Writing OB's Must-Read List

[Boo]

Holla~

I decided it would be a great plan for us to make a list of books and things you would recommend to anybody who's cool enough to read them. Lately I've spent time catching up on great reads, and I still have a ways to go, but now I have to work mostly with classics that pretty much everybody knows. Which is great, but I'd like to have people's opinions of what they think are great novels, so I - and anybody who's looking for a great read - can go by your judgement picking out my next buy!

So basically, time to make a list of written work that you people think cool people should've read before they're done reading.

My first entries:

[blockquote][b]Josef Skvorecky - [/b][i]The Swell Season[/i]. This novel (or it's English translation at least, because I can't read Czech) is seriously one of the most pleasant reads I've had in a long time. It's about a teenager in the Czech Republic during the start of World War II, and the problems every teenage lad has, regardless of what goes around him. The style of writing is really involving, kind of reminiscent to [i]Catcher in the Rye[/i] but then less annoying.

[b]Walter Moers - [/b][i]The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear[/i] and/or [i]Rumo[/i]. Walter Moers is a German author who does a lot of wordplay and makes up his own vocabulary, but the English translations are great work nonetheless. His novels mostly revolve around a time before humans, when a lot of strange other creatures roamed the world and Atlantis was still there, and civilization was at its prime. The novels have hints of fantasy and fairy tales, but then for any ages, though mostly adults. Just reading these stories is an adventure by itself. This author is one-of-a-kind. Open your nose, smell the scent of adventure - burnt wood and cinnamon - and embark on the greatest adventure of your life.[/blockquote] Edited April 7, 2012 by Boo

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson][b]J.D. Salinger[/b] - [i]Nine Stories[/i]. I was bumbling, broken fool when Salinger died. He's one of my favorite authors, and I am pained that most people stop at [i]Catcher in the Rye[/i] without delving into his other works. This is a collection of his short stories that includes my favorite work by him, [url="http://www.miguelmllop.com/stories/stories/bananafish.pdf]%22A"]http://www.miguelmll...nanafish.pdf]"A[/url] Perfect Day for Bananafish"[/url]. This collection also is good place to begin an introduction to the Glass family, a recurring unit of former child geniuses, that appears in every work by him but [i]Catcher in the Rye[/i]. "For Esme -- with Love and Squalor" is also excellent, along with "De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period." All of his works are engaging, though.[/color] Edited April 25, 2012 by DeathKnight

[Boo]

[b]Carol Birch[/b] - Jemrach's Menagerie. Finished in one go. Superbly written, engaging and funny and tragic and made me want to weep like a wee lad.

Thanks to [member=DeathKnight] I just finished Perfect Day for Bananafish. It was written so naturally and realistically, and the amount of realism made it about surreal again. Great read, so thanks.