Favorite Books/Authors

[ElectricMayhem1]

I know. Stories from the Holocaust are just so sad.
I hear a lot of stories from my relatives on my father side. He has relatives who are survivors.

They sure are................your dad is Jewish??

 

[ElectricMayhem1]

Yeah. I heard stories of his father who climbed up that wall into France to escape from the Nazis. His mother also, lived in Hungary when the war broke out there. They never were put in a camp though but they still had horrifying stories.

Wow.......that's good that they were never put in Camps........

 

[newsmanfan]

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Personal histories are just as fascinating as fiction, IMHO. Glad yours made it through, Muppet fan 123. I was asst stage manager for a production of "Diary of Anne Frank" once and even backstage there wasn't a dry eye at the end, although we all had seen/heard it dozens of times. Powerful stuff.

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[The Shoe Fairy]

Author-wise : Shaun Tan, Neil Gaiman, Matthew Reilly, Nick Cave, Ray Bradbury, C.S. Lewis,Michael Crichton, Maurice Sendak, Art Spiegelman

With regard to individual books, I'm a big fan of biographies/autobiographies (Stuff on artists, autism and drug addiction I find the most interesting), I really enjoyed Catcher in the Rye in retrospect, but only in intepreting it my own way and not being force fed the dirt sandwich of a meaning my English teacher thought it had - that ruined the experience of the book when I read it, I couldn't find any deeper meaning. My main issue with books as novels is that there are very few I read and immensely enjoy throughout, or find a proper meaning embedded in them (if there is). This is why I much prefer visual literature - picture books, comics, graphic novels - and actively challenge the notion that such media is aimed at children (this is where Japan got it right). Most of the stuff I read now is just because I have an obligation to do so for school and that annoys me. If anyone can reccomend me something dark/gritty but with philosophical themes, I'm all for it.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I really enjoyed Catcher in the Rye in retrospect, but only in intepreting it my own way and not being force fed the dirt sandwich of a meaning my English teacher thought it had - that ruined the experience of the book when I read it, I couldn't find any deeper meaning.

Care to pm me what you teacher told you? I'm kind of interested in what s/he said

 

[CensoredAlso]

I really enjoyed Catcher in the Rye in retrospect, but only in intepreting it my own way and not being force fed the dirt sandwich of a meaning my English teacher thought it had - that ruined the experience of the book when I read it, I couldn't find any deeper meaning.

Care to pm me what you teacher told you? I'm kind of interested in what s/he said

Shoe Fairy, I'd also like to know what your teacher said, and what your interpretation was, because I found a lot of deeper meaning in Catcher in the Rye. Not saying it's the same as your teacher's, but like I said I'm just curious.

If anyone can reccomend me something dark/gritty but with philosophical themes, I'm all for it.

Yes, Catcher in the Rye.

 

[ElectricMayhem1]

I'm just reading Rutka's Notebook: A voice from the Holocaust By: Rutka Laskier!..it's sad........

 

[newsmanfan]

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Shoe Fairy, I would suggest, although both are "classic lit" and not illustrated: "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
"Being There" by Jerzy Kosinski

Both are dark, dreamy, and ultimately a little unsettling -- I personally found "Being There" both funny and terrifying. (The movie, with Peter Sellers, is good, but please read the book first!)

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[Sgt Floyd]

Aw, Flowers for Algernon was sad. I read both the short story and saw the movie. I don't usually cry over those things but Flowers for Algernon really got to me.

 

[charlietheowl]

I'm reading The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. It's really sad but really good. I'm gonna have to find a movie version of it after I've finished reading it.