Best european literature books according to redditors
We found 302 Reddit comments discussing the best european literature books. We ranked the 105 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 302 Reddit comments discussing the best european literature books. We ranked the 105 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Try the other books of Walter Moers, if you haven't yet!
Rumo is my favourite:
https://www.amazon.com/Rumo-Miraculous-Adventures-Walter-Moers/dp/1585679364/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481039638&sr=8-1&keywords=rumo
Michel Houellebecq wrote a pretty funny novel called Submission about how France becomes a Muslim controlled country in 2022. Parts of it seem incredibly likely, such as the Islamic party partnering with the Socialist to seize political power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submission_(novel)
>Ben-Abbes wins the election, and becomes President of France. He pacifies the country and enacts sweeping changes to French laws, privatizing the Sorbonne, thereby making François redundant with full pension as only Muslims are now allowed to teach there. He also ends gender equality, allowing polygamy. Several of François' intellectually-inferior colleagues, having converted to Islam, get good jobs and make arranged marriages with attractive young wives. The new president campaigns to enlarge the European Union to include North Africa, with the aim of making it a new Roman Empire, with France at its lead.
https://www.amazon.com/Submission-Novel-Michel-Houellebecq/dp/0374271577
A controversial, intelligent, and mordantly funny new novel from France's most famous living literary figure
It's 2022. François is bored. He's a middle-aged lecturer at the New Sorbonne University and an expert on J. K. Huysmans, the famous nineteenth-century Decadent author. But François's own decadence is considerably smaller in scale. He sleeps with his students, eats microwave dinners, rereads Huysmans, queues up YouPorn.
Meanwhile, it's election season. And although Francois feels "about as political as a bath towel," things are getting pretty interesting. In an alliance with the Socialists, France's new Islamic party sweeps to power. Islamic law comes into force. Women are veiled, polygamy is encouraged, and François is offered an irresistible academic advancement--on the condition that he convert to Islam.
Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker has said of Submission that "Houellebecq is not merely a satirist but--more unusually--a sincere satirist, genuinely saddened by the absurdities of history and the madnesses of mankind." Michel Houellebecq's new book may be satirical and melancholic, but it is also hilarious, a comic masterpiece by one of France's great novelists.
The most depressive man in history
There's an edition with all his books written in French for those interested by this misunderstood genius
> Je ne pense pas toujours, donc je ne suis pas toujours triste. (Sillogismes de l’amertume)
"I don't always think, therefore I'm not always sad"
Existentialism and Human Emotions, by Sartre, is only 96 pages and quite an easy read. {ISBN-13: 978-0806509020} Existentialism and the Philosophical Tradition, [Raymond], gives a broad selection of thinkers throughout history, but it is pricey. {ISBN-13: 978-0132957755} Another approach would be texts that are not strictly philosophical yet present some existential points such as: The Plague, The Stranger, and The Rebel, all by Camus, Nausea by Sartre, Notes From Underground, by Dostoevsky, or Waiting For Godot by Beckett
You want dwarves? I give you Dwarves!
Also - Malazan has its own non-human races that play an important role in the series.
I always loved Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. That book is some of his best work; I became entraced, just utterly enamored with this book the moment I picked it up in the "New and Noteworthy" section of Barnes and Nobles.
Here is the cover- Even it is evocative of the entire mood of the book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0143034901?cache=4d86abfaae77a4a6df90f3ab8702937a&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1408808620&sr=1-2#ref=mp_s_a_1_2
People should read this book, by a French author. I can actually see this story line playing out now.
It's a novel about the total Islamic takeover of France. Pretty good book, in a sad, sardonic kind of way.
https://www.amazon.com/Submission-Novel-Michel-Houellebecq/dp/0374271577
Here's all the guides you'll ever need!
Bertrand Russell Conquest of Happiness.
Some of the language is a bit dated but the philosophical aspects are rather timeless and well presented. Edit: excuse me Russell won a nobel Peace prize for lit and this book was a part of his doing so. Maybe not the only book you should read but a good must read.
https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Happiness-Bertrand-Russell/dp/087140673X
It's the 90s edition of the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It normally has an ugly dust jacket on it. Back to the Future 2 lied. We still don't have dust repellent paper.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Douglas-Adams/dp/0517149257
> The Dwarves by Markus Heitz.
Not hard at all. If you search the part I quoted, this Amazon listing is the first result.
Enjoy!
Hmm... maybe I'll put the first one on my Amazon wishlist. Thanks Jimbo!
The Golem and the Jinni
Winter's Tale
And as someone else mentioned The Shadow of the Wind and the follow-ups Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven - they're basically Guillermo del Toro movies waiting to happen.
Not quite new, and not quite yellow, but an amazing book nonetheless. The Shadow of the Wind
Walter Moers
Given the massive success of Adams, Pratchett and others, the rave reviews of everything in Moers' ever-expanding Zamonia series, the fantastic illustrations and the riotous and creative writing I cannot believe so few people have read these books.
