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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 30, 2012 - 11:40am PT
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I know there is the 'What Book' thread, but I'm being specific.
I just finished reading Stephen Kings Dark Tower series. It was epic.
I'm a fan of T.C Boyle, Neil Gaiman, Jared Diamond (nonfiction), Ed Abbey, and Tom Robbins, among others.
Any thoughts?
I say thankee sai in advance.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:41am PT
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Tom Robbins
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2012 - 11:41am PT
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Good one, read it.
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Leggs
Sport climber
A true CA girl, who landed in the desert...
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:44am PT
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"Skinny Legs and All" T. Robbins
:)
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:46am PT
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Leggs.....so now, whenever I see your nick I'll be thinking of Sissy.
A sobering historical novel: Umberto Eco "The Prague Spring".
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2012 - 11:48am PT
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To be clear, I've read all of Robbins books. They are great and I love his style.
:)
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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:49am PT
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Tinker Tailor-John Le carre
Spy who came in from the cold-John Le carre-don't miss the movie w/ Richard Burton
Zone One- Colson Whitehead-post hipster zombie Novel
Tierra Del Fuego-Francisco Coloane, lyrical tall tales and natural of Patagonia
The Power of the Dog and The The Sheep Queen-Thomas Savage
train Dreams-Denis Johnson
Blood Meridian-Cormac McCarthy
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:49am PT
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How about the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy of historical fiction that
captured life in Norway during the Middle Ages so well that it earned
Sigrid Undset the Nobel Prize? Who can resist a cheery tale about the
Black Death?
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Chango
Trad climber
norcal
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:50am PT
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One of my favorite books is "West With The Night" by Beryl Markham. She was the only woman bush pilot in Africa in the 1930's. The book is about her adventures during that time and place.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:50am PT
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Geek Love
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:51am PT
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Le Carre in the 21st century
A Most Wanted Man
A great historical novel about the West
Wallace Stegner "Angle of Repose"
Bump for "West With The Night"
Classic sea adventure "Sailing Alone Around The World"
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plund
Social climber
OD, MN
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:57am PT
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John McPhee "Annals of the Former World"
Orson Scott Card "Ender" series & "Alvin Maker/Hatrack River" series
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nature
climber
Boulder, CO
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:58am PT
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the mahabharata
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:58am PT
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"The Great Shark Hunt" by H.S. Thompson, one of many to enjoy
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:01pm PT
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Fastest growing thread of the week.
Steinbeck "East Of Eden"
Drive the hillroads around Greenfield and King City and you can almost relive the novel.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2012 - 12:11pm PT
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Locker, I haven't read it.
Does it have a 'happy ending'?
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2012 - 12:14pm PT
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Never mind, that was my feeble attempt at a joke.
I'll check it out, thanks man.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:14pm PT
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I'm wondering why Locker is being so modest
as to not tout his masterpieces - Into The Blue and Into The Glue.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:15pm PT
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Brandon, have you read hearts in Atlantis? It's another excellent king novel with loose ties to the dark tower series..
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:16pm PT
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Come on locker!! Happy ending! I thought you'd be all over that!! ;)
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:28pm PT
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...and our loss. ;-)
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2012 - 12:30pm PT
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Lame. I like the crass Locker.
I felt as if I was playing slow pitch softball, and you whiffed.
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deschamps
Trad climber
Out and about
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:30pm PT
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I just finished Atlas Shrugged. It's the best book I have ever read.
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smith curry
climber
nashville,TN
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:51pm PT
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"Cloud Atlas" David Mitchell--- Simply amazing.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:51pm PT
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How about...."To delete or not to delete" by Insecure Threadstarter- great read!
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:52pm PT
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Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne.
Rereading it and am reminded just how awesome his prose is.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 30, 2012 - 12:55pm PT
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Hey, bite me Jim!
