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Hello there,
My wonderful and very lovely mother works in our village library. She is worried that only kids and grown ups are taking books out and that the "young adult" population is not being catered for (that's around 15-26 to you and I). To make amends she's making a whole section for them and wants to include cult books with a bit of genre stuff like sci-fi/cyberpunk. I would like to open the floor to suggestions. These are the kinds of things I've come up with so far:
On The Road
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Bell Jar
Catcher In The Rye
The Wasp Factory
1984
Brave New World
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
Catch 22
And sci-fi:
Neuromancer
Dune
Foundation Series
Culture Series
Ender's Game
Stand On Zanzibar
And so to you. You're pissed off, want to paint your room black and can't find any music extreme enough to listen to (or you're deperately trying to recapture those days). What do you read?
Curly
My wonderful and very lovely mother works in our village library. She is worried that only kids and grown ups are taking books out and that the "young adult" population is not being catered for (that's around 15-26 to you and I). To make amends she's making a whole section for them and wants to include cult books with a bit of genre stuff like sci-fi/cyberpunk. I would like to open the floor to suggestions. These are the kinds of things I've come up with so far:
On The Road
The Motorcycle Diaries
The Bell Jar
Catcher In The Rye
The Wasp Factory
1984
Brave New World
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
Catch 22
And sci-fi:
Neuromancer
Dune
Foundation Series
Culture Series
Ender's Game
Stand On Zanzibar
And so to you. You're pissed off, want to paint your room black and can't find any music extreme enough to listen to (or you're deperately trying to recapture those days). What do you read?
Curly
In reply to curlymynci:
Recapture them? So long ago I can't remember what I'd be trying to recapture (I was an original Sex Pistols-following punk back in the 70s......I think.)
Still, I'll peruse our in-house library and see if I can come up with some suggestions.
> And so to you. You're pissed off, want to paint your room black and can't find any music extreme enough to listen to (or you're deperately trying to recapture those days). What do you read?
Recapture them? So long ago I can't remember what I'd be trying to recapture (I was an original Sex Pistols-following punk back in the 70s......I think.)
Still, I'll peruse our in-house library and see if I can come up with some suggestions.
In reply to curlymynci:
Siddartha, by Hermann Hesse. A remarkable antidote to teenage angst.
Been Down So Long Looks Like Up To Me, by an American author whose name I forget - Richard Farina, I think.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Siddartha, by Hermann Hesse. A remarkable antidote to teenage angst.
Been Down So Long Looks Like Up To Me, by an American author whose name I forget - Richard Farina, I think.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
In reply to curlymynci:
I'd include all of the William Gibson novels - not just Neuromancer - as well as Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" "Neverwhere"...
||-)
I'd include all of the William Gibson novels - not just Neuromancer - as well as Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" "Neverwhere"...
||-)
In reply to curlymynci:
Girlfriend In A Coma by Douglas Coupland (or Generation X, though Jpod is probably something they could recognise as well)
How many Smiths songs can you spot kids; the first ones free!!!
Girlfriend In A Coma by Douglas Coupland (or Generation X, though Jpod is probably something they could recognise as well)
How many Smiths songs can you spot kids; the first ones free!!!
In reply to Removed User:
recognising the smiths songs was the only fun part of that book!
i'd suggest some chuck palahniuk, trainspotting, fear and loathing in las vegas, last exit to brooklyn, american psycho ....
> (In reply to Removed Usercurlymynci)
>
> Girlfriend In A Coma by Douglas Coupland (or Generation X, though Jpod is probably something they could recognise as well)
>
> How many Smiths songs can you spot kids; the first ones free!!!
>
> Girlfriend In A Coma by Douglas Coupland (or Generation X, though Jpod is probably something they could recognise as well)
>
> How many Smiths songs can you spot kids; the first ones free!!!
recognising the smiths songs was the only fun part of that book!
i'd suggest some chuck palahniuk, trainspotting, fear and loathing in las vegas, last exit to brooklyn, american psycho ....
In reply to curlymynci:
food of the gods by terence mckenna - give the kids an idea of how "substances" aren't all bad - nor all good
gaia by james lovelock - make 'em think green
any noam chomsky
the alchemist by paolo cueho (sp?)
jonathon livingston seagull - richard bach
illusinon - richard bach
food of the gods by terence mckenna - give the kids an idea of how "substances" aren't all bad - nor all good
gaia by james lovelock - make 'em think green
any noam chomsky
the alchemist by paolo cueho (sp?)
jonathon livingston seagull - richard bach
illusinon - richard bach
In reply to curlymynci:
> Hello there,
> On The Road
Is that the Jack Kerouac book? I could not get into it, found it awful.
> On The Road
In reply to tony:
> (In reply to curlymynci)
>
> Siddartha, by Hermann Hesse. A remarkable antidote to teenage angst.
>
I remember Damon Albarn reading on Mark Radcliffe's late night radio 1 show about 13 years ago, and still haven't got round to reading it.
>
> Siddartha, by Hermann Hesse. A remarkable antidote to teenage angst.
>
In reply to curlymynci:
Sci-fi I'd add some Alasteir Reynolds (all of his stuff is great) and some Stephen Baxter (his Time/Space/Origin books are particularly good).
Sci-fi I'd add some Alasteir Reynolds (all of his stuff is great) and some Stephen Baxter (his Time/Space/Origin books are particularly good).
In reply to curlymynci: Oh, some Irvine Welsh too maybe. And "Tokyo Doesn't Love Us Anymore" by Ray Loriga.
In reply to curlymynci:
The Revenge of the Lawn
Trout Fishing in America (both by Richard Brautigan)
Mount Analogue (Rene Daumal)
The Revenge of the Lawn
Trout Fishing in America (both by Richard Brautigan)
Mount Analogue (Rene Daumal)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig
Godel Escher Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
Godel Escher Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
In reply to curlymynci:
And going back to Kerouac. Go for Dharma Bums too.
My fave of his.
Complete works of Charles Bukowski and Raymond Carver.
William S Burroughs - Naked Lunch
Tom Wolfe - Electric Cool Aid Acid Test
Celine - Journey to the end of night
Henry Rollins sampler (Eye Scream or The First Five)
And going back to Kerouac. Go for Dharma Bums too.
My fave of his.
Complete works of Charles Bukowski and Raymond Carver.
William S Burroughs - Naked Lunch
Tom Wolfe - Electric Cool Aid Acid Test
Celine - Journey to the end of night
Henry Rollins sampler (Eye Scream or The First Five)
In reply to Kate:
Yep, On The Road is - in my opinion - an appallingly difficult book to read. I think it depends on whether you think taking lots of drugs is big and clever, and also whether you think having a plot or storyline is important.
Although, it's possible I missed all that. I might have to try and force myself to read it again. I can see it looming at me as I write this.
It doesn't even register a score for readability. I reckon reviewers give it high ratings because they had to read the damn thing, and don't see why you f*ckers shouldn't have to grit your teeth to force your way through it as well...