These books have some deep social and psychological analysis alongside absurdity, humor, violence, love and adventure.
Reference books, chronologically:
Editorial reviews:
>“Cheerfully insane. . . . Remains lively and inventive right through the final heroic battle between good and evil.”
—The New York Times Book Review
>“Moers’s creative mind is like J.K. Rowling’s on ecstasy; his book reads like a collision between The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the Brothers Grimm…. What a delightful book.”
—Detroit News and Free Press
>“An overstuffed confection… Cross The Lord of the Rings with Yellow Submarine, throw in dashes of Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Shrek, and The Princess Bride…That’s the sort of alchemy in which this sprawling novel trades.”
—Kirkus
If you want to cover British Liberalism you can't beat a bit of John Stuart Mill:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liberty-Essays-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199535736/ref=pd_cp_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EGJQE3D5XCWHW5QBQTM
That was basically the plot of Submission.
First thing that comes to my mind is, 'The Reader' by Bernard Schlink
https://www.amazon.com/Reader-Bernhard-Schlink/dp/0375707972
Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfus (fantasy-ish)
[The Shadow of the Wind] (http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zaf%C3%B3n/dp/0143034901/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374006329&sr=1-1&keywords=shadow+of+the+wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (hard to describe, but really engaging)
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (cool historical fiction)
I’ve always wanted to read them. I’ve never read a war book from “the other side”
I’m currently reading “The Last Panther”
My first WW2 book from the other side. Fascinating.
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Panther-Slaughter-Reich-Kessel-ebook/dp/B00Y1R4X92/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=the+last+panther&qid=1572923286&sr=8-2
Have any of you read The Last Panther or similar books? On amazon it's highly rated, and the majority of the reviews appear to take it as fact. What do you think?
Also I can reccommend you watch the whole video.
You might like this book. I like this book. Here is a video summary.
I've been reading this book and writing down any idea that resonates with me. Then I think deeply about that idea and commit it to memory by using and seeing examples in the real world.
You should check out both Tiger Tracks and The Last Panther by Wolfgang Faust. Memoirs of his experiences as part of a Tiger and Panther crew on the Eastern Front and last days of the war in Germany. They aren't that long so you will probably breeze through them but they are very engaging.
Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness?
You're probably already familiar with it, but that description reminded me immediately of The Shadow of the Wind.
Different stories, for sure, but something of the feeling beyond the descriptions struck me as similar.
I know you said choose two, but I'm gonna go ahead and do three ;)
1 - It's a children's book but my favorite book ever is Mandy by Julie Andrews. It's about a little girl who finds a cottage in a field behind the orphanage where she lives and makes it her own. When I was little I read that book over and over wishing I could find an abandoned cottage somewhere near my house.
2 - Least favorite is hands down, Bleak House, by Charles Dickens. I had to read it my first year of college and while the other books we read were great, that one was just painful to get through. I didn't even get close to finishing it.
3 - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist was my favorite book to movie just because the book was so bad but the movie was excellent.
e-books:
Divergent
And then all kinds of French readers
1
2
3
4
Seconding /u/ivanthecurious 's suggestion of Manin's Principles of Representative Government, its a really readable historical account of the rise of consent and representation in democracy.
I'm reading JS Mill's 'On Representative Government' and it seems like it might be exactly what you're looking for, not contemporary by any means, but a thorough defence of the principles of representation
A few of my favorites from over the years...
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
The Secret History
The Shadow of the Wind
None of my suggestions will provide much in terms of facts. Other redditors have dealt with that admirably. Mine are artsy-fartsy items that paint a partial picture of the social fabric of Spain during and immediately after the Civil War.
Belle Epoque. Don't let the French name deter you. It's a weird, funny film about a Spanish youth falling in love with 3 sisters, set against the initial rumblings of the Spanish Civil War. Also, Penelope Cruz.
Pan's Labyrinth is an obligatory reference here, despite taking place just after the Civil War. Watch The Devil's Backbone first, as Slippy-Toad suggested. Both films were directed by Guillermo del Toro, who is from my hometown (Guadalajara, Mexico).
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is an excellent novel about Barcelona. The story spans several decades, but it begins just as the Civil War is beginning. I've read it in English and Spanish, and I must say that the English translation is one of the best I've ever encountered.
Finally, you should try to read translations of Federico Garcia Lorca's poems and plays. He was a Spanish poet who was the most famous member of the Generación del '27. His death in 1936 is still shrouded in a lot of mystery. He was gay, eccentric, and incredibly prolific. A lot of his plays deal with the plight of women in a rural, machista (misogynistic), Catholic society. They are darkly humorous, richly scathing and heartbreaking in their depiction of a people ruled by authoritarianism. I will recommend three.
