Please recommend a book

[Anyuni_Nakashima]

Another book, non related to Japan, but such an awesome piece of creation, a work of fiction that hits to the core of human society and what drives the world with so much philosophy inside to make you ponder at every sentence, is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I really agree with you there Duo. Definitely a good read!!! I'm glad you decided to do this.

I like the Art of War by Sun Tzu...no not the one by Machiavelli I haven't read that one.

My list of books that were part of my highschool cirriculum!!
The Hobbit, To kill a Mockingbird, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Twelth Night, Taming of the Shru, King Lear, Cesear, The Crucible, One Flew over the Cookoo's nest, A Seperate piece, 1984, Death of a Salesman, Animal Farm, Brave New World, A Hand Maids Tale, Fahrenheit 451, Catcher in the Rye...i can't remember the rest. Plus, other's that I read for fun that have already been mentioned. It's like i'm back in highschool again due to the books mentioned in this thread.

I love the fantasy/science fiction genre's anyone have any good reads. Please, no Harry Potter, LOTR, or any books by David Edding's, because I've already read all those books {smiles}

 

[Duo]

I really agree with you there Duo. Definitely a good read!!! I'm glad you decided to do this.

I like the Art of War by Sun Tzu...no not the one by Machiavelli I haven't read that one.

Thanks,

Yeah, it's pretty interesting, with all those radical social theories and hot passions between teh characters , maybe more ppl wil read it now

I always wanted to read the Art of War. Maybe soon I'll get my hands on it, but right now damm school is stressing me, and I'm busy reading also some Nietzsche, who I also recomend.

 

[sadakoyamamura]

Thanks,

I always wanted to read the Art of War. Maybe soon I'll get my hands on it, but right now damm school is stressing me, and I'm busy reading also some Nietzsche, who I also recomend.

If I can find my ebook on the Art of War by Sun Tzu, would you like me to send it to you? - Some people like the smell and feel of a book...

Hmmm, Nietzsche... Are you some kind of a Philosophy student or it's just part of the curriculum? My philopher friend told me he's good but I've never really gotten around to reading him.

 

[Duo]

If I can find my ebook on the Art of War by Sun Tzu, would you like me to send it to you? - Some people like the smell and feel of a book...

Hmmm, Nietzsche... Are you some kind of a Philosophy student or it's just part of the curriculum? My philopher friend told me he's good but I've never really gotten around to reading him.

If you could send me it would be great
Thanks :haihai:

I'm not a philosophy major, just that I enjoy it from time to time. Next on my list is existentialism

 

[bossel]

If you're looking for e-books of classics (no copyright anymore), gutenberg.org is a good source!

Here is the Art of War.



My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett & Tom Holt. L. Neil Smith wrote some good books, too. But I suppose, you have to have a certain Libertarian bias to really appreciate them.

 

[Apollo]

I'm not a philosophy major, just that I enjoy it from time to time. Next on my list is existentialism

Then I can recommend you read Albert Camus, The Stranger. Click here for summary GREAT STUFF!!

 

[Duo]

Thx, Miss Apollo

I'm going to read this in french for my french course in any case, original is always better, and i hope my french gets good by then

in any case thank you for ur effort, I don't know what I could reccomd you in return though :?

You are way higher than me academics wise, the only really good book that I think you would enjoy and appreciate at your level would probaply be Atlas Shrugged, I first mentionted it above, and I think I did a thread about it before, but nobody said anything

Sometimes i go overboard

 

[Apollo]

Thx, Miss Apollo

I'm going to read this in french for my french course in any case, original is always better, and i hope my french gets good by then

in any case thank you for ur effort, I don't know what I could reccomd you in return though :?

You are way higher than me academics wise, the only really good book that I think you would enjoy and appreciate at your level would probaply be Atlas Shrugged, I first mentionted it above, and I think I did a thread about it before, but nobody said anything

Sometimes i go overboard

Hiya Duo!!

THanks for your nice words....
I haven't read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, but will do because of your recommendation! I am currently reading a book, and once I am finished with it, I will look up Atlas Shrugged.
Have you read anything by Bertrand Russell? I really like his book, Why I am Not a Christian. He offers a better critique of religion than Ayn Rand.

However, Ayn Rand has a really good discussion of epistemology in her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, which is what I would recommend if you want to read something else by her. In her book The Virtue of Selfishness, she discusses her view of ethics, but her ethics is really one-sided.

