blinkin_winkin

I'm sure there are a TON of threads around here with this subject title but I couldn't think of anything more original.

My Lit teacher just dropped a bomb on us. We need to read 1500 pages in two months. We also need to write a bunch of papers and do projects about our books. Grr... I probably shouldn't complain because college is only going to be harder but still.

Anyway what I'm looking for is some great recommendations. I'm not a big reader but the last books I've loved have been either written by Chuck Palaniuk (finished "Survivor" recently) or classics like "Catcher in the Rye".

Since we have to read a certain amount of pages I'm trying to shoot for books around 350-450 pages. Can't be any more than 450 pages according to the assignments. The closer the page amounts get to 450, that means I have to do less projects outside of the actual reading.

Any advice is fantastic and I'd be very grateful. Who knows. I might become a huge book fan. Anything is possible.

benedict

The greater the number of books you read the greater the number of comparisons and differences etc. on which to comment and the more biographical material concerning the various authors on which you will be able to draw i.e rather than aiming for three or four big books you could instead go for half a dozen or more shorter ones!

With that in mind, check out the two links in my post in this thread.

Returning to your original plea, also in that thread you will see someone else refer to "Stand on Zanzibar" by John Brunner. That and the same author's "The Sheep Look Up" are two pretty hefty books!

benedict

See: What makes a book a 'classic'?

.... and for fiction that is thematically linked, maybe the books and authors mentioned here and here will be of interest.

Of course, if/when you review the various suggestions, the actual assignment will be 100% your own affair

GeoffK

The house of leaves - you could write a TON about this book.

blinkin_winkin

Wow. This looks like an amazing book. The only problem is that the only version I could find was around 700 pages. My teacher won't let us read anything more than 450 pages. The assignment is 1500 pages for an A. He's afraid one of the students are just going to read massive books to lessen their reading requirements. For each book we need to write two essays. Damn though. This book will be the first one I pick up after this project is over in June.

My current four books for the project are...

"The Testament" by John Grisham (About 50 pages in so far)
"Stranger in a Strange Land" by Heinlein
"Music For Torching" by A. M. Homes
"Chemical Pink" by Kate Arnoldi

Any other really good titles I should check out? I'm very grateful toward benedict and gkleinman.

Aaron

GeoffK

Sorry, couldn't remember how long The House of Leaves was... Didn't remember is was 700 Pages!

"Music For Torching" by A. M. Homes
"Chemical Pink" by Kate Arnoldi

Both interesting reads, but neither are really one's I'd recommend.

I REALLY Enjoyed Pattern Recognition by William Gibson (but it's a harcover and so is a little spendy)

Other recommendations for quick great reads:
Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K. Hamilton (if you like vampires, this is the one to read).
The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story by Richard Preston (that and 'The Hot Zone' are two very well written books that are horrifyingly true)
Men in Black by Scott Spencer (Because it's so damn well written or look at his The Rich Man's Table if you're a Bob Dylan Fan)
The Fermata by Nicholson Baker (love this book, a definate guy's book also his book 'Room Tempature' is amazing)
About a Boy - Nick Horby's great book about being a guy
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk much much much better pick to read than Chemical Pink
American Psycho - by Bret Easton Ellis the most sick and depraved book I've ever read (2nd would have to be Equsite Corpse by Poppy Z Bright which I could NEVER reccomend!)
The Beach by Alex Garland - SOOOO goood an so much better than the movie
The River Why - by David James Duncan the best book ever written about fly fishing (2nd would be a river runs through it which is alos quite good).

Hope this helps.

- G

Deke Rivers

any CLancy or King book is at least 1500 pages

LarLar

Nice choice. This book has a quite a following - I believe there is a pagan cult (no offense meant if I've applied the improper label)that models their lifestyle philosophy on that of Valentine Michael Smith. Fascinating stuff - I don't think you'll have a problem coming up with things to write about this book.

The Testament might prove a bit tougher to write about.

If you're looking for more recommendations, I'll suggest Neuromancer by William Gibson. Might be a little short for your needs, though.

blinkin_winkin

Lots of good suggestions. Sadly though, we aren't allowed to read books that were made into movies. I've read "Fight Club" though and loved it. I really want to read "American Psycho" too.

I'm going to look into "The Rich Man's Table" though. I'm a huge Dylan fan.

Aaron

Mourn

I came across some books by Ken Macleod in one of my meanderings through a book store and i quite like his stuff. The poltical philosophies that underly his stuff might be something you could write an essay on. Don't know how long the books are, but they generally take me a day and a bit, so say 400 pages.

For something completely different, try The Beast That Was Max. Bit short tho.

Armour by Steakley is also excellent. The author seems to be rather self-depreciating and describes it as a starship troopers rip off, but I MUCH prefered Armour to Starship Troopers.

Oh yah, try On Basilisk Station. Enjoyable pulp sci-fi with a naval basis. Hammer's Slammers books by Drake are also enjoyable and while they are not terribly deep, they have some of the nastiest and grittiest characters that you will find anywhere.

benedict

It is quite an interesting exercise to read Peter Hamilton's first series of novels (Mindstar Rising etc) in conjunction with Ken MacLeod's (The Star Fraction etc).

Comparable futurescapes but from almost opposite sides of the political spectrum.

Mourn

I haven't read any of Peter Hamilton's stuff, but there are a bunch of his books lieing around my house and i've been meaning to check them out for years, maybe i should move them up on the list. It would be a neat contrast.

Alien Redrum

If you really want to get in over your head, I'd recommend a compare and contrast paper on

Stephen King's The Stand (about 1200 pages or so)

and

Robert McGammon's Swan Song (about 700 pages).

Both great reads and great books to compare and contrast.

Oops. Nevermind, they both blow the 450 by about 1500 pages.

blinkin_winkin

Yeah... just by a little bit.

Thanks though. A good idea for college. lol

Aaron

benedict

Aaron, judging from your first post, you are now halfway through the time allotted for your project.

If you don't mind saying, [] and assuming you are not emulating edytwinky's M.O. as outlined in this Other thread, how is it going?

blinkin_winkin

I'm really sorry benedict. I didn't think to check back in on the boards. I've been too busy with track and reading.

Well the project ended a few days ago. It went well. I was able to read 1300 pages. I wrote my last two papers having only read half of my last book. Kinda disappointed but I definitely plan on finishing the book soon.

I read:

John Grisham "Testament" (liked it. the ending was a little of a let-down. Was able to write my papers about how materalism is really bad. Easy, easy papers.)

Kerouac "On The Road" (I fell in love with this book. I can't believe I didn't read this until I turned 17. I love this book so much. I can't recommend it enough. The papers were a little hard to write though. There is no theme and it was hard to summarize. Hopefully my teacher understood though.)

Heinlein "Stranger In A Strange Land" (I liked this book. I was shocked by Heinlein's dark comedy and sexist views. Is Heinlein a hardcore sexist or was he just using it to tell his story? I don't know. I enjoyed the book although I don't understand why it's a classic.)

AND FINALLY...

Tom Robbins "Skinny Legs And All" (I am half way through the book. It was fun to write two papers on the main character's sexuality. lol. Fun stuff. I like the satirical angle. Any book that has a can of beans waxing political is great to me.)


The good thing about this project is that it got me addicted to reading. I'm picking up "The Fountainhead" after I finish "Skinny Legs".

Again, I'm sorry it took so long to respond. Thank you so much everyone. This thread has given me a whole year's worth of great books to go after. I hope to post more regularly in this forum.

Aaron