Hope this helps.
This book of selected Grimm's fairy tales is one of my favorites for learning. The grammar is pretty straightforward, even if some of the terms are a bit dated.
They may be fairy tales, but they're the original Grimm versions, which means they're really metal. When dismembered bodies start falling down the chimney, you know you're not in Disneyland.
I'm reading The Woman on the Stairs by Bernhard Schlink, originally written in German and I'm reading the French translation.
I was really excited because Schlink wrote The Reader, which is an absolutely brilliant book about reckoning with responsibility during the Holocaust. I have never cried so much as I did with that book. The Woman on the Stairs is fine, but I'm a little disappointed as I feel like I'm trudging through it to get to the end.
It could be Shadow of the Wind. I read it around 2003 but I think I had a different cover image.
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zafón/dp/0143034901
The Shadow of the Wind is one of my all-time favorites. It's magical realism set in a gothic Barcelona, and it's amazing.
Check out Drood by Dan Simmons. I picked it up on a whim, and couldn't be happier that I gave it a chance. It's a total trip, and suspenseful in a laid-back / behind-the-scenes sort of way.
Also, I find anything by Michael Chrichton to be utterly "un-put-downable". I'd recommend starting with Congo or Prey, but definitely give Sphere a shot before you move on.
Edit: Sorry I meant Micro instead of Prey. Prey was "meh" but Micro is great. Also definitely check out Timeline! (Sorry, I'm basically obsessed with Chrichton)
Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, is another favorite of mine. But, it's been so long since I last read it that I can't really remember why. I'm going to be rereading that one again soon.
At least for Anarchists or other left-libertarians it should also be important to actually read up on some basic or even fundamental ethical texts given most political views and arguments are fundamentally rooted in morality (unless you're a orthodox Marxist or Monarchist). I'm sadly not familiar enough with applied ethics to link collections of arguments for specific ethical problems, but it's very important to know what broad system you're using to evaluate what's right or wrong to not contradict yourself.
At least a few very old texts will also be available for free somewhere on the internet like The Anarchist Library.
Some good intro books:
Some foundational texts and contemporary authors of every main view within normative ethics:
There's a local historical area I go to often with my family. There are always some morons out there preaching as this is a pretty big tourist spot. I am always tempted to take my copy of HHG2G and just start reading it.
Länk till boken på engelska - Amazon
Länk till boken på svenska - Adlibris
Is it Rumo - http://www.amazon.com/Rumo-And-His-Miraculous-Adventures/dp/1585679364
The Shadow of the Wind
I happen to have two different translations of this very book right next to me.
On this amazon listing for the book, it lists the translator right next to the author near the top of the page "Thomas Common (Translator) "
I found Walter Kauffman on amazon, and you can get his translation of "TSZ" through The Portable Nietzsche right there on Amazon in paperback, kindle or library binding formats.
Enjoy! As I have.
Here
This was the version I borrowed from my local library. I couldn't tell you if it's the most accurate translation, but I was certainly able to understand what was being written.
Utilitarianism says that the best action is one that increases the overall good. Rioting reduces "good" for lots of people (especially those who have their stuff destroyed or stolen) by reducing the overall "good" in society.
Some basic reading:
Utilitarianism and Other Essays.
On Liberty and Other Essays.
A Theory of Justice.
Utilitarianism is one of the major philosophies behind human/animal rights and abolition (of slavery). John Stuart Mill's writings have had a large impact on various political philosphies as well as science.
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The Shadow of the Wind is a 2001 novel by Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and a worldwide bestseller. The book was translated into English in 2004 by Lucia Graves.
The novel, set in post- Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man - calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil - who has been seeking out Carax's books for decades, buying them all and burning them. In time this mysterious figure confronts and threatens Daniel. Terrified, Daniel returns the book to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books but continues to seek out the story of the elusive author.
I just happened to pick this book up one day and it is now one of my favorites. I have re-read it many times.
The Dwarves by [Markus Heitz](http://www.amazon.com/Dwarves-Markus-Heitz/dp/0316049441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331151241&sr=8-1]
The Black Company by Glen Cook
Totally. I liked Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures even better.
Just Finished reading The Last Panther. Good read. Can't vouch for the accuracy though as I'm not a historian.
i've ordered Herr Pep and Boquita. really pumped to read those. on the internet, Marti Perarnau has interesting guides to various European leagues.
the best soccer book of ALL time though is by Eduardo Galeano, El futbol a sol y sombra, also known as Soccer in Sun and Shadow.
Inverting the Pyramid is Great, How Soccer Explains the World is awesome, and Alex Bellos' book, Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life is also really, really great.