 

[bentenmusume]

I'm surprised that there haven't been more recommendations for Japanese authors, so I thought I'd introduce some of the works and authors that really got me interested in Japanese literature, as well as some that I've discovered more recently, but also enjoy.

When I first read Kokoro, by Natsume Soseki, I was amazed that I could feel such a strong connection to a novel that had been written over a hundred years ago by an author coming from a completely different culture than my own. Soseki writes with a very profound insight into the human mind and emotions, and the themes he addresses in this novel are so universal to the human existence that I would find it difficult to imagine that anyone could read it and not be powerfully moved.

For something a little more contemporary, I've also always enjoyed the works of Haruki Murakami, who has a very unique world view. Both his novels -- like his epic The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, or Norwegian Wood, a tragic love story that is more 'realistic' than his typical works -- and his short stories (of which this is an excellent collection -- "On Meeting My 100% Perfect Girl One Fine April Morning" might be my favorite short story ever) I would highly recommend highly.

For anyone interested in science-fiction or dark humor, I'd also recommend Yasutaka Tsutsui, but I don't think that his works have been widely translated. I especially love his short stories -- Ore ni kansuru uwasa ("A Rumor About Me") is a wonderful collection.

If you like mysteries, you may want to check out Miyuki Miyabe, whose works (like this one) are just beginning to make their way into English translations. I've never read the translations, though, so I can't speak as to their quality. (Though I believe the translator is Alfred Birnbaum, who did a pretty good job with some translations of Murakami short stories that I read a while back, so I imagine these would be of similarly high quality.)

 

[Nuala]

Read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley!

 

[sadakoyamamura]

Read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley!

Yeah, I absolutely love this book! I was so touched by both the book version and the movie version (Francis Ford Copula - I think) that it inspired me to write a poem...

To Duo : I see that the Art of War has been taken care of by Bossel...

To Bossel : I agree that Gutenberg is a good place to get good reads. Especially books that are really hard to find in my place but I still like the feel of a real book plus I can take it to bed with me since I don't have a handheld...

Getting back to the topic. I have a thing for classical literature so I recommend Dracula by Bram Stoker. It isn't really as scary as in the movies. I kinda had the feeling of drama unfolding... or maybe it's just me...

 

[Nuala]

I haven't read Dracula yet, is it any good?

 

[sadakoyamamura]

Yup! Classic Gothic Literature. It makes you wonder why the author wrote in such a way. Was it a social commentary disguised in a novel? Or did he just intend to scare...

Another author I like reading is Stephen King. My personal favorite among his books would be Salem's Lot which is also 'bout blood sucking... I dunno but I've read somewhere that this was Stephen's sort of homage to Bram's Dracula.

 

[Nuala]

I liked Salem's Lot, it was a good book. I really enjoyed the ending.

 

[Apollo]

Of Japan-related books:

Japanese occupation history (social/cultural):
John Dower, Embracing Defeat. John Dower is a great authority on this subject and has written many interesting books, among them also War without Mercy.

Japanese occupation: (critical books):
M. Gayn, Japan diary.
R. Textor, Failure in Japan.

Other history books: (an overview of Japanese history since 1945):

Mikiso Hane, Eastern Phoenix - Japan Since 1945.

WW2:
The best introduction to the origins of the war, based on documents in many languages:
Akira Iriye, The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific.

:nihonjin:

I happen to know a lot of Japanese history books, (WW2 and occupation) so just ask if in doubt.

 

[sadakoyamamura]

Humor everyone?

I just finished reading: Sein Language by Jerry Seinfeld. You know that comedian. He even had a show named after him. The book has really funny comments/observations/thoughts about airlines, airplanes, dating etc... What really caught my attention before reading this books was what was written on the back cover, "This is my book... but you can read it."

 

[babar-san]

well, heres my list, didnt read all the posts so im sure that one or more have already been listed. these are of course non-japanese, aside from kurosawa stuff, ive never read a book by a japanese author except the writings of dr.masaki hatsumi, and physics books by machio kaku < incredible stuff btw
oh, and musashi's the book of five rings a long long time ago

1.dune - frank hurbert (my bible)
2.the silmarillian - jr tolkien
3.the book of five rings - Miyamoto Musashi
4.fear and loathing in las vegas - hunter s. thompson
5.the dunwitch horror - hp lovecraft

 

[SkippyDaStudent85]

Breaking into Japanese Literature, translated by Giles Murray, published by Kondansha International (publisher of several popular Japanese language books)

It is a must have/must read for anyone who considers themselves a student of Japanese. It contains parallel text (in Japanese on the left, English on the right) of 7 modern classics by Natsume Soseki and Akutagawa Ryonusuke.