I went with Blood Meridian.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 12:59pm PT
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In no particular order of preference:
Hemingway:
For Whom the Bells Toll
A Farewell to Arms
Garcia Marquez:
Love in the Time of Cholera
One Hundred Years of Solitude
DeLillo:
White Noise
Libra
Camus, The Plague
Malraux, Man's Fate
Dickens:
Nicholas Nickleby
Mystery of Edwin Drood
Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
Heller, Catch 22
Bernard Malamud, The Fixer
Nathaniel West:
Miss Lonely Hearts
Night of the Locust
You can tell I don't read too many contemporary authors. Just so much good older stuff to read. Lately I've gravitated toward nonfiction. "Cadillac Desert" is a great read but an omen to the future water problems of the West. Sebastian Junger and John Krakauer are well represented in this category too.
So many good books; so little time.
Edit: thought of a few more
Stevenson:
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde
Treasure Island
Conan Doyle:
Hounds of the Baskervilles
Lost World
Wells:
The Time Machine
War of the Worlds
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:01pm PT
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Locker is reformed??? That's it. I quit. See you guys never.... ;)
Ya right......
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Bad Acronym
climber
Little Death Hollow
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:06pm PT
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"Money" - Martin Amis
"Pontypool Changes Everything" - Tony Burgess
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:08pm PT
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Will you be allowed to do the "other gender" Saints? If not, there's this guy Lucifer I'd like you to meet.
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John M
climber
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:11pm PT
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Do books come and go for you?
I loved the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series and also
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I laughed so hard reading these books tears would roll down my face.
but when I went to reread them they fell flat.
I'm coming up blank right now for a recommendation. Been reading mostly junk right now.
If you like the Jack Reacher character, then try Craig Johnson's Longmire books.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:26pm PT
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What was his complaint? The glass was too thick?? ;)
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:30pm PT
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Just finished this book; Excellent read:
The Art of Fielding
By Chad Harbach
528 pages; Little, Brown and Company
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:38pm PT
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"The Power of the Dog and The The Sheep Queen-Thomas Savage"
BOOM! More proof that the internet is a giagantic brain!
Read those, especially the first.
Plus, you cant go wrong with Tolstoy or Chekov!
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 01:43pm PT
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If you like the Edward Abby prose, you might also like Cormac McCarthy. It's a very different, more spare writing style than I normally read, but I'm enjoying it a lot. Subject matter is fairly dark and bleak though.
I never heard of Wilbur Smith until a few years ago, but I've read 20+ books by him since then. Pirate adventures, early exploration/conquests in Africa, etc. Great for simple entertainment, but a notch higher writing quality than Michael Crichton or Tom Clancy or other authors that typically end up as blockbuster hollywood movies. I've never read or been interested in Stephen King, so can't compare to that.
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weezy
climber
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Nov 30, 2012 - 02:03pm PT
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I went with Blood Meridian.
Hooo, buddy. Get ready for this one.
I've read BM three times and I'm still trying to sort it out. I probably think about the epilogue more than any other piece of fiction I've read.
Also, Portnoy's Complaint has one of the best "punchlines" to end a book ever.
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John M
climber
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Nov 30, 2012 - 02:48pm PT
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Hey Nutjob.. I just started reading wilbur smith. Got any recommendations?
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
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Nov 30, 2012 - 02:49pm PT
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Latest book to purchase and am reading; THE SECRET RACE, Tyler Hamilton - a real eye opener!
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Nov 30, 2012 - 04:24pm PT
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Anatoli Boukreev
"The Climb"
The alternate reality of the Everest South Col disaster.
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 04:47pm PT
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John M, from what I've found you can't go wrong with Wilbur Smith.
But it's most enjoyable if you read a given series in the right order so you follow the development of generations of people and get the back stories. The author suggests reading them in the order in which he wrote them. I might have preferred to read more strictly chronological, but that is harder to figure out before you start. Either order is probably fine- just a different experience.
My first was "Seventh Scroll" which is a modern setting dealing with Egyptian antiquities, adventure exploration mixed with puzzle solving where modern explorers pit their intellect against a dude from thousands of years ago who set up traps to foil tomb raiders. There is a whole series of books that occur in that distant past, which are quite good. At first they are strictly historical/realistic, but then there are some supernatural overtones added into a few books toward the end of that series as it morphs into a different series pivoting on one of the characters.
