I decided to start my first thread - So here goes...

After reading the "10 Worst books" thread, I decided that there should be a counter-thread, books that you think are great, but but may not be in print and certainly don't get the respect you think they should get. So feel free to contribute titles (both novels and short stories), but please explain [I]why[I] you think others should read them. Like wine tasting notes, even if it's a great wine, but it's in a style you don't like, you probably won't want to drink it. That doesn't make it bad, just not to your taste....

I'll start off with a couple of author/titles.


#1 - Eric Frank Russell - he wrote some classic S/F works, but somehow never got into the Asimov/Clarke/Heinlein layer of fame. He didn't like authority, yet had a really flexible mind. His writing is kind of pulpish, but entertaining and thoughtful at the same time. Here's a list of four titles - 3 novels and a short story.

Wasp - When Ian Fleming was thinking up ways to confuse the Germans in WWII, E.F.R. was working in the Japanese confusing group. But Japan was considered too far away, so none of his ideas were used. After the war, he bundled them up in a grand S/F story - Wasp. Ian Fleming became famous, E.F.R. became obscure. Go figure. A great read.

Sentinels From Space - Serious S/F, a multi-level story (i.e. a story inside another story) about power, social outcasts, and man's place in the universe. To say more would be a spoiler. Give it a go.

Next of Kin (The Space Willies, Plus X) - A story of pluck, intelligence, and two fingers in the face of authority. Any authority....(B.B.B.)

Study In Still Life - A roll-on-the-floor funny S/F short story. A paper-eye view of bureaucracy...

#2 - John Brunner - The Shockwave Rider - If Neil Young can be considered the godfather of grunge, then this book is the godfather of all the cyberpunk books. All the comments he made in 1975, are still relevant today... unfortunately. An interesting universe, appealing characters, and a good, solid plot. One of his best...

P.S. You'll understand my tagline after reading the book.

My all time favorite Novel. Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

On several levels a great book. As social commentary the cancer of Communism eating away at the Soul of Russia. A really good love story about a guy whose only hope of beating cancer is to take medicine that completely emasculates him making it impossible to pursue the woman his soul loves in any way but a purley spiritual sense. Rich in pathos dealing with the mortality of us all facing the inevitability of our own walk through that lonesome valley we all must eventually tread. And a shining example of hope in eternal joy yet without the easy banalities and platitudes the Church so often tries to spoonfeed its shallow members. I highly recommend.

"The octave of Claudius" by Barry Pain.Orwell himself praised it,and called it rare in the 30's/40's.

Bright Earth
Philip Ball

Non-fiction. Ball is a chemist, here writing about, as the book's subtitle expresses it, "Art and the Invention of Color". It's a fascinating account of the historical development of pigments, artistic uses, social consequences, impact on devotional art, and even linguistics. Fascinating.

Uncle Tungsten
Oliver Sacks

Non-fiction memoir of famous neurologist Oliver Sacks, who as a boy growing up in WWII Britain wanted to be a chemist or photographer. The book manages to capture one of my own personal favorite recurring quests: childhood wonder and joy of comprehension. This is combined with personal glimpses into a very remarkable family.

Flight of Passage
Rinker Buck

Another non-fiction memoir, again of boyhood adventure and poignant family life. The book documents an amazing cross-country flight in a refurbished Piper Club by Rinker and his brother, schoolboys at the time.

The Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on the Threshold of Space
Craig Ryan

Non-fiction account of pre-NASA experiments in human space exploration. Describes Stapp's high-G rocket sled experiments, Kittenger's totally unbelievable high-altitude freefall jumps, space capsule design, and also NASA's ridiculous and ultimately deadly rejection of most of this pioneering work.


P.S. Lobolover, could I politely request once more that you adopt conventional punctuation and orthagraphy? You're giving me a migraine.

very nice idea ! looking through my books to find a couple of good ones i found these. i don't know whether any of these authors / titles will be obscure enough for you, but i seem to be the only one who knows them in my circle of friends at least, so i hope they will be unknown to others here as well... this has reminded me that i have not read any of these in several years ; i think it is time to go back to them again. therefore my recommendations are probably rather superficial, since unfortunately i do not have the details very fresh in my mind.

