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crankyoldmanFor this challenge which is about books and not herding cats really.
Books that are near and dear to my heart, for various reasons, so I decided to recc them for this crazy book challenge. Because while I may work with educational video games, I still believe in reading and good authors. This was a little hard to compile because, well, I read a lot more nonfiction than fiction. And short story collections (which are brilliant!) and folklore and poetry. And as much as I love sci-fi, I am also aware of its limitations and wanted to try to cross-genre a bit. So here it is.
1. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Post-apocalyptic nuclear war novel. No, really. I freaking loved this story. It sat on the little bookshelf in my English class for most of a year and it tempted me with it's clever title and I had to read it. I. Love. 50's. Nuclear. Holocaust. Literature. Seriously, I just couldn't put it down. It was not only interesting for the subject, but for a look at thoughts back in the time of its writing. The paranoia. And how creepily relevent it is today. Is messed up and awesome at the same time. Also, I miss Cold War era crazy, I'll admit it.
2. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Um. I love this man. I love him so much and I love cyberpunk and steampunk and clockpunk and all of that due to him (and Jules Verne). Satisfies the nerdy side and the kind of screwed up spiritualist side of me. I want to recc anything he's ever written but I haven't read it all yet, and everyone recs Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon is likely only going to appeal to people like me that are endlessly fascinated by huge backstories (and WWII). It's wonderful because while the main character is female (well, one of them, but I think of her as the main character for the most part, she's at least pivotal) she doesn't have any romantic relations whatsoever (minus one guy that tries and who she basically gets a restraining order against, and some old awesome guy she lived with but it wasn't romantic so much as they were like awesome BFFs). Also one of the few discussions of nanotechnology that does not make me want to roll my eyes and start drinking heavily. Also: NeoVictorians = hot.
3. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
I've actually read a lot of Christian literature (because hey, I like knowing things) and while quite a few things I've dug up on Mr. Lewis make me want to smack him, I really really really liked this. Because I like him coming from a less than perfect angle. Gets into some ideas on sin that I kind of hold to (that it's not the big things you do that are bad, but the little things) and has a rather charming way of putting it. Also is subversive (maybe unintentionally) and I kind of love that. You'll start noticing trends in what I read soon enough. I also adore writers that will stick to their beliefs no matter how crazy they may be and happen to make literature out of it.
4. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
I didn't get to read this until, well, last summer. Because going to college really cut out my reading time, especially Literature with a Capital L. While I think the idea of high literature is basically rubbish and a lot of writing sadly does not last the ages (because times change and language changes IT HAPPENS), this one manages to last the ages. Mrs. Woolf is a really quirky writer that requires that you take your time on sentences, but I must say I love a writer that can somehow get into my head like she does. Not only that, this is totally genderbending awesome. I mean, Orlando starts out as a man and one day just happens to wake up as a woman. Asks some positively DARING questions about sexuality and gender identity while masked under manners and the dreamy and poetic character of Orlando him/her self.
5. Black Novel with Argentines by Luisa Valenzuela
This will screw with your head. I'm warning you now. Positively will mess with your head. A writer that brilliantly thinks of EVERYTHING and messes with how things are structured (sometimes page numbers are missing, sometimes you will be forced to flip the pages faster as there are only a few lines on them...) in a way that isn't gimicky as it's subtle. If I ever were to want to become a writer for serious, I'd want to do it like this. Interesting in that while a crime is what starts it out, it's really more about normal things that end up skewed like hell. And relations between men and women that manages not to sound like a soap opera AT ALL. It's intense and profound and awesome. Wonderfully mature reading too, which is something I couldn't have read until, well, about now. As I wouldn't have caught a lot of it when I was younger.
6. The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks
This is poetry. This is Persian Sufi Mystic Whirling Dervish poetry. This is translated from another language omg poetry. I think poetry is wonderful and important and am heartbroken that it's become utter crap in recent years. Rumi was one of the poets that opened my mind to non-European/Russian based stuff and this particular collection not only has a gorgeous cover, it's a very good collection. What I love most about his poetry is that it is so joyful. There is a lot of equating divine love and human love and all sorts of other trappings that a lot of religious things would have you shrug off and has you embrace them. If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a hyacinth. That's paraphrased, but it's my favorite poemlet. He has a wonderful way with words and was one of my earliest influences in writing (other than William Blake and T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens... which says a lot). Whenever I feel overwhelmed and wrathful, I read this. I think it qualifies as a book because there are narratives that go through it, and it's pretty big for a poetry collection.
