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I am a book nut! These are my favorites in which I have them both in text and on audio CD (via Audible.com). I know that they all do not fall into the Objectivist mold, but one reads for pleasure too! A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has always been a pleasurable read.

'Tis, by Frank McCourt

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk

Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Convergence by Charles Sheffield

Divergence by Charles Sheffield

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

Everything's Eventual by Stephen King

Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish by Douglas Adams

Song of Susannah: The Dark Tower VI by Stephen King

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

Summertide by Charles

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower VII by Stephen King

The Drawing of the Three: The Dark Tower II by Stephen King

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower I by Stephen King

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand

The Waste Lands: The Dark Tower III by Stephen King

Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

Transcendence: Book 3 of The Heritage Universe by Charles Sheffield

Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV by Stephen King

Wolves of the Calla: Dark Tower V by Stephen King

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All but the lexicon of Rand, all of Rothbard, most of Adam Smith's works, im just starting the a book that has a collection of aristotle's works, i have read hemingway, morrison, kerouac, ginsberg, king, bill o'reilly things, bill clintons memoirs, and i think that about covers it.

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Well I've read the usual novels recommended by Ayn Rand, or featured in S.R. Books and its successors. Of the Hugo novels, I recall liking "93" and "Toilers of the Sea" the best.

What have I liked that one might not expect?

Nabokov: "Pale Fire", "Invitation to a Beheading", "Glory," "The Gift", "Bend Sinister", "Speak Memory", "Pnin". All interesting books stylistically, and Nabokov had a certain traditional respect for independence and pride, and disdain for collectivism.

I liked "My Turn at Bat" by Ted Williams, an autobiographical book about pride applied to baseball.

I liked Homer's "Odyssey"

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My favourite author is Kerouac. I also like some of the books Bradbury wrote. I like Dostoevsky, Homer, Joseph Heller, Vonnegut, and George Orwell. Right now I'm reading Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre which I am enjoying. I like many other authors/books but I can't recall them at this time.

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Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre

I could only suggest the greatest caution in reading him.

I myself enjoy both of the Homeric Epics, though I prefer the Odyssey above the Iliad. I also enjoy reading Sophocles (Oedipus Trilogy), as well as somebody less familiar to many people in today's world-Euripides. If anybody has the chance, I highly suggest Euripides plays, especially Medea and Andromache, for their sheer psychological power and insight.

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I read books on Greco-Roman history, military, and philosophy.

Recently have read (in the last month)...

Cicero by Anthony Everitt

Anthem by Ayn Rand

How Capitalism Saved America by Dilorenzo

Going to read soon...

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

The Revolutionary Writtings of John Adams by John Adams and C. Bradley Thompson

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I could only suggest the greatest caution in reading him.

I myself enjoy both of the Homeric Epics, though I prefer the Odyssey above the Iliad.  I also enjoy reading Sophocles (Oedipus Trilogy), as well as somebody less familiar to many people in today's world-Euripides.  If anybody has the chance, I highly suggest Euripides plays, especially Medea and Andromache, for their sheer psychological power and insight.

I have read Homer (I do not recall which epic), the Oedipus trilogy (very good in my opinion), and in my past I read some Euripides (I also own some of his works).

As for Sartre, thank you for the word of caution, but the book intrigues me too much to put down at this point. However I would like to know why you caution me.

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All AR and VH.

Fredric Brown( From These Ashes, Martians and Madness)

Frederick Pohl (The World at the End of Time, The Far Shore of Time, Seige of Eternity, The Other End of Time)

Robert Heinlein ( Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walked Through Walls)

Dostoyevsky, (Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Devils)

S. Angus, (The Mystery Religions)

George Reisman, Capitalism

Wilhelm Windleband, A History of Philosophy

Paul Johnson, A History of the American People

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Robert Heinlein ( Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walked Through Walls)

Are those the only Heinleins you've read? If so, I recommend his earlier books, which are a lot better. My faves are Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Some of my favorite authors: Ayn Rand, Robert Heinlein, Paul Johnson, William Manchester, Barbara Tuchman, Victor Hugo, John McPhee, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, Isaac Asimov, Jack London, John Keegan, David McCulloch, lots more that I can't remember right now.

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Here are a few works I haven't seen posted here yet:

The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay

This is a coming of age story set in South Africa. A young boy learns to cultivate both his mind and his body and stands up to injustice along the way. It's a marvelous story.

La nuit des temps - Rene Barjavel

A girl (now my wife) recommended this French sci-fi classic and I couldn't put it down. I mention it because of the VH fans on the board. I'm not sure if you're reading in the native text, but this is really engaging. The only English version of it I've seen only translates about a third of the sentences, sadly.

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

Imagine if Aristotle had not only guided us on Ethics and Poetry but also Humor! And then imagine what the church would have done about it. This is the story of a monk as pro-reason detective (quite an accomplishment in his context) set during the Inquisition.

That's all for now. :lol:

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Eventually I'm hoping to read everything by Ayn Rand. Now I've read the lexicon, the Virtue of Selfishness, We the Living, Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Anthem, and The Return of the Primitive. I've started Philosophy:Who Needs It?.