Sławomir Mrożek : Polish absurdist playwright. i first read his play (do plays count ? i like reading plays but i know some people don't) Tango. here is the quote from the back cover (i am translating from my edition in french, so bear with me if it is not word for word the same as the real english version....) If you had lived through that time, you would understand what you owe us. You don't know what life was like before us. To dance the tango, you needed some kind of courage ! Do you know that the proportion of fallen women was incredibly small, I don't know, two per cent, maybe ? Do you know that people went into ecstasies over naturalist paintings ? And over bourgeois theater ! bourgeois theater, can you imagine, what a horror ! hilariously funny, yet disquieting (more so if you read between the lines...), like all good absurdist theater. according to an online biography, Tango is "a biological and psychological observation of creation of totalitarian mechanisms, the play which made him internationally famous, was staged for the first time in 1965." Could be a good companion piece to Rhinoceros.

Frigyes Karinthy : another representative of the eastern bloc, from Hungary this time. a great humorist who also was the first proponent of the concept of 6 degrees of separation, in a short story called Chains (which i was not able to find the last time i looked for it, although i admit i did not look very hard, but if anyone comes across a copy, please let me know...). i read a book of his short stories called (i beleive) "Je dénonce l'humanité", which i had to give up reading in the métro because i was laughing too much during some of the stories. hilarious and at the same time quite incisive. he has a profound love of humanity, and is disposed to give them the benefit of the doubt, but this does not stop him from seeing (and making fun of) all its flaws. not very easy to find ; the one i read was a library book. he also wrote Reportage céleste : de notre envoyé spécial au paradis (Heavenly Interview), a humorous account by a reporter sent to interview dead souls in heaven, and "Voyage around my skull", a documentary novel about his struggle with a brain tumor (including brain surgery under local anaesthetic). Two for one special on this recommendation : he is the father of the writer Ferenc Karinthy, who wrote Epépé, about a linguist going to a conference in Helsinki who gets on the wrong flight by accident and mischance and finds himself stranded in a country he cannot identify, with people speaking a language he is incapable of comprehending ; on a par with Kafka.

Alessandro Baricco : an italian writer, for a change. perhaps a bit too well-known for this list, since his monologue Novecento was made into a film with Tim Roth (which was abysmal, whatever you do don't see it, however definitely read the monologue, it's amazing), about a pianist who has spent literally his entire life on an ocean steamer. he writes beautiful, poetic stories which are full of hope and wonder at the beauty of life and the world, very silly and surreal sometimes, and profoundly sad at other times. the first book i read by him was Castelli di rabbia, french title "les Châteaux de la colère", english title "Lands of glass" ; eccentric and fantastical story about the inhabitants of a small imaginary town called Quinnipak in the middle of the 19th century and their interwoven existences. watch out for Oceano Mare (Océan Mare / Ocean Sea), about a raft of shipwrecked people ; i was not prepared for how unbearably tragic it was, in a painful, hopeless way. it is beautifully written though.

i think that will have to be all for now ; it is getting quite late and i think i should go to bed now.

Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind ('Phenomenologie des Geistes': 1807). I have even uploaded a copy.

Why?
1. Because of its influence on later thinkers, such as Marx.
2. Because there was a great deal of interest in 'New Thought' books on the forum a few months ago. There were a lot of requests for Napoleon Hill's works. These are all 'think yourself rich' books and are generally based on a fundamental misunderstanding of Hegel. Read the real thing instead. You won't get rich, but you will think.

Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind ('Phenomenologie des Geistes': 1807). I have even uploaded a copy.

Why?
1. Because of its influence on later thinkers, such as Marx.
2. Because there was a great deal of interest in 'New Thought' books on the forum a few months ago. There were a lot of requests for Napoleon Hill's works. These are all 'think yourself rich' books and are generally based on a fundamental misunderstanding of Hegel. Read the real thing instead. You won't get rich, but you will think.

pff, if i won't even get rich, forget it. :rolleyes:

What a great thread idea, Ralph Sir Edward! Of course you know, by starting with such a good one, you've set the bar pretty high for yourself for the next one. :grin:

I'll have to think about it some before I come up with too much of an answer, but I can start with these:

The Adolescence of P1 (http://www.amazon.com/Adolescence-P-1-Thomas-J-Ryan/dp/0671559702/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209263943&sr=8-1) by Thomas J. Ryan. I think it's a very interesting look at where we've come from on computing technology, as well as where it looked like we were going at the time. The first ~20% of it reads like a trashy novel, though, that may or may not be a drawback for you. :shrug:

God and My Country by MacKinlay Kantor (this one got made into the obscure movie Follow Me, Boys). It's a look at Boy Scouts and the impact it had on an entire town during the 30's, 40's and 50's (I think that's the time frame). Anyone who has an interest in Boy Scouts will likely find the book and/or the movie interesting.

Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of An American Writer 1943-1954, by Jeffrey Cartwriight
Author: Steven Millhauser

This novel accomplishes many things and works on many levels. It’s a mediation on the art of biography; a love affair with the English Language; a study of how we acquire language; a look at narcissim; and a song to the days of growing up in the 50s when innoncence abounded and life was good.

It’s not necessary to be critically engaged in the issues I note above. Mainly, the novel is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. The main conceit of the book is that it’s “written” by an 11-year old! :rofl:

This book was originally published in 1972 and has achieved a kind of cult status over the years. It was Milhauser’s first published novel. Years later, while working on my doctorate, I used the novel in a Theory of Language course to explore how we acquire language.

For example, a study of the young author as he acquires langauge (as written by Jeffrey Cartwright), would go something like this:

"ffftttttt, zzzzzffffff, afrrrmrmrm"

fffttttt = undiluted happiness

zzzzzfffff = often used to imitate digestive discomfort

afrrrrrmrmrm = A sound accompanied by drooling and a clapping of hands, signifying total and complete agreement with what is being discussed.

Of course, the young writer eventually graudates to working on his magnum opus: a coloring book!:rofl:

Don

Correction: Not written BY an 11-year old; rather, written ABOUT an 11-year old.

The Eclipse of the Intellectual
by Elemire Zolla (1926-2002)

He was a professor of English and American literature at the University of Rome "La Sapienza".

I first found out about the book in a reference in one of Marshall McLuhan's books (From Cliché to Archetype as I remember.) The English translation was published in the US by Funk & Wagnalls in 1968.

It explores the limiting nature of a society to think that you have choices but only within their constraints. Like a multiple choice test that limits your answers to only the ones provided, society also limits the options available while maintaining the illusion that you are free to choose anything you want.

Another part talks of a viewer of modern art. They criticize the work and then add the ultimate insult by saying "I really don't understand modern art at all." It goes on to explore how and why people condemn what they do not understand or what is not common to them.

This is only a small part of the book (as I remember about one or two chapters.) I read the book in my second year at college/university and it altered my life. I was able to think of things in a new way. I changed my major, changed schools, changed girlfriends, and have been far happier with life since then.

It was an amazing book for me.

'Doctor Rat' William Kotzwinkle

Not sure if this book is obscure enough - but it's a funny, thought provoking, disturbing, and ultimately terrifying novel that deserves to be better known imho.

The Rule Of Four - Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason
(Link (http://www.amazon.com/Rule-Four-Ian-Caldwell/dp/0440241359/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209294509&sr=8-1) to amazon)
From Publishers Weekly
Caldwell and Thomason's intriguing intellectual suspense novel stars four brainy roommates at Princeton, two of whom have links to a mysterious 15th-century manuscript, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. This rare text (a real book) contains embedded codes revealing the location of a buried Roman treasure. Comparisons to The Da Vinci Code are inevitable, but Caldwell and Thomason's book is the more cerebral-and better written-of the two: think Dan Brown by way of Donna Tartt and Umberto Eco. The four seniors are Tom Sullivan, Paul Harris, Charlie Freeman and Gil Rankin. Tom, the narrator, is the son of a Renaissance scholar who spent his life studying the ancient book, "an encyclopedia masquerading as a novel, a dissertation on everything from architecture to zoology." The manuscript is also an endless source of fascination for Paul, who sees it as "a siren, a fetching song on a distant shore, all claws and clutches in person. You court her at your risk." This debut novel's range of topics almost rivals the Hypnerotomachia's itself, including etymology, Renaissance art and architecture, Princeton eating clubs, friendship, steganography (riddles) and self-interpreting manuscripts. It's a complicated, intricate and sometimes difficult read, but that's the point and the pleasure. There are murders, romances, dangers and detection, and by the end the heroes are in a race not only to solve the puzzle, but also to stay alive. Readers might be tempted to buy their own copy of the Hypnerotomachia and have a go at the puzzle. After all, Caldwell and Thomason have done most of the heavy deciphering-all that's left is to solve the final riddle, head for Rome and start digging.

