Inexperience Reader looking for Novel

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Let me first say that this might be a complicated request, but hopefully some literature experts can help out.

I haven't really read much throught my life (21 years) except for the required school books and the Bourne Identity (read before the movie was even thought of). However, recently I have had the desire to find a really good literary book to read and spark an interest in reading as deep as my musical desire (I own probably 1,000 albums). My newfound interest was started really by watching the movie Donnie Darko, most specifically, the scene where Drew Berrimore (?) discusses the significance of "Cellar Door." I want to find a book similar to that word. Also, the movie Stranger Than Fiction peaked my interest.

My limited taste in books is as follows. I liked reading Ender's Game and Brave New World. I mostly enjoy writing that is humurous, satirically mostly, but has very deep meaning written in a smooth/modern manner. I hate books like Beloved, Great Gadsby, To Kill a Mocking Bird, etc. I know their masterpieces, but not to me.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

PS I have read Catch-22 and thought it was OK, but would like a more modern written novel. If my writing is still too ambiguous, I can list some of my favorite movies if that might help. Thanks.

Andre

Try Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Condon, Gore Vidal, Jay McInerny

Proofreader said:

Try Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Condon, Gore Vidal, Jay McInerny

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Kurt Vonnegut is the way to go for sure. You'll love Slaughterhouse-Five.

Can you also list their best books with authors please?

I would recommend Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I wish I could say that was the book that started it all for me, but it isn't. It's a book about a world ruled by a totalitarian government that controls ideas by banning all books. Some people have still managed to keep books, however, and to keep them under control, they have "firemen" who burn peoples' libraries when they are discovered. It's not very long, but it's excellent and interesting, and it made me appreciate how lucky I am that I am allowed to read whatever I choose.

Proper horrorshow, O my brothers...

If you're into modern/postmodern literature like this, and if you're interested in somewhat philosophical and maybe dystopic novels (like Brave New World), try 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess. Very good book - and the sort of dialect it's written in, nadsat, which is almost like another language in places, makes it really different and memorable. Recommend it

Almost finished reading Slaughterhouse Five and I really like it so far. The only thing that I dislike about it is that most of it is based around war. I like the topics and writing style discussed, but I'm not a fan of books with too much historic war references, especially WWII (2 books and a million TV shows is enough for me) topic in it. All in all it was a great recommendation and that is why I have returned for another suggestion.

I have already explained my preferences before with a little modification made above. I would also like to include that I would like to find a book with as good/abstract ideas as prose. I really enjoyed the philosophy behind Vonnegut. I might try Clockwork Orange, but am looking for any other suggestions where the writing is deep, but not cryptic in form or style (extreme e.g. Shakespeare).

andrewsi said:

looking for any other suggestions where the writing is deep, but not cryptic in form or style (extreme e.g. Shakespeare).

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I was about to suggest Pynchon then I saw this last sentence. Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake maybe? Maybe Rushdie, Nabokov, Roth, Delillo, Murakami, McEwan, Ishiguro, Coupland, Irving or Auster?

Read. Read some more. You'll begin to see where your interests lie and how they evolve. The more you know about what you enjoy the easier it is to find new books and suggest new books. Don't dismiss the classics to quickly! There's good stuff there.

Ion response to ION...

It is actually the classics that I am looking to build my literary background on. The catch is that some classics annoy the hell out of me, while others are finished in a couple days. Any book that has new, often psychadelically deep concepts really inspire me. But, it is books with stream of consciousness, and shakespearean type writing that bore me even though their topics are amazing.

My music analogy really works the best, seeing how I know the most about that topic. You can't fully appreciate the current music until you've heard the classics. Trick is that the word classic is relative in music and writing.

On that note, despite my criticism I love the suggestions. Keep them coming. Please be sure to include a book title with the author and read my first thread (contains a more indepth take of my taste) before suggesting.

Thanks
Andre

The authors I listed have many great books. It's up to you to look into them and see which tickles your bits best. Plus I'm still in the process of going through them myself. For classics I'm a big fan of Dickens and the Russians. Dostoevsky can be very intense. Provided you get the right translation. Of course that's Pevear and Volokhonsky.

By the way, telling us you like Ender's Game and Catch-22 was 'OK' but The Great Gatsby and Beloved were boring doesn't give us a 'more indepth' picture of your taste. It gives the picture of a new reader that's got too read some more to define what he likes. Nobody is going to look at that list and be able to suggest a whole lot, especially when you add you want to read classics.

I think you would like A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving.

Good point Ion. I have too short of an attention span. With a song I can listen to 10 seconds of different parts of it and know weather I like it or not. A book takes a few hours. Time to quit whining and start reading.

amazon.com Type in books you've read, and look along the left for other books you might like. I always use amazon, it starts to become self explanatory.

I second Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - you may also enjoy The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood. Life of Pi by Yann Martel is another book you may enjoy (he won the Booker Prize for it in 2002).

I second Life of Pi- fantastic book, and a bit strange, but definitely interesting. If you are looking specifically for classics, try 1984 by George Orwell. It is in some respects similar to Catch-22, but without the elements of WW2... it's where the phrase "big brother" originated, and is interesting on a lot of different levels. It's also a very short novel, so if you don't like it, you haven't really lost anything because you haven't invested a lot of time in it. Animal Farm, also by George Orwell, is also very good.

You might also like Lord of the Flies. It's another short novel, and a classic.

ditto on Farenheit 451.

sci fi

I just started reading Animal Farm today. After about 10 pages I realized that the ideas that I really enjoy are the universal ones that all books write about, but in a more futuristic or modern setting. Ender's Game, and Slaughter-House Five are really the style of book that I would like to continue reading. Ender's is definite Sci Fi, Slaughterhouse not as much, but it does deal with time travel, something of the Sci Fi nature.

The thing is I like Star Wars, but hate Star Trek. I would like to apply that statement to books. For those who don't understand, I'll explain. I'll admit that I am a bit of a nerd (Star Wars), but am not one of those people who dresses up and go to convensions.

The biggest point I would like to make is that I like books were the writing/word play is really good with as good of a message behind it. My love of language stems from my appreciation for poetry and underground rap (it's intelligent rap, not Eminem).

I want to preface my language appreciation with this. I started reading Clockwork Orange and couldn't get past the first 2 pages. I said it before and i'll say it again, I HATE writers who try to manipulate language in too unconvensional of ways. For example, Burgess attempts to make up a slang, but the whole point of using slang is that it actually exists and that a culture derived the slang.

So...If anyone has anymore suggestions based on this new info., lets hear it.

Upon thinking about the matter a bit more. I would really like to find another book most similar to Brave New World. I enjoy dystopian novels (I guess I am see the glass half empty) with a sci fi aspect. The problem is that I hate using the term sci-fi because it manifests "Trekkies" in my brain everytime I think/write the word Sci-Fi.

Anyway, any Brave New World similar recs? (No more Huxley though)