I actually really enjoy some depth and philosophical works you can think about for days and not understand them for years, as Goethe, Nietzsche, Voltaire etc. but what recently (half year about) really interests me is the 20th century American literature. These are probably the first generations that really tie down all boundaries of language (Burgess !! but ok he was a Briton), style and content. If someone wants to discuss and post (but only books that are really really great and not "I just liked it somehow") some of these really great authors, there you go.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey This is the absolutely best book I ever read in my life and I read quite a lot of 'em. It is a must-read for everyone that is interested in literature. All plays in a psychiatry, where the occupants are confronted with a certain nurse and the "combine". Long long before "the Matrix" it already created a genious analysis of human society, its systems, the psyche etc. This novel also gave birth to the most fascinating character in literature's history - Chief Bromden. Ken Kesey himself travelled with the famous Merry Pranksters and was deeply confronted with LSD - he participated in Acid Tests and the infamous MKULTRA. His experience with psychiatrists, drugs, society were all digested in this famous novel. Read it!
On the Road - Jack Kerouac The most famous novel of the Beat Generation is all about free life. It is about the attempt to break out of the boundaries of society to live a free life - on the road. This book is very autobiographic. This novel is really really good, I absolutely enjoyed it. The beatniks were by the way the first ones to bring the cannabis/drug culture to the USA. Jack Kerouac was very interested in Zen and writes about it in his novels The Dharma Bums, Tristessa. I didn't read these two... yet. ety to live a free life - on the road. This book is very autobiographic. This novel is really really good, I absolutely enjoyed it. The beatniks were by the Dean Moriarty is by the way a really really interesting character.
Howl - Allen Ginsberg A poem written by Allen Ginsberg, partially dadaistic and no-future. It is very good although I am quite conservative when talking about poems... but definately something to read.
The Catcher in the Rye I am reading it now at full speed and am really fascinated. Maybe rather something for the younger ones (the protagonist is 17yo) but, yeah, fascinating. Funny is, that quite some villains were fans of this novel - Mark David Chapman, Charles Manson, John Hinckley, Jr., ...
The Beach - Alex Garland A quite recent work but I think it is very interesting. If you only watched the movie - you have no idea. This book is all about, if we humans can build up a paradise, an eden, if we are given the perfect environment therefore or if we will stumble over our humanity and fall. Cool book.
I am planning to read the Lord of the Flies and the Great Gatsby...
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey This is the absolutely best book I ever read in my life and I read quite a lot of 'em. It is a must-read for everyone that is interested in literature. All plays in a psychiatry, where the occupants are confronted with a certain nurse and the "combine". Long long before "the Matrix" it already created a genious analysis of human society, its systems, the psyche etc. This novel also gave birth to the most fascinating character in literature's history - Chief Bromden. Ken Kesey himself travelled with the famous Merry Pranksters and was deeply confronted with LSD - he participated in Acid Tests and the infamous MKULTRA. His experience with psychiatrists, drugs, society were all digested in this famous novel. Read it!
On the Road - Jack Kerouac The most famous novel of the Beat Generation is all about free life. It is about the attempt to break out of the boundaries of society to live a free life - on the road. This book is very autobiographic. This novel is really really good, I absolutely enjoyed it. The beatniks were by the way the first ones to bring the cannabis/drug culture to the USA. Jack Kerouac was very interested in Zen and writes about it in his novels The Dharma Bums, Tristessa. I didn't read these two... yet. ety to live a free life - on the road. This book is very autobiographic. This novel is really really good, I absolutely enjoyed it. The beatniks were by the Dean Moriarty is by the way a really really interesting character.
Howl - Allen Ginsberg A poem written by Allen Ginsberg, partially dadaistic and no-future. It is very good although I am quite conservative when talking about poems... but definately something to read.
The Catcher in the Rye I am reading it now at full speed and am really fascinated. Maybe rather something for the younger ones (the protagonist is 17yo) but, yeah, fascinating. Funny is, that quite some villains were fans of this novel - Mark David Chapman, Charles Manson, John Hinckley, Jr., ...
The Beach - Alex Garland A quite recent work but I think it is very interesting. If you only watched the movie - you have no idea. This book is all about, if we humans can build up a paradise, an eden, if we are given the perfect environment therefore or if we will stumble over our humanity and fall. Cool book.
I am planning to read the Lord of the Flies and the Great Gatsby...
