Need some suggestions. - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Vincere · 08-28-2009, 05:43 PM

I just started reading for pleasure, actually more like a girl gave me a book to read Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. (I know, a weird book to get from a girl)

Well I really enjoyed the book, so I read Survivor and liked that too. It sparked a little bit of interests in literature for me.

I don't want to have an overload from the same author so I am seeking any suggestions that TFP might have for a new reader that likes these kinds of books.

SecretMethod70 · 08-28-2009, 06:00 PM

Definitely Bret Easton Ellis. I have yet to read a book of his I don't like. I've been reading them in order. While they're not really a series, they do relate to one another tangentially. The first book he came out with was Less Than Zero (it's NOT like the movie at all), which was great, but I enjoyed his second book, Rules of Attraction, even more (that one is also not like the movie). Of course, his third book, American Psycho, is just awesome (and the movie is also more faithful to the book, if you enjoyed that one). And, of course, the list goes on. If you like Chuck Palahniuk, you should really check him out.

You might also like J.G. Ballard. His book Crash was made into a movie in the 1990's starring James Spader (NOT the 2000's movie about racism in LA). As Wikipedia puts it, "it is a story about car-crash sexual fetishism: its protagonists become sexually aroused by staging and participating in real car-crashes, often with real consequences." The book is also the inspiration for a great song called "Warm Leatherette" by The Normal.

Phillip K. Dick is pretty cool too, though a touch more in the sci-fi realm. It's trippy sci-fi though, because he was constantly high on drugs. Very interesting stuff. He wrote Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which is the book that Blade Runner is based on. Total Recall and Minority Report are both based on short stories of his, though the stories are nothing like the movies. There are a few other movie bastardizations of his work, which I mention merely to point out how prolific he is, even if the movie adaptations aren't faithful at all. Oh, A Scanner Darkly is a book of his, and the movie adaptation of that is actually pretty decent.

Vincere · 08-28-2009, 06:07 PM

Awesome, I'm definitely gonna check those out. Thanks.

thespian86 · 08-29-2009, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

Definitely Bret Easton Ellis. I have yet to read a book of his I don't like. I've been reading them in order. While they're not really a series, they do relate to one another tangentially. The first book he came out with was Less Than Zero (it's NOT like the movie at all), which was great, but I enjoyed his second book, Rules of Attraction, even more (that one is also not like the movie). Of course, his third book, American Psycho, is just awesome (and the movie is also more faithful to the book, if you enjoyed that one). And, of course, the list goes on. If you like Chuck Palahniuk, you should really check him out.

QFT my friend; QF-fucking-T. Also check out his collection of short stories (that plays out in novel form - 'The Informers')

Try out Douglas Coupland. Great canadian novelist who wrote 'Generation X'. All of his stuff is kind of dry and out there. I'd recommend: 'Hey Nostradomous', 'Eleanor Rigby', and 'All Families Are Psychotic'.

There's always Kurt Vonnegut. Great Dystopian voice put to normalcy. Plays a lot with patriotism and social obligations. I'd recommend: 'Bluebeard', 'Slaughter House 5'.

- J.D. Salinger's 'Catcher In The Rye'
- Thomas Pynchon's 'Gravity's Rainbow'
- Chuck Klosterman's 'Sex, Drugs, and Coca Puffs'
- James Fry's 'Bright Shiny Morning'

Anything by Cormac McCarthy. Especially 'The Road', 'No Country For Old Men', and 'The Blood Meridian'.

Poppinjay · 08-29-2009, 08:21 AM

The only problem with Ellis is that his books are very dated. I think he and Jay McInerny are kind of stuck in the excess of the 80's.

I'd recommend Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections, and anything written by Lydia Millet. She really writes for a male audience.

m0rpheus · 08-29-2009, 04:20 PM

I will always recommend people read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.

08-28-2009, 05:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
Vincere Upright	Need some suggestions. I just started reading for pleasure, actually more like a girl gave me a book to read Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. (I know, a weird book to get from a girl) Well I really enjoyed the book, so I read Survivor and liked that too. It sparked a little bit of interests in literature for me. I don't want to have an overload from the same author so I am seeking any suggestions that TFP might have for a new reader that likes these kinds of books.

08-28-2009, 06:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	Definitely Bret Easton Ellis. I have yet to read a book of his I don't like. I've been reading them in order. While they're not really a series, they do relate to one another tangentially. The first book he came out with was Less Than Zero (it's NOT like the movie at all), which was great, but I enjoyed his second book, Rules of Attraction, even more (that one is also not like the movie). Of course, his third book, American Psycho, is just awesome (and the movie is also more faithful to the book, if you enjoyed that one). And, of course, the list goes on. If you like Chuck Palahniuk, you should really check him out. You might also like J.G. Ballard. His book Crash was made into a movie in the 1990's starring James Spader (NOT the 2000's movie about racism in LA). As Wikipedia puts it, "it is a story about car-crash sexual fetishism: its protagonists become sexually aroused by staging and participating in real car-crashes, often with real consequences." The book is also the inspiration for a great song called "Warm Leatherette" by The Normal. Phillip K. Dick is pretty cool too, though a touch more in the sci-fi realm. It's trippy sci-fi though, because he was constantly high on drugs. Very interesting stuff. He wrote Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which is the book that Blade Runner is based on. Total Recall and Minority Report are both based on short stories of his, though the stories are nothing like the movies. There are a few other movie bastardizations of his work, which I mention merely to point out how prolific he is, even if the movie adaptations aren't faithful at all. Oh, A Scanner Darkly is a book of his, and the movie adaptation of that is actually pretty decent. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

08-29-2009, 08:21 AM	#5 (permalink)
Poppinjay You had me at hello Location: DC/Coastal VA	The only problem with Ellis is that his books are very dated. I think he and Jay McInerny are kind of stuck in the excess of the 80's. I'd recommend Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections, and anything written by Lydia Millet. She really writes for a male audience. __________________ I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet

08-29-2009, 04:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
m0rpheus bad craziness Location: Guelph, Ontario	I will always recommend people read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. __________________ "it never got weird enough for me." - Hunter S. Thompson

08-28-2009, 06:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
Vincere Upright	Awesome, I'm definitely gonna check those out. Thanks.