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Best book you've ever read

Legion

Staff member
Aw man, that's like asking me what's the best movie I've seen. Define "best".

I am very fond of Moby Dick.
 
Well, that's a tough one. The two novels I've read in recent years that really stand out are Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
 
I've read mountains of books so it is going to come down to what I'm most fond of; Old Man and the Sea and Too Kill a Mockingbird.
 
'The Master and Margarita' by Bulgakov. It is a phantasmagoric tale of Satan visiting the Soviet Union and exposing all the hypocrisy, interwoven with a tragic love story and accounts of Christ being executed. Really complex and profound work.
 
I'd have to say Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It's 2 books in one -- a philosophical treatise on the nature of materials/substance/quality and a travel memoir of an actual motorcycle trip that the author and his son took on his Honda Superhawk in the 60's.

Honorable mentions:
William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy -- Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive
Douglas Coupland: Generation X
William Least Heat Moon: Blue Highways
William S. Burroughs: Naked Lunch
Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City: a non-fiction account of the engineering marvel that was the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. And also about America's first serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes, an actual medical doctor who also happened to be one of the most evil fiends ever.
 
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Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
The GodFather by Mario Puzo. That's one of my all time favourite. My copy is very very worn...
 

Legion

Staff member
The GodFather by Mario Puzo. That's one of my all time favourite. My copy is very very worn...

Mine too. I think Coppolla did the movie a disservice not exploring the Luca Brassi character more. He was one of the most interesting people in the book.
 
The GodFather by Mario Puzo. That's one of my all time favourite. My copy is very very worn...
Great book but I have never understood why Puzo felt it necessary to include the subplot with the girl Sonny impregnated. It's just odd.
 
Some of the books that have resonated with me:

Dune

Zen in the Art of Archery

The Diamond Age

Hagakure

Snow Crash
 
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Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Mine too. I think Coppolla did the movie a disservice not exploring the Luca Brassi character more. He was one of the most interesting people in the book.

Yes, Luca was feared by anyone. He was a very scary character in the book. Sonny was very good too. I prefer the book to the movie for sure!

Great book but I have never understood why Puzo felt it necessary to include the subplot with the girl Sonny impregnated. It's just odd.

No idea there, it gives them an excuse to go to Vegas I guess! :tongue_sm Even then, not really as Fredo ends up in Vegas anyways...
 
I don't like reading fiction, so what I do is browse the bookstore for non-fiction books I might enjoy, buy a bunch and read them when I get a chance.

Lance Armstrongs biography was pretty good. I quite enjoyed Einstein's biography as well.
 
I prefer non fiction myself, although I am reading some Cormac McCarthy right now. I find his stylization of prose a little silly, but it's a good story. I can see why the Coen Brothers filmed the b



I don't like reading fiction, so what I do is browse the bookstore for non-fiction books I might enjoy, buy a bunch and read them when I get a chance.

Lance Armstrongs biography was pretty good. I quite enjoyed Einstein's biography as well.
 
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19th century: The Brothers Karamazov.
20th centruy: The Name of the Rose.

Honorable mention: Three Musketeers, Count of Monte Cristo, Huckleberry Finn, Lord of the Rings, Foundation, 1984.
 
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