It's funny that most people other than the OP (and theadvancedapes) have posted only fiction. As will I, in no particular order. 1. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. A behemoth of a book, but well worth it. One of the most memorable books I have ever read. Unfortunately I gave it to an ex-girlfriend, and don't know if I'll get it back. 2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Another large book. I was at times put off by how, well, amazing the main character basically is, but the book is fantastically gripping, and I love the sense of age I get off of it. 3. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. The first Murakami book I read, and the one that made me fall in love with his writing. He has a way of combining the everyday and the uncanny that I can't get enough of. Well, actually I can; 1Q84, his latest offering, was a disappointment. 4. 1984 by George Orwell. Along with Murakami, he's one of my favourite authors, and I've read many of his books. 1984 was also the first of his that I read (unless it was Animal Farm) and I thought it was brilliant. Besides, 1984 is almost obligatory in Top Books posts... Speaking of non-fiction, Down and Out in Paris and London is a great read, too. 5. A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov. It's difficult to put my finger on why I like this book so much. I also like A Song of Ice and Fire, but it's not one of my favourites. When's the next book coming out?
You must have taken away something completely different from Infinite Jest than I did. I felt like the joke was on me for having read it....
It seems to be one of those extremely divisive books that people either tend to love or hate.
That's for sure, though I've only run across a very few people that managed to finish the whole book.
I like coming up with new years for subsidized time. 2002 - Year of the Whopper
2003 - Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad
2004 - Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar
2005 - Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken
2006 - Year of the Whisper-Quiet Maytag Dishmaster
2007 -Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile (sic)
2008 - Year of the Dairy Products from the American Heartland
2009 - Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment
2010 - Year of Glad
2011 - Year of the Walt Disney World Family Vacation
2012 - Year of Romney For President Still mulling over 2013.
What page were all of the subsidised years on? 223? It felt like I was constantly going back to that page, to locate a particular passage in time.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Makes my top five list as well. I didn't care for IQ84 either. I felt like he was beating me over the head reexplaining core conceits of the book while at the end just punting off a lot of stuff as fantastically inexplicable. I like Dumas, but not the Count. The main character is just a little too cool to be interesting. Orwell is a terrific, read his essays if you havn't, start with killing an elephant.