There is another long series that tracks the Courtney family for many generations, from the 1500s/1600s in England and early privateering sea voyages, the coastal exploration of Africa and the Middle East and the conflicts of mixing cultures, toward the full hunting/conquest/exploration of the interior of Africa, and gold mining and the development of Johannesburg, and international colonial power struggles, world wars, diamond mining, the underpinnings of Apartheid in South Africa, white vs. white and white vs. black and black vs. black struggles, the pre-history of Mandela's rise to prominence. All of this is the historical background for blood and guts and love in sometimes too much detail, swashbuckling and hunting adventures and wars, visions of beautiful landscapes, deaths and births, and just good time-passing fiction.
After you've read tens of thousands of pages of his stuff, some hunting scenes get repetitive (especially because I'm not a hunter). But it's a credit to the author that he maintained my interest for so long and I was sad when I finished the last books. Some authors are good because they have an important message to convey and you feel the raw truth of what they write. Others are good because they have finely honed their craft as a writer, regardless of the subject matter. I enjoy reading Wilbur Smith for his mastery of the craft of writing in an immersive and entertaining way. And yet the sweep of history I've absorbed from his writing goes far beyond anything else I learned in school, and that perspective/experience is also quite valuable for me.
Here's one book that is pretty stand-alone, set in the early days of the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa:
http://www.wilbursmithbooks.com/books/courtney/rage
Ken Follett is another author who does nice historical fiction that expands my awareness.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Nov 30, 2012 - 09:07pm PT
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Do you want to laugh and cry? I do.
The Art of Racing in the Rain
How Evan Broke His Head
...both by Garth Stein....these are MUST reads for people that read.
True Grit-Portis....read it 4 times..twice this year.
Sin Killer- Larry McMurtry...the first in a classic trilogy/guadrilogy
War Horse-Michael Morpurgo
Historical
Over the Edge of the World-Laurence Bergreen....about Magellan
Blue Latitudes-Tony Horwitz...about Captain Cook
Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea-Gary Kinder...about true treasure recovery
These are just a quick few. I've got a million of 'em.
oh yeah, if you are interested in sport I second "The Secret Race"- Tyler Hamilton
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Mark Sensenbach
climber
CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 09:33pm PT
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The Last Dive
I really liked it. Easy and fun.
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Michelle
Trad climber
Toshi's Station, picking up power converters.
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Nov 30, 2012 - 09:39pm PT
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Twilight series.
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Michelle
Trad climber
Toshi's Station, picking up power converters.
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Nov 30, 2012 - 09:44pm PT
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just kidding.
The Sparrow, by Maria Doria Russell: fascinating
2nd the Plague
The Alchemist, Paolo Coehlo
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cuvvy
Sport climber
arkansas
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:33pm PT
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I believe its called To the edge of the world. About. Magellans almost round the world trip.
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:38pm PT
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Following Atticus
by Tom Ryan
You're in the Granite State, and it's the story of a guy who climbs all of NH's 4k footers with his dog.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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Nov 30, 2012 - 11:41pm PT
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Based on King/gaiman, try Neal Stevenson.
Start with snowcrash and if you like it, cryptonomicon..
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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drljefe
you got the ISBN# for that?
;-)
It's in the Fantasy Fiction section, right?
The Art of Racing in the Rain ^^^^^^
More climbing documentaries (sort of)
"Seven Years In Tibet"
Heinrich Harrer
HW Tilman
"The Seven Mountain Travel Books"
"The Eight Sailing/Mountain Exploration Books"
In the "no one will ever experience this again" category
Paul Theroux
"Riding the Red Rooster"
A unique and chilling insight into Nazi Germany and the psychopaths who ran the show:
"In the Garden Of Beasts"
Larson
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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"Lost ye way in the dark, said the old man. He stirred the fire, standing slender tusks of bone up out of the ashes.
The kid didn't answer.
The old man swung his head back and forth. The way of the transgressor is hard. God made the world, but he didnt make it to suit everybody, did he?
I don't believe he much had me in mind.
Aye, said the old man. But where does a man come by his notions. What world's he seen that he liked better?
I can think of better places and better ways.
Can ye make it be?
No.
No. It's a mystery. A man's at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with. He can know his heart, but he dont want to. Rightly so. Best not to look in there. It aint the heart of a creature that is bound in the way that God has set for it. You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it. You believe that?