The reason I put it here is because I really, really enjoyed the fresh new setting and theme of the book, and because everyone I convinced to read it told me they didn't like it.

'Doctor Rat' William Kotzwinkle

Not sure if this book is obscure enough - but it's a funny, thought provoking, disturbing, and ultimately terrifying novel that deserves to be better known imho.

I like just about everything Kotzwinkle has written, due to his wacky sense of humor and the off-beat selection of topics that he chooses to write about.

Doctor Rat is a great read and, in my opinion, too little known. It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1977.



Don

I can't think of anything exceedingly obscure. Perhaps Rynosseros (Terry Dowling) might barely qualify amongst the broader public, but I daresay the SF-interest amongst this group might possibly deny its obscurity.

So, instead, I'll go for a non-obscure writer's perhaps slightly obscure first novel (though it won the Miles Franklin Award and was made into a movie with Barry Otto, so I'm pushing it). Anyway, the book is not Oscar and Lucinda or The True History of the Kelly Gang bur rather Peter Carey's Bliss.

Bliss is about a man blissfully believing he is living the Australian dream, until he dies for nine minutes and wakes up in what he believes is literally Hell. His wife is cheating on him, his son is selling drugs, his daughter is whoring herself to buy those drugs, his business partner's an arse, and his car is sat on by an elephant. Then he meets Honey Barbara...and you will never look at honey in the same way again. He is to die twice more.

It is one of my favourite books, and the movie is also worth watching (I believe reading the book beforehand improves the movie. Barry Otto is brilliant in the lead).

Sorry, it's not that obscure, though perhaps enough so amongst a predominantly non-Australasian crowd. I'll have a look through my bookcases tomorrow for something more obscure.

Cheers,
Marc

A modern translation from Catalan of Tirant Lo Blanc by Joanot Martorell in 1468 was reviewed by NYTimes in the early 1980's and quickly died away. This is definitely not for the casual reader. I found it most interesting because it was foreign to me in so many different ways (subject, surroundings, pace, style). I confess that I did not actually finish it but now I think I will.

Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals is by no means obscure in the U.K. but it sure is here, or it was when I was trying to find a copy ten years ago when recommended to me by a Brit friend. I had a Dickens of a time finding it. Well worth it, though. An absolutely hilarious tale of the nature-curious author living on Corfu with his mother and siblings. He was certainly surrounded by wildlife.

The Rule Of Four - Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

The reason I put it here is because I really, really enjoyed the fresh new setting and theme of the book, and because everyone I convinced to read it told me they didn't like it.

I didn't like it. I thought I would, when I read it, it seemed the kind of thing I'd like, but something about it seemed stale and formulaic.

The Rule Of Four - Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

The reason I put it here is because I really, really enjoyed the fresh new setting and theme of the book, and because everyone I convinced to read it told me they didn't like it.

I didn't like it. I thought I would, when I read it, it seemed the kind of thing I'd like, but something about it seemed stale and formulaic.
...and the trend continues. you have to wonder... for once, could "everyone (else)" be right ?

I was remiss when I posted my books in discussing the "why" aspect. For the Rinker Buck and Oliver Sacks books, they both manage to recapture the childhood state, which is simultaneously magical, mythical, and vividly, directly "real". I think it is extremely important for adults, as cliché as it may be to say it, to see the world through child's eyes.

The "Pre-Astronauts" books not only documents some amazing men and achievements, it also provides a profound warning about the "not invented here" syndrome that affects so many institutions. It can literally be fatal to ignore what others fought so hard to discover.

For Bright Earth, there is nothing life-changing. It is simply a fascinating book, and anyone interested in art, language, and literature (which describes our membership, I think), it should prove an enjoyable read.

I was remiss when I posted my books in discussing the "why" aspect. For the Rinker Buck and Oliver Sacks books, they both manage to recapture the childhood state, which is simultaneously magical, mythical, and vividly, directly "real". I think it is extremely important for adults, as cliché as it may be to say it, to see the world through child's eyes. ...

I hope you'll forgive me for bringing J.K.Rowling into the subject, and making comparisons to Oliver Sacks, however in the case of her Harry Potter books I personally believe your comment regarding a "child's eyes" is the actual answer to the question of her popularity with adults as well. For all the criticism some people (including myself) might wish to offer the Harry Potter books (and this is not the place to elaborate on it), I believe this is at the crux of their popularity amongst children and adults.

