read any of her other stuff but she has a great reputation.
William Golding is often hailed as "the greatest living writer" and certainly books like the Inheritors, Lord of the flies, freefall etc are superb.
I loved Lloyd Alexander's Black Cauldron series,
I'm sure there must be others but these are the only ones that spring to mind at the moment.