Try The Shadow of the Wind: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zaf%C3%B3n/dp/0143034901
Here's a worthwhile read: https://www.amazon.com/Submission-Novel-Michel-Houellebecq/dp/0374271577
It's about a French literature professor as he confronts a rapidly Islamifying France. The main character, Francois, drinks heavily, sleeps with his students and focuses on the writing of the now obscure French writer, J.K. Huysmans. Detached from politics, he watches as his native country divides between Muslims and the traditional French right led by the National Front’s Marine Le Pen.
The Shadow of the Wind
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zaf%C3%B3n/dp/0143034901
Strong recommendation for David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Dutch clerk in late 18th/early 19th century Dejima, lots of depth, gorgeous prose) and for Walter Moers's Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures (fantastical but oddly profound; I'd pick it up even if it doesn't sound like something you'd enjoy). I finished both of these very recently and they were amazing. They hopped right on my list of favourite books, if I'm honest.
Otherwise, I'd very much recommend my all-time favourites: Le Petit Prince (in French or English), Under Milk Wood, Cloud Atlas, and To Kill a Mockingbird (which is always worth a re-read, too).
I included Amazon links so that you know exactly which books I'm talking about, but please consider buying from local bookshops!
It's a bit of a younger read, I think the target audience is young adults or teenagers.
There are great little sketches littered throughout it which I've always enjoyed.
A great book with sketches in it is Rumo by Walter Mooers. He's a German cartoonist and wrote several great reads. They're light hearted, but still insightful. Less illustrated than the Edge Chronicles, but a bit better quality I would argue.
If you're interested in checking them out, here's some quick info I pulled up!
The Edge Chronicles
Example: http://theedgechronicles.wikia.com/wiki/Sky_Ships?file=Skyshipmapgalerider.png
Walter Moers
Rumo
Sorry about the excessive response, I just have always loved these books to death, easily some of my favorite reads of all time. That's coming from a huge fantasy fanatic that actually read through the entire Silmarillion like it was a damn history text.
This book is quite applicable to the current situation.
About mystery in the Spanish civil war period you could read any of the Carlos Ruiz Zafón's books, like The shadow of the wind, The angel's game or Marina.
Actually, those books are a 'book book' genre. ;)
Try The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
Check Barnes and Noble. A couple years back I got the complete hardcover for less than $3.
It was this version, apparently not the newest edition, not sure how anything could have changed though.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0517149257/
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada was written at the time and based off an actual nazi file. It follows a husband and wife who begin a non-violent resistance campaign after their son is killed on the front. One of my favorites.
Given your feedback you might be interested in The Secret Footballer's Guide to the Modern Game.
Inverting the Pyramid is a great overview of football tactics from the beginning of the game until the 2000s, but the book stars before the 1900s IIRC so if you're not super into history or what formations were popular in like 1920, the first half of the book is quite a slog.
In terms of literary value, Soccer in Sun and Shadow is your best bet. It's beautifully written and easy to read but focuses on South America
Also, this might be helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Voyage-France-Beginners-Edition-ebook/dp/B00DNWZEC6/ref=pd_typ_k_sp_1_4_p?ie=UTF8&refRID=1RDETWBY5D3JQ7PDA2X3
Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures, by Walter Moers. Available in the original German too. Absolutely one of the most startlingly creative and fun stories I've ever read.
Read a few others by him too, The City of Dreaming Books is similarly fantastic, as was The Alchemaster's Apprentice.
Perhaps it's not a very bluntly atheistic text, but Existentialism and Human Emotions by Jean-Paul Sartre is one that I thoroughly enjoyed and found to be a good stepping stone in terms of agreeableness.
http://www.amazon.com/Existentialism-Human-Emotion-Philosophical-Library/dp/0806509023
I don´t know exactly what kind of fiction you are asking about, crime, romance, ect. But a few links might help
http://www.amazon.com/Hitmans-Guide-Housecleaning-Hallgrimur-Helgason-ebook/dp/B005OBS0MU/ref=zg_bs_157106011_13
http://www.amazon.com/Season-Witch-Arni-Thorarinsson-ebook/dp/B006ZNA0EW/ref=zg_bs_157106011_3
http://www.amazon.com/Flatey-Enigma-Viktor-Arnar-Ingolfsson-ebook/dp/B005O3CL50/ref=zg_bs_157106011_15
But my personal choice wolud be something like this;
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6104721-a-traveler-s-guide-to-icelandic-folk-tales
http://books.google.is/books/about/Icelandic_Folktales_and_Legends.html?id=HY-DCKd6UgUC&redir_esc=y
Hope this helps.
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zafón/dp/0143034901
Does have a detective like element but is more about a son’s quest to discover the author of a mysterious book and his relationships.
The Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime by Mark Haddon. You're welcome... about Shadow.. It's mystery someones burning copies of a book and the kid in the bookstore tries to figure out who's behind it. It's soooo goooood. For the other request maybe Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Read this, I just started it and it has a really shockingly interesting perspective on modern ennui (which is what you're going through):
https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Happiness-Bertrand-Russell/dp/087140673X
It just so happens that I have the same book series in Spanish, French, and Italian. I found you the same book in German on Amazon, although this one's folktales.
