Originally Posted by: Jolly McJollysonBradbury is a phenomenal writer, but above him I would recommend Aldous Huxley, particularly Brave New World . He's also a writer of science-fictiony flights of dystopia, but really has an even more entertaining style and imagination than Bradbury.[/QUOTE]

I find that hard to believe, seeing as Ray Bradbury is awesome. But I guess I could always check it out.

Originally Posted by: Jolly McJollysonKurt Vonnegut is a ****ing genius.[/QUOTE]

I wholeheartedly agree. I have Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Player Piano, Galapagos, and a short stories collection called Bagombo Snuff Box, and they're all great.

[QUOTE=Jolly McJollyson]Personally, though, I think Steinbeck will give you the strongest, most solid grounding in the world of literature. I voted for The Pearl, but really you should read East of Eden if you're going to tackle one of his truly great novels.

I have, in fact, read East of Eden (and Of Mice and Men) and I thought they were awesome, hence the picking out of The Pearl from all the other books.

[QUOTE=Lordathestrings]"The Pearl" is a very depressing read. A terrible thing to do to a summer.

Ooooh, interesting. I don't even know if that would come into play, seeing as I'm already horribly depressed during the summer, but thankfully it's not in the lead at the moment.

There's only about an hour and a half left, if you haven't voted, please do so. I simply can't have this ending in a tie.