Here Today... Gone To Hell!

What are some books you think should be required reading for book lovers?

I don't read much anymore but some of the ones I think are important are:

Ham On Rye - Charles Bukowski
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Notes from Underground - Dostoevsky
Wilderness- Jim Morrison (for poetry fans)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Naked Lunch - William S. Burroughs

And, although I dislike it, Catcher in the Rye is important for its social/cultural values.

Damn, you're a fast typper!!!  :yes:

Haven't read any of those, Wilderness sounds interesting.

I just started reading Bukowski, he's an interesting guy.

Wilderness is definitely worth a look, some of it isn't that good and Morrison's poetry doesn't really make sense, but I liked his style.

Roulette,
 That's funny.  You mentioned Naked Lunch.  When I was a substitute teacher, I'd hand out work for the kids and read books at the teacher's desk.  One of my "artsy" friends recommended Naked Lunch.  Needless to say, I'm glad it wasn't discovered!  It's definitely not a kids' book.   :hihi:

The cigarettes we burn and the books we claim to read...

It's only an RR thread, after all...

And there was me about to suggest Virgil's Aeneid.  :-\

Confederacy of Dunces

Revolt Against The Modern World, Men Among The Ruins, and Ride The Tiger- Evola. These 3 books are absolutely brilliant. It's amazing that they were written after liberalism took its strongest hold on the West, which remains in place today. Anyone who realizes tradition's value should read this trilogy.

As for another great trilogy, I'll recommend some CS Lewis. Read Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. It's very good, subtle Christian reading.

Sarcasm?

I love ancient Greek mythology and writing.

Sagacity?

Thesaurus?

Dumpling?

Allegorical Al asks, "do you eat much baloney?"


A thesaurus is a useful tool. It's also a really cool dinosaur... :yes:

We have a book thread........ ::)

That Motley Crue book is good, just read the first 6 pages on Google Books

Thinly-Veiled-Analogy Anne replies, "No, do you like the taste of hot sausage in your mouth?"

 :yes:

Anywho, add The Island and Brave New World by Huxley to that list.

Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Animal Farm, George Orwell
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

I just started reading Cuckoo, very good so far. I need to read Animal Farm.

1984 is another one that's a must-read!

Sex Drugs and Coco Puffs

and yeah dude, The Motley Crue autobiography!!
fuckin' right.


I'm a big fan of the Marilyn Manson autobiography as well.

Whilst I wouldn't say it's essential reading, 'Angela's Ashes' is one book that had me in both hysterics and tears - on the same page.

Beautifully written by an incredibly witty and satirical writer.

Beaton R. Oundabush says, "Good one."

You edited your message!  :)

The first one was a bit meaner.  :'(

Me too. I read Post Office in the summer, Hollywood recently and I started on Factotum. He has an interesting take on humanity.

You've caught me, all red-handed like, in the middle of a dearth of creativity and a plethora of indecision. Lately, I've had to resort to scrunching my toilet paper into a roughly hewn ball. And to make matters worse, I'm having a hard time thinking up new and innovative places to toss the shitty things... :-\

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a thesaurus to put back on the shelf and a scrotum to scratch.

Slaughterhouse 5 or Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Russian, I always wanted to read In Cold Blood...  Have you seen "Capote"?  I could never track down a copy of that book (before the movie came out, that is)...

Capote is a very good film. It's hard to describe - it's not exactly a great epic as I was expecting, but it's more of a documentary-style, alienated picture: it's cold and distant. It doesn't build up sympathy for Capote and he comes across as an arrogant ass at times, to be honest. But it captured the whole bleak Kansas landscape really well and did a great job with its narrative in that regard - and Hoffman is awesome, simply awesome.

I agree with you 100%...  Hoffman's performance was brilliant...  I really loved the cinematography...  I felt like I was right there in Kansas...  I wasn't expecting an epic; but it's one of those long, drawn out movies that you really just have to get into or you'll easily be bored... I loved it though... As for "In Cold Blood," how was it?  By the way, another Capote movie (basically the same events of "Capote") is coming out soon...

I started reading In Cold Blood and then switched to Fight Club...I do that a lot with books...now I'm starting a Bukowski book...I'll read ten pages and probably pick up In Cold Blood again!  :hihi: So far it was very good, though. Capote's a great writer.

I did hear about a new Capote movie, do you know what it's called? I heard it's even lower budget.

The Five people You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom It's more of a short story(only 200 pages long) but it's worth it. basically it's about  a man who dies and meets five people in heaven who at one point or another had an impact on his life while he was alive. Some he knew and others  were strangers to him. It really makes you think about things and how we are oblivious to certain things as well as people in our daily life which actually shape our destiny. It's good. : ok:


Sorry to be spreading the gospel but I've been on a U2 book binge lately.  These two are really good:

U2 at the end of the world - Bill Flanagan - It's basically a documntary of the band while on the Zoo TV tour. You don't need to be a U2 fan to read this. It's similar to Motley Crue's The Dirt in that sense.

Bono in conversation with Michka Assayas - basically it is what the title says it is. A conversation Bono had with Michka Assayas. It's actually really good and again you don't need to be a fan to read it. In fact if you're not a fan( and don't want to be) you might want to stay away from it because you'll have a whole new respect for Bono when you're done reading.

It's called "Infamous"...  Daniel Craig (the new James Bond) plays the killer that Capote becomes obsessed with...  British actor Toby Jones plays Capote... 

I do the same things with books!  Start one and switch to another... Usually I never finish any!