Good book reccomendations - Page 4

Iriacynthe · 02-03-2006, 11:22 AM

Oh no, if anyone asks me for gothic this or that I always have an almost incontrolable desire to put on a pink dress and sing spice girls songs.
But in stead, I will just take a deep breath, swallow the whole spice girls-idea, and tell you about a few books I love (well, actually that should be 'a few books I LOOOOOVE', but that sounds like a 13 year old girl talking about Brad Pitt, which isn't nearly as cute as Johnny Depp - where were we, books?).

My Absolutely Favourite Book is 'the perfume' by Patrick Süskind. It's written in German and I don't know if it's well-known in the rest of the world, but if it isn't, you should all learn German and come to Germany to buy it, this book is Worth It.
It's about a man that's born with an extraordinay good sense of smell, and he's fascinated by the smells of all different things. He manages to get a job where he can learn to make perfumes, and he's determined to make the perfect perfume.
This probably doesn't sound very exciting, but it's written in such a wonderful way. You can actually smell the things he smells, and although he is in fact a horrible man for whom you can't really feel much sympathy, in a way you do understand him (well, at least I did).
I must warn you, reading this book may lead to weird perfume-making experiments (I've already read it a million times, and I just can't ever resist the perfume-experimenting-spell).

Another great book is 'the name of the rose' by Umberto Eco. It's about a series of weird crimes, taking place in an old monastery, and a man who tries to solve this mistery. By doing so, he discovers the huge and fascinating library of the monastery.
It sounds rather Davinci code-y, and since I haven't read that book (yet) I don't know if it's the same style, but I do know that all my friends who have a good taste in literature dislike the Da Vinci code, but do like the name of the rose. The style is amazing, the characters are fascinating, and the idea of such a library makes me tremble with excitement and dreams about books, books and eum, more books.
There's also a lot of Latin in the book, and I love translating those pieces (you can even find the lyrics of 'omnis mundi creatura' by Helium Vola in it), but for those who don't know Latin there's a translation too (but off course it's way cooler if you don't use the translation, but than again, I study biblical Hebrew so I probably just have a dead-language-fetish).

spookypurple · 03-07-2006, 01:59 PM

"Eye In The Sky" by Philip K. Dick
"Demolished Man" by Alfred Bester
"Mrs Amworth" by E.F. Benson
"Malpertuis" by Jean Ray

What's commodity cheese?

maggot · 03-07-2006, 02:33 PM

The Necronomicon :P

That's why H.P. Lovecraft rules.

spookypurple · 03-08-2006, 06:26 AM

Blimey! You learn something every day - It's a book in its own right? I've been reading Lovecraft for about 30 years (I started young, okay!) and never considered this - I always thought it was a book within his stories. I'd heard all the tales of people going to occult libraries asking for it and assumed they were just that - stories.
But I presume this is a novel we're talking about here - rather than an arcane text!? I know there was a film called Necromicon ... Oh well. Must find it.

But yes, Lovecraft rules, as you say. The Colour Out Of Space is my particular favourite.

Queenofdarkness57 · 03-08-2006, 06:50 AM

I recommend Angels & Demons( by Dan Brown). It's a good book, and the suspense builds up page after page. Oh and RockStar ( by Jackie Collins) is um.. amusing! hehe.

succubus,queenofvampires · 03-08-2006, 07:16 AM

All of Dan Brown's books are filled with suspense! I enjoyed reading the four of them...But after that, I realised that the main plot is kind of the same: the person that you thought was oh-so pure and innocent is the culprit and the main character gets his/her lover at the end of the story...(except in Digital Fortress where she was already engaged to David)

chloegoth · 03-09-2006, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ikaros

For a book/film combo, I strongly suggest checking out Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere". It was originally written as a short miniseries for the BBC (the whole run is available on DVD). In response to demands from the public, Gaiman rewrote the story as a novel. Both the show and the novel are well worth checking out. It's a slightly surreal urban fairy tale. A young man is moderately enjoying his moderate life. He has a job he doesn't entirely hate, a fiance he likes (if not loves), and is satisfied with a life that doesn't quite satisfy. This all falls apart when he stops to help a young woman bleeding on the pavement. That act connects him to a world he never knew existed, the London Below, where an angel lives in Islington, great hunters test their skills against the alligators in the sewers, and owing a favor can be a deadly affair. The book is quite good, but I'd strongly suggest checking out the series. Some of the performances are just delightful, and the fashion-minded will be drooling through the entire show. The BBC hired some of Londons best corsettieres/gothic fashion designers to do the costumes, and there are pieces that I still lust after.

I'm reading the comic book right now! It's awesome... I'll have to go find the book and DVD. I could totally get it 3 different ways and not be overloaded.

I reccommend these books:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - not Gothic, but a beautiful dystopia. Beautiful.

Olalla by Robert Louis Stevenson - Victorian Gothic, a lesser-known short story by the author of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It's about vampires in Spain.

Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - also, not Gothic, but hilarious. I love it, and it has a demon in it, so I guess it's halfway gothic. Ish. Sort of.

I also reccommend things by Clive Barker. Anything, really. He writes creepy stuff.

Sorry if I'm repeating anything. But hey - if you've seen it twice, then it must be good, right?

Wise Child · 03-09-2006, 07:10 AM

I love The Handaid's Tale. Good call.

Wise Child · 03-09-2006, 09:02 AM

I've only read the one novel, plus a few of her reworkings of fairytales, but I like all I've seen. Can anyone recommend one of her best other novels? I haven't read a book in like two weeks, so I'm after a new project...

Lady Ravenna · 03-09-2006, 10:41 AM

I, Vampire by Michael Romkey...ultimate in suspense and plot. Its great and there is plenty of blood...delicious.

chloegoth · 03-11-2006, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xnguela

I always loved Robber Bride.

I read it for the first time a few months ago, and I can't believe I missed it for so long. I think it might be my favorite of her novels, though I like The Robber Bride, as well.

Has anyone read Oryx and Crake? Should I read it, too?

bunnicula · 03-13-2006, 02:34 AM

Wow! I just read through this thread and am delighted to know that someone else has read Murakami's "The Wind Up Bird Chronicles." That is a strange book. It is about a young man who is left alone one day waiting for his wife (or maybe it was his cat, I can't remember) who never returns. He waits and waits for her, and goes on strange adventures alone in Tokyo. He finds a well in his backyard and decides to climb down there......

Also- there are other weirdos besides me who have read Urantia Book? That rocks! That is a kinda scary book. Anyone who is into religious history or philosophy will love it, in an educational, rather than spiritually enlightening, sort of way. There's a weird part of this book where it talks about the "races" of people being purple, orange, blue, red, and yellow, all of which have evolved into present-day racial groups. The scary part is that it talks about the "blue" race being the "aryan" race, which is the "strongest." Theosophy was also big around this time, and it is well-known that Hitler was a believer of Theosophy which includes some talk of "purification of the race," as does the Urantia book. While reading it, I couldn't help but wonder whether Hitler had read this book.

This book came out around the 1930's, and is reputed to have been channeled by Kellogg (the cereal guy). I think the Urantia book contains the first mention of the term "new age."

Ben Lahnger · 03-13-2006, 09:23 AM

This isn't a recommendation so much as a query. Has anyone read "The Dead Beat" by Marilyn Johnson? It is a non-fiction book that looks intruiging to me. Here is a link to the chapter one excerpt I found:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/bo...1st-johns.html