h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Last three books:
1. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas
2. The Burning Times: A Novel of Medieval France, by Jeanne Kalogridis
3. Power, by Linda Hogan

I won't touch the must-have library books question, as the answer would be Entry-length rather than a simple reply.

What are the second two about, milady?

"The Burning Times" is about a midwife with pagan magic ability in the late 1300's who hides as a nun but is exposed and then must defend herself against the Inquisition. The book weaves the mythology of the Knights Templar, witchcraft, and gnosticism against a backdrop of actual historical events: the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, and the catastrophic defeat of France by England.

"Power", set in the swamps of Florida, is about a Native American girl whose aunt ritually kills an endangered species of panther. The novel is partly a mystery, partly a courtroom drama, and partly a coming-of-age story. Suspenseful and full of Native American spirituality and mythology.

Both of the previous books are excellent.

My last three books --
1. The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places, by Robert Young Pelton
2. Bridge of Birds: A Novel of Ancient China That Never Was, by Barry Hughart
3. Raising Hell: A Concise History of the Black Arts - and Those Who Dared Practive Them, by Robert Masello

Last three books:
1) Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac; what can I say? JK is far and away my favourite author, and this is probably his finest work of prose.

2) Moby Dick - Herman Melville; Surprisingly heavy going. Easy narrative and allegory, but dense language. Still the dogs b******s though.

3) East Along the Equator - ?; can't remember the author, but this is far and away the best travel book this researcher has ever read. It is a perfectly balanced mix of personal insight and geo politix.

The 'must' I want to enter is Small Gods, by Pratchett. Just read it it, it's fab.

Is this the book you're referring to?

East Along the Equator, by Helen Winternitz -
Journalists Helen Winternitz and Tony Phelps traveled two thousand miles up the Congo River into the most remote regions of Africa. Starting east along the equator aboard a dilapidated riverboat, the pair continued overland to the Ituri rain forest, through the Mountains of the Moon, then down the volcano-studded savannas of the Great Rift Valley. Along the way they fought tropical fever, mud holes, and arrest by brutal security police. East Along the Equator is an instructive political adventure through the heart of Africa.

Assuming so, I'll second the opinion that it's a good book.

I have small gods on a bookshelf somewhere, I will have to dust it off and read it again.

Currently I'm looking at a huge list of books that I want to read again, Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Ender's Game, and Starship Troopers. I've also just gotten the new C.J. Cherryh novel, which is also starting a new universe for her, can't wait

Let's try a new question, which books to you venture back to on a regular basis? Some of mine are listed above.

courtesy

Actually, the book series I have always turned back to at least twice a year is the Hitchhiker's series. There's something about the odd craziness of it all that just seems to make life a lot less serious, and because of this, I have always gone back to it in my times of great despair.

I'm sure that there are others, but this series comes to mind quite easily and very often when asked about books I tend to read over and over again.

I keep coming back to the Lord Of The Rings, JRR Tolkien. Now I've started reading them to my kid.
Unfortunately the Norwegian versjon that's available these days is the crappy semi-Danish one.
The language in this versjon is terrible!

I keep re-reading LOTR too. And since last summer, I've read the four existing Harry Potter books five times.

In fact I have a number of book I'm always coming back to, but which one I chose to re-read is very much depending on my current mental state, so to speak - if I'm having a sort of down-period, I read LOTR, and if I'm feeling well and confident I read Greg Egan. Does anyone else do this?

Intriguing. The capability, mush less the desire, to reread a book that much is a phenomena that I've never been able to understand. I myself need a considerable stretch of time before being able to reread a book. I could never see how ANY book of fiction could be that interesting multiple times around in such a short period of time. It's like consecutively watching the same television episode or movie for six or more times. But in the case of books, it consumes so much more of one's life. There is so much else to read or learn or do in this world with one's very short lifetime. Friends I know who do this have been unable to supply a good explanation or to get me to understand why they do it. I thought I had a grasp on it once. But I will refrain from giving my ideas. I would actually like anyone here to perhaps give a response this. Try and enlighten me. Give me some insight into the workings of such a mind. Don't take a defensive stance though, I'm not accusing anyone of doing anything bad. Everybody has their obsessions, and obviously these reread books are it for some, just as certain movies are for others. I merely don't understand why or how people do this and I am curious.

