Favourite Fiction/poetry

[jdubs]

So I've looked at other threads about books, and they are always (quite understandably) centred around entheogen-related books.

I think it is important to differentiate between these non-fiction and fiction books.

So this thread is for any other books, of poetry or fiction, that can be read as a supplement to 'research-reading', if you like. They can feature drugs or whatever, but the focus is not on anthropological, scientific, religious or theoretical work (although fiction contains aspects of these things).

Basically, any 'unputdownable', or even possibly 'lifechanging' reads here, fiction only please

I'll start off with a few that spring immediately to mind:

The Outsider - Albert Camus
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
The Trial - Franz Kafka

 

[Bill Cipher]

I'll play. This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I do love me a good book.

Here's a partial list of the novels that have had the biggest impact on me personally, in no particular order:

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
The Recognitions - William Gaddis
V / Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
Nexus / Sexus / Plexus / Tropic of Capricorn - Henry Miller
Suttree / Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Journey To the End of the Night - Celine
Crime and Punishment / Notes From the Underground - Dostoevsky
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Ask the Dust / Wait Until Spring, Bandini - John Fante
War and Peace / Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
Hunger - Knut Hamsun
Remembrance of Things Past - Marcel Proust
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
A Scanner Darkly - PKD

Many more I've loved for sure, but those are the ones that jump out at me right off the bat. I could be shipwrecked forever with copies of only Infinite Jest and A Confederacy of Dunces to re-read over and over, and as long as I had my Radiohead collection, laptop and Wacom tablet, I could probably be pretty happy.

 

[jamie]

the chrysalids
the onion girl and anything else by Charles D Lint(if you like fantacy for adults that has some shamanic elements)

I dunno more I just can not remember atm..

 

[soulfood]

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

Ya know?

I bought that as a present for my sister a coupla years back just from reading you recommend it before. Sure kept her busy for a while but I got the feeling some parts were over her head a little.

Still... I really should steal that off of her.

 

[Bill Cipher]

Still... I really should steal that off of her.

Damn straight. That's the text for the revolution, baby.

If only I could have smoked spice with the man before that train left the station. And Picasso. And Fellini. Oh well. We'll have us a vapedown in the afterlife, the four of us.

You can come too, soulfood, even though you called me a dick once.

Just don't embarrass me in front of Picasso.

 

[jdubs]

Just remembered another - Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut

Am looking into ordering Infinite Jest as we speak. Cheers Art. Will also, look into all other suggestions.

And know what you both mean, there are many that will come back to us all I reckon. I will feel bad for the ones I havent mentioned so I'll add them later :d

Uncle Knucles wrote:

You can come too, soulfood, even though you called me a dick once.

Just don't embarrass me in front of Picasso.

:lol:

 

[Entropymancer]

Just about anything by Tom Robbins (Another Roadside Attraction, Still Life with Woodpecker, Skinny Legs and All, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas)

 

[Ice]

Great suggestions thus far for sure. Here are some better known ones off the top of my head. (except maybe for Victorino)

House of Leaves: Mark Danielewski
Coma Therapy, Trading Shadows for Sunshine: Eric Victorino
Atlas Shrugged: Ayn Rand
The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion: The great J.R.R Tolkien
The Elephant Vanishes: Haruki Murakami
Metamorphosis: Franz Kafka

Murakami is recommended by House in another thread, so this is my thanks to introducing me to this brilliant author.

 

[Guyomech]

As a preteen: Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater. This was my first encounter with a clear articulation of the zombie-like shallowness of pop culture.

Definitely the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

But mostly science fiction. Some of this borders on psychedelic:

Valis by PK Dick
Snow Crash, The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson.
Accelerando by Charles Stross
The Neuromancer trilogy by William Gibson
Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds

 

[jdubs]

All good suggestions. Plenty of material here, for those blessed with the time to read for pleasure!

Ordered Infinite Jest on Kindle yesterday, and began reading it right away. Having never heard of it (for some inexplicable reason) I didn't know it was 1000 pages long!!!

But anyway, that is a very good thing taking into account the amazing style of the book. Wow, it reminds me of Ulysses, only less opaque, and much more funny and entertaining. It is a pleasure to read, and thanks again Art for recommending a book that has somehow managed to slip under the radar for so long!

I think style is as important as substance, and this appears in the early stages to have plenty of both! Exciting and meaty stuff!


Also Ice, i concur with you totally about Danielewski's House of Leaves. It is a real treat. Makes you wonder why no one has played around with the form as much before.

