Book recommendations -

[LordDarkrai]

I'm mostly a non-fiction type, but I been interested in reading more fiction. One book I really enjoyed was Hunchback of Notre Dame. I really enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the themes. From this, I might be interested in tragedy. Any good books with tragedy or books similar to Hunchback?

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

I'm going to borrow All Quiet on the Western Front from the library because I listened to a lecture about it and it seems like something I'd like. I don't know if you'd call it tragedy, it's an anti-war novel, but it sounds like everyone dies in the end, so you could consider it tragedy.

I also tend to read a lot of non-fiction, particularly on languages and history.

 

[Alex Krycek]

Blood Meridian is a great novel, though it's full of violence and only in that way would I call it a tragedy. Dostoevsky is my favorite writer, and Crime and Punishment definitely has tragedy in it. The Brothers Karamazov is an even better novel, though it's incredibly long and in my opinion that really isn't the best novel to start Dostoevsky. Come to think of it I'd actually read Notes from the Underground before Crime and Punishment.

I read a bit more non-fiction than fiction myself, especially History, Eastern Philosophy, Linguistics, and Theology.

 

[Konstantinos]

My two favorite tragedies would have to be a couple of the classics, Julius Caesar and Oedipus the King. Those were the first real tragedies I truly enjoyed and I would strongly suggest them to you if you haven't read them yet. Given your interest in tragedies though, I'm guessing you're familiar with them.

Check out a series called Byzantium: The Decline and Fall. It's a comprehensive history of the Byzantine Empire but it also has a tragic air hanging over the whole thing. The author gives a rather lurid description of the empire as it inexorably slides towards ruin. It all creates a surprisingly poignant feeling.

I'm afraid I've never read the Hunchback so I don't know of any closely related books off the top of my head.

Blood Meridian is a great novel, though it's full of violence and only in that way would I call it a tragedy.

Fuck yeah dude, Blood Meridian is a great book. Anything by Cormac McCarthy is a great read.

 

[Alex Krycek]

Fuck yeah dude, Blood Meridian is a great book. Anything by Cormac McCarthy is a great read.

Firstly, Byzantium sounds pretty cool (I'm an Orthodox Christian at least nominally). Secondly, Sutree was also pretty good but I haven't dedicated myself to much more other than Blood Meridian. Anything else you'd recommend next?

 

[Konstantinos]

Firstly, Byzantium sounds pretty cool (I'm an Orthodox Christian at least nominally). Secondly, Sutree was also pretty good but I haven't dedicated myself to much more other than Blood Meridian. Anything else you'd recommend next?

I'm glad to hear that Byzantium sounds intriguing to you! Yes, I find that whole section of history quite interesting. Orthodox Christianity is a major component in the whole series so there's that too.

As for Cormac McCarthy, you ought to check out Child of God and All the Pretty Horses. I'd say God is more on the tragic side as the main character gradually devolves and becomes more pitiable as times goes on. Other than that, there's also No Country for Old Men, which is a pretty straight-forward crime thriller, and The Road, which is another really bleak work. Honestly, all of his books could be qualified as tragedies and I found them all quite engaging when I dug into them.

 

[LordDarkrai]

My two favorite tragedies would have to be a couple of the classics, Julius Caesar and Oedipus the King. Those were the first real tragedies I truly enjoyed and I would strongly suggest them to you if you haven't read them yet. Given your interest in tragedies though, I'm guessing you're familiar with them.

Thanks. Both of them sounds interesting, especially Oedipus's themes from what I look at.

 

[Alex Krycek]

Thanks. Both of them sounds interesting, especially Oedipus's themes from what I look at.

If those Shakespearean works sound good (and they are), you may also want to check out King Lear. I read it in my sophomore year of high school and at that time had a pretty closed mind towards any western literature save for Russian literature and Don Quixote prior to the modern era. Julius Caesar was a work that softened my view and King Lear only confirmed it. Quick tip, there is a version with a happy ending, it's not as common however it bears mentioning that the version you want is Shakespeare's original, tragic ending.

 

[Ca Ira]

Try some of Victor Hugo's other work. You might find "Candide" interesting as well if you liked "Hunchback," though it's written with a very different attitude.

 

[Mexichu]

I really recommend The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz. It's about a huge dominican nerd (d&d, star wars, fat, the whole package) and it's one of the funniest but also most tragic novels I've read. It won a Pulitzer prize, for what that's worth.

 

[Antipathy]

I want to start reading more, do any of you have books you think are must reads?

 

[Viral Vigilante]

Fire Bringer by david clement davies
mein kampf (obligatory)
the anarchist cookbook
green eggs and ham
the bible
myfarog by varg vikernes
they all are jews by mac davis
any and all posadist literature
the protocols of the learned elders of zion (fake but interesting to read)

 

[Antipathy]

Fire Bringer by david clement davies
mein kampf (obligatory)
the anarchist cookbook
green eggs and ham
the bible
myfarog by varg vikernes
they all are jews by mac davis

I do have a few Bibles laying around. What version would you suggest?

 

[Viral Vigilante]

I do have a few Bibles laying around. What version would you suggest?

king james version obviously

 

[Antipathy]

king james version obviously

I've got that one saved on my computer (alongside a ton of other books. Mostly old fiction ones.), I should start reading it.

 

[Viral Vigilante]

also animal farm and 1984 by george orwell, but that goes without saying

 

[Antipathy]

also animal farm and 1984 by george orwell, but that goes without saying

Have those as well, read 1984 a few months ago.

 

[It's HK-47]

The Eye of Argon is a piece of fiction from 1970--authored by a 16 year-old--that's written so horribly that it became a popular game to try and read pages from the book aloud without bursting into laughter. It's actually a very difficult game to win. ... Oh wait, did you mean good books?

 

[BingBong]

Here ya go

 

[Antipathy]

The Eye of Argon is a piece of fiction from 1970--authored by a 16 year-old--that's written so horribly that it became a popular game to try and read pages from the book aloud without bursting into laughter. It's actually a very difficult game to win. ... Oh wait, did you mean good books?

I was hoping for good books, I read enough bad fanfiction for shits and giggles. If you want suggestions on bad shit, then I'm probably your person to go to.

Here ya go

>Anti-Tech revolution
>.pdf