I loved that book of Robert Pirsig, but to say that it is a philosophical book? No, I would not. It is a beautiful travel and the narrator is struggling with his attitude towards life having the feeling to experience something beautiful and very worthwile.
I would call it a grasping-life book or a gateway to philosophy book. It makes you ready to start reading real philosophers. Enjoyed every moment reading it and it inspired me to start reading the books of the philosophers themselves.
Hmmm.. I fall asleep when reading fiction. I enjoy books like Michael Lewis - liars poker or John Helyar - barbarians at the gate, that tell about real things. Books like peter the great by robert massie or anything by barbara tuchman. Biographies of great people, historical events, odd personalities like fischer, oscar wilde..
Marie Antoinette -historical fiction, can't remember author.
Day of the Triffids -sci fi by John Wyndham
I really got hot when I saw Janette Scott fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills...
there's nothing wrong with pulp fiction, trying hard to read a book makes me mad. i read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' once on a really quiet 8 hour train journey. Never again, the guy was tapped who wrote it.
I was reading that thing at a track meet in high school. When I finished the 1600 m, it was gone.
I didn't finish reading it until about 12 years later. I wish it had stayed lost.
Wow! I wiki'd it and it is a philosophy book which sold 5 million copies!?
That's weird...I thought philosophy books were never supposed to make money
Try getting poetry published, miha.
Page four and no William Faulkner?
Start with Go Down, Moses. Maybe it's not his best novel, but critics argue whether it is a novel or just a collection of stories. I believe that it holds together well as a whole.
Of course, the great American novel is The Brothers K by David James Duncan. No, it has nothing to do with a Russian novel with a similar name. The Brothers K is about baseball. Not only baseball, though.
I've gone through phases with novelists where I've read most of what they've written:
Kurt Vonnegut
Richard Brautigan
William Faulkner
Jack Kerouac
John Milton
With regard to Faulkner and Milton, I've stopped including them on lists because I get tired of defending them against readers who are lazy, put off by writing style or overwhelmed by them.
For escapist reading, I like Crighton and Ludlum.
Page four and no William Faulkner?
Start with Go Down, Moses. Maybe it's not his best novel, but critics argue whether it is a novel or just a collection of stories. I believe that it holds together well as a whole.
Of course, the great American novel is The Brothers K by David James Duncan. No, it has nothing to do with a Russian novel with a similar name. The Brothers K is about baseball. Not only baseball, though.
I've gone through phases with novelists where I've read most of what they've written:
Kurt Vonnegut
Richard Brautigan
William Faulkner
Jack Kerouac
John Milton
With regard to Faulkner and Milton, I've stopped including them on lists because I get tired of defending them against readers who are lazy, put off by writing style or overwhelmed by them.
For escapist reading, I like Crighton and Ludlum.
Defend with courage, for you know that you value art and language.
What's this "defend" stuff? Are there any mature people who think attacking someone about what they enjoy reading makes any sense? I think Milton is boring as heck but if you enjoy it, I couldn't care less. Why would anyone care that you enjoy reading Milton?
Nice. I have a fair amount of courage.
Catch-22.
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
It's as difficult to name a favourite novel as it is to name a favourite chess player or favourite artist and it changes from day to day. But I like Graham Greene so why not Our Man in Havana if I must pick one.
You are welcome. 'Bezonken Rood', 'Geheime Kamers' en 'Winterlicht' are my favourites.
It's not fun reading like you would expect fun reading to be, but when you look through the misery, he is just great. His most famous oneliner is probably: "my cause of death will be disgust." But like I said you have to read through it. And when you do, it is all very vulnerable.
Thanks for the reminder. I have read 'Bezonken rood' ('Sunken Red' about a man and his childhood in a concentration camp of the Japanese in WWII) and it was beautiful!
there's nothing wrong with pulp fiction, trying hard to read a book makes me mad. i read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' once on a really quiet 8 hour train journey. Never again, the guy was tapped who wrote it.
I was reading that thing at a track meet in high school. When I finished the 1600 m, it was gone.
I didn't finish reading it until about 12 years later. I wish it had stayed lost.
i know what you mean, i left my copy on the train
Right, they're supposed to die before their books sell. But Robert Pirsig--the author of the book--is still alive! I imagine that Simone De Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault were wealthy philosophers. Noam Chomsky must be pretty wealthy as well. Ludwig Wittgenstein was wealthy because of his family, but they say he gave up the fortune. Bertrand Russell I believe was wealthy?