 

[tetra]

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon.
Drop City, T.C. Boyle
The Grays, Whitley Strieber (anything by Strieber is awesome, he's a hero of mine)
Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins
The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption, Steven King
Entangled, Graham Hancock

And too many others to list . . .

 

[lyserge]

I'm enjoying Kim by Rudyard Kipling, The Winter's Tale of Shakespeare (nonlinear flipping through random scenes/acts), The Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins, as well as Dubliners by James Joyce, at the moment.

 

[Bill Cipher]

Ordered Infinite Jest on Kindle yesterday, and began reading it right away. Having never heard of it (for some inexplicable reason) I didn't know it was 1000 pages long!!!

But anyway, that is a very good thing taking into account the amazing style of the book. Wow, it reminds me of Ulysses, only less opaque, and much more funny and entertaining. It is a pleasure to read, and thanks again Art for recommending a book that has somehow managed to slip under the radar for so long!

I think style is as important as substance, and this appears in the early stages to have plenty of both! Exciting and meaty stuff!

Awesome. I look forward to hearing your impressions.

Be forewarned, though - this is probably a particularly difficult book to read on a Kindle. There are a couple hundred pages of footnotes that you absolutely cannot skip if you care to know what's going on. Some of the footnotes have footnotes (seriously). So, you are flipping between the main text and the back of the book every 10 minutes or so.

It's a ridiculous juggernaut of madness and sadness, with a whole bunch of funny shit in between - and by the time you put it down at the end (much like with DMT), you'll have a lot more questions than answers.

Enjoy!

 

[jdubs]

Be forewarned, though - this is probably a particularly difficult book to read on a Kindle. There are a couple hundred pages of footnotes that you absolutely cannot skip if you care to know what's going on. Some of the footnotes have footnotes (seriously). So, you are flipping between the main text and the back of the book every 10 minutes or so.

Yea it's OK, Ive come across a couple already. You can just follow the footnote link, it takes you straight there. Then it has a link at the footnote that says 'back to text' so you click on that and go back. Should be alright.

It already seems pretty mad. Can't really put it down to be honest. I like how it jumps from person to person and from theme to theme, and it will be interesting to see if some of the people and themes come back around. I suspect they will.

All in all though, a treat. Already seems like somewhat of a masterwork. Cant believe I've never heard of it before. My degree (which featured a significant proportion of literature) has clearly failed in certain areas!!!

Will post further impressions upon further progression

 

[corpus callosum]

I agree with Art when he lauds 'Infinite Jest'- an excellent unique book.

Others which Ive enjoyed include:

Seven Tattoos, A Memoir in the Flesh- Peter Trachtenberg;

The Gates of Janus-Ian Brady (a serial killers 'insider' perspective);

Requiem for a Dream- H Selby Jnr;

Dopefiend- Donald Goines;

The Collected Short Stories- Philip K Dick (5 volumes-all fantastic!).

 

[purple_dye]

Honestly some of the best poetry I have ever heard has come from Jim Morrison.

Not to mention that he has an amazing voice...

 

[jdubs]

Corpus Callosum wrote:

The Gates of Janus-Ian Brady (a serial killers 'insider' perspective);

This exists and was allowed to be published?! :shock:

Part of me says "Ew no" at the very idea of it.

But then another part goes "Hmmm interesting".

I fear that once read, it can't be un-read. Not sure whether thats worth doing to yourself...???

 

[tetra]

Corpus Callosum wrote:

The Gates of Janus-Ian Brady (a serial killers 'insider' perspective);

This exists and was allowed to be published?! :shock:



I fear that once read, it can't be un-read. Not sure whether thats worth doing to yourself...???

There's a much more disturbing book almost no one has heard of called Lustmord (roughly translated from the German meaning pleasure killing) . The book is a compilation of the writings, artwork, and photography of the most notorious serial killers, mass murderers, spree killers, and assorted boogeymen.

 

[universecannon]

valis - PKD (or anything by him really)

anything by tom robbins, and robert anton wilson

 

[jbark]

TERRA NOSTRA. Carlos Fuentes
First line: "Incredible the first animal that dreamed of another animal."

HOUSE of LEAVES

Anything by Italo Calvino
Anything by J.L. Borges

The DICTIONARY of the KHAZARS Milorad Pavic

The SATANIC VERSES and at least half what Salman Rushdie has written

Most of Murakami

VOYAGE to ARCTURUS David Lindsay

INFINITE JEST (though 5 years and countless other books later I have yet to finish it!)

The secret heart of the clock. Elias Canetti

SUM David Eagleman

Quite a few of that william dude's plays

- just a few off the top!

Cheers,

JBArk