Books to read before you die

[The Artful Dodger]

Of the books mentioned, I loved Asimov's Foundation and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I'll add a few of my favorites:

The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ulysses - James Joyce
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Dune - Frank Herbert
Tales of the Dying Earth - Jack Vance

Might be too dark, too violent, and/or too surreal to read:

The Stranger - Albert Camus
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

[AussieDodger]

The title of this thread sounds like a threat. How dare you

[Pogotheostrich]

Love the Orson Scott Card.
I vetoed the Hunger Games because it would freak him out. Can throw Fear and Loathing and Clockwork Orange in this group.
Fahrentheit 451 sucked. One of the very small handful of books that I started reading and did not finish.
Read the Road. Too dreary. No Country was good.
Was not crazy about the Martian Chronicles or any Vonnegut.
Will add Gatsby and Animal Farm to the list.

In that case I would remove The Handmaid's Tale (freaky) and World War Z (zombies). Even Ender's game is pretty freaky/violent at some points. I loved the Illustrated Man. It is a fun collection of short stories. The Natural and Pricess Bride are both really close to the movies but with definite improvements.

Some others are I loved but have turned off some of my friends are:
Red Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, hard sci-fi about colonizing Mars and years after.
World War books by Harry Turtledove. He does a lot of alt-history books. In this series lizard aliens invade Earth during WW2. Reread that last sentence and tell me you aren't intersted.

[Pogotheostrich]

On the Road- Jack Kerouac
The Kenneth C. Davis "Don't Know Much About..." series
American Gods and Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman
Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carrol
The Big Book of Basketball- Bill Simmons

Is On the Road really that great?
I mean it was a'ight I guess but I kept waiting for something to happen. Kind of like Stephen King without the rabid dog or possessed car.

I kind of feel the same way. I read it and it was OK but the whole time I felt like I was missing out on something because everything and everyone I talked to said it was great and I just never got it.

[lastingsgriller]

The Great Gatsby - FSF

[Mookie4ever]

On the Road- Jack Kerouac
The Kenneth C. Davis "Don't Know Much About..." series
American Gods and Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman
Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carrol
The Big Book of Basketball- Bill Simmons

Is On the Road really that great?
I mean it was a'ight I guess but I kept waiting for something to happen. Kind of like Stephen King without the rabid dog or possessed car.

I kind of feel the same way. I read it and it was OK but the whole time I felt like I was missing out on something because everything and everyone I talked to said it was great and I just never got it.

Yeah but how cool do you look with your venti coffee reading Jack Kerouac?

[Mookie4ever]

Love the Orson Scott Card.
I vetoed the Hunger Games because it would freak him out. Can throw Fear and Loathing and Clockwork Orange in this group.
Fahrentheit 451 sucked. One of the very small handful of books that I started reading and did not finish.
Read the Road. Too dreary. No Country was good.
Was not crazy about the Martian Chronicles or any Vonnegut.
Will add Gatsby and Animal Farm to the list.

In that case I would remove The Handmaid's Tale (freaky) and World War Z (zombies). Even Ender's game is pretty freaky/violent at some points. I loved the Illustrated Man. It is a fun collection of short stories. The Natural and Pricess Bride are both really close to the movies but with definite improvements.

Some others are I loved but have turned off some of my friends are:
Red Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, hard sci-fi about colonizing Mars and years after.
World War books by Harry Turtledove. He does a lot of alt-history books. In this series lizard aliens invade Earth during WW2. Reread that last sentence and tell me you aren't intersted.

It's been many years since I read it but I recall Ender's Game being pretty tame. I recall Bean's story being a little violent and disturbing.

[jfg]

On the Road is a great read for a teenager probably around 17-18, not so great for an adult reading it for the first time. It think it speaks to a young adult dream to pack up and see the country, no responsibilities, not thinking about consequences.

[TheRock]

The Old Man and The Sea - Hemingway

[Art Vandelay]

On the Road is a great read for a teenager probably around 17-18, not so great for an adult reading it for the first time. It think it speaks to a young adult dream to pack up and see the country, no responsibilities, not thinking about consequences.

This. I read it for the first time when I was like 19 or 20 and thought it was the best thing I'd ever read. Started to re-read it a few months ago and got about 75 pages in before putting it down and wondering what the hell was wrong with me when I was 19. It's still good, but not an all-time great or anything.