"If you enjoyed _______, you'll like _____" [Archive]

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skipshady

10 Mar 2003, 05:43 PM

I don't know how well this would work but I'd like to get recommendations based on what I liked and disliked and other posters can do the same.

So let's see:
I enjoyed Franzen's Corrections but not The Twenty-Seventh City. What will I like?

La Brujita

10 Mar 2003, 08:26 PM

Two suggestions:

1. Everything is Illuminated
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

bungadiri

11 Mar 2003, 08:16 AM

If you like John Le Carre, you will like Alan Furst.

(Start with Night Soldiers.)

skipshady

11 Mar 2003, 09:20 AM

Originally posted by La Brujita
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Thanks. I've heard about this, and seen it stacked mile-high at Barnes & Noble. I'll check it out.

Dolemite

13 Mar 2003, 02:25 AM

Originally posted by La Brujita

2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

really great book. Chabon is one of my favorite authors.

TheLimeChicken

27 Mar 2003, 08:17 PM

Finished Eco's Foucault's Pendulum at work today. Absolutely loved it, I struggled to put it down at all. However, in the same vein I hated Gravity's Rainbow, I can't say why I just couldn't get into it at all....Any recommendations on what I should pick up next?

ross from st paul

27 Mar 2003, 08:41 PM

Originally posted by TheLimeChicken
Finished Eco's Foucault's Pendulum at work today. Absolutely loved it, I struggled to put it down at all. However, in the same vein I hated Gravity's Rainbow, I can't say why I just couldn't get into it at all....Any recommendations on what I should pick up next?

wow....apart from having a WAY-BETTER BS ID than me, TheLimeChicken and I could've been twin siblings!!! i LOVED "Foucault's Pendulum," even though I needed a full compliment of "World Book" on hand just to get through each page! But, much as the literati tell me I must, I haven't been able to muster an appreciation for "Gravity's Rainbow." I tried...REALLY, I tried...

TLC: a suggestion: "The Tin Drum," Gunter Grass. Possibly my favorite novel ever.
skip: "the autobiography of jimmy bong." sorry....old grudges die hard! :-)

DoctorJones24

27 Mar 2003, 09:37 PM

TheLimeChicken

27 Mar 2003, 09:59 PM

Originally posted by DoctorJones24
Should we assume you've read "The Name of the Rose?" If not, get it NOW.

Actually Foucault's Pendulum was my first experience with Eco. As a matter of fact that and GR were my first venture's into fiction since high school, I went to through a long period where it was all non-fiction all the time. So no matter what the recommendation, chances are 90% I haven't read it.

I would like to go for another one of Eco's pieces. All the reviews I've read are pointing me towards The Name of the Rose, but I'm also intrigued by Island of the Day Before (I think I got the title right). I'm not sure which way I should go first there. Heck, even Baudolino looks more than interesting to me, but I'm a cheap bastard who's not going to pay for a hardcover. Of course all I have to go on are what I read on the dustjackets my last trip into the bookstore.

TheLimeChicken

27 Mar 2003, 10:08 PM

Originally posted by ross from st paul

TLC: a suggestion: "The Tin Drum," Gunter Grass. Possibly my favorite novel ever.
skip: "the autobiography of jimmy bong." sorry....old grudges die hard! :-)

Just looked at this one out on Amazon, does look interesting, but to be honest WWII is not one of my favorite settings....I think I just took too many German history classes in college. Still, it'll be on my list next time I make a trip to the bookstore and who knows, maybe I'll be moved to bring it home with me. (Of course, I can't afford to make that trip until I get my next paycheck which is a couple weeks away.)

ross from st paul

27 Mar 2003, 10:31 PM

Originally posted by TheLimeChicken
Just looked at this one out on Amazon, does look interesting, but to be honest WWII is not one of my favorite settings....I think I just took too many German history classes in college. Still, it'll be on my list next time I make a trip to the bookstore and who knows, maybe I'll be moved to bring it home with me. (Of course, I can't afford to make that trip until I get my next paycheck which is a couple weeks away.)

fair enough, TLC. not my place to pimp fiction, since i'm in the same boat as you (as regards only reading non-ficton) these days.
but, in grass's defense, WWII is a relatively minor plot point...in my opinion, more to do with the post-versailles rise of fascism, and a kid's desire to "not partake." (zoinks!!! do i REALLY sound that pretentious?!?!?! yup.) :-)