New users: Please register in the usual way and then send an email to jasper(at)jasperfforde.com with your username, and write something 'Ffordesque' so we know you are a real reader, and not some idiot trying to flood the forum with dodgy Nike and Gucci gear. Thank you - Jasper
I've taken to reading whatever some kind soul has left on the train for that purpose. It was a very ordinary spy thriller last week.
I'm thinking of investing in a couple of spare copies of certain books to leave on trains. Maybe with a note inside encouraging other people to do the same. Like a travelling library project.
As I am probably the only person on the Fforum who actively dislikes JS & MN you may find my my suggestions less to your taste. However, here goes
Any Wodehouse - they are all brilliant and yes, Blandings are as good a place to start as any.
Wells - particularly "The Time Machine"
Tolstoy - "War & Peace"
George Grosmith - "Diary of a Nobody"
RL Stevenson -"Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes"
Happy reading!
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
My computer beat me at chess, but I won at kickboxing
If you like sci-fi, I would highly suggest the "Ender's Game" saga by Orson Scott Card.
"Ender's Game"
"Speaker for the Dead"
"Xenocide"
"Children of the Mind"
WARNING: These books are not, by any stretch of the imagination classics. Still, they are truly amazing pieces of literature.
Only read three shorts, but they were pretty readable.
Dave Freer is also quite good.
__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
'The Glass Key' by Dashiell Hammett. A genuine crime classic and far better than Chandler. Just don't try to type Hammett's name as it's guaranteed you'll never get the correct number of m's, t's or l's!
Egon - Thanks for recommending A Tale of two cities, I was put off Dickens a long time ago when I had to read Hard Times at college but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Yes, 'A Tale of Two Cities' is actually good! I had trouble with 'David Copperfield' and 'The Pickwick Papers' but I made it through ATOT easily. Also, try 'The Moonstone' and 'The Woman in White' if you get a chance; Wilkie Collins is king of the 'one read' classic as once you know the endings you'll never want to read them again.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2008 02:28PM by EgonSpengler.