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

Cheers. I'm gonna assume it's 'all' and try again. Course... by now all my fascist defense mechanisms are ready to buy into any amusing facsimile of how Himmler thought. I hope I won't stumble on the remains of Mark Twain.

~jwf~

I would always recommend 'Jonathon Livingston Seagull' by Richard Bach.

'Eye of the Storm' by Sir Peter Scott, just to show how a change of viewpoint can change the

The rest are just my personal books that formed my life!

'The Water Babies' by Charles Kingsley, before I knew he was a Reverend. And yes I have read other books of his... Being agnostic requires reading religious books to understyand why I am an agnostic, but the 'Miss Do As You Would Be Done By' works irrespective of religion.

Don Quixote - Cervantes, for the same reasons... A failed knight who will not be deterred,.

The Iliad and Homer... Fascinating. In fact any Greek or Roman, (and I never studied Ancient History)

Horatius and the Bridge?
Sophocles?
And anything regarding Roman and Greek Gods.
The list is endless!

My favourite is Arthurian legend. Covers all the above and more... I've over 70 books on my shelf if you want hints, Start with Mary Stewart - Crystal Cave and then I'll addd more Hard Core if so inclined!

MMF

What should you read next?

"Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Why?

Because the movie is out today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv_I1cUdOyY

I've read 'Jonathon Livingston Seagull and Illusions. I disagree.

I'm not at all sure what I think of them as literature, but they do both have the virtue of being very short, so they won't waste too much of your life.

TRiG.

Well the book I always recommend - and it's had a 100% success rate so far - is 'I Capture The Castle' by Dodie Smith.

You can tell whether or not you'll like it from the opening line:

"I am writing this sitting in the kitchen sink."

No, it won't change your life, but it's very enjoyable.

Tell you what. Don't bother reading anything. Just say you have done.

It's what everyone else does.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5244MG20090305?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=69&sp=true

TRiG.

Ooh, I'll second Edward's Dodie Smith suggestion. He recommended it to me, I enjoyed it, and passed it along to someone else for them to enjoy.

And yes, if you're keen to check out a graphic novel, "Watchmen" is fantastic. (And I have to wait till tomorrow to see the film )

Ah yes, watchmen... Might try and see that tomorrow... Or perhaps next weds cos I'll get 241 with my mobile provider...

Watership Down is always one of my top recommendations. The novel is stunning, heartwarming, fun and very readable.

For a bit of historical fiction, if you're going on a long train ride or holiday, I recommend Clan of the Cave Bear and The Valley of Horses be Jean M Auel. There's also the Mammoth Hunters, the Plains of Passage and Shelters of Stone in the series but if the first two haven't grabbed ya, the rest wont... But try and make it to the second one before you decide. The first one, if the second didn't start with very little explanation, would make a better read-later prequel rather than the first of the series imo. Ice-age man developing, dealing with racial tension between them and Neanderthals. Addresses spiritual and evolutional stuff, good origins stories, lots of detail on plant and animal life... It's good stuff!

Enders Game - Orson Scott-Card. I enjoyed it, you might.

Pretty much any or all of Anne McCaffrey's sci-fi/fantasy stuff. From the Pegasus series to Pern via Nimisha's ship and others, it's all good fluffy readable and easy sci-fi with fantasy sometimes hiding it cunningly

The closest cinema which shows the original version would be about 180 miles away

Anyway. I suggest 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames', by David Sedaris. Read it and you'll find out why.

Hmmm. You've recommended "I Capture the Castle" before, Ed - and psychocandy's advice on reading matters has been worth listening to before now - so I think I'll have to buy that next time I see it.

I capture the Castle was purchased and read by me as well after Ed's recommendation - I really enjoyed it.

As for Clan of the Cave Bear, I couldn't get into that one at all.

Mervyn Peake, on the other hand...

Fiction - 'LA Confidential' by James Ellroy is one of the densest, most exhilirating and engrossing novels I've ever read. It's simply brilliant. Also, it's so densely plotted that you can read it again *immediately* and still pick up loads you missed the first time. Or maybe 'The Black Dahlia' first, then 'The Big Nowhere', LAC, then 'White Jazz (the LA Quartet). They're all utterly superb.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books are simply superb too.

Non-fiction - 'The Day Before Yesterday' by Colin Tudge is a kind of ecological story of human evolution. A brief overview of what's been happening on the planet for the last 100 million years, and then how changes in diet and intelligence brought humanity to where it is now. Not a fossil to be seen, and really puts us in our proper place in nature (and not in any bollox-hippy-type way).

Also Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. In a way it follows on from TDBY. Why Europe conquered the world rather than being invaded by Africans on rhinos. But still essentially about our interaction with the environment and how important it's been.

And if you ever read a book about physics/cosmology, try 'The Universe That Discovered Itself' by John Barrow. It's a much more philosophical take on the whole Brief History of Time genre, and much much better.

PS, the OP is QOTD.

Ender's Game - yes. Although the best part was the first part, which was originally a novella published in Analog magazine. (is that still going?)

Analog magazine is still going. I have a handful of really old ones, but I haven't read a lot of issues.

A friend gave me Clan of the cave Bear and two sequels, and I couldn't get into them either.

I'm another Pratchett fan. And as far as SF goes, another personal favorite is Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End".

I was the one that I Capture The Castle was passed on to by PC
*waves*

And I passed it to my mum.

That was recommended on the basis of "if you enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm" (Stella Gibbons) - and I have to say it was spot on.

I'll also second (or third) the Reggie Perrin books. They're by David Nobbs I think - who has a writing talent that I much admire. I think he also wrote Second From Last in the Sack Race - and the ones that follow that, which were pretty good (I think the 2nd is Pratt of the Argus) about a boy who grows up to be a reporter on a local newspaper and beyond.

He also wrote Going Gently about the last years (or months? I can't remember now) of an old lady's life, which is brilliant. But it's a "3 packs of tissues" number in places.

And it was Sho who recommended Cold Comfort Farm to me, which I loved, and when my MIL had her gall bladder removed a few months ago, I loaned it to her to read while she recovered, and she found it entertaining as well.

I've always found Sho's recommendations well worth checking into, so I'll add Reggie Perrin to my list of books to try to track down at the library.

Yes -'Cold Comfort' is also good - and I can see the similarity to 'Capture'.


'I saw something naaasty in the woodshed!'

In great h2g2 tradition i'm going to hijack the thread and recommend Lilian Beckwith to you if you liked Castle and CCFarm. She wrote 3 accounts of her life on a croft in Scotland - in the 1950s I think. I got the middle one for 15p at a charity bookshop and am sorely tempted just to buy new copies of the other two.

(they are called: The Hills is Lonley, The Sea for Breakfast and... oh, it seems there are lots of them!)

Added to that: One Pair of Hands and One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens are also well worth a look. The first is about her experiences as a domestic servant (cook) in a London house in the early 20th century, the second about her experiences as a nurse during WW1.