Which Book Have You Read/Re-Read All Your Life? - Page 5

Danny Fekete · 08-02-2009, 09:01 AM

No love for Douglas Adams? I've been hitting Last Chance to See and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency about once a year since I discovered them. I also keep coming back to Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

junkml · 08-02-2009, 12:14 PM

The Riddle of Stars Trilogy by Patricia McKillip (The RiddleMaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the wind).

Read them when I was young, and still enjoy rereading them occasionally now that I'm much older.

chlorine · 08-02-2009, 12:38 PM

The books I've come back most often to are:

Belle du Seigneur by Albert Cohen (sometimes translated to English with the same title or with the title Her Lover, apparently), a very rich book that, among other things, asks the question of why you fall in love with somebody. Each time I read it (I've read it three or four times since I was in high school and I'm now in my thirties) I find something different in it.

The princes of Amber series, by Roger Zelazny (first five books mainly), a really gripping and deeply moving series.
I had never heard of A Night in the Lonesome October, it's now very high on my wishlist, thanks for the suggestion!

Some of Jean Giraudoux's plays, mainly Electre and Ondine (Ondine was apparently translated to English with the same title, I don't know about Electre). These plays are pure moments of deep happiness. They're funny and thought-provoking at the same time, with an irreverant touch that make some of the dialogues pure jewels.
Electre is actually one of the only books that I had to read for class that were good enough for me to enjoy, so prejudiced am I against books read for school.

The Idiot, by Dostoievski.

The books by Boris Vian are also books that really moved me and made a lasting impression, but for some reason I never really read them again. Maybe I should...

For me, one of the reasons I read again the books I loved is that I am utterly unable to remember the story once I closed the book (though I clearly remember the impression it made on me). So reading them again is a way to discover them again, pure bliss!

junkml · 08-02-2009, 12:51 PM

I'd have to say the Amber series too. I tend to re-read that every so often as well.

Cabe · 08-02-2009, 01:47 PM

Richard A. Knaak's Dragonrealm series, but Firedrake gets read more than the others in the series.

It's also where I took my online nick from (and several close friends use it in IRL, apparently it suite me better than Gregg).

Gideon · 08-02-2009, 01:51 PM

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse is read every few years, and circumstance has led me to reading his Siddhartha a number of times.

Poetry is the main thing I reread.... Neruda, William Carlos Williams, Louise Glück, Yeats, e.e. cummings, Blake, T.S. Eliot

I don't reread fiction very often, and hardly ever non-fiction.

Verencat · 08-02-2009, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gideon

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse is read every few years, and circumstance has led me to reading his Siddhartha a number of times.

Those two, with The Glass Bead Game, are in my re-reads also. Hermann Hesse helps me make sense out of life...

Requiem · 08-02-2009, 06:33 PM

For some weird reason, I first read a Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle in 6th grade and it introduced me to my interest in futurism, I have read it consistently ever since. Also the Grapes of Wrath, particularly when I am depressed, I find it as a great story of hope (albeit sad), and doing what you have to do.

poohbear_nc · 08-03-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LauraLynn

I love reading Roger Zelazny's "A Night in the Lonesome October" every October... really gets me in the mood for Halloween. Just wish it were available in ebook format!

I just got the pbook edition with illustrations by Gahan Wilson - it's an extraordinary book - thanks for the info!

chlorine · 08-03-2009, 03:40 PM

Ooh! ooh! I almost forgot!

Add East of Eden by Steinbeck to my list. Such a rich book which describes so well the feelings of the characters.

BenG · 08-04-2009, 08:48 AM

I've re-read LOTR 8 or 9 times since 1975.
I also read The Mysterious Island fairly often and bought the new English translation by Jordan Stump that was published a few years ago.

kaan · 08-07-2009, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gideon

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse is read every few years, and circumstance has led me to reading his Siddhartha a number of times.

Count me in on those.
Although I didn't begin reading them until I was about 18.

Siddhartha is my favorite book in my collection.

For non-fiction I would have to choose "the camel book".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_Perl

keith_mahoney · 08-08-2009, 03:37 AM

Armor by John Steakley

Best book ever. I am on my 7th copy. This guy has only ever written 2 books yet has a fan website dedicated to him at http://www.johnsteakley.com/

If you like sci-fi get this book and check out those forums for more good book recommendations.

wayspooled · 08-08-2009, 05:34 AM

For me, right now it's Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin book series. Every time I start it, I have to read the whole 20 books. I think I'm on my 6th reading. It's not like Hornblower or Alexander Kent who also wrote books about the British Navy in the Napoleonic period are mostly military historical fiction. The Aubrey/Maturin books are half action, half character driven/storyline development Pride and Prejudice (for men? Dunno really, I've read most of Austen and liked them, just not repetitively).