Es fügt sich, dass ich die gleiche Bücherserie auf Spanisch, Französisch, und Italien habe. Ich habe das gleiches Buch auf Deutsch für dich auf Amazon gefunden, obwohl dieses Buch über den Märchen ist.
The Shadow of the Wind was quite good story telling.
TG is 180 capped :) Lots of those and I have couple of champions, paladins, succubus above level 160.
The dwarf series by Markus Heitz. Read it in German but it also has been translated. First book https://www.amazon.com/Dwarves-Markus-Heitz/dp/0316049441/ there are actually five. The last one has not been translated yet, but it lost some quality. Read it after surgery in hospital, even while hospitals are boring as shit the fifth book didn't help too much :)
I'm a little late to the party, but I'm a longtime lurker and I just created an account to chime in with a few recommendations:
Maidenhair - Mikhail Shishkin. Shishkin is a contemporary Russian writer whose work is just beginning to find its way into English translation. The narrator of Maidenhead works in the Swiss immigration service, translating hearings for political asylum. Some of these transcripts form part of the text, alternating with the translator's own stories.
A Country Doctor's Notebook - Mikhail Bulgakov. There's more to Bulgakov than the (deservedly) aforementioned The Master and Margarita. This book is part autobiography and part fiction. The title basically says it all: a doctor in the remote Russian countryside recounts his experiences. It's a realistic tale; absent are the elements of the fantastic for which Bulgakov became famous.
Every Man Dies Alone - Hans Fallada. Inspired by a true story, this is the chilling tale of a Berlin couple who advocate civil disobedience against the Nazis. (Fallada, addicted to drugs and alcohol, wrote this novel in twenty-four days after his release from an asylum. He died not long after.) See also Fallada's The Drinker.
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis. I don't know if this qualifies as "a book not too many people know about" but it's probably worth mentioning here. It's the story of a hapless lecturer in medieval history at a small British university that skewers, with merciless satire, any number of British institutions. See also Amis' The Old Devils.
No Saints or Angels - Ivan Klima. Klima is a legend among Czech authors, and this is his most accessible novel. It's the story of a divorcee in Prague and the lives she is responsible for: her elderly, widowed mother, her terminally ill ex-husband, and her 15-year-old rebellious daughter. It is, at turns, funny and sad, but always poignant. See also Klima's collection of short stories, Lovers For a Day.
Noooo! My books are still packed because we're mid-move. Thanks for hosting, Lady!
edit: Here is what's left. The rest of our books are at the new place with our furniture. Moving Pro Tip: Only pack 1/3 of the box with books and put clothes on top. Otherwise the box is waaaay too heavy! The book I recommend for you is The Shadow of the Wind. One of my favorites!! Bibliophile
The Zamonia Books by Walter Moers. Seriously.
Start with either
Rumo,
City of Dreaming Books
or
Captain Bluebear
Don't let the cover illustrations fool you: these are seriously entertaining, thrilling, funny and sometimes brutal reads (check the commentaries on amazon).
Only book that's done that for me recently was Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Stupendous book.
Read the Zamonia novels by Walter Moers.
Rumo is an especially thrilling read. Gory, funny, self-aware and just brilliant.
Moers writes like a micture between J.K. Rowling and Douglas Adams. Read the reviews on amazon. I know some people who actually rediscovered reading for themselves because of these books.
Ah yeah. I would continue research the neuroscience stuff for the layperson. Really fascinating stuff that can be of great help. Especially the stuff relating to stroke victims and their before/afters. Really helps to put the brain into perspective.
And the existential/nihilistic stuff... It seems that there are two separate mindsets when it comes to being an existentialist, and they are almost polar opposites in their effect upon the individual. I think the difference stems from a misinterpretation of existentialism's heavily nuanced response to the root question of all philosophy: "What is the point?"/"What does it all mean?".
Existentialism is not, in practice at least, nihilistic. When asked, what is the point, an existentialist will respond in this manner, "The point is what you decide it to be. Meaning is derived from what you decide to find meaning in." The nihilism comes from the notion that, yes, an existentialist does not believe there is any intrinsic or knowable 'meaning' within the workings of the universe, or even a man's place within it. BUT, the fact that you exist, coupled with the ability to make conscious decisions, means that you can insert meaning into a void that previously had none. Once this is understood, this is an extremely empowering notion. So in this sense, there is intrinsic meaning within the universe, as man is indeed an intrinsic part of the universe, and it is the individual that creates meaning. Outside of man, yes, nihilistic tendencies should reign supreme. But there is no outside of man, for you, me, or anyone else for that matter.