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> Is that the Jack Kerouac book? I could not get into it, found it awful.
Yep, On The Road is - in my opinion - an appallingly difficult book to read. I think it depends on whether you think taking lots of drugs is big and clever, and also whether you think having a plot or storyline is important.
Although, it's possible I missed all that. I might have to try and force myself to read it again. I can see it looming at me as I write this.
It doesn't even register a score for readability. I reckon reviewers give it high ratings because they had to read the damn thing, and don't see why you f*ckers shouldn't have to grit your teeth to force your way through it as well...
||-)
In reply to Dominion:
Read it several times and never found it particularly hardgoing but each to their own.
Some of his later books once he'd gone properly stir crazy are nigh on impossible to read. Desolation Angels for example.
Read it several times and never found it particularly hardgoing but each to their own.
Some of his later books once he'd gone properly stir crazy are nigh on impossible to read. Desolation Angels for example.
In reply to Anon_13_20220115:
Ernst Jünger - The Storm of Steel
Robert Anton Wilson - Illuminatus Trilogy
Georges Bataille - The Story of the Eye
Ernst Jünger - The Storm of Steel
Robert Anton Wilson - Illuminatus Trilogy
Georges Bataille - The Story of the Eye
In reply to Mick Ward: Ha! was just about to post Le Grand Meaulnes...
Maybe also Atomized by Michel Houllebecq, Wind-up Bird Chronicle/Norwegian Wood/A Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami.
Morvern Callar by Alan oopsthesurnameescapesme
Maybe also Atomized by Michel Houllebecq, Wind-up Bird Chronicle/Norwegian Wood/A Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami.
Morvern Callar by Alan oopsthesurnameescapesme
In reply to Marc C: oh and Fight Club
In reply to curlymynci:
The 15-26 age group tends to be doing other things. They read books before they got to this age, and they will read books afterwards too.
One could make libraries more attractive to this group, but unless each book contained a voucher that could be redeemed for 10 E's, a couple of lines of coke, 8 pints, 6 bacardi breezers, or a quarter of green, or could be read really quickly so that it didn't interrupt being out on the lookout for a potential life partner, (or offered sure-fire advice about how to pull) then it might be best to wait until they've sorted all this stuff out.
I suspect that attempting to get the 15-26 group to read more is on the steep bit of the effort/diminishing returns curve.
The 15-26 age group tends to be doing other things. They read books before they got to this age, and they will read books afterwards too.
One could make libraries more attractive to this group, but unless each book contained a voucher that could be redeemed for 10 E's, a couple of lines of coke, 8 pints, 6 bacardi breezers, or a quarter of green, or could be read really quickly so that it didn't interrupt being out on the lookout for a potential life partner, (or offered sure-fire advice about how to pull) then it might be best to wait until they've sorted all this stuff out.
I suspect that attempting to get the 15-26 group to read more is on the steep bit of the effort/diminishing returns curve.
In reply to curlymynci:
Good list Curlymynci
But clear out Foundation and replace it with Nightfall (original version). All that is great in Asimov and much more concise than the seven or so books in Foundation.
Add 'Heart of Darkness'.
Good list Curlymynci
But clear out Foundation and replace it with Nightfall (original version). All that is great in Asimov and much more concise than the seven or so books in Foundation.
Add 'Heart of Darkness'.
In reply to Anon_13_20220115:
>William S Burroughs - Naked Lunch
I wouldn't put this in - it's probably the worst way into appreciating WSB. I'd include the Cities of the Red Night trilogy instead.
>William S Burroughs - Naked Lunch
I wouldn't put this in - it's probably the worst way into appreciating WSB. I'd include the Cities of the Red Night trilogy instead.
In reply to Derbyshire Ben: The Outsider (L'Etranger) by Albert Camus was THE teenage cult book when I was a teenager
In reply to Marc C:
That Albert - didn't let many goals in.
And Yvonne de Galais < swoon... > Calls herself Sandrine, these days!
Mick
That Albert - didn't let many goals in.
And Yvonne de Galais < swoon... > Calls herself Sandrine, these days!
Mick
In reply to curlymynci:
Jeff Noon probably deserves a place in the SF section, especially Vurt and Pollen.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330338811/026-5085702-9825201?v=glance&...
The Naked Lunch is the definitive Burroughs novel, and easily his best.
On the Road is rather more to do with alcohol than drugs, as I remember. But it's rather more to do with optimism about a new way of seeing the world.
A slim copy of Howl by Ginsberg might be worth slipping in alongside the Beats.
Good to see someone mentioned the Illuminatus trilogy - that is really culty! How about Prometheus Rising and The Illuminati Papers and the Schrodinger's Cat trilogy too?
I'd probably add some Wilhelm Reich and R.D. Laing for the SF psychology fusion shelf.
Bruce Sterling and Greg Egan should score for the SF section too, as should Jon Courtenay Grimwood - this is for that certain age group, right?
And surely The Diceman is still one of those definitive cult novels? I didn't like it that much, but everyone else seemed to!
Jeff Noon probably deserves a place in the SF section, especially Vurt and Pollen.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330338811/026-5085702-9825201?v=glance&...
The Naked Lunch is the definitive Burroughs novel, and easily his best.
On the Road is rather more to do with alcohol than drugs, as I remember. But it's rather more to do with optimism about a new way of seeing the world.
A slim copy of Howl by Ginsberg might be worth slipping in alongside the Beats.
Good to see someone mentioned the Illuminatus trilogy - that is really culty! How about Prometheus Rising and The Illuminati Papers and the Schrodinger's Cat trilogy too?
I'd probably add some Wilhelm Reich and R.D. Laing for the SF psychology fusion shelf.
Bruce Sterling and Greg Egan should score for the SF section too, as should Jon Courtenay Grimwood - this is for that certain age group, right?
And surely The Diceman is still one of those definitive cult novels? I didn't like it that much, but everyone else seemed to!
In reply to Anon_13_20220115:
Stole a line of this for my O Level creative essay, though not without a twinge of guilt: "Two butterflies comport, with worlds of mountains as their backdrop."
> Some of his later books once he'd gone properly stir crazy are nigh on impossible to read. Desolation Angels for example.
Stole a line of this for my O Level creative essay, though not without a twinge of guilt: "Two butterflies comport, with worlds of mountains as their backdrop."
In reply to Steve Parker:
It is one of those "cult" books that everybody who reads it thinks is rubbish but can't actually admit it IMO.
Has there been mention of Brave New World yet?
bluebrad
> And surely The Diceman is still one of those definitive cult novels? I didn't like it that much, but everyone else seemed to!
It is one of those "cult" books that everybody who reads it thinks is rubbish but can't actually admit it IMO.
Has there been mention of Brave New World yet?
bluebrad
In reply to bluebrad:
Yes, the first post.
To counteract the miserable stuff a necessary addition is Gide's Fruits of the Earth.
> Has there been mention of Brave New World yet?
Yes, the first post.
To counteract the miserable stuff a necessary addition is Gide's Fruits of the Earth.
