ayatollahcm
TI Pariah 
The Bringer of Peacatollah
Posts: 1,689
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Post by ayatollahcm on Jan 27, 2016 2:51:47 GMT -5
You're probably sick and tired of me mentioning nascent American train trip. For the long train durations, and where I'm not writing, I want to take enough with me to read when not having adventures. I've got a number of audiobooks and pdfs on my computer, but there's nothing quite like tangible literature.
So I'd appreciate any good recommendations for someone who wants to use everything as a possibility to learn more about himself (so no garbage fluff reads).
As of now I was thinking:
Jack Kerouac's Road Novels (On the Road, Tristessa, Subterraneans, Dharma Bums -- all in one collection) -- because duh
Thomas Merton's The Wisdom of the Desert (read it years ago, and I have a soft spot for crazy hermits seeking illumination)
W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge
Peter Brooks' The Empty Space
Dianne Sohn's Stop Kiss (because I'm directing it this summer)
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Post-Lupin
Prolific Poster 
Immanentizing the Eschaton
Posts: 5,673 
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Post by Post-Lupin on Jan 29, 2016 6:55:28 GMT -5
My top recommendation for the lonely traveller is masturbation.
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Ice Cream Planet
AV Clubber 
I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy.
Posts: 3,833
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Post by Ice Cream Planet on Jan 29, 2016 10:44:01 GMT -5
Comic novels:
*Money: A Suicide Note-Martin Amis
*Cold Comfort Farm-Stella Gibbons
*Where'd You Go, Bernadette?-Maria Semple (former writer for Arrested Development and Mad About You)
Chilling Character Studies:
*The Talented Mr. Ripley-Patricia Highsmith
*Notes on a Scandal-Zoë Heller
*Dolores Claiborne-Stephen King
Bildungsromans:
*Bastard Out of Carolina-Dorothy Allison
*I Capture the Castle-Dodie Smith
*Chocolates for Breakfast-Pamela Moore
Queer-centric reads:
*The Price of Salt-Patricia Highsmith
*Tales of the City-Armistead Maupin
*Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit-Jeanette Winterson
Race, Ethnicity, and Identity:
*Small Island-Andrea Levy
*White Teeth-Zadie Smith
*The Joy-Luck Club-Amy Tan
Intelligent beach reads:
*The Paying Guests-Sarah Waters
*Hotel Living-Ioannis Pappos
*Sharp Objects-Gillian Flynn
*****
Hope these help!
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Post by The Sensational She-Hulk on Jan 29, 2016 10:46:36 GMT -5
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut.
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repulsionist
TI Forumite
actively disinterested
Posts: 3,560
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Post by repulsionist on Jan 29, 2016 21:20:58 GMT -5
Strangers on a Train (1960) Highsmith
How To Know God - Patanjali (Isherwood translation)
Crash - Ballard
Read in order of experience. Permutations possible though not guaranteed probable.
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Post by Jean Luc de Lemur on Jan 30, 2016 14:32:41 GMT -5
My choices tend to be stuff that tends towards the “intelligent beach reads” in Ice Cream Planet’s post (I can also vouch for Hotel Living), giant nonfiction books I’d wanted to get around to reading but hadn’t had the time to get into (during my last-minute jaunts around Europe I got through a lot of Stephen Jay Gould’s The Structure of Evolutionary Theory) and, oddly, Scottish science fiction, typically from Iain M. Banks or, if you’re looking for something a bit more idiosyncratic, Ken MacLeod. |
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Jan 30, 2016 22:16:46 GMT -5
I sometimes like reading epics of a given culture when I'm visiting - I read Dream of the Red Chamber in China, and the Tale of Genji in Japan (I also listened to Turandot while on the train in China, because I was a dorky teenager.)
I'm not sure if America has a precise equivalent to those examples in terms of cultural relevance and preposterous length - Moby Dick is the closest that comes to mind after scouring Wikipedia for a bit (there's actually quite a few stabs at American verse epics, apparently, but they're either modernist things like The Bridge or turgid failures like The Columbiad or, of course, Longfellow's Hiawatha) or, let's be a bit random here why not, Popol Vuh.
I'm probably overthinking this and maybe I should just say read Valis, whatever.
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Feb 9, 2016 1:59:31 GMT -5
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson is not particularly good, but is a fascinating window into middle America circa 1987-88. If you're interested in going beyond books, a good companion is Stephen Fry in America, giving a novel perspective and equally a startling window into our country on the eve of the Great Recession.
You might look into the histories of states. I always try to read about the places I'm going, though it was hard as hell to find a comprehensive history of Japan (Japan: A History by Misiko Hane for those interested).
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Feb 16, 2016 15:26:33 GMT -5
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson is not particularly good, but is a fascinating window into middle America circa 1987-88. It's not?! I haven't read it in 6-7 years, but at the time, it was by far my favorite Bryson (Walk in the Woods and Notes from a Small Island rounding out the top three). |
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Feb 16, 2016 16:20:12 GMT -5
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson is not particularly good, but is a fascinating window into middle America circa 1987-88. It's not?! I haven't read it in 6-7 years, but at the time, it was by far my favorite Bryson (Walk in the Woods and Notes from a Small Island rounding out the top three). It has it moments, particularly Bryson's inability to find anything on the radio besides "Hotel California" while searching for news about Black Monday. But the western portion of the book is definitely much weaker than the Eastern one. |
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Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,659
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Post by Baron von Costume on Feb 16, 2016 16:39:01 GMT -5
I was going to suggest Bryson. I'd been meaning to pick up something of his I hadn't read for my upcoming trip but forgot to order from amazon in time. Maybe if I can find my ebook I'll download one (my physical book backlog is so high atm I don't think I've seen the ebook since I moved/spent more time fixing house than reading.)
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Post by Powerthirteen on Feb 16, 2016 16:55:17 GMT -5
The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson is not particularly good, but is a fascinating window into middle America circa 1987-88. It's not?! I haven't read it in 6-7 years, but at the time, it was by far my favorite Bryson (Walk in the Woods and Notes from a Small Island rounding out the top three). So far I haven't read any of his books that could match Home in my estimation. |
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Feb 17, 2016 3:51:56 GMT -5
I was going to suggest Bryson. I'd been meaning to pick up something of his I hadn't read for my upcoming trip but forgot to order from amazon in time. Maybe if I can find my ebook I'll download one (my physical book backlog is so high atm I don't think I've seen the ebook since I moved/spent more time fixing house than reading.) is underappreciated. It's relatively short and wasn't very popular, but I'd call it his second-best travel book after A Walk in the Woods. I'm currently reading his latest, The Road to Little Dribbling, and I'm quite disappointed he didn't visit Bath, which I liked very much and whose Roman ruins he recorded an audio tour for. |
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