I dont know.
Believe that."
......
"For let it go how it will, he said, God speaks in the least of creatures.
The kid thought him to mean birds or things that crawl but the expriest, watching, his head slightly cocked, said: No man is give leave of that voice.
The kid spat into the fire and bent to his work.
I aint heard no voice, he said.
When it stops, said Tobin, you’ll know you’ve heard it all your life.
Is that right?
Aye.
The kid turned the leather in his lap. The expriest watched him.
At night, said Tobin, when the horses are grazing and the company is asleep, who hears them grazing?
Dont nobody hear them if they’re asleep.
Aye. And if they cease their grazing who is it that wakes?
Every man.
Aye, said the expriest. Every man.
The kid looked up. And the judge? Does the voice speak to him?
The judge, said Tobin. He didn’t answer."
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 16, 2012 - 01:58pm PT
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Yeah, so Blood Meridian is a little to heavy to jump into after a few months reading The Dark Tower series.
I needed something a little lighter, so I just picked up Ender's Game.
Know nothing about it other than that my sci fi enthusiast buddy recommended it as lighter reading than what I'd been pursuing.
Twenty pages. So far, so good.
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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Dec 16, 2012 - 01:59pm PT
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Catch 22
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steveA
Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
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Dec 16, 2012 - 02:06pm PT
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Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
I didn't want it to end-simply amazing!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Dec 16, 2012 - 02:12pm PT
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A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan.
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stonefly
Social climber
Alameda, California
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Dec 16, 2012 - 03:23pm PT
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DanaB
climber
CT
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Dec 16, 2012 - 03:41pm PT
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Lives of a Cell, by Lewis Thomas.
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DanaB
climber
CT
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Dec 16, 2012 - 03:43pm PT
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The Strang Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. Really chilling and really sad.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Dec 16, 2012 - 05:29pm PT
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I just got finished with this one:
Soldaten: On Fighting Killing and Dying
http://www.amazon.com/Soldaten-On-Fighting-Killing-Dying/dp/0307958124
Not so much another WWII history as an extended essay on autonomic geometrical violence and the psycho-social dynamics of mass murder in France, Poland and on the Ost Front. Just out in English this year.
Not too pretty what it suggests about homo sapiens as a species. Chilling, disturbing, unsettling. All these adjectives are merely euphemisms. All it takes is about 3 days of combat to turn a mild mannered office manager from Frankfurt into a killing machine who feels satisfaction at the way he can lay a column of refugees down in neat little rows with the MG34s on the wings of his Heinkel HE 111. It's his "work" and he's very satisfied when he does a good "job".
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Dec 17, 2012 - 12:30am PT
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Jack 1939
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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Oh please help!
I need a book of fiction that lets me dive in from the first paragraph. I need it to be smart and funny and while dramatic things should happen, I just can't read dark and dystopian. (I spend my work week in a room listening to the shitty things people do to each other that cause trauma.)
I don't want to be creeped out or scared. I want to be transported. I want to escape.
The writing style must be fabulous. I want excellent characterization, an imaginative sense of place and a plot that keeps me reading past my bedtime.
I love fantasy and sci-fi. But I'll cross the lines for the right story.
And, here's the real kicker, it has to be available in e-book form and not be part of an unfinished trilogy. (Anyone read Patrick Rothfuss? Do you think he will EVER finish?)
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Have you read
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline? Funny not too distant future sci-fi.
Supposedly Spielberg is making a movie from it.
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simian
Social climber
milan
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That is an excellent recommendation!!!
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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Wow, it has a 91% 4-5 star rating on Amazon! Consider it done. Thank you so much stevep and simian, you rock!
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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The Alexandria Quartet (Lawrence Durrell) should keep you busy the rest of the summer.
Available in Kindle.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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I'm most of the way through 'Angle of Repose', by Stegner. Loving it.
A great infusion of character development and the history of western expansion in the late 1800's. Recommended.
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
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^^^^. My all time favorite book. I probably reread it every few years.
I never STOP being moved by it.
Plus I'm very familiar with the New Almaden area where the quicksilver mines were.
Susan
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John M
climber
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Love Stegner.
What did people think of "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese? I really enjoyed it.