In reply to bluebrad:
> (In reply to Steve Parker)
>
> [...]
>
> It is one of those "cult" books that everybody who reads it thinks is rubbish but can't actually admit it IMO.
>
Sounds about right, although it was probably better read at the time. It was a little old hat even by the time I bothered to read it during one of its revivals.
>
> [...]
>
> It is one of those "cult" books that everybody who reads it thinks is rubbish but can't actually admit it IMO.
>
In reply to curlymynci:
I am surprised nobody has mentioned A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess). I loved that book - it totally changed my ideas about what books should be when I was about 13.
I'd agree with others already suggested, and second the Jeff Noon stuff.
I am surprised nobody has mentioned A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess). I loved that book - it totally changed my ideas about what books should be when I was about 13.
I'd agree with others already suggested, and second the Jeff Noon stuff.
In reply to Derbyshire Ben:
i'd put naked lunch in before the cities of the red night, but i'd make sure they had read junky first. COTRN and its follow ups are great (his finest work, says I) but they'd still leave beginners a bit baffled.
> (In reply to rick1fugazi)
>
> >William S Burroughs - Naked Lunch
>
> I wouldn't put this in - it's probably the worst way into appreciating WSB. I'd include the Cities of the Red Night trilogy instead.
>
> >William S Burroughs - Naked Lunch
>
> I wouldn't put this in - it's probably the worst way into appreciating WSB. I'd include the Cities of the Red Night trilogy instead.
i'd put naked lunch in before the cities of the red night, but i'd make sure they had read junky first. COTRN and its follow ups are great (his finest work, says I) but they'd still leave beginners a bit baffled.
In reply to Marc C:
Warner.
And also Sopranos by the same author.
Other recommendations from me would include Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, Taming the Beast by Emily Macguire, The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis & The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert(?) Tressell.
> Morvern Callar by Alan oopsthesurnameescapesme
Warner.
And also Sopranos by the same author.
Other recommendations from me would include Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, Taming the Beast by Emily Macguire, The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis & The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert(?) Tressell.
In reply to curlymynci:
Let’s add a few more from my angst-ridden teenage bookshelf:
John Dollar – Marianne Wiggins
Novel with Cocaine - Ageyev
Metamorphosis – Kafka
Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky
The Lake – Kawabata
The Cement Garden - McEwan
Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love – Hijuelos
Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
Les Enfants Terribles - Cocteau
Confessions of an Opium Eater – de Quincey
Let’s add a few more from my angst-ridden teenage bookshelf:
John Dollar – Marianne Wiggins
Novel with Cocaine - Ageyev
Metamorphosis – Kafka
Crime and Punishment – Dostoevsky
The Lake – Kawabata
The Cement Garden - McEwan
Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love – Hijuelos
Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
Les Enfants Terribles - Cocteau
Confessions of an Opium Eater – de Quincey
In reply to Witkacy:
>Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love – Hijuelos
Yes - a fab book. Perhaps not quite 'cult' but still highly recomended and one that a teenager could easily read and enjoy.
John Updike - Rabbit trilogy/omnibus
>Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love – Hijuelos
Yes - a fab book. Perhaps not quite 'cult' but still highly recomended and one that a teenager could easily read and enjoy.
John Updike - Rabbit trilogy/omnibus
In reply to curlymynci:
The Conformist - Alberto Moravia
The Joke (or Unbearable Lightness of Being) - Milan Kundera
Less Than Zero (or American Psycho, Lunar Park, etc) - Brett Easton Ellis
Slaughterhouse 5, etc - Kurt Vonnegut
Just about anything by Phillip K., Dick
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Puig
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tes - Tom Wolfe by Tom Wolfe
The Conformist - Alberto Moravia
The Joke (or Unbearable Lightness of Being) - Milan Kundera
Less Than Zero (or American Psycho, Lunar Park, etc) - Brett Easton Ellis
Slaughterhouse 5, etc - Kurt Vonnegut
Just about anything by Phillip K., Dick
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Puig
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tes - Tom Wolfe by Tom Wolfe
In reply to curlymynci:
Ask the Dust - John Fante
Dharma Bums - Kerouac
Lonesome Traveller - Kerouac
Nausea - Sartre
The Plague - Camus
Brothers Karamazov - Dostoevsky
Tropic of Cancer / Capricorn - Henry Miller
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
Down and Out in Paris and London - Orwell
etc... etc...
Ask the Dust - John Fante
Dharma Bums - Kerouac
Lonesome Traveller - Kerouac
Nausea - Sartre
The Plague - Camus
Brothers Karamazov - Dostoevsky
Tropic of Cancer / Capricorn - Henry Miller
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
Down and Out in Paris and London - Orwell
etc... etc...
In reply to curlymynci:
I can't think of any books right now, but I just wanted to say your mum sounds fantastic!
I can't think of any books right now, but I just wanted to say your mum sounds fantastic!
In reply to Witkacy:
Realised that after I had posted but couldn't be bothered to delete and repost.
Another suggestion - One day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch (sp?) by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
bluebrad
> (In reply to bluebrad)
>
> [...]
>
> Yes, the first post.
>
> [...]
>
> Yes, the first post.
Realised that after I had posted but couldn't be bothered to delete and repost.
Another suggestion - One day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch (sp?) by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
bluebrad
In reply to Steve Parker:
Anti-Oedipus - Deleuze and Guattari
Most cult books I can think of have been covered above - except perhaps The Bible and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' - good and precise lists, with few non-cultic turkeys
In my book, both 'The Doors of Perception' and 'Island' are more culty than 'Brave New World', which is maybe a bit mainstream
Is 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond culty?
Anti-Oedipus - Deleuze and Guattari
Most cult books I can think of have been covered above - except perhaps The Bible and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' - good and precise lists, with few non-cultic turkeys
In my book, both 'The Doors of Perception' and 'Island' are more culty than 'Brave New World', which is maybe a bit mainstream
Is 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond culty?
In reply to curlymynci:
RD Laing stuff - eg The Divided Self
Prozac Nation (even though I hated it, quite an adolescent tome)
Nietzsche - seemed very popular when I was a black-wearing kiddy, Thus Spake Zarathustra etc
Walden - mainly in the US
Ham on Rye (Bukowski) - also US-centric
RD Laing stuff - eg The Divided Self
Prozac Nation (even though I hated it, quite an adolescent tome)
Nietzsche - seemed very popular when I was a black-wearing kiddy, Thus Spake Zarathustra etc
Walden - mainly in the US
Ham on Rye (Bukowski) - also US-centric
In reply to curlymynci:
Homeboy, by Seth Morgan.
(Bit of a forgotten cult classic about a junkie in LA in the late 60s. Pretty graphic stuff. The writer was Janis Joplin's partner, and is rumoured to be indirectly responsible for her overdose and death.)
Homeboy, by Seth Morgan.
(Bit of a forgotten cult classic about a junkie in LA in the late 60s. Pretty graphic stuff. The writer was Janis Joplin's partner, and is rumoured to be indirectly responsible for her overdose and death.)