Sartre for example, thought of Che Guevera as the epitome of mankind. Here was a man who was leading a revolution, not because he was forced to, and not because he was brought up to do so. He made the conscious and willing decision to take responsibility for something which he did not need to. He inserted his own meaning into the void - through his actions he stated clearly his existence and intention to carry it out to its greatest extent. Needlessly to say, suicide was the furthest thing from his mind. *Just a note here - whether or not you agree with Guevera's actions is irrelevant. The point here is that he did act, and the he lived for the causes of his own choosing, and affected his environment in a large way.
You should read Sartre's Existentialism and Human Emotions: http://www.amazon.com/Existentialism-Human-Emotions-Philosophical-Library/dp/0806509023
It is not a difficult book to read, and I think it would be well worth it.
All this being said, I don't necessarily consider myself an existentialist. I'm still working on it, give me a few more hours to let it settle, haha. Hopefully this might give you something to chew on in the meantime though.
And btw, your 'friends' sound like assholes based your account. Not everyone is like that.
edit: I realize you are probably aware of most of this... I am just making sure...Would love to hear your perspective on it regardless.
Woo! I have this myself, only by now it's been so well-loved that it looks like an antique that you need gloves to handle, lol! Glad I could steer you towards something I hope you love. :D
Last summer I read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon. It will always remind me of this time of the year.
Hey, don't forget that free action still requires justification. Actually, your freedom comes with immense responsibility. I know tons of people have commented already, but I'm taking a semester of existentialism right now and you're channeling Sartre and de Beauvoir - at least these two books of theirs which I read over the weekend. I'd recommend de Beauvoir's more, but Sartre's is very clear and concise.
By the way, in my opinion, this is something which all people need to realize, so big kudos to you my friend. Now, go out in the worlds and do something positive with it! Teach someone else about their freedom!
SOLVED! You’ve unknowingly helped me make the connection I’ve been trying to make for months. The book is Rumo: and his miraculous adventures, by Walter Moers. Link for the curious:
Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures https://www.amazon.com/dp/1585679364/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hnooDbARCWXWS
Thank you so much for the help everyone
Oops, I just noticed this. >.> Also, no, there's really not much difference, cept that the Ultimate edition is all 5 books in a collection. Amazon link - look at the cover, it lists all the books within. If that's not what you were asking about, whoops, sorry. @.@
For something contemporary, The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning was published recently.
That's just for 2008 though... I'd open it up to other years.
First up is anything by Umberto Eco. He's the guy who wrote "Name of the Rose", but his other books are phenomenal. If you hated "The DaVinci Code" then check out "Foucalt's Pendulum". He makes Dan Brown look mildly retarded. His novels are so heavy and serious that I was surprised by his tiny book of essays "How To Travel With a Salmon" which is hilarious.
Let's see... what else... "Shadow of the Wind" is excellent. The Musashi novels are fun to read. Scaramouche, which was turned into an OK movie. Classics like Cyrano de Bergerac should be required reading.
I had a hard time hunting down all the volumes to "Journey to the West" and it's not a task that should be taken on lightly, but I think I'm a better person for having muscled through them.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Name-Rose-Everymans-Library-Cloth/dp/0307264890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637805&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Foucaults-Pendulum-Umberto-Eco/dp/015603297X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637841&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Salmon-Other-Essays-Harvest/dp/015600125X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637864&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zaf%C3%B3n/dp/0143034901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637894&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637921&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Scaramouche-Rafael-Sabatini/dp/0554360268/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637963&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Cyrano-Bergerac-Edmond-Rostand/dp/0451528921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637993&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-West-4-Boxed-Set/dp/7119016636/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228637756&sr=8-1
Shadow of the Wind and Angel's Game, both by Carlos Ruiz Safon:
https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Cemetery-Forgotten-Book-ebook/dp/B000OVLINI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498238020&sr=8-1&keywords=Shadow+of+the+Wind
https://www.amazon.com/Angels-Game-Cemetery-Forgotten-Book-ebook/dp/B001NLKZLE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498238029&sr=8-1&keywords=Angels+Game
Kushiel's Dart and pretty much all the books that followed, by Jacqueline Carey:
https://www.amazon.com/Kushiels-Dart-Legacy-Book-ebook/dp/B0055DLCAY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498238161&sr=8-1&keywords=kushiel%27s+dart
Right now, I can't think of anything that I keep going back to over and over.
Did you read Andreas Eschbach - lord of all things? Realy good book with a similar theory in it.
The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink There's a movie, but it doesn't actually capture the novel.
The Doom Brigade, by Weiss and Perrin (link below for cover photo).