My first read of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin was about 1991. I was in the Yale U. bookstore (business course, in my undergrad years I'd never have gotten in, heh..) and leaving on a train back home later that afternoon and I stopped by to pick up something to read and I saw these books whose covers reminded me of the old Hornblower books I'd loved as a teen, so I bought the first two of the series (first one seemed kind of small to me and I was afraid I'd finish it before I got back). The next day I was searching central VA high and low for more P.O.B. Now I've got 3 complete, different published sets of the series. I don't include the 5 volume omnibus set which is a travesty of typographic error and omission, and what a waste. The world needed a good omnibus edition of this. I have been contemplating buying the Easton leather set for a couple months - which costs about 1000 bucks. I'll probably keep contemplating it awhile longer. Unfortunately not available in ebook.

I agree about Armor, one of the best sci/fi I've read. I don't care so much about genre. I like character driven, well developed storylines and characters. I don't care if they're full of action or just someone wandering about experiencing life - though most are somewhere in between - just as long as they're thought provoking and the world they're in is accurate and well thought out and complete and if you offer me history or science, it has to be accurate or make sense. A big bonus is teaching me something - about history or science (and this includes sociology and psychology), or about how people are.. They might be set in 1800 like O'Brian and Austen.. or a fantasy world age like Tolkien, or 1500 like Dunnett or 2350 like Cherryh and Brin and Vinge or 1910 like Wodehouse. I just care about the story.

Now Pratchett, he's the exception to the rule - he just makes me laugh :P And Steinbeck, one of my favorites also.

Before 1991, it was Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe I kept rereading - but it's Patrick O'Brian now.

lmarie · 08-08-2009, 09:04 PM

Agatha Christie, all of them. I tend to forget "who did it" (even if I begin to recognize plot lines.) She's written so much, so well -- especially Marple and Poirot, but the others also.

My other favorite to reread is "Treasure Island". I'm a kid and a pirate at heart.

08-08-2009, 03:37 AM	#73
keith_mahoney Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Mons, Belgium Device: PRS-600 on pre-order; Cancelled. Got a 505, charger and case 4 less $	Easy... Armor by John Steakley Best book ever. I am on my 7th copy. This guy has only ever written 2 books yet has a fan website dedicated to him at http://www.johnsteakley.com/ If you like sci-fi get this book and check out those forums for more good book recommendations.

08-08-2009, 05:34 AM	#74
wayspooled Crab In The Dark Posts: 486 Karma: 2328180 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Tablet PC until a 10" comes out that I like	For me, right now it's Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin book series. Every time I start it, I have to read the whole 20 books. I think I'm on my 6th reading. It's not like Hornblower or Alexander Kent who also wrote books about the British Navy in the Napoleonic period are mostly military historical fiction. The Aubrey/Maturin books are half action, half character driven/storyline development Pride and Prejudice (for men? Dunno really, I've read most of Austen and liked them, just not repetitively). My first read of O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin was about 1991. I was in the Yale U. bookstore (business course, in my undergrad years I'd never have gotten in, heh..) and leaving on a train back home later that afternoon and I stopped by to pick up something to read and I saw these books whose covers reminded me of the old Hornblower books I'd loved as a teen, so I bought the first two of the series (first one seemed kind of small to me and I was afraid I'd finish it before I got back). The next day I was searching central VA high and low for more P.O.B. Now I've got 3 complete, different published sets of the series. I don't include the 5 volume omnibus set which is a travesty of typographic error and omission, and what a waste. The world needed a good omnibus edition of this. I have been contemplating buying the Easton leather set for a couple months - which costs about 1000 bucks. I'll probably keep contemplating it awhile longer. Unfortunately not available in ebook. I agree about Armor, one of the best sci/fi I've read. I don't care so much about genre. I like character driven, well developed storylines and characters. I don't care if they're full of action or just someone wandering about experiencing life - though most are somewhere in between - just as long as they're thought provoking and the world they're in is accurate and well thought out and complete and if you offer me history or science, it has to be accurate or make sense. A big bonus is teaching me something - about history or science (and this includes sociology and psychology), or about how people are.. They might be set in 1800 like O'Brian and Austen.. or a fantasy world age like Tolkien, or 1500 like Dunnett or 2350 like Cherryh and Brin and Vinge or 1910 like Wodehouse. I just care about the story. Now Pratchett, he's the exception to the rule - he just makes me laugh :P And Steinbeck, one of my favorites also. Before 1991, it was Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe I kept rereading - but it's Patrick O'Brian now. Last edited by wayspooled; 08-08-2009 at 05:57 AM.