I think that people make a mistake when they say that the adult popularity is because "she is writing for adults too". Rather, I think that she is seeing an alternate "world through a child's eyes" and that adults are either unnecessarily defending their reading of a "kids' book" or not realising that they still always retain the ability to see through the eyes of their own childhood. That's a Good Thing.

As for Oliver Sacks...I'll shamefacedly offer that he has been a writer on my TBR-list for many years, and yet I have managed to not get to him at all so far. I'll be sure to amend that, my surety emphasised by your comments.

Cheers,
Marc

I haven't read any of the HP books, so don't know if the comparison is apt. But if you read Uncle Tungsten, for example, you can let me know if they indeed have this commonality.

I recommended Kipling's "The Brushwood Boy" to another member wanting recommendations for non-stereotypical love stories, and I realize it appeals to me for much the same reason. In the early stages it is an astonishingly clear-eyed depiction of a child's world view.

"A child of six was telling himself stories as he lay in bed. It was a new power, and he kept it a secret. A month before it had occurred to him to carry on a nursery tale left unfinished by his mother, and he was delighted to find the tale as it came out of his own head just as surprising as though he were listening to it 'all new from the beginning.'"

I still feel a half-joyful, half-panicked frisson when I read that; there really is such power and I want it.

Comte de Lautreamont's Les Chants de Maldoror
http://www.kisa.ca/maldoror/english.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maldoror-Poems-Classics-Comte-Lautreamont/dp/0140443428/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209345615&sr=8-2

One of the earliest and the strongest influences on the Surrealist writers, Lautreamont (real name Isidore Ducasse) wrote little and died very young. His enigmatic short life is intriguing like his mysterious 'prose-poem' about a deranged character 'Maldoror' who is against the Creator, is evil, horrible and sadistic. During his journey of destruction he comes across many things. He destroys the good and makes evil and beastly look saintly in comparison, until he finally comes face to face with the Creator...

John Cowper Powys's A Glastonbury Romance
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glastonbury-Romance-John-Cowper-Powys/dp/087951681X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209345756&sr=8-9

This one is about Glastonbury and the surrounding country-side. The imagery is extremely vivid and many complex themes intermingle. A huge book, it is a rewarding read nevertheless.

Sadeq Hussain's The Blind Owl
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/BlindOwl/blindowl.html
(Download and read on your ereader.) This little novella is a real nightmare depicting decadence, desperation and depravity. No wonder the French loved its Iranian author and showered all kinds of honours at him. Very predictably, he ended his own life. If you like decadent, surrealistic, really SICK books, this one would fit the bill.

I recommended Kipling's "The Brushwood Boy" to another member wanting recommendations for non-stereotypical love stories, and I realize it appeals to me for much the same reason. In the early stages it is an astonishingly clear-eyed depiction of a child's world view.

That's what appeals to me about Daisy Ashford's 'The Young Visiters' - a story about adults and their world written by a nine year old.
It's charming and enlightening. :)

I recommended Kipling

Sorry Taylor, but this reminds me of an old joke.

A young man and woman are sitting on a bench under a moonlit sky.

The young man asks the young woman "Do you like Kipling?"

The woman turns in a huff and replies "I will have you know I have never kippled in my life!"

I apologize again for the distraction.

I'm going to take an easier target, and recommend some children's literature:

The Good Master by Kate Seredy. Written about World War I in central-eastern Europe (Hungary, I believe, but I may be mis-remembering), this is a story about moving to a farm, and then growing up (at least a little). This is one of the books I learned to read with, first having my mother read to me, then jointly turning pages, then finally saying "hurry up, I'm already done!".


The Open Gate by Kate Seredy. A similar theme, but set in the US. (I think Seredy was an American writer, but may have been a recent immigrant at the time of writing) A family ends up buying a farm, and how to deal with it. Another read-with-Mom book.

Both of these books are from Viking Press, at least in the editions we have.

And last, a work of non-fiction:
Three Against the Wilderness by Eric Collier. In 1920, Eric Collier rode through a section of wilderness in British Columbia that had been over-trapped for fur-bearing Beaver. A forest fire swept through the area, and a flood ripped through un-maintained beaver dams. Shortly thereafter, Eric and his new wife homesteaded in the area, and after several years started manually rebuilding the beaver dams. After another couple of years, the B.C. government sent out two pair of beaver to help re-seed the area. By 1942, the area had been completely refilled with beaver, and there was a major flood in the Fraser River valley. The Riske Creek watershed, where Eric was working/living, did not contribute any excess water to that flood, since the beaver dams retained all the extra. My parents met the Colliers while on vacation in B.C. the summer I was two (I got left with Grandparents that year). In this time of greater attention to environmental details, this book is still an inspiration.