It was my first Dragonlance book, and one of the very first fantasy books I had ever read. It has gone on to become one of my favourite and most cherished books, and it sparked a lifelong love of reading scifi and fantasy. I still go back and re-read it every few years and it takes me right back to 12yr old me poking around in the shelves of a bookstore and suddenly being carried away on an amazing (and ongoing) journey at first glance... Now that I think about that again, I realize that it sounds very similar to the opening section of The Shadow of the Wind (Zafon) in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, which incidentally is another favourite book that played a foundational role in my love of reading.
The Doom Brigade
The Shadow of the Wind
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It takes place in Spain in the 20's and 30's. It's a cool mystery.
Thank you so much. I don't know which book you mean, so I'll link both and let you pick. Please buy used, as there's no need to spend extra on a new copy if I'm going to re-cover it, so obviously the condition doesn't matter.
HGtG:
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Unabridged-published/dp/B00E6T900M/ Here's the second version that I owned.
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Douglas-Adams/dp/0517149257/ Here's is a cheaper version, but should have all of the same content.
Story of Mankind: http://www.amazon.com/Story-Mankind-Complete-Unabridged-Illustrations/dp/B00589YDDS/ This is the version I had from 1921, I think.
I'll PM you my address. I remember you from sending me "Thank You for Smoking" when you offered it a while back so I definitely owe you something good.
Check out the book Lord of All Things. It's not fantastic, but it's similar to your prompt. All on earth though.
> What Europeans dont realize yet is that this is dangerous because with democratic institutions demographics matter a lot. Different religious and ethnic groups do have different values to some degree and I think a lot of Europeans don't recognize that. Most know that if you imported 500k rural Poles to your city they'll start to vote for banning abortion, but for some reason people are afraid to extrapolate that to other groups such as say North Africans. They prefer to live a fantasy where you will 'enlighten' these groups to give up previous in-group values en masse and integrate but if their demographics don't pressure it because they are a plurality or even a majority they will have more in-group pressure to retain than out-group pressure to change.
We don't realise it because we never really experienced true multiculturalism before, and many are still in denial about its effect. Now that demographics are rapidly changing, my point of view is Europe is going to start experiencing something similar to the 60s-70s in USA where there were massive civil rights protest movements. Tough with major differences due to the ethnic populations being different than what the US experienced (no hispanics, mostly Arabs/Muslims in France for instance).
USA being pretty much the blueprint for a nation becoming multicultural. We will see this play out in Europe over the next decades. Here is an interesting bestseller fiction book for what might happen to France over the next years: https://www.amazon.com/Submission-Novel-Michel-Houellebecq/dp/0374271577
the 'Dwarves' series, by Markus Heitz
http://www.amazon.com/The-Dwarves-Markus-Heitz/dp/0316049441
football (soccer) in sun and shadows. Looks at many sides of the sport
The authros are bnot in an specific order, but the books under each one are in suggested reading order for leisure maximization:
Douglas Adams
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
Aldous Huxley
I would also add to deltatag's choir about George Orwell's 1984.
Submission: A Novel Hardcover – October 20, 2015 by Michel Houellebecq (Author), Lorin Stein (Translator)
>It's 2022. François is bored. He's a middle-aged lecturer at the New Sorbonne University and an expert on J. K. Huysmans, the famous nineteenth-century Decadent author. But François's own decadence is considerably smaller in scale. He sleeps with his students, eats microwave dinners, rereads Huysmans, queues up YouPorn.
>Meanwhile, it's election season. And although Francois feels "about as political as a bath towel," things are getting pretty interesting. In an alliance with the Socialists, France's new Islamic party sweeps to power. Islamic law comes into force. Women are veiled, polygamy is encouraged, and François is offered an irresistible academic advancement--on the condition that he convert to Islam.
>Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker has said of Submission that "Houellebecq is not merely a satirist but--more unusually--a sincere satirist, genuinely saddened by the absurdities of history and the madnesses of mankind." Michel Houellebecq's new book may be satirical and melancholic, but it is also hilarious, a comic masterpiece by one of France's great novelists.
Assisted Living by Swedish author Nikanor Teratologen was quite recently published in English by Dalkey Archive Press and it is such a wonderful book that I think deserves much more attention.
Basically it is a book about evil, lonelyness and man-boy love. It's equally side-rippingly funny and disgusting and shows an encyclopedial knowledge about Nazism, esoterical traditions, Continental philosophy and a lot more.
I would recommend the Zamonia series by Walter Moers; Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures, The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear and The City of Dreaming Books. It's incredibly imaginative and great story-telling.
I think this is probably the greatest book ever written in the kind of style and genre you've described.
https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Happiness-Bertrand-Russell/dp/087140673X
Anything to recommend?
I'm currently one chapter into The Last Panther by Wolfgang Faust. (142 pages)
Goodreads gave it 4.2/5 and most readers gave it 5 stars.
It seems really good so far and it's only £2 sterling in the kindle store.
>#The Last Panther
>While the Battle of Berlin in 1945 is widely known, the horrific story of the Halbe Kessel remains largely untold.