Stories by Natsume Soseki - The First Night, The Third Night, The Fifth Night, The Seventh Night (all of them from Ten Nights of Dreams)

Stories by Akutagawa Ryunosuke - In a Grove, The Nose, Rashomon

Within the book are several links to MP3 files of the stories themself... for FREE (so you can listen to the Japanese while reading the stories)!

I haven't read Dracula yet, is it any good?

It is SOOOOOOOO good!

 

[Duo]

Breaking into Japanese Literature, translated by Giles Murray, published by Kondansha International (publisher of several popular Japanese language books)

It is a must have/must read for anyone who considers themselves a student of Japanese. It contains parallel text (in Japanese on the left, English on the right) of 7 modern classics by Natsume Soseki and Akutagawa Ryonusuke.

Stories by Natsume Soseki - The First Night, The Third Night, The Fifth Night, The Seventh Night (all of them from Ten Nights of Dreams)

Stories by Akutagawa Ryunosuke - In a Grove, The Nose, Rashomon

Within the book are several links to MP3 files of the stories themself... for FREE (so you can listen to the Japanese while reading the stories)!



It is SOOOOOOOO good!

A friend lent me that book, I read it, the stories were very good, of course I know no Japanese so I only stuck to the english part

 

[SkippyDaStudent85]

A friend lent me that book, I read it, the stories were very good, of course I know no Japanese so I only stuck to the english part

Its definately a good book for studying grammar and kana/kanji... and don't worry, I can only read the English too...

 

[sadakoyamamura]

Breaking into Japanese Literature, translated by Giles Murray, published by Kondansha International (publisher of several popular Japanese language books)

It is a must have/must read for anyone who considers themselves a student of Japanese. It contains parallel text (in Japanese on the left, English on the right) of 7 modern classics by Natsume Soseki and Akutagawa Ryonusuke.

Stories by Natsume Soseki - The First Night, The Third Night, The Fifth Night, The Seventh Night (all of them from Ten Nights of Dreams)

Stories by Akutagawa Ryunosuke - In a Grove, The Nose, Rashomon

Within the book are several links to MP3 files of the stories themself... for FREE (so you can listen to the Japanese while reading the stories)!



It is SOOOOOOOO good!

You've definitely sparked my interest! "sigh" Unfortunately books like that are rare in my place... I so envy you.

 

[miu]

N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto
Tsurezuregusa by Yoshida Kenkﾃｴ

I absolutely loved Tsurezuregusa :3 It's by far the best books you can ever read. I haven't read the English translation of it, just looked it a little bit but it seemed to be a really dull one... I read both books in Finnish and both were translated really well, Tsurezuregusa espescially.

From the non-Japanese books I could recommend Lewis Carroll's Alice books (Through the Looking Glass is a bit trippy but still good .

 

[SkippyDaStudent85]

You've definitely sparked my interest! "sigh" Unfortunately books like that are rare in my place... I so envy you.

I was lucky enough to happen across it at the local Barnes & Noble... Im pretty sure they can order books for you if you ask

 

[Apollo]

Gunther Grass- Crabwalk

Crabwalk is about Germany's past and the dangers posed by repressed memory.
It is about the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise ship which was torpedoed in the Baltic Sea on the night of 30th January, 1945, carrying 10,500 passengers, most of them refugees fleeing the Red Army's advance into the German enclave around Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland).

The novel was seen as a taboo breaker when it came out a couple of years ago, because it claims that the time has come to acknowledge that some Germans were also victims of World War II.

 

[myrrhine]

for umberto eco, name of the rose is good stuff... and concerning the eco/brown connection, eco has refered to dan brown as his (literary) "bastard son". i was pretty amused.

that aside, books!
Enders Game
by Orson Scott Card. So Very Good. Yes. I don't think I've ever talked to anyone who's read it and not loved it.

Dune
Frank Herbert. it's quite simply amazing.

Hitchhikers guide
Douglas Adams - for some more lighthearted scifi

the His Dark Materials Trilogy (Golden Compass, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass)
Philip Pullman - true, you'll find it under young adult, but the levels go way deeper than that.

just finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and it was great. i was impressed.

ooh! just one more... actually a comic, but deserves to be on a list like this - the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. Amazing. actually this should be up there at the top of the list. all the story and philosophy and character of great literature... plus great art.