Sorry Taylor, but this reminds me of an old joke. Yes, apparently GMTA (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=164489&postcount=2).

Well the Book hhat comes to mind that most people have not usually heard of is not that obscure, but was somthing that opened my eyes to a whole different way of thinking. The Book you Say?

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
by Richard P. Feynman & Ralph Leighton.

It cronicles parts of the life of the Nobel Prize winning physicist.
When I recieved it as a gift on my birthday, I first refused to read it becsuase I Thought it would be a dull read (D'uh! The minds of 10yr olds)

However once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.
Up until then Scientist's to me were just boring old men in lab coats that came up with things I had to learn by rote. Reading this book bought them to life for me as human beings, as people not icons.

But most of all, it made me laugh so hard that at times, my ribs hurt.
The cheerfully irrelevent way in which Feynman went about doing things makes you appriciate his genious even more.

And as you go back and reread parts of it, it can really make you think.
and so by virtue of being on my Third Copy (Worn out, and Lost The previous 2) I would heartly recommand this to anyone as a great read, and a good introduction to some of feynmans concepts for non scientists.

I'm Don't this one is available as a E-book, But this is one I would say is worth having in hard copy just for the rereadability factor.

Well the Book hhat comes to mind that most people have not usually heard of is not that obscure, but was somthing that opened my eyes to a whole different way of thinking. The Book you Say?

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
by Richard P. Feynman & Ralph Leighton.

It cronicles parts of the life of the Nobel Prize winning physicist.
When I recieved it as a gift on my birthday, I first refused to read it becsuase I Thought it would be a dull read (D'uh! The minds of 10yr olds)

However once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.
Up until then Scientist's to me were just boring old men in lab coats that came up with things I had to learn by rote. Reading this book bought them to life for me as human beings, as people not icons.

But most of all, it made me laugh so hard that at times, my ribs hurt.
The cheerfully irrelevent way in which Feynman went about doing things makes you appriciate his genious even more.

And as you go back and reread parts of it, it can really make you think.
and so by virtue of being on my Third Copy (Worn out, and Lost The previous 2) I would heartly recommand this to anyone as a great read, and a good introduction to some of feynmans concepts for non scientists.

I'm Don't this one is available as a E-book, But this is one I would say is worth having in hard copy just for the rereadability factor.

completely agree. Feynman is not only brilliant, but also hilarious.

...and the trend continues. you have to wonder... for once, could "everyone (else)" be right ? I almost missed this :angry:
Nobody likes Thrills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrills) either, yet I do.
Maybe ... for once, I am not a mere follower of masses.
:rolleyes:
Oh wait, that's twice already !
;)

Throwing my hat in the ring, too, for the Feynman book(s). "Surely You're Joking" was just one of them. You should definitely read his biography, Genius, by James Gleick.

I almost missed this :angry:
Nobody likes Thrills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrills) either, yet I do.
Maybe ... for once, I am not a mere follower of masses.
:rolleyes:
Oh wait, that's twice already !
;)
"It still tastes like soap!" i beleive these two examples suffice to confirm that you do indeed have eccentric tastes.

>>Black Rednecks and White Liberals<< by Thomas Sowell //2005//

challenges the long-prevailing assumptions about blacks, about Jews, about Germans, about slavery, and about education.

a powerful book. by the way, Sowell is black.

Throwing my hat in the ring, too, for the Feynman book(s). "Surely You're Joking" was just one of them. You should definitely read his biography, Genius, by James Gleick.

Oh I agree, The other Feynman books are great, but none of the others are so bone jarring hilarious. It is also quiet accessable, as it requies no prior knowledge or intrest in science or feynman.

Thats why I usually recommand statying with this, and then moving on to his other books.

