Bookshelf meme

[spudtater]

In honour of World Book Day.

20 works of fiction:

1. Arthur C. Clarke: Of Time and Stars
2. Richard Adams: Shardik
3. Terry Pratchett: Feet of Clay
4. Douglas Adams: Mostly Harmless
5. William Golding: Lord of the Flies
6. Stephen Donaldson: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever
7. Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast
8. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
9. George Orwell: Animal Farm
10. E.M. Forster: A Passage to India
11. Arthur Miller: The Crucible
12. Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
13. Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Mars
14. Larry Niven: The Magic Goes Away
15. Jostein Gaarder: Sophie's World
16. Angus Oblong: Creepy Susie (and 13 other tragic tales for troubled children)
17. Iain M. Banks: Feersum Endjinn
18. Harry Harrison: The Stainless Steel Rat
19. William Gibson: Neuromancer
20. Enki Bilal: The Nikopol Trilogy (Graphic novel)

10 works of (self-proclaimed) non-fiction:

21. Desmond Morris: The Human Zoo
22. Elaine Morgan: The Descent of Woman
23. Moir & Jessel: Brainsex
24. Simon Singh: Fermat's Last Theorem
25. Larry Zuckerman: The Potato   8^)
26. Brian Greene: The Elegant Universe
27. A.K. Dewdney: Yes, We Have No Neutrons
28. Douglas R. Hofstadter: Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid
29. Erik Davis: TechGnosis
30. James Gleick: Chaos

Reply to this post saying which of these books that you've read, with optional comments on each. Then make your own list and post it to your journal so that I can do the same!

Comments

[galaxy-girl00.livejournal.com]

I have read:

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
George Orwell: Animal Farm
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Jostein Gaarder: Sophie's World

and am intrigued (sp?) by:
Angus Oblong: Creepy Susie =0)

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

Oh, Creepy Susie's a brilliant book; I'll give it to you to flick through next time you're round.

I'm pretty sure that that Susie is unrelated to you...   8^)

[galaxy-girl00.livejournal.com]

you never know...

[kalorlo.livejournal.com]

I've read:

Terry Pratchett: Feet of Clay
Douglas Adams: Mostly Harmless
William Golding: Lord of the Flies
Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast - Yay! Really love these books
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
George Orwell: Animal Farm
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Jostein Gaarder: Sophie's World
Iain M. Banks: Feersum Endjinn
Harry Harrison: The Stainless Steel Rat - at least, I've read something I *think* was this

Dad is always on at me to read Gödel, Escher, Bach but I haven't got round to it yet...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mcp_/]

You really have no work to be doing? :)

As you can see: I don't!

1. Arthur C. Clarke: Of Time and Stars
4. Douglas Adams: Mostly Harmless
5. William Golding: Lord of the Flies
7. Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast
8. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
9. George Orwell: Animal Farm
12. Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
13. Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Mars
15. Jostein Gaarder: Sophie's World
17. Iain M. Banks: Feersum Endjinn
18. Harry Harrison: The Stainless Steel Rat
19. William Gibson: Neuromancer


10 works of (self-proclaimed) non-fiction:

28. Douglas R. Hofstadter: Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid
30. James Gleick: Chaos

Commentry:

Douglas Adams: the fourth of the trilogy? Disliked it due to unhappy ending, even thou intellectually I realised that was the best way.
Red mars: Shit. got really bored of all that realistic politicing stuff. Give me Orson Scott Card any day.
Jostein Gaardner: Very good book, but patronising and annoying philosophical style non-twist.
Feersum Endjinn: Just spell the GODDAMN WORDS RIGHT!
rat: Can't remember, read it when i was like ten. Had a stupid 80's style cover.
Gibson: As above. Probably very good, liked the later ones better cos of the ideas.

the rest are either boring stuff I was forced to read in school or books I am entirely unopinioned on. The non-fiction stuff: Well Everybody knows GEB is good, and chaos was all right, bit of an airplane novel thou.

...

14. Larry Niven: The Magic Goes Away <- what is this about?

Larry niven is occassionally good but gives over to being crap half the time, like arthur c clarke. What's this one like?

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

Ay liekt Feersum Endjinn. Ay allsow liek pising of Eeen Em Banx fanz bay proklayming it too bee may fayvorit wun. It reely iz zow. Zu storeez brileeant.

The Magic Goes Away is a piece of genius writing. The key idea is that magic is a natural resource, and is being used up by every magician on earth too greedy to try to conserve it. Pointed satire anybody? It's also unusual for a fantasy in that it's plain-talking and scientifically-minded; about as far from Tolkien as you can get.   8^)

[xquiq.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Mostly Harmless Fifth?

I believe So Long and Thanks for All the Fish was number four.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mcp_/]

When I say fourth, I mean it like the last of the trilogy, so fifth yes.

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

Er... not this sense makes...?   8^S

[xquiq.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I can be a dreadful pedant.

I must stop making comments like that!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mcp_/]

No worries, I had totally forgot about the fourth book...

[sigmonster.livejournal.com]

Read 3,4,5,8,9,12,18,24,28,30

Have read in 7, 10, 22

Am in the middle of TAing a class and should probably stop writing.

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

*Pokes sigmonster with the Thomas Covenant books*

[xquiq.livejournal.com]

Have read:

1. Arthur C. Clarke: Of Time and Stars
3. Terry Pratchett: Feet of Clay
4. Douglas Adams: Mostly Harmless
8. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
9. George Orwell: Animal Farm
11. Arthur Miller: The Crucible
17: Iain M. Banks: Feersum Endjinn
19: William Gibson: Neuromancer

I don't remember 1, 11 or 17 very well, as I was quite young when I read the first too and the latter made no impression on me.

2 was one of the more entertaining Terry Pratchett books I've read recent.

I agree with Meg about 4.

8 and 9 were two of my favourite books as a teenager and I'd like to read them again. I'd also like to reread Neuromancer.

[luckylove.livejournal.com]

I've read
Terry Pratchett: Feet of Clay
George Orwell: Animal Farm
Arthur Miller: The Crucible
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass

I liked them all except Animal Farm. I loved the Crucible.

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

I read Danforth when we were going through it in English class.

"This is a sharp time, now, a precise time"...   8^>

[deralte.livejournal.com]

3, 4, 5, 6 (have yet to get past the first chapter since it's, er, not the best book in the world with an uninteresting main character), 8, 11, 12, 18 (I love this series, but it's been ages since i reread it, and I'm not sure if I'd like it so much now that I'm grown), 19 (much better than some of his other books, but it's also been a long time since I read it.)

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

I recommend Gormenghast. GOOOOD!
Also must bring Bilal round for people to ogle at some point.   8^)

[kropotkin29.livejournal.com]

4,5,6,8,9,12,17,18,19
28 'Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid'- my flatmate had that years ago, I never could get into it :-(