Got Any Fiction Recommendations?

[adept]

Anything by Philip K Dick or Tolkien.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Anything by Philip K Dick or Tolkien.

 

 

Aren't some of Philip K. Dick's novels much better than others? Got any suggestions a few you like best?

[adept]

Aren't some of Philip K. Dick's novels much better than others? Got any suggestions a few you like best?

 

1. Ubik. My favourite.

2. A Scanner Darkly (also a great film). Anybody who's experimented with drugs can relate to this. Total headfuck.

3. Do Andoids Dream Of Electric Sheep ? The novel that became the film Bladerunner. Awesome.

[fizix]

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown: Spiritual/esoteric focus story base, great read, couldn't put down.

I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole: A spiritual story of cultivation and training in the Star Wars universe. Awesome book, if you like it, try the Jedi Academy Trilogy.

[tumoessence]

I have kids and read some of their stories and have found Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men to be hilarious and spiritually insightful.

Otherwise Hesse's Damian

Along with lots of the suggestions already made.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Radix is awesome! Am going to read it again for about the 5th time. Here is an Amazon link for used copies.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0553254065/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1278219745&sr=8-1&condition=used

 

Attanasio's site.

 

http://www.aaattanasio.com/

 

 

Hey, I just received an old copy of Radix today through Amazon. It looks reeeally good!

 

From the back cover: "The awe-inspiring tale of a young man's journey of self-discovery from a life on the streets to near-godhood, it is an epic of the highest order, at once an exciting novel of conflict and adventure, and a deeply transcendent spiritual pilgrimage".

 

Hey, that's sounds so familiar...wait a minute...it couldn't be...could it...no...could it actually be 'The Story of Vajrahridaya'???? Holy shit, ralis...stay tuned...

[JustARandomPanda]

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

 

 

I loved Tom Robbins in College, and then there were years where I tried, but couldn't read him, the writing felt so baroque and convoluted and psychedelical, but then recently I can read him again and appreciate the brilliance. Jitterbug Perfume is one of my favorites, and I think it's time to re-read it.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

O.K., here's a wickedly good little sci-fi novel from the 70's that will raise the hairs on the top of your head by the end. It's pretty unknown, you'll have to order it online, or perhaps a good used bookstore... but it's well worth it. An un-discovered gem:

 

Tetrasomy Two, a novel by Oscar Rossiter, is a first person narrative involving a psychiatry resident in a state mental hospital who discovers a very curious patient who appears to be totally unresponsive. When the somewhat high-strung Dr. Boyd discovers that a patient with the name of Ernest Peckham has never had a bedsore after being catatonic for 25 years, and has eye-blink intervals of precisely 43 seconds and every stool he passes weighs exactly 184 grams, Dr. Boyd decides to investigate deeper. The back cover describes the book as "a combination of Woody Allen and Michael Crichton" and they were pretty close. (Woody Allen was still creating comedies like Sleeper and Love and War, and Michael Crichton's claims to fame at that time were still probably limited to The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man). It's great read, and Dr. Boyd's narration steadily reveals a deteriorating psyche that keeps the book moving toward an astonishing conclusion. Whoa.

 

[ralis]

 

Hey, I just received an old copy of Radix today through Amazon. It looks reeeally good!

 

From the back cover: "The awe-inspiring tale of a young man's journey of self-discovery from a life on the streets to near-godhood, it is an epic of the highest order, at once an exciting novel of conflict and adventure, and a deeply transcendent spiritual pilgrimage".

 

Hey, that's sounds so familiar...wait a minute...it couldn't be...could it...no...could it actually be 'The Story of Vajrahridaya'???? Holy shit, ralis...stay tuned...

 

Very funny! I never thought in those terms when I recommended 'Radix'. I think you may appreciate Attanasio's writing style. I certainly did. He has a blog. http://www.aaattanasio.com/

 

 

ralis

[thelerner]

You'll probably never find a copy, but 'The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein' is a good read. It tells the Frankenstein story from view point of the Dr's bride. Her meetings w/ wise woman/witches, the internal alchemy's that were devised. Interesting take on alchemy. Nice outline of the times and events.

 

Tim Pratt is a good writer. His collection of surrealistic short stories 'Hart & Boots and other Stories' was excellent. One story made me think of some of the ladies here. A story of a witch who excelled at sexual magic, loses her powers and needs to get them back before old enemies find her. Hokey, but the story had a nice human edge to it. It was available at the library. His other book is a fun easy read too.

 

A thought provoking book is 'Replay' by Ken Grimwood. The plot is about a middle aged man who suddenly is back in his body at a younger age and replays his life til the same age when once against he's thrust back, replaying his life over and over.