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Mark Force
Trad climber
Ashland, Oregon
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snow crash neal stephenson
That recommendation of the Mahabharata will keep ya busy for a while.
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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Snow Crash is amazing.
I must investigate Stegner. He keeps surfacing on this thread.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Stegner's writing style is astounding. You have to pay attention, but when you do, you are richly rewarded.
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Craig Fry
Trad climber
So Cal.
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I read mostly non-fiction
and this book is a real mind opener!!
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
by Jane Mayer
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597
Review
Why is America living in an age of profound economic inequality? Why, despite the desperate need to address climate change, have even modest environmental efforts been defeated again and again? Why have protections for employees been decimated? Why do hedge-fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle-class workers?
The conventional answer is that a popular uprising against “big government” led to the ascendancy of a broad-based conservative movement. But as Jane Mayer shows in this powerful, meticulously reported history, a network of exceedingly wealthy people with extreme libertarian views bankrolled a systematic, step-by-step plan to fundamentally alter the American political system.
The network has brought together some of the richest people on the planet. Their core beliefs—that taxes are a form of tyranny; that government oversight of business is an assault on freedom—are sincerely held. But these beliefs also advance their personal and corporate interests: Many of their companies have run afoul of federal pollution, worker safety, securities, and tax laws.
The chief figures in the network are Charles and David Koch, whose father made his fortune in part by building oil refineries in Stalin’s Russia and Hitler’s Germany. The patriarch later was a founding member of the John Birch Society, whose politics were so radical it believed Dwight Eisenhower was a communist. The brothers were schooled in a political philosophy that asserted the only role of government is to provide security and to enforce property rights.
When libertarian ideas proved decidedly unpopular with voters, the Koch brothers and their allies chose another path. If they pooled their vast resources, they could fund an interlocking array of organizations that could work in tandem to influence and ultimately control academic institutions, think tanks, the courts, statehouses, Congress, and, they hoped, the presidency. Richard Mellon Scaife, the mercurial heir to banking and oil fortunes, had the brilliant insight that most of their political activities could be written off as tax-deductible “philanthropy.”
These organizations were given innocuous names such as Americans for Prosperity. Funding sources were hidden whenever possible. This process reached its apotheosis with the allegedly populist Tea Party movement, abetted mightily by the Citizens United decision—a case conceived of by legal advocates funded by the network.
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Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
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^^^ I wish Stegner hadn't cribbed so much of it.
Probably kept him from winning a Nobel Prize.
I'm a big fan of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. For me, it's the best novel I've read since Angle of Repose.
For space opera, I really enjoyed Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter Hamilton (recommended to me by our own Tom Lambert). I'm a longtime fan of Iain M. Banks's Culture series. Worth it for the ship names alone.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, brandon- and all...
here you go...
a link to my novels...
and the short story books, based on them...
YOU WOULD want to order the SIMPLEST EDITION...
meaning: not the portable, or preview-ones, or hard cover...
just plain title, in the list
there are a few pages, to click on, at the bottom of the
page, to view all the others...
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/neebeeshaabookwayreadjakeanddonate
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Hillbilly Elegy, A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.
J.D.Vance
This is a very important book. The more people who read it the better off we'll all be. Seriously, don't judge a book by your knee jerk reaction to the title. This one is deep.
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John M
climber
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I'm really looking forward to reading that one Kris.. I thoroughly enjoyed the interview you linked.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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The kids will like it if you don't.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Check out Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, 20 consecutive novels considered by many to be the best historical fiction ever written. The first book is Master and Commander - yes, the movie was taken from random bits of the series but has nowhere near the quality of the books themselves. If you like sea stories or tales of the Royal Navy, you'll never do any better. I've read all 20 more than once.
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sempervirens
climber
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Barbarian Days: A Surfer's Life, by William Finnegan. Just finished this, it was recommended on another thread here. It's sort of biographical and focuses on the surfing in the author's life. Includes a lot of discussion of waves. I thought it was great.
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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That'll learn me not to unearth an old thread.
