can you recommend a book you've read that i should read before i die ? or that may broaden my horizons ?

Answer 1

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

Answer 2

Given I read so much, here is a decent booklist:

Chocolat – Joanne Harris (the gypsy was based on me)

Unusual Point of View:

Skepticism – Bo Fowler (main character is a supermarket trolley)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – J. Safran Foer (main character is a boy whose dad called from World Trade Centre and left an answer phone message)

British:

Hemmingway’s Chair – Michael Palin
Not the End of the World – Christopher Brookmyre
White Teeth – Zadie Smith
Making History – Stephen Fry
Popcorn – Ben Elton

International:

The Ringmaster’s Daughter – Jostein Gaarder
Memoirs of a Geisha – Authur Golden

Well paced:

Jonathon Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach*
The Beach – Alex Garland
Life of Pi – Yarn Merkel
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemmingway *
Flud – Hilary Mantel

Non Fiction:

Round Ireland with a Fridge – Tony Hawks
Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain
Playing the Moldavian’s at Tennis – Tony Hawks
Fever Pitch – Nick Hornby

Classics:

Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll *
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
Madame Bouvary – Gustave Flaubert
Gormenghast Trilogy – Mervin Peake
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov

Humor:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1st three books in the trilogy) – Douglas Adams
A Book of Nonsense – Mervin Peake *

Detective:

Complicity – Iain Banks
Filth – Irvine Welsh
Inspector Rebus novels – Ian Rankin

* books that I read cover to cover without putting down

Answer 3

If you REALLY want to broaden your horizone before you die, seriously read the following:

- The entire Bible (you'll be amazed at how many references to the Bible are everywhere that you don't even notice or understand if you haven't read it). If you don't want to read the whole thing, read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). You'd be surprised how much the ideas people have developed about Jesus and his "teachings" differ from what's ACTUALLY written...

- Mein Kampf. The Holocaust is a huge issue and yet the average person has absolutely no idea what it was actually about from Hitler's perspective. Reading Mein Kampf gives a much more thorough look at such an important historical event.

- Freud... Read anything by him really, as much as possible. For the same reasons I mentioned for reading the Bible pretty much.

Answer 4

I can't necessarily remember the authors for all these but:

"Mutant messages from down under" (my A level english teacher gave me this at 17 and it changed a lot of views on stuff)

"afternoons with maurie" (nice little reflection of a dying old man- appropriate to your question i thought!)

Any dickens/ austen. They wrote at a time of massive social change and are an excellent way of getting a perspective on things. Personally I love Pride and Prejudice (WAY better than the films!!) and Great expectations.

To broaden your horizons academically Marx is a must (The communist manifesto is actually quite short) as is Foucault (Disciple and punishment).

Any film that you might have enjoyed is worth searching out in book form- in my humble opinion the book is ALWAYS better.

For broadening of pop culture knowledge: Harry Potter. It's a phenonemon of our times and easy to read!! And actually very enjoyable!

Also, Spike Milligan "my part in hitlers downfall". One of the funniest books Ive ever read. A true comic genius!

Try going on amazon and looking up peoples lists or going to the classics section in the library.

Happy reading!

Answer 5

In the 1950's during the Cold War hysteria about nuclear war and people were building bombshelters there was a very good two-volume book set written that is even more meaningful today(except the new version is only one volume and I don't like it as much as the original). This book was written in case of anyone actually surviving. It is called ' The Way Things Work '. What it tells is how to make soap, vinegar or other simple things to make life easier including how to make a simple lathe to make other tools. It is basically a book on how to bring civilization back from the brink of extinction. And today it is a very good read for what you can learn about how things work. Especially if you ever wondered how things came about originally. I highly recommend this two-volume set.

Answer 6

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
Steven King's Dark Tower Series
the major religious works
Gone With the Wind
John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany
Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five
mmm... so many good ones.

Answer 7

All of James Mitchner's. Aztac by Gary Jennings. The Far Pavillans by M.M. Kaye. Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo. And of course, Gone With The Wind. Now don't think just because you may have seen a movie you shouldn't read the book. They have to cut so much out of a book to get into a movie. Movies are rarely ever as good as the books.

Answer 8

Ishmael is very thought provoking by Daniel Quinn also The Celestine Prophecy and the tenth insight is a good read by James Redfield and Chariot of the Gods , Was God an astronaut etc by Erich von Danniken

Answer 9

Try reading 253 by Geoff Ryman.

It's a novel written in 253 chapters with each chapter having 253 words. A Bakerloo tube train with no-one standing and no empty seats can carry 252 passengers. The driver makes 253. Each one has a page devoted to them, divided into three sections - what they look like, what they are thinking and inside information - and some of them are going to die.

Answer 10

The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien.

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Answer 11

Bryce Courtenay - The Power Of One
Fannie Flagg - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe
Alice Walker - The Color Purple
Joseph Heller - Catch 22
Jostein Gaardner - Sophie's World

That lot should start you off (Flagg and Walker are quite female orientated)