Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha
I highly reccomend Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. He also wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, which is equally good.
1984, a clockwork orange, or Player piano are good reads as well.
|
Andrew supports this message.
Also, look up Brave New World by Huxely. It's a good dystopian novel, which means it's message is if we keep up with what we're doing, we'll be paying for it in the future. 1984 is a dystopian, because it warns against the growing threat of totalitarianism. A Clockwork Orange is sort of, since the setting is some bleak future, but it's more about free will from what I understand. Player Piano is about the growing threat of technology to our purpose as humans (machines do everything, so there's no more need for basic labor, and the upper-class are the only ones who actually hold jobs).
I like Huxely's writing, Orwell has written better books (See: Animal Farm and Down and Out In Paris and London), Burgess (the author of A Clockwork Orange) uses lots of slang that's a mix between cockney and Russian, so it's a little harder to read.
Player Piano is by a wonderful human named Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I strongly suggest his novels, namely The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, and Player Piano. Once you get into his writing style, you'll be able to enjoy his other more stylistic books like Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions.
Some other books I recommend...
Candide by Voltaire
(It's a satire of the philosophy of optimism by one of the leading philosophers and critics of the Enlightenment. It sounds boring from that description, but it's very clever and has a good philosophy behind it.)
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
(It's about Eastern European immigrants trying to survive in early 20th century Chicago. Most people think it's a criticism of the meat industry of the age, but towards the end you see it's main focus is socialism.)
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
(About anarchy and stuff. If you liked the movie, you should really enjoy the book.)
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
(It has some homosexual undertones, so if you're a homophobe I wouldn't recommend it. It's mostly about hedonism and art. Wilde's writing is some of the best I've ever seen though.)
And like Alpha suggested, Heinlein is a great science fiction author. Stranger in a Strange Land is long, but worth the read.
Basically, just tell me what you're interested in and I'll think of a suggestion.
book
