Hi! As the title says, I want to know your favorite type of stories and which books are your favourite for every genre! Regards
I like allegory (Kafka). Then there are the more clear-cut mental construction stories (Borges; Poe in a different and imo less refined way, though language-wise he was excellent in English) and the uncanny stories (ETA Hoffmann would be a good representative).
I don't really consider myself having any favorite genre, as there are tons of derivative garbage and a few gems in all genres. Life's too short for bad books. If there's any genre where I'll pick up a book without checking weather it's good/whether I'd like it before starting reading it, it'd probably be paleontology books, if they have good illustrations and an accessible layout.
However, if I should make a literary rekommendation, it's the Lord of the Rings trilogy by Tolkien, though I doubt anyone reading this didn't already know of these books.
I will say though, that I think they're unfairly painted as difficult and challenging to read, whereas I had no problem whatsoever reading them all in a breeze.
Short stories, Borges and Buzzati being the favourite authors.
Or weird books like Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnerotomachia_Poliphili)
Quote from: Blondbraid on Mon 02/08/2021 11:16:06
I will say though, that I think [The Lord of the Rings is] unfairly painted as difficult and challenging to read, whereas I had no problem whatsoever reading them all in a breeze.
Yeah, it’s not the most difficult fantasy out there. But it can be daunting to see that big slab of paper full of hard-to-pronounce names and places. I honestly never did finish my copy of the book, but then I’m a slow reader anyway. You can buy them separately, which I might consider doing if I ever buy it for my boy.
Out of interest, what would you say
is some of the most difficult high fantasy out there? I haven’t read much.
Quote from: Blondbraid on Mon 02/08/2021 11:16:06
I will say though, that I think they're unfairly painted as difficult and challenging to read, whereas I had no problem whatsoever reading them all in a breeze.
I dunno, there's a point in the Two Towers where it really becomes a slog (although I have read it twice, once as a kid, and once around the time the movies came out).
I'd like to claim that I'd read any good book, but going by the numbers, it would appear my favourite genre is comedy-scifi/fantasy. Stuff like the Discworld books, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Xanth stuff, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
No specific genre, but I've been enjoying the Johannes Cabal series, recently. I'd say the series is great, though maybe not excellent, and definitely not perfect... but still very much recommended. Two has been the best, three had a very promising premise although it got too squishy in the middle (satisfying ending). Haven't started four yet. The Cabal series is sort of adrift as far as genres go, maybe Dieselpunk dark comedy? Author was one of the main writers on Broken Sword 1-3 at least.
Favourite novels from memory:
- Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut -- Snappy and brilliant. I think I've read it four times? Five?
- The Half Man - Anne Billson -- I would have to use a lot of swears to tell you how good this book is. Gory and hilarious.
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke -- Very long with lots of footnotes, but the prose is awesome and there are loads of detailed references to myths (fae etc) for which I have great affection. Austen-era fantasy featuring warring magickians.
- 14 (der Raum) - Peter Clines â€" Very fun urban fantasy, marvellous characters. Strange ending and some Lovecraft tie-ins (not super keen on Lovcraftian themes or the man behind them), but so strongly recommended! The scenario could happen to anyone, it's definitely a story for adventure gamers.
The Third Policeman was really good though I'd have to read it again to know if I'd count it among my favourites.
@KyriakosCH I've gotta read me some more Kafka.
All the best everyone!
I don't have a favorite genre, but I do have favorite authors and books. Here are some of them:
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Ubik by Philip K. Dick
Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins
Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez
If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Quote from: Skeevy Wonder on Sat 25/12/2021 08:50:49
The Third Policeman was really good though I'd have to read it again to know if I'd count it among my favourites.
The Third Policeman is a-ma-zing! One of my top 5 books ever, no doubt :) I recently read
At Swim-Two-Birds and I found it a lot more "academic" and way less fascinating. I'm happy I gave it a chance, but it paled in comparison, for sure.
Quote from: N0ra8 on Wed 16/02/2022 14:54:29
I don't have a favorite genre, but I do have favorite authors and books. Here are some of them:
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Ubik by Philip K. Dick
Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins
Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez
If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
We seem to have a lot in common! I guess that if I had to mention a favourite genre, it would have to be the excessively broad category of "weird fiction", which ranges from the classic ghost/supernatural/madness tales of M.R. James, Robert Chambers, Lord Dunsany, Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Guy de Maupassant, etc, to straight-up horror (Stephen King, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Lovecraft, Dennis Etchison, Robert Aickman), to the mind-bending labyrinths of Borges, Cortázar, Quiroga, Sábato, Mark Z. Danielewsky, Ligotti, Angela Carter, Philip K. Dick, Calvino, Tim Powers, or Arthur Machen. I guess that if it's weird, original, unique, and manages to surprise me with something I haven't seen before, I'm game!
Right now, I'm busy with
Oceano Mare by Alessandro Baricco (poetic, beautiful, entrancing) and
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which is the closest I've come to a so-called "bestseller" in recent years but I have to admit is a very compelling murder mystery, and a real page-turner at that! Once I'm done, I plan on snatching up Susanna Clarke's
Piranesi, which from what I've heard is a wonderful read :)
Quote from: Laura Hunt on Thu 17/02/2022 19:50:53
Quote from: Skeevy Wonder on Sat 25/12/2021 08:50:49
The Third Policeman was really good though I'd have to read it again to know if I'd count it among my favourites.
The Third Policeman is a-ma-zing! One of my top 5 books ever, no doubt :)
So cool, thanks! Will definitely read it again. I remember it being one of those stories that transports you into a sort of liminal state you're not fully out of until a couple of days after finishing. ;-D
Quote from: N0ra8 on Wed 16/02/2022 14:54:29
...
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Totally need to give that one another go! It's been on the shelf for a few years now.
Just picked up a used copy of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and can't wait to properly dive in. Amazon has the first chapter free on its listing (that's what hooked me--absolutely recommended!).