In reply to Steve Parker:
Wow. Schrodingers Cat. I remember reading it 15 years ago and loving it at the time but have completely forgotten about it will now. Who wrote it please. Think I need to reread it.
Wow. Schrodingers Cat. I remember reading it 15 years ago and loving it at the time but have completely forgotten about it will now. Who wrote it please. Think I need to reread it.
In reply to Anon_13_20220115: I have 'In Search of Schrodinger's Cat' (John Gribbin)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/026-6777961-4938820?url=se...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/026-6777961-4938820?url=se...
In reply to Marc C:
Me too, but I think he was referring to the Schrodinger's Cat fiction trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson.
Funnily enough, I think Gribbin mentions it in the recommended list at the end.
Me too, but I think he was referring to the Schrodinger's Cat fiction trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson.
Funnily enough, I think Gribbin mentions it in the recommended list at the end.
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Years since I read it, but I found the material fascinating at the time. Don't really remember how well it's presented.
Years since I read it, but I found the material fascinating at the time. Don't really remember how well it's presented.
In reply to curlymynci: I haven't read all the replies to thiss so I imagine someone has already suggested "A Clockwork Orange". I'd also consider some Hermann Hesse and "Crime and Punishment" and "The Trial". I suppose there might even be some happy books.
In reply to wcdave: Kool Aid Acid Test.. good choice. In a similar vein(ish) "No-One Here Gets Out Alive" the Jim Morrison biography, though maybe this doesn't have the resonance with the young uns these days.
In reply to badboygolf16v: I take my figurative hat off to any fifteen year old that gets through Goedel Escher Bach.
In reply to Witkacy: Yes of course, Metamorphosis!!!
In reply to curlymynci: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Tom Robbins
In reply to curlymynci:
Here's a few books from my present and past, some now sold and some probably lost but all enjoyed and on the whole cult:
Irvine Welsh – Porno
Irvine Welsh – Glue
Irvine Welsh - Ecstasy
Irvine Welsh – Marabou Stork Nightmares
Irvine Welsh – The Acid House
Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting
Irvine Welsh – Filth
Iain Banks – The Crow Road
Iain Banks – Espidair Street
Iain Banks - Complicity
Iain Banks – Walking on Glass
Iain Banks – The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks – The Bridge
Iain Banks – A Song of Stone
Iain Banks – The Business
Iain Banks – Whit
Iain Banks – Dead Air
Douglas Coupland – Eleanor Rigby
Douglas Coupland – Hey Nostradamus!
Douglas Coupland – Miss Wyoming
Douglas Coupland – All Families are Psychotic
Douglas Coupland – Girlfriend in a Coma
Douglas Coupland – Shampoo Planet
Douglas Coupland – Life After God
Douglas Coupland – Generation X
Douglas Coupland - Microserfs
Tom Morton – Guttered
Paul Outhwaite – Automatic Living
Ben Elton - Inconceivable
Ben Elton - Popcorn
Ben Elton – Blast from the Past
Ben Elton - Gridlock
Ben Elton - Stark
Ben Elton – Dead Famous
Ben Elton – This Other Eden
Nick Hornby – Fever Pitch
Nick Hornby – About a Boy
Nick Hornby – High Fidelity
Nick Hornby – How to be Good
Will Self – Grey Area and Other Stories
Will Self - The Quantity Theory of Insanity
Will Self – The Sweet Smell of Psychosis
Will Self – Scale – A Penguin 60
Will Self – My Idea of Fun
Will Self – How the Dead Live
Will Self – Dr Mukti
Will Self - Dorian
Kevin Sampson - Awaydays
Mike Gayle - My Legendary Girlfriend
Aldous Huxley – A Brave New World
Martin Amis - Dead Babies
Martin Amis – Yellow Dog
Danny Wallace - Join Me: The True Story of a Man Who Started a Cult by Accident
Damian Lanigan - Stretch, 29
J R R Tolkien – The Hobbit
J R R Tolkien – The Fellowship of the Ring
J R R Tolkien – The Two Towers
J R R Tolkien – Return of the King
Victor Headley – Yardie
Niall Griffiths – Sheepshager
Nial Griffiths – Grits
Roddy Doyle – The Commitments
Roddy Doyle – The Snapper
Roddy Doyle – Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Roddy Doyle – Rory & Ita
Dermot Bolger/Roddy Doyle et all – Finbar's Hotel
Sean Hughes - Sean's Book
Sean Hughes – The Grey Area
J.P. Donleavy – The Ginger Man
Michel Faber Under - the Skin
Kingsley Amis - Lucky Jim
Stella Gibbons - Cold Comfort Farm
George and Weedon Grossmith - The Diary of a Nobody
Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie
George Orwell - Down and Out in London and Paris
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
John Buchan - The Thirty-Nine Steps
E. M. Forster - A Room with a View
Jerome K. Jerome - Three Men in a Boat
Karen Blixen - Out of Africa
Tim O'Brien - If I Die in a Combat Zone
George MacDonald Fraser - Flashman's Lady
Germaine Greer - The Female Eunuch
Luke Rhinehart - The Dice Man
John McDermott, Eddie Kramer, Eddie Kramer - Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight
Nicholas Schaffner - "Pink Floyd": The Saucerful of Secrets
Mark Paytress - Twentieth Century Boy: Marc Bolan Story
Jerome Davis - Talking Heads (Vintage/Musician Series)
Roger Hutchinson - Aleister Crowley: The Beast Demystified
Pamela Stephenson – Billy
Mick Foley – Tietam Brown
Chicken – David Henry Sterry
Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer
Peter Carey – True History of the Kelly Gang
Louis De Bernieres – Red Dog
Michael Moore – TV Nation
Michael Moore – Downsize This
Michael Moore – Stupid White men
Michael Moore – Dude Where's My Country?