>In April 1945, victorious Soviet forces encircled 80,000 men of the German 9th Army in the Halbe area, South of Berlin, together with many thousands of German women and children. The German troops, desperate to avoid Soviet capture, battled furiously to break out towards the West, where they could surrender to the comparative safety of the Americans. For the German civilians trapped in the Kessel, the quest to escape took on frantic dimensions, as the terror of Red Army brutality spread.
The small town of Halbe became the eye of the hurricane for the breakout, as King Tigers of the SS Panzer Corps led the spearhead to the West, supported by Panthers of the battle-hardened 21st Panzer Division.
>Panzer by panzer, unit by unit, the breakout forces were cut down – until only a handful of Panthers, other armour, battered infantry units and columns of shattered refugees made a final escape through the rings of fire to the American lines.
>This first-hand account by the commander of one of those Panther tanks relates with devastating clarity the conditions inside the Kessel, the ferocity of the breakout attempt through Halbe, and the subsequent running battles between overwhelming Soviet forces and the exhausted Reich troops, who were using their last reserves of fuel, ammunition, strength and hope.
>Eloquent German-perspective accounts of World War 2 are surprisingly rare, and the recent reissue of Wolfgang Faust’s 1948 memoir ‘Tiger Tracks’ has fascinated readers around the world with its insight into the Eastern Front. In ‘The Last Panther,’ Faust used his unique knowledge of tank warfare to describe the final collapse of the Third Reich and the murderous combat between the German and Russian armies. He gives us a shocking testament to the cataclysmic final hours of the Reich, and the horrors of this last eruption of violence among the idyllic forests and meadows of Germany.
Ok so just try this book its my favorite book and is like tolkien if he were on LSD
https://www.amazon.com/Rumo-Miraculous-Adventures-Walter-
I'm no expert, but I have read most of his works, interviews and correspondences. I'm not aware of any experts on Cioran. This can be explained by the fact that he was not really a philosopher, and he wrote for a marginal audience. (He spoke of his "fans" as often being "defeated" and suicidal people). Of course there's some people who know a lot about his life, like Zarifopol-Johnston Ilinca, who wrote a (incomplete) biography on him, and there are people who know his writings very well, but I don't think they have any real claims of authority over them, except maybe Richard Howard who has done multiple exemplary English translations.
In his "Oeuvres", there is no intro to his works, the first page simply quotes this aphorism of his: "All commentary on a work is bad or futile, for whatever is not direct is null." The idea of a "Cioran expert" would be absurd to him, and I think it follows that if someone presented himself as such, they'd be discrediting themselves, at least according to Cioran. I think when you read Cioran, he becomes a friend, and it feels like it would be in some way a disrespect to him to turn that friendship into an attempt at objectivity and systematizing through critical analysis, because he opposed it all his life.
http://www.amazon.com/Spake-Zarathustra-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486406636
I could certainly use this sort of humor in my life
Also, welcome to RaoA! And good on your for choosing subjectively. I love to see contests that don't rely on reddit raffle. :)
Mushy Snugglebites is my main squeeze!
I love collecting books! IMO, they're one of the greatest things to collect! =D They're fantastic entertainment, you can always share books with friends, and they're awesome for camping, roadtrips, or the beach. Best of all, they're reusable. I love reading books over again! You can always catch something you've never caught before!
If I win, I'd really like this book! I love mysteries, but more unique ones rather than the regular grizzly murder stories. This one looks promising! Thanks for the fun contest! =D
Here is the Brother's Grimm book that I have.
BOOKᕀREAD "The Recognitions by William Gaddis" german direct link how to eng review apple
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> Wyatt Gwyon's desire to forge is not driven by larceny but from love. Exactingly faithful to the spirit and letter fo the Flemish masters, he produces uncannily accurate "originals"--pictures the painters themeselves might have envied. In an age of counterfeit emotion and taste, the real and fake have become indestinguishable; yet Gwyon's forgeries reflect a truth that others cannot touch--cannot e...
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I found a translation on amazon
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0374271577/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1450128708&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=submission&dpPl=1&dpID=41YjMnlq0CL&ref=plSrch
http://www.amazon.com/Spake-Zarathustra-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486406636
It's the last move before the cross that's impressive. Otherwise, this only shows Shipp's horrific MLS touch -- put the ball into space and chase it.
He's good and he's got potential, make no mistake, and he's excellent on set pieces.
And there's nothing wrong with him cutting inside from a wide position; in fact, that's what he should be doing.
But his touch is still typically American -- that is, heavy and clumsy. It's not his fault. He's learned how to kick the ball, but he's just now learning how to dance with her.
(Note: before you all jump on me for calling the ball "her", you need to realize than in most gendered languages, "ball" is feminine. Also, you need to read Soccer in Sun and Shadow. Don't argue before you've read that book.)