What book should I read?

Question

After not really reading for a while, I feel like starting again. I have a number of books that I haven't started yet which one should I read?

The Thin Red Line
Mason & Dixon
The Satanic Verses
A Beggar in Jerusalem
Seize the Day
Memnoch the Devil
Timequake
Baudolino
Island of the Day Before
We
The Autobiography of Malcom X
The Cosmological Eye
The Berlin Stories
The Broken Wings

(I'm not going to include author names because I want opinions on these books, not their authors.)

Answer 1

I dunno your age. Or what your normal taste in literature is. You certainly seem into heavyweight reading!

To your challenging list, might I add "The Source" by James Mitchener? This is a huge book, well documented, and a wonderful history of religion on this planet told in a very readable and exciting manner. It is almost several small novels in one.

Seize the Day is another offering from Belllows. Need I say more? Personally, I distrust Bellows simply for political reasons. There is more to "Catcher in the Rye" than meets the eye so I tend to avoid him.

Mason and Dixon could definitely get your juices flowing.

Timequake is downright depressing.

Baudolino is a rollicking good tale. Good historical fiction that teaches as it entertains is a gift. I will, at this juncture, throw in another suggestion, anything by Judith Merkle Riley. Her books, especially The Vision of Light, will entertain, teach, enthrall, captivate. Twenty years after reading it, I still remember the characters in detail and the visuals as it it was yesterday. And, I still speak of it as if I read it yesterday as well. It is one of the few I have read more than twice.

If you are into dystopian novels, as suggested by your inclusion of "We" , I very seriously suggest "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. You seem to like thinking novels and this one, a rather chilling modern version of the future, a la "1984" or "Brave New World" is excellent. The possible future from the words of a woman. It is a book that makes you think, deeply, and never leaves you. In my mind, a book that alters your thoughts even one jot, is a wonderful thing. When the characters stay with you long after the book is back on the shelf, then you indeed read a gem. It is haunting, yet, the fearful thing is its possibility. I look back on 1984 and Brave New World and I see how they have become our reality, 45 years later, and this book, too, might rock your world a bit.

I read "We" in highschool in the 1960's in an essay project including the other famous dystopian novels of the time, mentioned above. I truly believe The Handmaid deserves the same status. Personally I would read it before Zamyatin's much drier offering.

Memnoch the Devil will take you for a ride. But do you want your first foray back into literature to be such a dark undertaking? The effect this author has had on the youth of the world is frightful. I also tend to avoid darkness like this when there is already so much to deal with in our daily lives. But that is just me.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X would catch my eye. The man was influential. I have not read it myself. LOL Perhaps you can send me a book review. It is on my list of "to reads".

I am sorry I cannot speak well on The Cosmological Eye by Miller. It is nothing I have read before. I could not even find a plot line on the net. If it is a Miller though, I would still have put it a bit lower down the totem pole. He tends to be sloppy and maudlin at times.

To be honest, since you are back into reading, I don't think you will lose out. It is a win/win all the way around.

Oh, another wonderful literary suggestion I offer is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is for good reason this new classic (a term I do not use lightly) has been adopted by so many schools as a text for study. You will not be able to put it down, meanwhile you learn the way of life in pre-war Afghanistan. A novel of depth, insight, and the strength of people in terrifying situations. A novel of optimism in the most trying of times. We all need a fix of that once in awhile, don't you agree?

I hope this is a little help.

Might I suggest that you pick up Danielle Steele's latest wondrous novel and ... OMG DID I really say that? HAHAHA....

Happy reading. No matter what book you choose, you cannot lose. But please also consider adding my suggestions to your very impressive list?

Answer 2

I can't tell you what to read next. But it better not be "The Satanic Verses." Sounds good. Looks good. Is good. But not great. Not epic. Just another average book. Then the ending makes you want to burn the thing. Dumb ending. Read it sometime later. Not last. Not first.

Answer 3

The only one of those I've read is Malcolm X.

It's certainly worth a read. Really interesting guy -- a shame he was murdered.

You do have to wade through a lot of "whites are devils" stuff, but it's worth it.

Answer 4

go for the satanic verses. there's a lot of real-life political intrigue behind that work

Answer 5

Timequake. Vonnegut is great.

Answer 6

Memnoch the Devil. It is awesome!