Chuck Palahniuk – Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk - Survivor
Chuck Palahniuk - Choke
Chuck Palahniuk - Lullaby
Chuck Palahniuk – Invisible Monsters
Chuck Palahniuck - Diary
Woody Allen – Without Feathers
Woody Allen – Side Effects
Woody Allen – Getting Even
Phillip Roth – Goodbye Columbus
Phillip Roth – Portnoy's Complaint
Aurthur Miller – Death of a Salesman
William S Burroughs – Junky
Hunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hubert Selby Jr – Last Exit to Brooklyn
Republican Party Reptile – P.J. O'Rourke
J.G. Ballard – High-Rise
J.D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Paulo Coelho – The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist
Ray Bradbury – Fahrenheit 451
Louis De Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
Tim Gautreaux - The Clearing
J.M. Coetzee - Disgrace
Zadie Smith - The Autograph Man
Zadie Smith – White Teeth
Yann Martel – Life of Pie
Susan Orlean – The Orchid Thief
Matthew d'Ancona – Going East
Graham Greene – Brighton Rock
L.P. Hartley - The Go-between
Albert Camus – The Plague
F.Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man
Truman Capote – In Cold Blood
Hermann Hesse – Steppenwolf
Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway
Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust
Douglas Rushkoff – Bull
Aldous Huxley – The Doors of Perception
William Golding – Lord of the Flies
P.J. O'Rourke – Holidays in Hell
Garth Nix - Shade's Children
Joe Simpson - Touching the Void
Franz Kafka – The Trial
Gary Shteyngart – The Russian Debutante's Handbook
Pascal Boyer – Religion Explained
Douglas Rushkoff – The Ecstasy Club
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's
George Orwell – Animal Farm
Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
Francoise Sagan - Bonjour Tristesse
Charles Webb - The Graduate
John Wyndam - Day of the Triffids
James Joyce – Dubliners
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Compton Mackenzie - Whisky Galore
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Evelyn Waugh – Brideshead Revisited
Flora Thompson – Lark Rise
D.H. Lawrence - Women in Love
Aleksandar Hemon - Nowhere Man
Tony Parsons – Man and Boyer
Tony Parsons - Man and Wife
Anne Donovan – Buddha Da
Elizabeth Wurtizel – Prozac Nation
D.H. Lawrence – Lady Chatterley's Lover
Graham Greene The Heart of the Matter
E.M. Forster - A Passage to India
Virginia Woolf - To the Lighthouse
Jack Kerouac – On The Road
Bill Bryson – A Short History of Nearly Everything
DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Here's a few books from my present and past, some now sold and some probably lost but all enjoyed and on the whole cult:
Irvine Welsh – Porno
Irvine Welsh – Glue
Irvine Welsh - Ecstasy
Irvine Welsh – Marabou Stork Nightmares
Irvine Welsh – The Acid House
Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting
Irvine Welsh – Filth
Iain Banks – The Crow Road
Iain Banks – Espidair Street
Iain Banks - Complicity
Iain Banks – Walking on Glass
Iain Banks – The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks – The Bridge
Iain Banks – A Song of Stone
Iain Banks – The Business
Iain Banks – Whit
Iain Banks – Dead Air
Douglas Coupland – Eleanor Rigby
Douglas Coupland – Hey Nostradamus!
Douglas Coupland – Miss Wyoming
Douglas Coupland – All Families are Psychotic
Douglas Coupland – Girlfriend in a Coma
Douglas Coupland – Shampoo Planet
Douglas Coupland – Life After God
Douglas Coupland – Generation X
Douglas Coupland - Microserfs
Tom Morton – Guttered
Paul Outhwaite – Automatic Living
Ben Elton - Inconceivable
Ben Elton - Popcorn
Ben Elton – Blast from the Past
Ben Elton - Gridlock
Ben Elton - Stark
Ben Elton – Dead Famous
Ben Elton – This Other Eden
Nick Hornby – Fever Pitch
Nick Hornby – About a Boy
Nick Hornby – High Fidelity
Nick Hornby – How to be Good
Will Self – Grey Area and Other Stories
Will Self - The Quantity Theory of Insanity
Will Self – The Sweet Smell of Psychosis
Will Self – Scale – A Penguin 60
Will Self – My Idea of Fun
Will Self – How the Dead Live
Will Self – Dr Mukti
Will Self - Dorian
Kevin Sampson - Awaydays
Mike Gayle - My Legendary Girlfriend
Aldous Huxley – A Brave New World
Martin Amis - Dead Babies
Martin Amis – Yellow Dog
Danny Wallace - Join Me: The True Story of a Man Who Started a Cult by Accident
Damian Lanigan - Stretch, 29
J R R Tolkien – The Hobbit
J R R Tolkien – The Fellowship of the Ring
J R R Tolkien – The Two Towers
J R R Tolkien – Return of the King
Victor Headley – Yardie
Niall Griffiths – Sheepshager
Nial Griffiths – Grits
Roddy Doyle – The Commitments
Roddy Doyle – The Snapper
Roddy Doyle – Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Roddy Doyle – Rory & Ita
Dermot Bolger/Roddy Doyle et all – Finbar's Hotel
Sean Hughes - Sean's Book
Sean Hughes – The Grey Area
J.P. Donleavy – The Ginger Man
Michel Faber Under - the Skin
Kingsley Amis - Lucky Jim
Stella Gibbons - Cold Comfort Farm
George and Weedon Grossmith - The Diary of a Nobody
Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie
George Orwell - Down and Out in London and Paris
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
John Buchan - The Thirty-Nine Steps
E. M. Forster - A Room with a View
Jerome K. Jerome - Three Men in a Boat
Karen Blixen - Out of Africa
Tim O'Brien - If I Die in a Combat Zone
George MacDonald Fraser - Flashman's Lady
Germaine Greer - The Female Eunuch
Luke Rhinehart - The Dice Man
John McDermott, Eddie Kramer, Eddie Kramer - Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight
Nicholas Schaffner - "Pink Floyd": The Saucerful of Secrets
Mark Paytress - Twentieth Century Boy: Marc Bolan Story
Jerome Davis - Talking Heads (Vintage/Musician Series)
Roger Hutchinson - Aleister Crowley: The Beast Demystified
Pamela Stephenson – Billy
Mick Foley – Tietam Brown
Chicken – David Henry Sterry
Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer
Peter Carey – True History of the Kelly Gang
Louis De Bernieres – Red Dog
Michael Moore – TV Nation
Michael Moore – Downsize This
Michael Moore – Stupid White men
Michael Moore – Dude Where's My Country?
Chuck Palahniuk – Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk - Survivor
Chuck Palahniuk - Choke
Chuck Palahniuk - Lullaby
Chuck Palahniuk – Invisible Monsters
Chuck Palahniuck - Diary
Woody Allen – Without Feathers
Woody Allen – Side Effects
Woody Allen – Getting Even
Phillip Roth – Goodbye Columbus
Phillip Roth – Portnoy's Complaint
Aurthur Miller – Death of a Salesman
William S Burroughs – Junky
Hunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hubert Selby Jr – Last Exit to Brooklyn
Republican Party Reptile – P.J. O'Rourke
J.G. Ballard – High-Rise
J.D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Paulo Coelho – The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist
Ray Bradbury – Fahrenheit 451
Louis De Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
Tim Gautreaux - The Clearing
J.M. Coetzee - Disgrace
Zadie Smith - The Autograph Man
Zadie Smith – White Teeth
Yann Martel – Life of Pie
Susan Orlean – The Orchid Thief
Matthew d'Ancona – Going East
Graham Greene – Brighton Rock
L.P. Hartley - The Go-between
Albert Camus – The Plague
F.Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man
Truman Capote – In Cold Blood
Hermann Hesse – Steppenwolf
Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway
Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust
Douglas Rushkoff – Bull
Aldous Huxley – The Doors of Perception
William Golding – Lord of the Flies
P.J. O'Rourke – Holidays in Hell
Garth Nix - Shade's Children
Joe Simpson - Touching the Void
Franz Kafka – The Trial
Gary Shteyngart – The Russian Debutante's Handbook
Pascal Boyer – Religion Explained
Douglas Rushkoff – The Ecstasy Club
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's
George Orwell – Animal Farm
Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
Francoise Sagan - Bonjour Tristesse
Charles Webb - The Graduate
John Wyndam - Day of the Triffids
James Joyce – Dubliners
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Compton Mackenzie - Whisky Galore
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Evelyn Waugh – Brideshead Revisited
Flora Thompson – Lark Rise
D.H. Lawrence - Women in Love
Aleksandar Hemon - Nowhere Man
Tony Parsons – Man and Boyer
Tony Parsons - Man and Wife
Anne Donovan – Buddha Da
Elizabeth Wurtizel – Prozac Nation
D.H. Lawrence – Lady Chatterley's Lover
Graham Greene The Heart of the Matter
E.M. Forster - A Passage to India
Virginia Woolf - To the Lighthouse
Jack Kerouac – On The Road
Bill Bryson – A Short History of Nearly Everything
DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
In reply to curlymynci:
ahhh - the new labour manifesto
>
> And so to you. You're pissed off, want to paint your room black and can't find any music extreme enough to listen to (or you're deperately trying to recapture those days). What do you read?
