Whats a good book to read for a beginner? (1 Viewer)

[Gregor Samsa]

Does it have to be fantasy and/or science fiction? If not, a couple of shorter, not-that-difficult, but still excellent texts are;

F Scott Fitzgerald-The Great Gatsby.
Arundhati Roy-The God Of Small Things.
Franz Kafka-The Metamorphosis and other Stories. (I prefer the 'Complete Short Stories', but this is better as an introduction.)

These even have literary cred. You know you want to.. Or not.

 

[Collin]

Originally posted by Generator
Grug may be the better option.

Mmm.. Grug is too childish for me err..

 

[jhakka]

Originally posted by Persephone87
I started on animorphs...nothing like alien invasions.

I got up to book 30 and stopped. I heard Rachel died in one of the later ones.

 

[mayhemily]

I guess it depends how *beginner* you are?? I agree with all these guys, grug, animorphs, eddings, hobb, marsden, feist, etc etc etc are all great mate. If LOTR was too long and boringy why not try the hobbit? Maybe get a flash edition that has pictures coz pictures are always fun! what else... im a fantasy buff so all my suggestions have been suggested. Just go to the library or bookstore and buy one that has a pretty cover or sounds interesting!

 

[mayhemily]

edit: Im not as blonde as I sound, really, i'm not...

 

[toryn]

Originally posted by Enlightened_One
Just keep picking books of the shelves until you find one you like.

Ditto.

Judge books by their cover (and blurb) - it doesn't always work, but you can generally tell what you won't like.

 

[lengstar]

Cat in the Hat

 

[malkin86]

I second the Asterix and Obelix series - you can read it as a kid and like it, but you can read it as a teen/adult and pick up on a lot more...

Sometimes movies get their own spinoff books - you could try one of those.

 

[astro]

Black Foxes by Sonya Hartnett only if you can tolerate books based on the Victorian age and some romance

 

[Craig]

If you’re looking for a real entertaining book, which only requires some basic intellectual standards, I recommend Bill Bryson’s 'A Short Story of Nearly Everything'. I've recently read it and really enjoyed it. I wish I had a chance to read it again, but with my trials getting closer I haven't had a chance to do so. Oh well, that’s what after the HSC is for.

 

[crazyhomo]

the hobbit - first book i ever read

 

[steph@nie]

Originally posted by Gregor Samsa

Arundhati Roy-The God Of Small Things.

It took me way too long to actually get into this book. Same goes for Life of Pi.

Most books that are biographical are usually fairly simple and interesting. Try- The Good Women of China- Xinran or Forbidden Love - Norma Khouri. Its a good insight into the lives of others too.

 

[ameh]

Good Reading Guide

Mcleish

 

[Sarah168]

Dr Seuss "Green eggs and Ham"

 

[glycerine]

The first novel I ever read was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe!

Of course, I was 5 at the time. : )

Hmm, Tim Winton is fairly good. Bryce Courtenay. Also, if you're into thrillers, Thomas Harris is good - Red Dragon is, what, 400 pages?

 

[Grey Council]

lmao

you know, i have a sneaking suspicion that Via was not after 100000 different recommendations.

....

and I think Via hasn't read a single one of these suggestions.
hahahahah!

that said, I second Saul's opinion of Catch-22.


a) It'll have you in stitches at times (most times actually, its so damn hilarious)
b) It's not trashy fantasy
c) It's not at all cliched
heh, its been a while since I posted on this forum.

but, what I've noticed is people who read a lot of books tend to never take suggestions from others.
*shrug*
anyone else notice this? It's kinda like, all of us seem to have a certain wierd sense of pride, and hate taking suggestions from others.
:-S

 

[Suvat]

Chicken soup for the soul!!!

 

[Benny_]

I want to read something , i read ( tried reading ) LOTR , but i found it too long and kinda boring . Is there any book that is

- short ( 300-500 pages )
- Interesting all the way

Also i tried reading the david eddings series about the mystical dudes but i kinda lost interest . Any suggestions ??

Well if you have to insist on fantasy, there are 2 directions I think you could take.

No.1 is the Robin Hobb Farseer Trilogy way, it's effortlessly blends fantasy and drama (rather than action). The concept is brilliant, the heroes you'll love, and the bad guys (or really just Regal) is probably the best villain in all fantasy. This story of Fitz (the hero) is concluded in the Fool's Errand trilogy.

The other direction you could take with fantasy is the David Gemmell way.. heroic fantasy at its brainless best. Generally quite formluaic but hot blooded and action packed, it's quite enjoyable, but won't really leave any lasting impression on you.

If you want to read something other than fantasy I'd go for an author by the name of Haruki Murakami. He writes the perfect books for beginners to read and love. I'd stary with his most well known novel "Norwegian Wood"- set in the late 60s about a young Uni student's life and loves, it's poignant and engrossing, but better yet, it's really very easy to read. Follow that up with "South of the Border, West of the Sun" and "Sputnik Sweetheart", both also very simple yet extremely enjoyable novels. Just stay away from "Hard Boiled Wonderland" and "The Windup Bird Chronicle" at the start, as they're more than likely to put you off greatly.

 

[jhakka]

Well if you have to insist on fantasy, there are 2 directions I think you could take.

No.1 is the Robin Hobb Farseer Trilogy way, it's effortlessly blends fantasy and drama (rather than action). The concept is brilliant, the heroes you'll love, and the bad guys (or really just Regal) is probably the best villain in all fantasy. This story of Fitz (the hero) is concluded in the Fool's Errand trilogy.

The other direction you could take with fantasy is the David Gemmell way.. heroic fantasy at its brainless best. Generally quite formluaic but hot blooded and action packed, it's quite enjoyable, but won't really leave any lasting impression on you.

If you want to read something other than fantasy I'd go for an author by the name of Haruki Murakami. He writes the perfect books for beginners to read and love. I'd stary with his most well known novel "Norwegian Wood"- set in the late 60s about a young Uni student's life and loves, it's poignant and engrossing, but better yet, it's really very easy to read. Follow that up with "South of the Border, West of the Sun" and "Sputnik Sweetheart", both also very simple yet extremely enjoyable novels. Just stay away from "Hard Boiled Wonderland" and "The Windup Bird Chronicle" at the start, as they're more than likely to put you off greatly.

You have great taste.

 

[Alex_H86]

The Artemis Fowl series is a good starters series to read. It's about a boy genius, who uses his powers for evil doings, ie making himself more rich, and powerful. THey really are good reads, and they're short.