Registered: Jul 2000
Location: my mother's bloody womb
Posts: 7148

...so, here's two books i recommend for you:

Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the west.

This book is phenomenal. if you think back to the Wizard of Oz in a different light, the story is actually quite sinister. a mysterious man controls the land, and tells this perfect stranger to go and kill someone she doesn't even know. if she does, he'll reward her. she has no idea what kind of errand she's really in for. all she knows is that the witch is mad at her for dropping a house on her sister and stealing her shoes. and who wouldn't be angry about that?

wicked takes a look at the wizard of oz story from the witch's point of view, and it's brilliantly done. it delves alot deeper into the politics of oz, and examines how the wizard actually came to power, and kept it.

also:

The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars.

This book leaves me aching every time i read it. steven brust is a master wordsmith. he writes characters that are so realistic, with faults and traits that are as familiar as our own. the story revolves around a painter and his friends, who all chipped in after college to rent a studio space to do their work in. they figured if they put everything they had into it, in three years, one of them should be famous. the story examines his challenge to not only find a place for his work in the world, but also his realizations about himself and how reality sometimes can't be changed.

while the main story is continuing, there's also a fable that's being told, by him. every other chapter is devoted to this tale he's spinning of three boys who are sent on a journey to find the sun, the moon, and the stars, in a box that's sealed inside the belly of the largest pig in the world. a fascinating story that itself tells us a little about the painter and his journey of self discovery.

buy it.

and thanks for all those who recommended books to me.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35669

Gardens of the Moon

By Stephen Erikson. Best fantasy book I have read for years, takes a bit of careful reading to work out what is going on though. Merkins might have to order it from the bookshop, but it is well worth it. It follows the fortunes of an empire, broadly speaking, but mostly through the stories of the Bridgeburners, a small part of a large army. There are two following books so far.

The Black Company

By Glen Cook, pretty good (as are the ones that follow). About a mercenary companyt; Steven Erikson is often compared to these. They start the war employed by the empress of an ancient empire, then they change sides. Cool stuff.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1600

The Reader
When he falls ill on his way home from school, 15-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. She becomes his lover, and then mysteriously disappears. When Michael next sees Hanna, he's a young law student - she's on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael realizes that Hanna is guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder. A story of love and secrets, crime and compassion in post-war Germany, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink is a deeply moving novel of a young boy's erotic awakening.

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar is a classic of American literature. Originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963--only a month before the author’s suicide--Sylvia Plath’s harrowing autobiographical novel traces a young woman’s descent into an emotional breakdown. The brilliant and disturbing story of Esther Greenwood’s journey from the glamorous world of magazine publishing in New York to the isolating world of the asylum has become one of the most famous books of the late twentieth century, and still has all its power to shock and move us.

summmaries by Indigo Books

now back to my *yawn* romantic lit term paper.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35669

The Bell Jar is a great book, although she was obviously nutso all along.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1600

quote:

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Originally posted by Smug Git
The Bell Jar is a great book, although she was obviously nutso all along.

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Lat: 43° 42' 0 N, Long: 79° 34' 0 W
Posts: 2820

Morgana, I'm almost sure you'd like Goodbones by Margaret Atwood. I'm sure I've mentioned this book a zillion times before, but it's really wonderful. It's full of short stories, which are perfect to read on coffee breaks. It's a bit cynical, and quite sarcastic at times, but I never tire of flipping through it. One story in particular reminds me of "Wicked", in that she writes a dialogue between two people about Cinderella... it all starts with (and I'm paraphrasing via memory):

There once was a girl as beautiful as she was good...

And it just gets picked apart to pieces by the second person, and gets more and more outlandish in the few pages she occupies with the dialogue...

I think it's worth a trip to the library, or five bucks and a few hours of your time. I can almost guarantee that once you read it once, you'll keep going back for more.

Word to the wise: Atwood tends to be a bit of a feminist... not in a neo-nazi feminist way, but she certainly has her moments. I found this book brought a couple of moments of irritation, despite all of it's goodness... The Moth story comes to mind...

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1600

Margaret Atwood.

*shudders* I can't stand her work. you have nooo idea. gahhhh.

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location: toronto
Posts: 1612

quote:

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Originally posted by * Datura *
Margaret Atwood.

*shudders* I can't stand her work. you have nooo idea. gahhhh.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 3030

Yep, I agree. Margaret Atwood was absolutely torture to read in school.

Morganna, Wicked is on my list now, thanks.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: albany
Posts: 1386

Imajica, Clive Barker

You dont need no stinking synopsis

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1600

quote:

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Originally posted by nymbus
Yep, I agree. Margaret Atwood was absolutely torture to read in school.

Morganna, Wicked is on my list now, thanks.

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Her works are not complicated.. they are just BORING!!!!!!!!!!
I tried reading Alias Grace...and it didn't start to pick up until 3/4 of the way through and it's a pretty thick book.....

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: baton rouge, la
Posts: 4101

Pure, rebbecca ray

House of Leaves, mark z. danilewski

Catapault: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon, jim paul

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 3030

quote:

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Originally posted by * Datura *


Her works are not complicated.. they are just BORING!!!!!!!!!!
I tried reading Alias Grace...and it didn't start to pick up until 3/4 of the way through and it's a pretty thick book.....

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1600

yes, i know.. i was just stating.
and yes, they are boring..

quote:

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Originally posted by nymbus


I didn't say complicated, I said torture. They're so dull and moody. Yuck.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Northeast Merka
Posts: 611

Two of my favourite books:

The dictionary. The characters aren't up to much but it does explain every word as you go along.

An atlas. Again, the characters aren't well developed, but the places, they seem so real!

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location:
Posts: 822

Geez, the handmaid's tale is one of my favorite books. I've read it many times since I was in high school.

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