>
> Curly
> And so to you. You're pissed off, want to paint your room black and can't find any music extreme enough to listen to (or you're deperately trying to recapture those days). What do you read?
>
> Curly
ahhh - the new labour manifesto
In reply to Mac Ghille Aindrais:
Hang on, this was about cult books, surely? (Quite absurd to say the likes of Ben Elton or Nick Hornby are cult novellists; and Brave New World just a fine, very interesting novel … why on earth ‘cult’, for something like that that’s been read by millions? Ditto Martin Amis and Tolkien. Lucky Jim rocked a few boats in its time, but really it’s mainstream. John Buchan – are you joking? Three Men in a Boat, never a cult, just huge, mainstream humour, and still one of the funniest books ever written. Catcher in the Rye – NOPE! Golding, completely mainstream. Joe Simpson --- ?????? Again, are you joking? And why 'cult'? Most of your so-called ‘cult’ books are just hugely successful, perennial, classic novels.) Maybe Donleavy. Maybe James Joyce POAAAAYM. Maybe Kafka, just. Burgess, ACO, for no other reason than that ACO did become a cult – though the film was much better than the book. Maybe Heart of Darkness, because it is just so spare and so peculiar. Most of the other things you list are just mainstream novels; and, much as I am a fan of Bill Bryson, his SHONE is really just a very earnest but very superficial popular science book – what on earth is that doing in the list as a ‘cult’? So your enormous initial list immediately shrinks to something like this:
J.P. Donleavy – The Ginger Man
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Franz Kafka – The Trial
Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (IMHO, deserves to be a cult, but I think it’s already sold too well to qualify as that!)
Hang on, this was about cult books, surely? (Quite absurd to say the likes of Ben Elton or Nick Hornby are cult novellists; and Brave New World just a fine, very interesting novel … why on earth ‘cult’, for something like that that’s been read by millions? Ditto Martin Amis and Tolkien. Lucky Jim rocked a few boats in its time, but really it’s mainstream. John Buchan – are you joking? Three Men in a Boat, never a cult, just huge, mainstream humour, and still one of the funniest books ever written. Catcher in the Rye – NOPE! Golding, completely mainstream. Joe Simpson --- ?????? Again, are you joking? And why 'cult'? Most of your so-called ‘cult’ books are just hugely successful, perennial, classic novels.) Maybe Donleavy. Maybe James Joyce POAAAAYM. Maybe Kafka, just. Burgess, ACO, for no other reason than that ACO did become a cult – though the film was much better than the book. Maybe Heart of Darkness, because it is just so spare and so peculiar. Most of the other things you list are just mainstream novels; and, much as I am a fan of Bill Bryson, his SHONE is really just a very earnest but very superficial popular science book – what on earth is that doing in the list as a ‘cult’? So your enormous initial list immediately shrinks to something like this:
J.P. Donleavy – The Ginger Man
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Franz Kafka – The Trial
Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (IMHO, deserves to be a cult, but I think it’s already sold too well to qualify as that!)
In reply to badboygolf16v:
'PIHKAL
TIKHAL
Ann & Alexander Shulgin'
You big druggy you! God those pair must have odd brain chemistry!
'PIHKAL
TIKHAL
Ann & Alexander Shulgin'
You big druggy you! God those pair must have odd brain chemistry!
In reply to Steve Parker:
Ok yes I was feeling quite lazy last night and couldn't be bothered picking the bones out of the list. Here are the ones from the list that I would say are cult novels. Obviously anything by Ben Elton, Tony Parsons or Roddy Doyle are not really going to be considered cult...
Irvine Welsh – The Acid House
Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting
Iain Banks – The Wasp Factory
Douglas Coupland – Generation X
Douglas Coupland - Microserfs
Paul Outhwaite – Automatic Living
Will Self – Grey Area and Other Stories
Will Self - The Quantity Theory of Insanity
Aldous Huxley – A Brave New World
Martin Amis - Dead Babies
Victor Headley – Yardie
Nial Griffiths – Grits
J.P. Donleavy – The Ginger Man
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Germaine Greer - The Female Eunuch
Luke Rhinehart - The Dice Man
Chuck Palahniuk – Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk - Choke
Phillip Roth – Portnoy's Complaint
William S Burroughs – Junky
Hunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hubert Selby Jr – Last Exit to Brooklyn
J.G. Ballard – High-Rise
J.D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist
Ray Bradbury – Fahrenheit 451
Louis De Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
Graham Greene – Brighton Rock
Albert Camus – The Plague
George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man
Truman Capote – In Cold Blood
Aldous Huxley – The Doors of Perception
William Golding – Lord of the Flies
Franz Kafka – The Trial
Douglas Rushkoff – The Ecstasy Club
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's
George Orwell – Animal Farm
Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
Francoise Sagan - Bonjour Tristesse
Charles Webb - The Graduate
John Wyndam - Day of the Triffids
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
Compton Mackenzie - Whisky Galore
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Elizabeth Wurtizel – Prozac Nation
Jack Kerouac – On The Road
Andy
P.S. Either way all great books that anyone should try, teenager or not.
Ok yes I was feeling quite lazy last night and couldn't be bothered picking the bones out of the list. Here are the ones from the list that I would say are cult novels. Obviously anything by Ben Elton, Tony Parsons or Roddy Doyle are not really going to be considered cult...