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08-02-2009, 09:01 AM	#61
Danny Fekete Electronic Education Buff Posts: 84 Karma: 31076 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: Bookeen Cybook Gen3, iRex DR1000s, Sony Reader PRS 650	No love for Douglas Adams? I've been hitting Last Chance to See and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency about once a year since I discovered them. I also keep coming back to Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

08-02-2009, 12:14 PM	#62
junkml Addict Posts: 277 Karma: 1004969 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: Sony Reader	The Riddle of Stars Trilogy by Patricia McKillip (The RiddleMaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the wind). Read them when I was young, and still enjoy rereading them occasionally now that I'm much older.

08-02-2009, 12:38 PM	#63
chlorine Addict Posts: 276 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Kindle paperwhite 2	The books I've come back most often to are: Belle du Seigneur by Albert Cohen (sometimes translated to English with the same title or with the title Her Lover, apparently), a very rich book that, among other things, asks the question of why you fall in love with somebody. Each time I read it (I've read it three or four times since I was in high school and I'm now in my thirties) I find something different in it. The princes of Amber series, by Roger Zelazny (first five books mainly), a really gripping and deeply moving series. I had never heard of A Night in the Lonesome October, it's now very high on my wishlist, thanks for the suggestion! Some of Jean Giraudoux's plays, mainly Electre and Ondine (Ondine was apparently translated to English with the same title, I don't know about Electre). These plays are pure moments of deep happiness. They're funny and thought-provoking at the same time, with an irreverant touch that make some of the dialogues pure jewels. Electre is actually one of the only books that I had to read for class that were good enough for me to enjoy, so prejudiced am I against books read for school. The Idiot, by Dostoievski. The books by Boris Vian are also books that really moved me and made a lasting impression, but for some reason I never really read them again. Maybe I should... For me, one of the reasons I read again the books I loved is that I am utterly unable to remember the story once I closed the book (though I clearly remember the impression it made on me). So reading them again is a way to discover them again, pure bliss!

08-02-2009, 12:51 PM	#64
junkml Addict Posts: 277 Karma: 1004969 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: Sony Reader	I'd have to say the Amber series too. I tend to re-read that every so often as well.

08-02-2009, 01:47 PM	#65
Cabe Connoisseur Posts: 99 Karma: 403 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Portsmouth, UK Device: Sony PRS-505, iPhone	Richard A. Knaak's Dragonrealm series, but Firedrake gets read more than the others in the series. It's also where I took my online nick from (and several close friends use it in IRL, apparently it suite me better than Gregg).

08-02-2009, 01:51 PM	#66
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse is read every few years, and circumstance has led me to reading his Siddhartha a number of times. Poetry is the main thing I reread.... Neruda, William Carlos Williams, Louise Glück, Yeats, e.e. cummings, Blake, T.S. Eliot I don't reread fiction very often, and hardly ever non-fiction.

08-02-2009, 06:33 PM	#68
Requiem Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 490328 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: USA Device: Asus Transformer	For some weird reason, I first read a Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle in 6th grade and it introduced me to my interest in futurism, I have read it consistently ever since. Also the Grapes of Wrath, particularly when I am depressed, I find it as a great story of hope (albeit sad), and doing what you have to do.

08-03-2009, 03:40 PM	#70
chlorine Addict Posts: 276 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Kindle paperwhite 2	Ooh! ooh! I almost forgot! Add East of Eden by Steinbeck to my list. Such a rich book which describes so well the feelings of the characters.

08-04-2009, 08:48 AM	#71
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,729 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	I've re-read LOTR 8 or 9 times since 1975. I also read The Mysterious Island fairly often and bought the new English translation by Jordan Stump that was published a few years ago.

08-08-2009, 09:04 PM	#75
lmarie Dilettante Posts: 148 Karma: 132 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Philadelphia area Device: EB1150, Cybook Gen3, Kobo Touch	Agatha Christie, all of them. I tend to forget "who did it" (even if I begin to recognize plot lines.) She's written so much, so well -- especially Marple and Poirot, but the others also. My other favorite to reread is "Treasure Island". I'm a kid and a pirate at heart.

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