Im not a big reader, but I love reading none the less...I have a hard time finding books that are worth the time. Ive read 1984, orwells masterpiece about a hundred times lol. and I enjoyed his Animal Farm too. Whats a good book that really sparks some intellectual flames? Something that makes you sit down and think. Thats something that we as a society take for granted. The Count of Monte Cristo was good too...but the movie ruined that one for me.
Thanks
2006-11-14 07:57:31 · 15 answers · asked by ]{ane 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Try some Margaret Peterson Haddix books. They are always great. They are for a younger age though. But if you missed out on them when you were in the age range for them, you should definitely check them out. I also love Ted Dekker, he has some good thrillers and always makes me think.
2006-11-14 08:00:41 · answer #1 · answered by Kaity 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like you can handle some of the greats:
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
My Antonia, Willa Cather
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
I could go on and on but it is fair to say that all of these books are noteworthy and/or classics and cover a wide range of interests. You might also check on the Noble Prize winners for Literature in the last 50 years. Marquez is one of them.
2006-11-14 17:12:46 · answer #2 · answered by Lyn M 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I love classics too. The best book I've read in years was "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. It's about an American 1950s family that goes as missionaries to the Belgian Congo. It's not heavy on religion though. You have to get through the first 40 pages, then you can't put it down! I have never been so upset that a book ended at 600 some pages!
2006-11-14 16:08:12 · answer #3 · answered by michigal1 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Tim O'Brien is an excellent author. Read "The Things They Carried" first. It is interwined short stories, but it is truely amazing. The topic is Vietnam, but it is also about writing and truth. If you read it well it will spark real intellectual flames, but you actaully have to look past the emotion of it. It is a very heart wrenching book. When you're done with that read Going after Caccicato.
2006-11-14 16:08:13 · answer #4 · answered by nicole b 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
BF Skinner's Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity. They're really a pair on engineering society to the benefit of humanity, the first a fictional account and the second a nonfictional sort of how-to manual, so they should be read in this order to get maximum enjoyment out of them.
These two books changed my life. They are a huge part of the reason why I decided to go into behavioral psychology. And they are in the utopia/dystopia vein you seem to enjoy. (You also might try Huxley's Brave New World.)
Happy reading!
2006-11-14 16:10:22 · answer #5 · answered by Amanda 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is an amazing book really written for young adults called Skellig by David Almond. One of those books you can't stop thinking about after you read it!!
A bit of a cliche but the Da Vinci Code had the same effect on me!
Another teen book that is AMAZING is Noughts and Crosses by Mallory Blackman, a good plot but really thought provoking too!
2006-11-14 16:04:10 · answer #6 · answered by bellydancer 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Here are my list of books i have read since the middle of august of this year:
clearwater crossing set #'s 1-13
hard love
the year of secret assignments
ttyl
ttly
the boyfriend list
confesions of a boyfriend stealer a blog
true of dare books #'s 1-3
dawsons creek book (not nearly as good as the real thing though!
thats all that comes to mind, i love the sisterhood of the traveling pants books to though! 1-3, and shes at the moment writing the 4th , it comes out in january
well of to read my new books
2006-11-15 20:12:10 · answer #7 · answered by Bridgette ♥ 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you liked 1984, try a few other dystopian novels.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (http://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0060929871/sr=1-1/qid=1163538944/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5811695-0577746?ie=UTF8&s=books) is another classic. It's set in a future world ruled by passive consumerism and advertising, and is often considered to be a counterpoint to 1984.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (http://www.amazon.com/Fahrenheit-451-Ray-Bradbury/dp/0345342968/ref=pd_sim_b_2/102-5811695-0577746) is set in a world ruled by television, where books are not only banned but burned. It's the story of one fireman who discovers an underground for books.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (http://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale-Novel-Margaret-Atwood/dp/038549081X/sr=1-1/qid=1163539082/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-5811695-0577746?ie=UTF8&s=books) is set in the US in the near future. The US is now a Christian theocracy, ruled by Biblical law. This is the story of Offred, a handmaid, or woman whose duty is to provide children, and her reactions to her life and her desperate attempts to escape.
2006-11-14 16:26:05 · answer #8 · answered by Rose D 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I avoid 'pop fiction' like Da Vinci Code and the like. Try Martin Cruz Smith 'Gorky Park'. This book in my opinion, was the father of all police forensic mysteries. Irving Welsh, the author of Train Spotting writes real gritty black comedies. Try one of his, Ecstasy.
2006-11-14 16:11:40 · answer #9 · answered by red dog 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Catcher in the Rye and One Hundred Years of Solitude, more classics that have intellectual depth...
2006-11-14 16:15:01 · answer #10 · answered by locomonohijo 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