 

Reading the book forces you to consider how well you're spending this life. This one was a best seller so I'm sure its at most libraries.

 

 

Michael

[Mal]

Anyone like westerns? I cowboy stories. While they are pulp and only $4 Clevland Westerns do seem to give me an engaging read for an hours or so

 

While perhaps not "transformative" I like knowing the good guy is going to kill the bad guy and win the girl

 

Also funny is that while there use to be a lot of writers back in the 60's Clevland Westerns are actually written in Australia and these days it's just one guy writing under a few pen names, and he has never even been to the "wild west"

 

Of course if you want literature + western you need Louis L'Amour

"I'm just passing' through," the rider said when they asked him his name. And from then on, in the high country around Parrot City, he was called just that: Mr. Passing' Through, a man who rode a blue roan with a skull and crossbones brand and didn't know to keep to himself. And he wouldn't keep to himself. Because something about a parched and dusty ranch appealed to him, and something about a woman's hair made him think of not being alone."

 

Classic one of my favorites.

[ralis]

I grew up reading sci-fi and the entire high school library. I just remembered Jack London. Great books on the wildness of nature. 'To Build A Fire' is freaky.

 

http://london.sonoma.edu/

 

ralis

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

I grew up reading sci-fi and the entire high school library. I just remembered Jack London. Great books on the wildness of nature. 'To Build A Fire' is freaky.

 

http://london.sonoma.edu/

 

ralis

 

Every Tao Bum should read 'To Build a Fire'. It has a deep reality. And it is freaky.

 

ralis, whenever I visit Santa Fe, I would make a bee-line to 'Blue Moon', that fantastic used book store on Montezuma that had a huge poster of Ramana Maharshi radiating love to the lovely woman who owned the store and her customers. I always found the best books there, and would come home with armloads of spiritual, metaphysical books, and would rent movies from her eclectic and interesting collection. Last year I went there and was stunned to find that there was now a different store and owner, no more 'Blue Moon'.

Why does every good thing have to come to an end too early?

[ralis]

Every Tao Bum should read 'To Build a Fire'. It has a deep reality. And it is freaky.

 

ralis, whenever I visit Santa Fe, I would make a bee-line to 'Blue Moon', that fantastic used book store on Montezuma that had a huge poster of Ramana Maharshi radiating love to the lovely woman who owned the store and her customers. I always found the best books there, and would come home with armloads of spiritual, metaphysical books, and would rent movies from her eclectic and interesting collection. Last year I went there and was stunned to find that there was now a different store and owner, no more 'Blue Moon'.

Why does every good thing have to come to an end too early?

 

Carmen is a very good friend and I was sad to see her store closed. Health and finances were the reason.

 

Wasn't there a movie 'To Build a Fire'?

 

 

ralis

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Carmen is a very good friend and I was sad to see her store closed. Health and finances were the reason.

 

Wasn't there a movie 'To Build a Fire'?

 

 

ralis

 

I probably bumped into you there once or twice.

 

I don't know if there was a movie. Wouldn't have had the same impact as the story, though.

That image of the dog at the end leaving his human to go back to camp is indelible in my mind's eye...

[Mal]

Lots of good books here.

 

So I've moved this thread into the book club, before it gets lost on the discussion page

[betwixter]

-

Edited September 12, 2010 by betwixter

[Mal]

[Mal]

At some point in your life, this statement will be true:

Tomorrow you will loose everything forever.

- How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe

[doc benway]

Just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz -

Loved it! Very personal yet universal. Deeply disturbing yet life-affirming and hopeful.

The only problem is that it's full of Spanglish and Dominican euphemisms.

Fortunately there is a great annotated guide on the web.

Highly recommended.

[Mal]

[Mal]

I recently finished One Second After, recommended here http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/15920-a-couple-of-simple-i-think-stillness-movement-questions/page__view__findpost__p__216987 Quite a good book, VERY realistic, but not quite a greatly told story.

 

Unlike Dies the Fire which IMHO features extremely good storytelling. I really like the plot device of "The Change" where electricity, high gas pressures, and fast combustion (eg gunpowder) stop working. This nicely takes out guns and allows a medieval style of combat.

 

The good thing about this is it takes out a lot of the military rah rah that you usually get in post apocalyptic fiction. While ex-military personnel still have valuable skills, they no longer have an overwhelming advantage compared to a medieval combat society or other skills like archery.

 

I also loved the ideals shown by the Wiccans of Clan Mackenzie and their "Witch Queen" (good fantasy always has a witch queen )

[Mal]

[GreytoWhite]

'Radix' by A.A. Aatanasio. One of my very favorites.

 

Thanks! I've been wanting to re-read that for years but could never remember the title. All I can ever find of Attanasio's at my used book store is his King Arthur crap.