Some interesting recommendations here. I've added many of them to my reading list.
Some books I have enjoyed recently: (most already mentioned)
Ubik by Philip K. Dick
Shogun by James Clavell
Roadside Picnic by Boris Strugatsky and Arkady Strugatsky
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
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Yes. Forget about the rest of double trilogy and about the prequels, read the, nice for the universe but otherwise not worth the time with so many other books around to read. And as to the books by his son... don't even look at them. I regretted buying them. But Dune itself, the main book, is imho a masterpiece of SF.
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That's your point of view, guys :) Some books are less good than others, that's true, but I really enjoyed reading the whole main story, from Dune to Chapterhouse Dune.
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It baffles me that when people ask for good books all the gor is fantasy and sci-fi flicks. Where are all the serious books?! Does no one read Dickens, Hemingway, Dreiser, Remark, Dostoyevsky, Byron anymore?
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Don't you think those have pretty specific audiences?
Harry Potter is a book you can just recommend to anyone, and they will enjoy it.
There is a certain age, and a certain experience level, and a certain reading proficiency, and a certain personality needed to like a Dostoyevsky book, or any of the others.
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I actually don't. Certain personality may need to enjoy Nabokov, Plath, Fowles, but not those listed before.
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Present.
Got thousands of books. Mainly history thought. Reading the complete poems of walt whitman in parallel with some science and history books atm.
I don't think that some kind of "special personality" is needed to read him or hemingway. Why would it be needed ???
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And did you pick "personality" specifically, or do you think that argument holds for all of my points?
Do you believe that "The Brothers Karamazov" would actually be a great choice for a recommendation to a 9 yo, first time reader, slightly below average IQ, child? Or do you agree with me that Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone would be a far better recommendation?
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Nine years old should read Henry Rider Haggard and Alexander Dumas. The Brothers Karamazov comes few years later, along with Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, Taras Bulba, The Foundation Pit, And Quiet Flows the Don, The Master and Margarita.
I "picked" personality because Nabokov, Plath and Fowles could be considered depressing and hard to read. The rest of your points are not worth a doit. While age can factor into choice of reading material, you don't need any beforehand experience to read, in fact you can glean it from books themselves.
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My first book was similar, there was blood, there was death, i started without being able to assemble the letters, i finished it by myself. I didn't became a psychopath. I've read hundreds of classics before i was 10, which included rape and such. Sure it shocked me from time to time. But i appreciated every page. And yes, i would give karamazov to a 9y/o. Actually i took one to see it at the opera. He was pretty happy.
Sure, i would not give Sade, but in terms of Generalities, the conditions you listed are bogus imho. & i picked personality because the conditions you listed such as age etc form personality.
I don't consider say as cited above Dumas as any worse than harry potter ( albeit i haven't read that one ) for a kid. If someone enjoys it, and doesn't come crying and shaking into my arms nor becomes a murderer i don't see why i would deprive him of say the the odyssey or whatever.
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It's not about specific audiences, just specific tastes. I'm not the kind of guy to regularly read books in the vein of Dostoyevksy (though I do so at least out of curiosity), yet one of the first books I've ever read was The Magician, by John Fowles. And I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed it and returned to it over the course of years.
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H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete fiction. Accept cthulhu as you lord and savior. But seriously, Lovecraft created horror. His name is even a verb lol. What a legacy. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/barnes-noble-leatherbound-classics-hp-lovecraft-h-p-lovecraft/1106658815?ean=9781435122963
Dracula and other horror classics by Bram Stoker. Father of vampires basically. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dracula-and-other-horror-classics-bram-stoker/1114147639?ean=9781435142817
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That's why i said basically xD
I did not know of him, reading about him on wikipedia now. Thx
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Well, he was a personal doctor of Lord Byron and wrote his Vampire on a dare during few days in 1816 when him, Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Marry Shelley were stuck in villa Diodati. Frankenstein was also conceived during this time period due to the same dare.
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I can recommend you Tomorrow Was War by Boris Vasilyev.
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"Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. This was recommended to me by my professor when I was majoring in English Lit and it's pretty good. Also "Improbable" by Adam Fawer. If you like Sci-Fi you can simply pick up any Arthur C. Clarke book and shut yourself in.
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Really depends on your reading level/age/reading experience. I have been an avid reader all my life, but that does not mean that I am even yet really ready to pick up Gormenghast.
I really really enjoyed the fantasy authors:
Feist, Raymond E. (he has a few video games based on his novels, computer party based RPGs, I think.)
and
Brooks, Terry (who actually has some really old graphical text adventure)
They are sort of simple, generic, fantasy-quest authors (for the most part, they do do other things). Generic is good, there is a reason it is the standard starting point.
And McKiernan, Dennis L. is an enjoyable Tolkien-like.
More recently I was reading thorough Modesitt, Jr. L.E., and he has a little more personal style. And I really enjoyed elizabeth moon's paksenarrion series, which is far too short, and I think a easy read.
I am far less experienced with sci-fi. I really am not a huge fan of the Asimov stuff, it is good but definitely not a starting point. I would call it dry. I liked the Ender Saga, but again (if you have not been reading for a long time) it might bore you.
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Possibly my favorite book at anything; The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Fantastic guy (One of the Vlogbrothers) and a fantastic novel about a cancer-ill girl, written in first person perspective. Not your typichal sob story, I don't like those. But this gets to you. And you'll love every bit of it, from the characters to the Shakespeare-esque language.
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Buy the new Humble Bundle! It's about books! https://www.humblebundle.com/
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Star Wars Death Troopers is good, and there's a prequel for it called red harvest. Everyone likes Star Wars right?
You could get the metro 2033 book as well.
Enders game is a great one too.
Sorry if these are repeats I didn't go through all the comments.
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If you want good sci fi, go for Ready Player One (amazing virtual reality scenario), Chimera Vector (action packed sci fi with super soldiers), Ender's Game (each sequel dips a bit in quality, in my opinion, so only continue if you really enjoy the first one).
On the other hand, I'm so glad you mentioned first person books in particular. I love them as well. So I will share my personal favorites with you, if you don't mind the fantasy genre. The Kingkiller Chronicles, and The Farseer Trilogy (this one has two other sequel trilogies as well, so plenty of material).
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I got £30 to spend at Waterstones and an extra £10 for WHSmith (And some of my own money)
BOOKS
Truthfully, I'm not too sure what I want to read. Anything really. Sci-Fi is good, read a horror/graphic book a while ago and really enjoyed it...
Not too crazy about historical novels, or incredibly romantic tales either but nonetheless, go ahead.
I do much prefer first person books ("I" "We" etc)
Thanks in advance, everyone.
And hopefully some people out there also looking for books can find something.
EDIT: Recommendations coming in quick... Going to bed soon, can't wait to see all the replies tomorrow! (I might be going shopping tomorrow so hmm...)
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