I love Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-i-noor Diamond. Mystery and adventure and intrigue all rolled into one. I do read non-fiction, but I generally don't devour it the way I do fiction... however, this true story had me entranced. Sadly, I don't think it's available as an eBook in ANY format... I checked BooksOnBoard, Amazon, etc... I can only find the dead tree version. But it's definitely worth reading. :2thumbsup

Alia, you'd like Diamond, by Matthew Hart, subtitled "The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair". ISBN 0-452-28370-1. Ebook status unknown.

curse you, ralph sir edward ! and all the rest of ye ! my reading list was already probably too long to reasonably fit inside one lifetime, and now look what you've done.

i really think i will have to quit my job, and do nothing else, but read. (oh, the torture :rolleyes:)

on that note, i'm going to bed (to read...) now.

Fear, destruction, and chaos. My job here is done......

Seriously, I'm glad to see the responses. They are mind and taste and world-view stretching suggestions. Like Zelda_Pinwheel, I don't when I'll get to them, but I'll give it a go. Keep them coming...(hello, ABE.COM)

This one is not too obscure, but it's a great "playing games in your head" fantasy book. Silverlock, by John Myers Myers. It's a fantasy about reading. Imagine this thread as a book (and a very entertaining one, at that).

Fear, destruction, and chaos. My job here is done......

Seriously, I'm glad to see the responses. They are mind and taste and world-view stretching suggestions. Like Zelda_Pinwheel, I don't when I'll get to them, but I'll give it a go. Keep them coming...(hello, ABE.COM)

This one is not too obscure, but it's a great "playing games in your head" fantasy book. Silverlock, by John Myers Myers. It's a fantasy about reading. Imagine this thread as a book (and a very entertaining one, at that).

Yes, Silverlock is a wonderful book. I actually have the First Edition.

Silverlock has been compared to the witty fantasies of James Branch Cabell.

If you can find this book, I heartily recommend it.

Silverlock is available at NESFA press (in hardcover) with a built-in 100+ page concordance....

Anything by Dino Buzzati. I recommend Restless Nights. Also, Siren collection is also good.

Borgesian fiction reminiscient of Calvino, with a little fantasy thrown in.

Obscure book you should read:

_Developing Visual FoxPro Applications with Visual Fox Express_

Why you should read it...

Because I wrote it.

BOb

Boscure book you should read:

_Developing Visual FoxPro Application with Visual Fox Express_

Why you should read it...

Because I wrote it.

BOb
So you are that BOb. I have one client that has it as they still use FoxPro. (The last serious development I did in Fox was in FoxBASE+) I remember reading part of that book about a year ago.

Alia, you'd like Diamond, by Matthew Hart, subtitled "The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair". ISBN 0-452-28370-1. Ebook status unknown.

Thanks for the recommendation, Taylor! I'll definitely check it out. :)

Is Will Cuppy obscure? His The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody should be read because it is so funny and it is claimed that the historical details are correct. It is very dry humour.

So you are that BOb. I have one client that has it as they still use FoxPro. (The last serious development I did in Fox was in FoxBASE+) I remember reading part of that book about a year ago.
i never read that book, but i did have a temp job just after university filling information into a foxpro database. that was a reeeeeally boring job. but it might not have been foxpro's fault. and i won't hold you accountable, Bob, either.

Is Will Cuppy obscure? His The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody should be read because it is so funny and it is claimed that the historical details are correct. It is very dry humour.

Well, his How to be a Hermit has already been posted in our Book Uploads section.

Well, his How to be a Hermit has already been posted in our Book Uploads section.
(me goes immediately to download "How to be a Hermit". pff, like i need instructions.)

_The Brass Ring_ the autobiography of Bill Mauldin (WWII _Stars and Stripes_ cartoonist)

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=12234&archive=true

It's the most honest portrayal of life for the generation that saved the world.

William

Well, his How to be a Hermit has already been posted in our Book Uploads section.Wait, I thought this thread was on obscure books, not on books on obscurity. :headscratch:

Wait, I thought this thread was on obscure books, not on books on obscurity. :headscratch:
arg !!! :p

arg !!! :pThank you! Thank you very much! I'm here all week. :D

and i won't hold you accountable, Bob, either.

Thanks, now I'll be able to sleep nights.

BOb

Just thought this thread might be fun if we listed favorite semi-obscure titles available freely online. (Or should this post be its own thread? Moderators?) Anyway, here's a few:

---

Two Years Before the Mast -- Richard Henry Dana's true adventure about his journey to California in the 1830s. Lots of great description of the sailing life & early California. It's available in the forums here at MR.