7. Death In Venice by Thomas Mann
Alright, before you look it up and say "but ewww, pedophilia" just stop. It's not. Not at all. Get that out of your head. Now that that is out of the way, this is technically not a full book but I'm reccing it anyway. Really hits my buttons in that the main character is a cranky old man (who takes himself far too seriously) and it's really about unraveling the ideas he's very set on. Which I love. And it does it through an interesting discussion on beauty (through a 14 year old boy, hence the warning). Gets into heavy "what is art?" stuff which I sekritly love. Has some postively breathtaking monologues and one of my favorite post-modern things evar. Also manages to warm and break my heart at the same time. Thank you again smart person (you know who you are) that recced this to me once a time ago.
8. Contact by Carl Sagan
Yes, I know there was a movie and it's my favorite movie evar. I'm serious. But the book is vastly different (I won't say better, because they are completely different media, YOU CANNOT COMPARE) and I like it better than the movie which says a lot. A LOT. Sure, it was written by a scientist hippie who smoked a lot of weed, but he also happened to be a brilliant scientist hippie. Contains one of my favorite heroines (which is ironic considering how DETACHED she is) of a grownup variety. Has unexplained science and a ton of engineering jokes (which I didn't get until my third read-through, ha ha). Asks hard questions. Makes you feel small and insignificant and then special at the same time. Is basically full of awesome and if you've ever wanted to understand people in the sciences, this is a good step to understanding them.
9. Strange Things Still Sometimes Happen by Angela Carter
Alright, I had to sneak one in. This is technically a compilation and the author is really an editor. But this is my FAVORITE crazy fairytale collection. It spans quite a few countries and manages to pull out the WEIRDEST stories ever, which I love. Expanded by folklore horizons a ridiculous amount and brought me out of a disillusionment with fairytales. The spine on my copy is so worn out I may need it replaced.
10. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Hits all my nerd buttons. Deconstruction of the hero myth in a way that twists it into something else? Check. Comic (which I wasn't allowed to have as a kid and thus sort of worship)? Check. Really badass ways of discussing anti-heroes and crazy people? Check. BEST BFFs (Rorshach and Nite Owl) evar? CHECK. Alternate history? DOUBLE CHECK. It was as if Alan Moore knew what I craved in a story and just made it happen. Some greeeeeeeat playing with good and evil and responsibility and thus EVERYTHING I LOVE. This basically seized my life for a week (because I had class and only could read during dinner) and wouldn't let go. Just <3. <3!
Notably absent is Madeleine L'Engle, but that's because I know someone else will recc her and if they don't, I will find someone who will.
Books that are near and dear to my heart, for various reasons, so I decided to recc them for this crazy book challenge. Because while I may work with educational video games, I still believe in reading and good authors. This was a little hard to compile because, well, I read a lot more nonfiction than fiction. And short story collections (which are brilliant!) and folklore and poetry. And as much as I love sci-fi, I am also aware of its limitations and wanted to try to cross-genre a bit. So here it is.
1. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Post-apocalyptic nuclear war novel. No, really. I freaking loved this story. It sat on the little bookshelf in my English class for most of a year and it tempted me with it's clever title and I had to read it. I. Love. 50's. Nuclear. Holocaust. Literature. Seriously, I just couldn't put it down. It was not only interesting for the subject, but for a look at thoughts back in the time of its writing. The paranoia. And how creepily relevent it is today. Is messed up and awesome at the same time. Also, I miss Cold War era crazy, I'll admit it.
2. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Um. I love this man. I love him so much and I love cyberpunk and steampunk and clockpunk and all of that due to him (and Jules Verne). Satisfies the nerdy side and the kind of screwed up spiritualist side of me. I want to recc anything he's ever written but I haven't read it all yet, and everyone recs Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon is likely only going to appeal to people like me that are endlessly fascinated by huge backstories (and WWII). It's wonderful because while the main character is female (well, one of them, but I think of her as the main character for the most part, she's at least pivotal) she doesn't have any romantic relations whatsoever (minus one guy that tries and who she basically gets a restraining order against, and some old awesome guy she lived with but it wasn't romantic so much as they were like awesome BFFs). Also one of the few discussions of nanotechnology that does not make me want to roll my eyes and start drinking heavily. Also: NeoVictorians = hot.
3. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
I've actually read a lot of Christian literature (because hey, I like knowing things) and while quite a few things I've dug up on Mr. Lewis make me want to smack him, I really really really liked this. Because I like him coming from a less than perfect angle. Gets into some ideas on sin that I kind of hold to (that it's not the big things you do that are bad, but the little things) and has a rather charming way of putting it. Also is subversive (maybe unintentionally) and I kind of love that. You'll start noticing trends in what I read soon enough. I also adore writers that will stick to their beliefs no matter how crazy they may be and happen to make literature out of it.
4. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
I didn't get to read this until, well, last summer. Because going to college really cut out my reading time, especially Literature with a Capital L. While I think the idea of high literature is basically rubbish and a lot of writing sadly does not last the ages (because times change and language changes IT HAPPENS), this one manages to last the ages. Mrs. Woolf is a really quirky writer that requires that you take your time on sentences, but I must say I love a writer that can somehow get into my head like she does. Not only that, this is totally genderbending awesome. I mean, Orlando starts out as a man and one day just happens to wake up as a woman. Asks some positively DARING questions about sexuality and gender identity while masked under manners and the dreamy and poetic character of Orlando him/her self.
5. Black Novel with Argentines by Luisa Valenzuela
This will screw with your head. I'm warning you now. Positively will mess with your head. A writer that brilliantly thinks of EVERYTHING and messes with how things are structured (sometimes page numbers are missing, sometimes you will be forced to flip the pages faster as there are only a few lines on them...) in a way that isn't gimicky as it's subtle. If I ever were to want to become a writer for serious, I'd want to do it like this. Interesting in that while a crime is what starts it out, it's really more about normal things that end up skewed like hell. And relations between men and women that manages not to sound like a soap opera AT ALL. It's intense and profound and awesome. Wonderfully mature reading too, which is something I couldn't have read until, well, about now. As I wouldn't have caught a lot of it when I was younger.
6. The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks
This is poetry. This is Persian Sufi Mystic Whirling Dervish poetry. This is translated from another language omg poetry. I think poetry is wonderful and important and am heartbroken that it's become utter crap in recent years. Rumi was one of the poets that opened my mind to non-European/Russian based stuff and this particular collection not only has a gorgeous cover, it's a very good collection. What I love most about his poetry is that it is so joyful. There is a lot of equating divine love and human love and all sorts of other trappings that a lot of religious things would have you shrug off and has you embrace them. If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a hyacinth. That's paraphrased, but it's my favorite poemlet. He has a wonderful way with words and was one of my earliest influences in writing (other than William Blake and T.S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens... which says a lot). Whenever I feel overwhelmed and wrathful, I read this. I think it qualifies as a book because there are narratives that go through it, and it's pretty big for a poetry collection.
7. Death In Venice by Thomas Mann
Alright, before you look it up and say "but ewww, pedophilia" just stop. It's not. Not at all. Get that out of your head. Now that that is out of the way, this is technically not a full book but I'm reccing it anyway. Really hits my buttons in that the main character is a cranky old man (who takes himself far too seriously) and it's really about unraveling the ideas he's very set on. Which I love. And it does it through an interesting discussion on beauty (through a 14 year old boy, hence the warning). Gets into heavy "what is art?" stuff which I sekritly love. Has some postively breathtaking monologues and one of my favorite post-modern things evar. Also manages to warm and break my heart at the same time. Thank you again smart person (you know who you are) that recced this to me once a time ago.
8. Contact by Carl Sagan
Yes, I know there was a movie and it's my favorite movie evar. I'm serious. But the book is vastly different (I won't say better, because they are completely different media, YOU CANNOT COMPARE) and I like it better than the movie which says a lot. A LOT. Sure, it was written by a scientist hippie who smoked a lot of weed, but he also happened to be a brilliant scientist hippie. Contains one of my favorite heroines (which is ironic considering how DETACHED she is) of a grownup variety. Has unexplained science and a ton of engineering jokes (which I didn't get until my third read-through, ha ha). Asks hard questions. Makes you feel small and insignificant and then special at the same time. Is basically full of awesome and if you've ever wanted to understand people in the sciences, this is a good step to understanding them.
9. Strange Things Still Sometimes Happen by Angela Carter
Alright, I had to sneak one in. This is technically a compilation and the author is really an editor. But this is my FAVORITE crazy fairytale collection. It spans quite a few countries and manages to pull out the WEIRDEST stories ever, which I love. Expanded by folklore horizons a ridiculous amount and brought me out of a disillusionment with fairytales. The spine on my copy is so worn out I may need it replaced.
10. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Hits all my nerd buttons. Deconstruction of the hero myth in a way that twists it into something else? Check. Comic (which I wasn't allowed to have as a kid and thus sort of worship)? Check. Really badass ways of discussing anti-heroes and crazy people? Check. BEST BFFs (Rorshach and Nite Owl) evar? CHECK. Alternate history? DOUBLE CHECK. It was as if Alan Moore knew what I craved in a story and just made it happen. Some greeeeeeeat playing with good and evil and responsibility and thus EVERYTHING I LOVE. This basically seized my life for a week (because I had class and only could read during dinner) and wouldn't let go. Just <3. <3!
Notably absent is Madeleine L'Engle, but that's because I know someone else will recc her and if they don't, I will find someone who will.