A mere suggestion of possible reads for those of you who
want something different, stimulating, and would probably want to pass on to
others to read.
Two ideas slammed into each other this morning while I was
doodling around on the internet; a recent post from the blog of Propnomicon
decrying the low level of immersive detective games and the same morning,
turned up an old post on io9 about the Ten Science Fiction Novels You Pretend to Have Read. Actually I had already
read 7 of the 10 and might read two additional on the list.
This has lead me to make a list of books as possible
Christmas presents for those who are a bit more advance than the average and
while needing a bit of a challenge, don’t want to be beat over the head with an
overblown pompous, “must read” book that is never finished and is laced with
punishment in every page. You know, like a
Pynchon book, Finnegan’s Wake, Dhalgren, and other books that cry out for
courageous souls to cry out, “Hey look, the king ain’t got no clothes”.
Instead I created an eclectic list, off the top off my head, of
books that: (1) I have read, (2) enjoyed,
(3) found stimulating, (4) would want to read again and, (5) recommend to
others. I tried to keep the list short
and books that should be available commonly.
These aren’t trophy books with names dropped to impress your friends, they are good
reads. Not all of them are science
fiction or fantasy and one of them isn’t even fiction, but all are readable,
challenging, and worth the time. They
are a group of off-the-beaten-path books and authors, that I have enjoyed over
the years and think you will also.
Here are eleven authors with books that I have recommended
in no particular order, with myself manfully trying to recommend only one book
or per author, but failing miserably in a few cases.
Collected Fictions, (1999) Jorge Luis Borges
Foucault’s Pendulum, (1989 in English) Umberto Eco
Winter’s Tale, (1983) Mark Helprin
Dictionary of the Khazars, (1988 in English) Milorad Pavic
Little, Big, (1981) John Crowley
The King in Yellow, (1895) Robert W. Chambers
A Canticle for Leibowitz, (1950) Walter J. Miller, Jr.
Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Colciliator, The
Sword of the Lictor, Citadel of the Autarch
– (written between 1980-1983) all part of the four part Book of the New
Sun Series by Gene Wolfe. I might also
suggest the ghost story Peace (1976)
Breaking the Maya Code, (1992) Michael D. Coe
My Name is Red (1998) Orhan Pamuk, also recommend The Black
Book (1994) and sequel The New Life (1997)
The King’s Indian: Stories and Tales (1974), John Gardner,
he also wrote the better known books, Grendel and The Sunlight Dialogs, all well worth
the read
A Wild Sheep Chase (1990), Haruki Murakami, also recommended
are: Dance, Dance, Dance, The Wind-Up
Bird Chronicle (1995), Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World (1985),
and Kafka On The Shore (2002)
So endeth my list as I am going to quit while I am
still ahead. These quirky, unusual, and
insightful tales I recommend as good reads and I make no apologies for any time
wasted, tired eyes or lost nights’ sleep.
As for myself, I am going to get a copy of Cryptonomicon by Neal
Stephenson to read and maybe I’ll add it to my recommended list for next year.
CoastConFan
The only book on the list I have read is "A Canticle for Liebowitz" and a second that recommendation.
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