John Macnab -- not about spies like John Buchan's other more famous novels (The 39 Steps, anyone?) but about some bored gentlemen getting together for some betting & poaching in the Highlands. Unexpectedly enjoyable. Including this may be a cheat, as it's only available free to folks who may legally use PG Australia. But I like Australia, so I thought I'd include this tip for any Australians who may be listening!

Lone Star Ranger -- Zane Grey. I'd never read him before but I'd only really heard about his Sackett novels. Possible inspiration for TV's Lone Ranger. Available here at MR.

What? You want a separate thread just because you're posting on the nominal topic of this one? :rofl:

Nope, you've put it in exactly the right place -- don't mind the rest of us, we're just nuts. :grin:

i mentioned Frigyes Karinthy earlier (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=174682&postcount=5) in this thread. i found a couple of texts by him online, in english translations.

it is uncertain whether these translations are in the public domain or not so i don't know whether i can upload them here, but in the meantime, you can read them online :
Please, Sir ! (http://mek.oszk.hu/00700/00770/00770.htm) description from the bibliography here (http://www.frankfurt.matav.hu/angol/irok/karinthy/public.htm) :
A novel; an extremely humorous account of a schoolboy's life, it is a perennial favorite in Hungary.
(should interest Harry, at the least !)
there is also a short story, The Circus, in this collection (http://vmek.oszk.hu/00400/00433/00433.htm) of Hungarian short stories.

i have not yet read either of them, but as i said the other books i read by Karinthy were eminently worthwhile.

Codex Seraphinius, not much reading but still a damn nice book, expensive like hell...
http://www.archimedes-lab.org/Serafi/C_serafini.html

Speaking of Hungarian literature, GÉZA CSÁTH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9za_Cs%C3%A1th is also a good read. Magician's Garden was published in the USA 20 years ago or so.

Zelda Pinwheel, thank you so much for those online Hungarian titles.

I agree, that Will Cuppy is a classic.

If you like black comedy, a book that is virtually forgotten today is Limbo by Bernard Wolfe. It was written in the early fifties and posits a future in which removing limbs and replacing them with prosthetics becomes the popular thing to do. Another is The Muller-Fokker Effect, by John Sladek. This is a wickedly funny book. Sladek was a fun writer. His writing could make you laugh and grimace at the same time. At least the hilarious Tik Tok is still in print. I think Terry Pratchett must be a big fan of Sladek, judging by some of his books.

that one russian book published in english in 1926,"the land of sennikov" I think.You know,the one it was ILLEGAL to own in the US.

Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson. And the rest of Childe Cycle they are a 1960's SF novels.

More info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsai!

Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson. And the rest of Childe Cycle they are a 1960's SF novels.

More info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsai!

Would you really call "Dorai" an obscure book? It's one of the all-time classics of SF!

I found quite dificult to find any book of the childe cycle. Also for a casual SF reader is quite obscure.

But I agree with you that is one of the all-time classics of SF.

PD: I life in Spain so that could explain why this books are hard to find for me :chinscratch:

Anything by B. Traven
He wrote Treasure of the Sierra Madre but his jungle books (five in the series) were great. The books cover the treatment of the peons in Mexico during the early part of the 20th Century, and the eventual uprising: General From the Jungle, March to the Montera are two of the titles I remember.

Speaking of Hungarian literature, GÉZA CSÁTH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9za_Cs%C3%A1th is also a good read. Magician's Garden was published in the USA 20 years ago or so.

Zelda Pinwheel, thank you so much for those online Hungarian titles.

I agree, that Will Cuppy is a classic.
thanks for more hungarian litterature ! and i'm thrilled that you are interested in Karinthy ; he really is brilliant.

The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz is one of my all time favorite books. It's a adult novel by the noted children's author Russell Hoban.
It's not really a fantasy, though there is a large element of fantasy in it. It's about a map-maker (he makes maps to find whatever you desire - water, love, money, etc), his son and their relationship and, of course, a lion.

The opening lines:
There were no lions any more. There had been lions once. Sometimes in the shimmer of the heat on the plains the motion of their running still flickered on the dry wind — tawny, great, and quickly gone. Sometimes the honey-colored moon shivered to the silence of a ghost-roar on the rising air.
There were no chariots any more. The chariots, wind-bereft and roadless in the night, slept with their tall wheels hushed in the tomb of the last king.

http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/boazpapr.jpg