Irvine Welsh – The Acid House
Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting
Iain Banks – The Wasp Factory
Douglas Coupland – Generation X
Douglas Coupland - Microserfs
Paul Outhwaite – Automatic Living
Will Self – Grey Area and Other Stories
Will Self - The Quantity Theory of Insanity
Aldous Huxley – A Brave New World
Martin Amis - Dead Babies
Victor Headley – Yardie
Nial Griffiths – Grits
J.P. Donleavy – The Ginger Man
James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Germaine Greer - The Female Eunuch
Luke Rhinehart - The Dice Man
Chuck Palahniuk – Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk - Choke
Phillip Roth – Portnoy's Complaint
William S Burroughs – Junky
Hunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hubert Selby Jr – Last Exit to Brooklyn
J.G. Ballard – High-Rise
J.D. Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist
Ray Bradbury – Fahrenheit 451
Louis De Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
Graham Greene – Brighton Rock
Albert Camus – The Plague
George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four
Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man
Truman Capote – In Cold Blood
Aldous Huxley – The Doors of Perception
William Golding – Lord of the Flies
Franz Kafka – The Trial
Douglas Rushkoff – The Ecstasy Club
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's
George Orwell – Animal Farm
Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
Francoise Sagan - Bonjour Tristesse
Charles Webb - The Graduate
John Wyndam - Day of the Triffids
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
Compton Mackenzie - Whisky Galore
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Elizabeth Wurtizel – Prozac Nation
Jack Kerouac – On The Road
Andy
P.S. Either way all great books that anyone should try, teenager or not.
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
You've never read any Kerouac, Hunter S Thompson or Luke Rhinehart then? Not to mention the other 50 or so cult novels in that list...
Andy
> So your enormous initial list immediately shrinks to something like this:
> J.P. Donleavy – The Ginger Man
> James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
> Franz Kafka – The Trial
> Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
> Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
> James Joyce - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
> Franz Kafka – The Trial
> Anthony Burgess – A Clockwork Orange
> Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
You've never read any Kerouac, Hunter S Thompson or Luke Rhinehart then? Not to mention the other 50 or so cult novels in that list...
Andy
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Hoisted by your own petard! That's probably a better seller than many of the books on Andy's list... or more ubiquitous on public transport, at any rate.
I thought it was massively overrated... definitely a children's book.
> Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (IMHO, deserves to be a cult, but I think it’s already sold too well to qualify as that!)
Hoisted by your own petard! That's probably a better seller than many of the books on Andy's list... or more ubiquitous on public transport, at any rate.
I thought it was massively overrated... definitely a children's book.
In reply to Nao:
I (and R) really enjoyed it. Very simple but I'd not say it's really a kids' book.
Can still accept that it's overrated - even good things usually are these days.
I (and R) really enjoyed it. Very simple but I'd not say it's really a kids' book.
Can still accept that it's overrated - even good things usually are these days.
In reply to Rid Skwerr:
I guess... I did find that a lot of people enjoyed it (even the bloke, who's not a massive fiction reader). I think I just found it a bit irritating/simplistic. I used to look after autistic people and it just seemed that he used all the clichés about autism and shoved them into one book. But then again, I did hear that a lot of parents of autistic children found it moving/realistic, so maybe it's just me. (It just seemed a bit convenient, the narrator's detachment/attachment stuff - a little too 'neat'.)
Anyway I definitely wouldn't put it under 'cult'.
I guess... I did find that a lot of people enjoyed it (even the bloke, who's not a massive fiction reader). I think I just found it a bit irritating/simplistic. I used to look after autistic people and it just seemed that he used all the clichés about autism and shoved them into one book. But then again, I did hear that a lot of parents of autistic children found it moving/realistic, so maybe it's just me. (It just seemed a bit convenient, the narrator's detachment/attachment stuff - a little too 'neat'.)
Anyway I definitely wouldn't put it under 'cult'.
In reply to Nao:
Well no. Books now are so widely available that you could walk into Waterstones or Borders and pick most of the ones mentioned off the shelf.
My nominations?
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (or The Monkey Wrench Gang)
Dispatches by Michael Herr
LOTR - it's spawned role play - it must be cult
Menlove Edwards' Ogwen guide
Hammer of The Gods
>
> Anyway I definitely wouldn't put it under 'cult'.
> Anyway I definitely wouldn't put it under 'cult'.
Well no. Books now are so widely available that you could walk into Waterstones or Borders and pick most of the ones mentioned off the shelf.
My nominations?
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (or The Monkey Wrench Gang)
Dispatches by Michael Herr
LOTR - it's spawned role play - it must be cult
Menlove Edwards' Ogwen guide
Hammer of The Gods
In reply to Nao:
Clichés are clichés because they're often true.
> it just seemed that he used all the clichés about autism and shoved them into one book. But then again, I did hear that a lot of parents of autistic children found it moving/realistic,
Clichés are clichés because they're often true.
In reply to curlymynci:
all bollox
if you want to pack 'em in then the only way you'll stand half a chance is with hentai manga such as
http://www.bondagefairies.net/
all bollox
if you want to pack 'em in then the only way you'll stand half a chance is with hentai manga such as
http://www.bondagefairies.net/
In reply to curlymynci:
I think that most of the 'intended' audience would be far too busy squeezing their spots or masturbating furiously into socks to actually get to this imaginary library.
For the controversial (and girly) vote, I'll go with Bridget Jones's Diary. Always reassuring to find that there's someone worse than you.
I think that most of the 'intended' audience would be far too busy squeezing their spots or masturbating furiously into socks to actually get to this imaginary library.
For the controversial (and girly) vote, I'll go with Bridget Jones's Diary. Always reassuring to find that there's someone worse than you.
In reply to Nao:
Of course I was wrong to have The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NT in the list, because of its huge popularity, as you say. (Re it being a children's book, you must have missed some of the fun games the author has with the reader at a completely different, adult level)
Of course I was wrong to have The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NT in the list, because of its huge popularity, as you say. (Re it being a children's book, you must have missed some of the fun games the author has with the reader at a completely different, adult level)
In reply to Mac Ghille Aindrais:
I think we need some definition of cult and cult following here, just so we're all on the same page:
http://tinyurl.com/gjj85
I think we need some definition of cult and cult following here, just so we're all on the same page:
http://tinyurl.com/gjj85
In reply to curlymynci: Bob Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land HAS to be in there.
Also his Starship Troopers, if only to show them how awful the film was!
Chocolat
Some Bronte style classics.
A Dickens or two. Well known stuff like Oliver Twist, or Christmas Carol.
John Wyndham is a must have, also the Tripods, John Christopher.
Lord of the Rings, and Hobbit, too.
Mortal Engines series, and the Dark Materials as well.
Hope this helps?
TTG
Also his Starship Troopers, if only to show them how awful the film was!
Chocolat
Some Bronte style classics.
A Dickens or two. Well known stuff like Oliver Twist, or Christmas Carol.
John Wyndham is a must have, also the Tripods, John Christopher.
Lord of the Rings, and Hobbit, too.
Mortal Engines series, and the Dark Materials as well.
Hope this helps?
TTG
In reply to Steve Parker:
Schismatrix Plus (Sterling) certainly, despite the stupid name. Swarm is one of the best short SF stories I've read.
> Bruce Sterling and Greg Egan should score for the SF section too, as should Jon Courtenay Grimwood - this is for that certain age group, right?