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Todd Townsend
Social climber
Bishop, CA
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A mystery, wrapped up in the fantasy world of the imagination of a 12 year old boy, growing up in Alabama in the early 1960's. Great storytelling, extremely enjoyable. Read it.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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These are all greatly worth your time:
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
Good-bye to All That by Robert Graves
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes and Trails by RJ Secor
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Inner City
Trad climber
East Bay
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Gary Kinder wrote:
Ship of Gold (In the deep blue sea)
A phenomenal telling that describes the sinking of the USS Central America in 1857 juxtaposed with the modern and immensely technical search for the treasure-laden ship...
Loved this non-fiction narrative.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Wild Trees. Rigged. Where Clouds Can Go ( if you can do 19th century), A Ladies Life in the Rockies, The Professor and the Madman.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Try watching the series Ballers on HBO instead. You'll never make it through all the books recommended! (and The Rock is quite a stud)
;>)
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Winemaker
Sport climber
Yakima, WA
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Gary's right - Catch 22.
Almost anything Philip K. Dick wrote.
Jack Vance if you like science fiction with amazing universes and conversations.
Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey series if you like sea stuff.
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Gregory Crouch
Social climber
Walnut Creek, California
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InnerCity--I really enjoyed Ship of Gold as well. Although I think there's a pretty substantial epilogue to that story that isn't in the book. Lots and lots of lawsuits. Worth flexing your google muscle to investigate.
Traditionally, the loss of the SS Central America has been considered a contributing cause of the Panic of 1857. Although serious modern economic analysis reasonably places the lion's share of the blame in other quarters.
I read all of the Patrick O'Brien novels when I was installing the infamous ball washers, which gets mention--and hopefully a laugh--in Enduring Patagonia. Loved every one. The books, not the ball washers. The guy who invented those is now at the Harvard Kennedy School.
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TooTall539
Social climber
Maine
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In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
Wolf Willow by Wallace Stegner
The Klondike by Pierre Berton
The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll
The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet
Trout Fishing In America by Richard Brautigan
Maine N.H. based:
Tall Trees,Tough Men by Robert Pike
We Took to the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich
Randall Probert a retired game warden now living in Bethel who has self published several books loosely based on his experiences in northern Maine. A quick enjoyable read. Easily available on Amazon Kindle.
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labrat
Trad climber
Erik O. Auburn, CA
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"(Anyone read Patrick Rothfuss? Do you think he will EVER finish?)"
Yes! I was totally captivated by the first book. Second was good. No idea when the third will come out.
Have you read The Slow Regard of Silent Things? Did you enjoy it?
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Sep 28, 2016 - 05:29pm PT
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Bump 'cause I finished Angle of Repose and ready for a new suggestion....
Something historical &/or non-fiction...I love Stegner, McPhee...
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John M
climber
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Sep 28, 2016 - 05:33pm PT
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Joe Hill.. by Stegner ( based on history )
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
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Sep 28, 2016 - 06:32pm PT
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Angle of Repose and ready for a new suggestion....
My all time fav book.
Have you read his other stuff. "Crossing to Safety", "Big Rock Candy Mountain"....both very good and very different from Angle.
Susan
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 28, 2016 - 06:32pm PT
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Fossil Climber, I knew I liked you for some reason. Two goes through the
series for me and trying to put off a third go for reasons of a large stack
of bought books pining to be read. As a sailor O'Brian's knowledge, wholly
gained by perusing the Admiralty's captains' logs and such, is impressive.
According to our inimitable Guido, who took the blighter sailing once,
'e's a right lubber! His birding knowledge is equally impressive and by
all accounts genuine.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Sep 28, 2016 - 06:37pm PT
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LOVED. IT.
The last few chapters were riveting...the symbolism of the rose garden, and Lyman's dream were especially intense.
I read 'West of the 100th Meridian' years ago, which put me onto Stegner. 'Angle of Repose' was a wonderful fusion of history and human experience, and as Stegner found parallels between his grandparents, father, and current life, so too did I find those parallels in my own life.
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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Sep 28, 2016 - 08:51pm PT
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uh oh, I missed lab rat's post back in august. Yes, I read Slow regard and I really liked it. I think he has a monumental case of writer's block and we won't see the next book for 10 years.
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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Sep 29, 2016 - 03:36pm PT
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"Skeletons on the Zahara"
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