First off, you've mislabeled the idea behind rereading books as an obsession. This is wrong. People reread books for various reasons and I'm not going to sit here and tell you what they all are, but obsession is definately not the primary reason.

Personally, I reread books because, if the book is a complex one, I like to go back and see if I've missed anything the first time.

But, now I'm tired and in desperate need of sleep. I'll finish my thoughts later...

In a good book, as in life, there's always a main story and an understory. Sometimes even several understories. In the books I re-read there's always a understory or several understories, that I didn't follow too closely the first time around. Then, sometimes the different understories gives new meaning if you see them separatly, or combined with other stories. That way a book can give a new experience each time you read it. Did this make any sense to you? It's like following a yarn and end up with a tapestry. Mind you, these books are _very_ rare.

Did I say that any rereading a book of fiction is obsessive? No. Did I say that any immediate and subsequent rereading of a book of fiction is obsessive? Absolutely not. It is neccessary in many cases. What I was replying to was someone previously claim to have read a book series five times in less than a year. And it was a book they had read before. I wondered why. As the last posting said, it is a rare book that needs that much rereading for understanding. Certain people do obsess on a certain movie or book, experiencing it again and again without getting anything new from it but merely claiming to enjoy it that much. There are poeple who claim, with pride even, to have seen a movie dozens of times when it is released. I have knowm such people. They do exist and it baffles me. Is the reader I replied to obsessive? I don't know, so I have to ask to find out. And if the person is, I was hoping to get a peek into their thought process with his/her or anyone else's response. Am I seriously concerned about this subject? Is it really important that I get an answer? Not at all. Nor should it be. The answer has no bearing on my life whatsoever. Just thought I'd ask.

I think I understand what you're trying to get at, and I'm afraid that you may be unable to get an answer. The problem is this: The people who are not obsessive cannot give a proper answer because they are not obsessive themselves. Despite anyone's belief otherwise, I think to fully understand the way a mind thinks is to actually be that mind. Everything else is just speculation of varying accuracy, if any. As for the people who are obsessive, most either don't believe that they are or they don't really understand why they are. So they may not have an answer for you either. Therefore, don't anyone hold their breath waiting for any revelations about the nature of obsession.

Of course, that's just my uncontemplated opinion. I could be wrong.

Well, seeing as how I was the only one who mentioned anything about rereading a series, I'm assuming that I'm the one whom you think is obsessive.

I did exagerate when I said I reread it at least twice a year. I'm bombarded with so many books I have to read for my English class that there is never enough time to read the books that I want to.

Also as I mentioned in my earlier posting, The Guide series is just a great reminder that life should not be taken too seriously, and this bit of philosophy is great whenever I feel saddened by something. Not to say that I read it every time I'm sad. That would be absurd...but hopefully you understood what I was getting at.

Actually, I was originally referring to posting 30 (A four-book series read five times in three months! Whew!). It made me think of people I knew like that, so I asked the question. But as posting 35 made clear, its something that may not get an answer. But then, so what, right?
As for yourself, you don't seem obsessive. Reading the Guide a couple times a year seems harmless to me. Not to mention that humor, to me, seems easy to go back to frequently. At least more so than a serious multi-book epic. But then, my opinion is moot.


(Hey, aren't you the drunk guy that just ran from the Maverick Table and out of the pub screaming and covering your eyes? Sorry about bumping into you.)

Well, in that case, I guess you're not a jerk after all. I take back all the horrible things I thought about you...

And seeing as how I'm usually the only person at the Table, it was probably me screaming and running wildly, though, I tend not to remember what goes on at the Legs. I mean, I wake up there with a hangover quite often, but after a few rounds of that I drink to clear my headache, things become a bit fuzzy...

I think I must have been the one referred to, now that I re-read my last posting I can understand how I may seem a little obsessive.

To clarify, I didn't actually read all the four book five times. I read the first two in swedish (1), then went and got them in english and read them again (2), then re-read the first two while waiting for #3 to come out (3), and started over again when #4 came out (4). After that (a couple of months later), I read all four over again (5).

OK, it still might seem a little obsessive But I don't think what I'm doing is any different from, say, listening to the same song more than once in a day. You can still enjoy listening to a song even after you've learned the lyrics and the melody, right?

I guess re-reading is really the wrong word for me, what I'm doing is more of re-experiencing the book. Make any sense?

Did the Swedish version do the book justice?