Schismatrix Plus (Sterling) certainly, despite the stupid name. Swarm is one of the best short SF stories I've read.
In reply to Richard:
I read the Analog Kid and didn't like Sterling's style. His nonfiction book about hackers was good though.
And the cowritten 'Difference Engine'
I read the Analog Kid and didn't like Sterling's style. His nonfiction book about hackers was good though.
And the cowritten 'Difference Engine'
In reply to O Mighty Tim:
Confused. I thought the film was excellent and the book was dodgy...
For Heinlein would certainly recommend:
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
The Man Who Sold The Moon
The latter is a collection of short stories. Many of Heinlein's short stories are excellent - ...And He Built a Crooked House is great fun and can be read at http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/heinlein/heinlein... .
> (In reply to curlymynci) Bob Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land HAS to be in there.
> Also his Starship Troopers, if only to show them how awful the film was!
> Also his Starship Troopers, if only to show them how awful the film was!
Confused. I thought the film was excellent and the book was dodgy...
For Heinlein would certainly recommend:
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
The Man Who Sold The Moon
The latter is a collection of short stories. Many of Heinlein's short stories are excellent - ...And He Built a Crooked House is great fun and can be read at http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/heinlein/heinlein... .
In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Oh yes, undoubtedly, I didn't manage to understand it on the same level as your esteemed self! (Gosh, I must read more thick books.)
Is it me or was it not originally intended for children? Therefore to call it a children's book is not entirely a misnomer?
PS This thread reminds me of Kenny's What Is Cult? thread, which was pretty interesting.
> (Re it being a children's book, you must have missed some of the fun games the author has with the reader at a completely different, adult level)
Oh yes, undoubtedly, I didn't manage to understand it on the same level as your esteemed self! (Gosh, I must read more thick books.)
Is it me or was it not originally intended for children? Therefore to call it a children's book is not entirely a misnomer?
PS This thread reminds me of Kenny's What Is Cult? thread, which was pretty interesting.
In reply to Steve Parker:
Thanks for the link
I've added a books section to that page, based on the suggestions made here
It is by no means complete (I've only listed those books I've read and which seem cast-iron cult), so please be bold in adding, deleting, correcting etc
Thanks for the link
I've added a books section to that page, based on the suggestions made here
It is by no means complete (I've only listed those books I've read and which seem cast-iron cult), so please be bold in adding, deleting, correcting etc
In reply to Richard: Bob could disappear up his own orifices at times... Recycling characters from earlier books in the later ones.
One I would add actually is Time Enough for Love.
Also, Asimov's Tales of the Black Widowers.
Modern gap year types could do worse than read Joe Bennett's Land of Two Halves, about hitching round New Zealand. It's gently captivating.
One I would add actually is Time Enough for Love.
Also, Asimov's Tales of the Black Widowers.
Modern gap year types could do worse than read Joe Bennett's Land of Two Halves, about hitching round New Zealand. It's gently captivating.
In reply to O Mighty Tim:
soz tim, but heinlein is just mysoginistic drivel, FACT
now, back to that furry hentai..
soz tim, but heinlein is just mysoginistic drivel, FACT
now, back to that furry hentai..
In reply to Steve Parker:
Ok so which of the following books would you say were not "cult"?
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Albert Camus - The Plague
L.P. Hartley - The Go-Between
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Ralph Eillison - The Invisible Man
Tuman Capote - In Cold Blood
Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust
George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four
Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway
Andy
P.S. From the list on Wikipedia I can also reccomned:
Gaia (James Lovelock)
The Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs)
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey
> I think we need some definition of cult and cult following here, just so we're all on the same page:
Ok so which of the following books would you say were not "cult"?
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Albert Camus - The Plague
L.P. Hartley - The Go-Between
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Ralph Eillison - The Invisible Man
Tuman Capote - In Cold Blood
Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust
George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four
Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway
Andy
P.S. From the list on Wikipedia I can also reccomned:
Gaia (James Lovelock)
The Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs)
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey
In reply to Steve Parker:
A very democratic answer, thank you.
The point I was going to make was that the following books are all on my bookshelf in a boxed set from Penguin called "Cult Classics".
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Albert Camus - The Plague
L.P. Hartley - The Go-Between
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Ralph Eillison - The Invisible Man
Tuman Capote - In Cold Blood
Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust
George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four
Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway
If Penguin call them "Cult" then who am I to argue?
Andy
P.S. I pretty much agree with you though that the word/concept of cult has been skewed from it's original meaning probably by media groups like Penguin who want to associate their products with a cool image.
> Maybe I've got too limited an idea of cult literature.
A very democratic answer, thank you.
The point I was going to make was that the following books are all on my bookshelf in a boxed set from Penguin called "Cult Classics".
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Albert Camus - The Plague
L.P. Hartley - The Go-Between
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Ralph Eillison - The Invisible Man
Tuman Capote - In Cold Blood
Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust
George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four
Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway
If Penguin call them "Cult" then who am I to argue?
Andy
P.S. I pretty much agree with you though that the word/concept of cult has been skewed from it's original meaning probably by media groups like Penguin who want to associate their products with a cool image.
In reply to andrew ogilvie:
Excellent book all the same...
> (In reply to wcdave) "No-One Here Gets Out Alive" the Jim Morrison biography, though maybe this doesn't have the resonance with the young uns these days.
Excellent book all the same...
In reply to marie: yes have read it too! It led me on to Kerouac, Henry Miller and Aldous Huxley.
Last decent book I read was Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea
Climbing book wise (this is gonna bring some shit down) just read Andy Caves learning to breath and Mick Fowlers, Ok but when put against the likes of Conquistadors of the Useless they are less than mediocre
Last decent book I read was Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea
Climbing book wise (this is gonna bring some shit down) just read Andy Caves learning to breath and Mick Fowlers, Ok but when put against the likes of Conquistadors of the Useless they are less than mediocre
In reply to Fawksey:
have not read fowler, but agree on cave.
have not read fowler, but agree on cave.
In reply to curlymynci: Some good suggestions in up there
I'd second Jeff Noon books (vurt, pollen and Pixel juice especially)
Other things i loved as an angst ridden young adult
Vox & Fermenta - Nicolson Barker (yes they are about sex)
The Iron fist - jack London
Willam Gibson - anything
Harukai Murakami - Theres a thread on him today somewhere
Fear & loathing
Junk (the teen one - more the younger end of this age range)
Laura palmers secret diary (another one about sex)
Irvine Welsh
I'd second Jeff Noon books (vurt, pollen and Pixel juice especially)
Other things i loved as an angst ridden young adult
Vox & Fermenta - Nicolson Barker (yes they are about sex)
The Iron fist - jack London
Willam Gibson - anything
Harukai Murakami - Theres a thread on him today somewhere
Fear & loathing
Junk (the teen one - more the younger end of this age range)
Laura palmers secret diary (another one about sex)
Irvine Welsh
In reply to curlymynci: I surprised the beach isn't in there, it was massive among gap year folk when i was about 18 (although not great in my opinion)
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