Conquer Club

If you had to recommend five books to a friend, five books you thought everyone should read for how good they were, or how valuable you thought they were.. which books books would you recommend?

I'll start.

Maybe I'll change them later but right now, after just a quick look at my two, yes only two bookcases, and in no particular order:

1. The Emperor's Handbook, by Marcus Aurelius
Wise advice from a philosopher king.

2. The Story of Philosophy, by Will Durant
Not the first philosophy book that I read, but the one that made fall in love with philosophy forever.

3. Existential Psychotherapy, by Irvin Yalom
Very good approach to psychotherapy.

4. Thus Spake Zarathustra , by Friedrich Nietzsche
One should not take Nietzsche's ethics too seriously, rather grow wiser but still this book shows us a genius like few have lived.

5 .Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Having been born and raised surrounded by Catholicism, the path to Atheism was both easy and not easy. I knew I was an atheist since kid, but at the same time I was fucking frightened. When I seriously started reading I was looking for answers. This was the final answer I was looking for, when I finally read the explanation of "Lamarckian Heresy" it finally made sense. (See? Mexican Education isn't any better)

Edit: As I expected I changed that last book.

These books I would recommend anyone to read and I promise they won't regret it.

- Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth (Herman Hesse)
- The Dharma Bums (Jack Kerouac)
- Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert Heinlein)
- The Secret Agent (Joseph Conrad)
- Flying Saucers : A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies (Carl Jung)

damn I didn't include amazon links like saxi..

nietzsche wrote:damn I didn't include amazon links like saxi..

I get 8-cents for each person who clicks and buys.

wait a sec, I'll make mine cursive too.

1. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
2. 1984 - George Orwell
3. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
4. Siddartha - Herman Hesse
5. 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene

The Game - by Ken Dryden
Great book about life in the NHL in the 70's

Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey - by Russ Conway
About the corruption of the union leader and how he took his clients for millions

Playing With Fire - by Theron Fluery
Troubling book on Theo Fluery. Chronicles his abuse at the hands of Graham James.

The Lost Dream: The Mike Danton Story - by Steve Simmons
Good story on Mike Danton and how he tried to hire a hit man to kill his mentor, but still remains loyal to him.

The Hockey Sweater - by Roch Carrier
It's a kids book. But a great kids book if you are Leafs/Canadiens fan. It's a bit dated, but still resonates.

In no particular order and leaving off books already mentioned (e.g. 1984, Siddartha, which would have been on my list). I tried to make this rather varied, but it was hard.

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein

Stranger in a Strange Land, winner of the 1962 Hugo Award, is the story of Valentine Michael Smith, born during, and the only survivor of, the first manned mission to Mars. Michael is raised by Martians, and he arrives on Earth as a true innocent: he has never seen a woman and has no knowledge of Earth's cultures or religions. But he brings turmoil with him, as he is the legal heir to an enormous financial empire, not to mention de facto owner of the planet Mars. With the irascible popular author Jubal Harshaw to protect him, Michael explores human morality and the meanings of love. He founds his own church, preaching free love and disseminating the psychic talents taught him by the Martians. Ultimately, he confronts the fate reserved for all messiahs.

Band of Brothers - Stephen Ambrose

As good a rifle company as any in the world, Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, kept getting the tough assignments -- responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. In "Band of Brothers," Ambrose tells of the men in this brave unit who fought, went hungry, froze, and died, a company that took 150 percent casualties and considered the Purple Heart a badge of office. Drawing on hours of interviews with survivors as well as the soldiers' journals and letters, Stephen Ambrose recounts the stories, often in the men's own words, of these American heroes.

Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Vol. 1 (which includes the story "The Last Question" which was supposedly Asimov's favorite of his own stories). Here is the opening line:

The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way ...

Malazan Book of the Fallen - series by Steven Erikson (multiple novels). Synposis of the first book, Gardens of the Moon:

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with ancient and implacable sorcerers. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.
For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, their lone surviving mage, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.
However, the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand . . .
Conceived and written on a panoramic scale, Gardens of the Moon is epic fantasy of the highest order--an enthralling adventure by an outstanding voice.

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Duma

I sincerely hope no synopsis is needed. This is my favorite "classic" book.

