Really big book suggestions

[starry night]

Ditto any of Michener's and Eco's. Also, I just recently re-read "In Cold Blood" (after seeing "Capote" on video), and it is well-deserving of its reputation. A gripping account.

"Affluenza" by John DeGraaf.
"The Coming Generational Storm" by Kotlikoff & Burns.
"I'll Be Short", Robert Reich.

And for fun: "Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis" by Howell Raines.

 

[virginia]

Ok - so I'm gonna be the one to recommend the not "Great" literature, but some good books - there are two or 3 total of the Hannibal Lecter books. I think the last one is called Red Devil - it's awesome and will scare the crap out of you.

 

[ladelfina]

Looong books I enjoyed:

Mason & Dixon; Thomas Pynchon (perhaps more accessible than some of his others)
773pp.

A Suitable Boy; Vikram Seth
1474pp. (not a typo-- one thousand four hundred seventy-four in my paperback edn.)

The Claudius Novels; Robert Graves
a good 700-something pp. put together.

 

[Robert the Red]

The Civil War by Shelby Foote -- 3 volumes, about 900 pages each, should keep you busy for a while. Is quite engrossing and readable -- much more so than Bruce Catton's histories of the Civil War (IMHO).

 

[SanDiego]

Atlas Shrugged

note - I'm 53 yo and still reread it every few years - never did grow out of it, nor did my husband!

 

[dex]

Thanks for all the suggestions - some comments

War and Peace - I saw the movie.
The Winds of War and/or War and Remembrance - I saw the mini series.

"The Good Soldier Svejk" - I don't feel a conection
Lonesome Dove - I've lost interest in westerns.

Hitler's Willing Executioners : Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust -- by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen -
Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich -- by William L. Shirer - read it.

A Widow for One Year -- by John Irving - I'm not a fan of his.
The World According to Garp by John Irving

Don Quixote de La Mancha (Modern Library) by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
Les Miserable - read it
Travels with Charlie - read it

Atlas Shrugged - read it
The Fountainhead - read it
Ayn Rand's Anthem - read it

Tom Clancy - not a fan of his
Stephen King - I'm going to read the Cell
James Michener - read a lot of his
"Affluenza" by John DeGraaf - no interest
"The Coming Generational Storm" by Kotlikoff & Burns - no interest
"I'll Be Short", Robert Reich - I listen to him on NPR

And for fun: "Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis" by Howell Raines - I'm pass it.
Hannibal Lecter books - saw the movies
The Civil War by Shelby Foote - read alot of civil war books.
Mason & Dixon; Thomas Pynchon (perhaps more accessible than some of his others) - I tried to read one of his books - I couldn't understand it. It was about a fish that guides mankind; if I remeber.


A Suitable Boy; Vikram Seth
1474pp. (not a typo-- one thousand four hundred seventy-four in my paperback edn.)

The Claudius Novels; Robert Graves
a good 700-something pp. put together.

These are in the running - I think Cryptonomicon & Quicksilber are on the top of the list.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Cryptonomicon
Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco
Cryptonomicon
Stephenson's latest trilogy, the Quicksilver
Team Of Rivals", by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Quincunx - Charles Palliser

I decided to go with:
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco
Ordered both on Amazon.com for 9.96 including shipping - I think they make their money from the shipping.

 

[bpp]

After Foucault's Pendulum, you might try Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
And sooner or later you may want to read James Joyce's Ulysses, which can be enjoyably read without notes if you don't mind not getting all of the references. (This is probably not true of Finnegan's Wake, though having never gotten past the first few pages, can't say for certain.)

 

[justin]

I recall reading the original spanish language version of 100 years of solitude during high school - very interesting, bizarre, and confusing at times probably due to the magical realism style. Great imagery and descriptive narrative too.

 

[dex]

After Foucault's Pendulum, you might try Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
And sooner or later you may want to read James Joyce's Ulysses, which can be enjoyably read without notes if you don't mind not getting all of the references. (This is probably not true of Finnegan's Wake, though having never gotten past the first few pages, can't say for certain.)

I tried to read Gravity's Rainbow - it got great reviews when it came out - I couldn't get through it, nor could I understand it.

 

[bpp]

I tried to read Gravity's Rainbow - it got great reviews when it came out - I couldn't get through it, nor could I understand it.

In my mind it is kind of a cross between Foucault's Pendulum and Ulysses, with a dash of Monty Python thrown in. The banana breakfast scene at the beginning sucked me in, but I could see how one could fail to get into it as well. I haven't really cared for other Pynchon books, for that matter.

 

[bpp]

By the way,

Lonesome Dove - I've lost interest in westerns.

I have never had any interest in westerns, but recall enjoying reading Lonesome Dove when it first came out.

 

[audreyh1]

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Oh that's just an awesome book!!!! I don't remember it being particularly long?

A current? bestseller by Amy Tan - Saving Fish from Drowning - Amazing! Definitely engrossing - totally transports you. A really wild story. 496 pages. I think it's still on bookshelves at most stores.

Audrey