Besides that, I love Harry Potter, Tolkein though the Silmarillion was a bit much, Sherlock Holmes is always fun... I've started the Nichomoccean Ethics -Is that spelled right?- I highly reccomend Jonathan Gullible even though its a children's book of sorts, it has a lot of political implications which are interesting, such as a food police and a democracy gang. :)

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TwoSixTwo, what a nice surprise to read your Rene Barjavel recommendation.

Back in eighth grade, I was nearly mesmerized by an English translation of his "The Ice People," a short novel about the discovery of the ruins of an advanced civilization buried in Antarctica. (Considering reactions to my comments on the earlier sci-fi thread, I should point out that my positive recollection of "The Ice People" in this context does not constitute an endorsement of the ancient societies portrayed therein, Barjavel's other works, metaphysics, ethics, or politics.)

Ran across a tattered copy of "The Ice People" at a booksale recently, so I had Barjavel on the mind. I'm curious what you like about "La nuit des temps," and if you've read any other of his works. Unfortunately my French is so rusty I'd probably never get through a Barjavel original! But I know through recent Internet research that at least a few Barjavel novels have been translated into English.

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Recent great reads:

Edward Cline*: "Sparrowhawk I-III". (Terrific historic novel series about the ideas and events of the United States' founding. There will ultimately be five parts, if I remember right.)

Rawicz : "The Long Walk". (About a group of men's heroic escape to freedom from the Siberian gulag -- I absolutely couldn't put it down.)

Mickey Spillane: "The Mike Hammer Collection" vol. I and II (hardboiled detective stories with surprising plots.)

*Ed Cline, BTW, is one of the few authors who have succeeded, through years, and years of relentless hard work to achieve his own independent style as a romantic-realist author inspired by Ayn Rand. It's a truly heroic effort, and the result is wonderful literature.

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As for Sartre, thank you for the word of caution, but the book intrigues me too much to put down at this point. However I would like to know why you caution me.

I've seen people with amazing potential turn into garbage reading Sartre. His views may seem very interesting, but if you aren't careful, he'll grab ahold of what spirit you have and tear it to shreds.

Try this link

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=ignorance_and_peace

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Last year I picked up Sartre's Age of Reason (for $.50 at Goodwill) because read a good review of it. Sorry to say it was a struggle to get through the first one-third of the book before I tossed it in the trash. I felt each page as an assault on my sense of life and kept wondering to myself why the author thought anyone should be interested in the story or any of its characters. I cared for none of them and now I have no clue as to what happened to them. If I ever wonder about how it ends all I have to do is imagine them sitting around a bare table in a musty little room obsessing over themselves and what others think of them. Blah!

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Last year I picked up Sartre's Age of Reason (for $.50 at Goodwill) because read a good review of it.  Sorry to say it was a struggle to get through the first one-third of the book before I tossed it in the trash....If I ever wonder about how it ends all I have to do is imagine them sitting around a bare table in a musty little room obsessing over themselves and what others think of them. Blah!

So I imagine you never liked the show Seinfeld?

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I'm curious what you like about "La nuit des temps," and if you've read any other of his works.

Hi MarkusH--

I read it a while ago but what I remember is digging the love story and loving the intrigue and adventure involved in discovering the mystery of what the antarctic team had found. I also enjoyed his sort of choral voice, the technique he used to expose what individuals around the world thought of events related to the discovery. When a big decision was made or something newsworthy was broadcast, he would cut to a family eating dinner, for example. You would get the banal opinion from most of the family but then, say, one member of the family would clearly recognize the beauty of the discovery.

I've also read Ravage, which I also enjoyed but less the La nuit. Now that I'm responding to this, I just remembered Le voyageur imprudent. That was a great one, too! It was a story about time travel. You have the eccentric scientist, the time traveler, and if I recall correctly, you have--oops that would spoil the story!

Thanks for getting me to think about Barjavel again. I actually got the old paperback out again and enjoyed looking at the lines I had underlined and the words that I had to look up. Looking at one of the circled words reminded me that my wife (like I said, before she was my wife) picked the book up while I was only part way through and asked why I had circled a particular word. I told her that I was going to have to look it up. She wrote the definition in for me. I remember because it was her handwriting. That little memory gem you helped me find was from more than ten years ago, before we were married.

Any books that you can recommend?

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  • 1 month later...
Are those the only Heinleins you've read? If so, I recommend his earlier books, which are a lot better. My faves are Starship Troopers and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Some of my favorite authors: Ayn Rand, Robert Heinlein, Paul Johnson, William Manchester, Barbara Tuchman, Victor Hugo, John McPhee, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, Isaac Asimov, Jack London, John Keegan, David McCulloch, lots more that I can't remember right now.

Boy, you weren't kidding about the later works. I really have no idea what The Cat Who Walks Through Walls was about. Did the cat have anything to do with the story? I can't tell if he did or not. It could have been a very good book from some of the specks of ideas that flew by me half-formed. It is as if he did not take a single note to plan that work.

I am, however, into Stranger in a Strange Land, and that, so far, is a lot better.

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Oh, just wait. That one will get about as loopy as they get.  :D

I don't mind loopy, Fredric Brown is my all-time favorite science fiction writer followed by Frederic Pohl. Are you saying it gets loopy as in I won't understand what the hell is going on? Or, are you saying that is gets really weird and way out there man? I like to have my mind blown when I am reading science fiction.

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