Ah yes, I remember the Count.
"That's one. One year in prison."
"Two years. That's two years in prison. I love to Count!"

jonesthecurl wrote:Ah yes, I remember the Count.
"That's one. One year in prison."
"Two years. That's two years in prison. I love to Count!"

Weirdly, my son's favorite Sesame Street character is not Cookie Monster or Elmo - it's the Count.

I think Bert and Ernie are one of the best comedy double-acts ever.

jonesthecurl wrote:I think Bert and Ernie are one of the best comedy double-acts ever.

Ernie was my favorite character growing up. Sorry, favourite character.

I read a history of Sesame Street recently. Apparently, Frank Oz created Ernie and Jim Henson created Bert, but the producers switched them because Frank Oz was more "Bertesque" and Jim Henson was more "Ernieesque." How would you like to have been Frank Oz?

"Mr. Oz? We know you created Ernie, a fun-loving, happy, go-lucky guy, but we think you're more like Bert, an uptight, paperclip and pigeon loving freak. How about you voice Bert instead of Ernie?"

keiths31 wrote:The Game - by Ken Dryden
.

f*ck, I just lost

I'd rather just have someone read Catch-22 By Joseph Heller 5 times. It is always a great read, even upon subsequent readthroughs, and it helps add to the Catch-22 feeling by reading it again and again. It is by far my favorite novel.


--Andy

AndyDufresne wrote:I'd rather just have someone read Catch-22 By Joseph Heller 5 times. It is always a great read, even upon subsequent readthroughs, and it helps add to the Catch-22 feeling by reading it again and again. It is by far my favorite novel.


--Andy

I was wondering if nobody was gonna include it in the list. I didn't because I'd rather read non-fiction but that book is absolutely brilliant.

nietzsche wrote:

AndyDufresne wrote:I'd rather just have someone read Catch-22 By Joseph Heller 5 times. It is always a great read, even upon subsequent readthroughs, and it helps add to the Catch-22 feeling by reading it again and again. It is by far my favorite novel.


--Andy

I was wondering if nobody was gonna include it in the list. I didn't because I'd rather read non-fiction but that book is absolutely brilliant.

It is brilliant, yes. It is one of the few novels that actually makes me laugh, as if I was watching a film or a tv show or something. There is a sequel which I picked up at a bargain bookstore that I haven't yet read. I don't know how good it is though.


--Andy

Ok. Which one do I read first, Siddharta or Demian?

nietzsche wrote:Ok. Which one do I read first, Siddharta or Demian?

The Glass Bead Game, you might like, haven't read Demian, but Siddartha isn't the best intro to his stuff.

Catch-22 is a good book but I feel like it isn't as...macroscopic...I guess as the other books I mentioned.

Army of GOD wrote:Catch-22 is a good book but I feel like it isn't as...macroscopic...I guess as the other books I mentioned.

That's a pretty good way of looking at it- it focuses on the small absurdities. My favourite joke in the book is when Yossarian describes one of his dreams to a doctor and another patient (Orr?) confirms it to be true.

How did he know? He was in the dream too.

Catch 22 is all about the little things. Nothing macroscopic.

Symmetry wrote:

nietzsche wrote:Ok. Which one do I read first, Siddharta or Demian?

The Glass Bead Game, you might like, haven't read Demian, but Siddartha isn't the best intro to his stuff.

I haven't read The Glass Bead Game, but I agree with Symmetry on Siddhartha. Demian is a little faster paced, though both are pretty short and can be read quickly.

If Demian were made into a film, Wes Anderson would direct it. So, if you like Wes Anderson films, but wish they were a little darker, you would like Demian.

So...

Without too much thought, I'd say

Robert Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy
TH White's The Once and Future King
Colin Wilson's Origins of the Sexual Impulse
Larry Gonicks's Cartoon History of the Universe
Alton Brown's Good Eats

I could be persuaded to change my mind about which Heinlein (maybe The Moon is a Harsh Mistress instead), which Colin Wilson (maybe An Introduction to Phenomenological Existentialism instead), and which Gonick (maybe Cartoon History of the New World instead), and for a food book I might go with Pat Chapman's Vegetarian Curry bible instead, in a different mood.