Books to read beofre you die?

[terencemckenna]

Okay so I'm halfway into Neil Strauss's The Game, this book is rather strange but interesting to read, feel kinda embarrassed that I'm reading it...I have no trouble with girls, but a friend who is quite the womanizer recommended it. My favourite book of all time is still 1984 by George Orwell though. Don't get me wrong though, those who have read the game will understand...some of the advice and information in the book is total bullshit but there is some useful info in their and it has just been an interesting book to read so far. I really think everyone with a penis should read this book.

Anyways so where was I, what other books would you guys recommend me to read before I die? I don't care what genre the book is or what it is about, I like reading so please recommend some books that have shaped the way you think.

Thanks.

[Goatboy]

Read a long book if you think it'll prolong your death.

[JoeyPardella]

one of my favorites:
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ion_Dollar

it's from a german guy, but you might be able to get a english copy.

[Ulven]

The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
http://www.amazon.com/Tartar-Steppe-Dino-Buzzati/dp/1841959286/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311849965&sr=1-1

[tremor77]

Read the entire "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King. It's an f'd up mind trip that will have you spinning 19 different ways into a future/past wild west kind of epic travel story and well... it's just a great read if you love intense character development, King's unrivaled mental visual imagery and a cult subculture that has spawned from it as well where people who have read the books can almost speak to each other in a separate language through references...

thankee sai.

[Vulpine]

The Dark Tower series, as tremor said, was pretty sweet.

I highly recommend House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. That book seriously fucked with my head and left me questioning my sanity for weeks after I finished it. I've really wanted to pick it up again for a second time but I'm a) a little scared of it >.> and b) I don't want to lessen the impression that it left me with.

One passage that always stuck with me...

Who has never killed an hour? Not casually or without thought, but carefully: a premeditated murder of minutes. The violence comes from a combination of giving up, not caring, and a resignation that getting past it is all you can hope to accomplish. So you kill the hour. You do not work, you do not read, you do not daydream. If you sleep it is not because you need to sleep. And when at last it is over, there is no evidence: no weapon, no blood, and no body. The only clue might be the shadows beneath your eyes or a terribly thin line near the corner of your mouth indicating something has been suffered, that in the privacy of your life you have lost something and the loss is too empty to share.

[tremor77]

Mark Danielewski is a freaking genious, I've read his poetry but have not read the book, I will definitely be getting this. I've also had a life long crush on his sister... most people know her as P.O.E. - I will now be listening to Hello and Hey Pretty on the way home tonight. Any self respecting hacker that does not or has not listened to P.O.E. should furthermore regard themselves as no more than a lowly skiddie.

-edit- I feel sometimes as though Vulpine is my long lost twin.

[Vulpine]

Mark Danielewski is a freaking genious, I've read his poetry but have not read the book, I will definitely be getting this. I've also had a life long crush on his sister... most people know her as P.O.E. - I will now be listening to Hello and Hey Pretty on the way home tonight. Any self respecting hacker that does not or has not listened to P.O.E. should furthermore regard themselves as no more than a lowly skiddie.

P.O.E. had some good stuff. I never listened to a whole lot, though. I've heard that some of her songs are based off of her brother's writing (including the book).

Oh, and I have to emphasis: if you do buy the book, you have to buy the full-color edition in print. Settling for an ebook version would absolutely ruin the impact of the writing.

[Hitekrednek]

There are lots of good books to be read. I think The Simarillion by Tolkien is one of the best books I've ever read. Don't waste your time on the Lord of the Rings series, though. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams is genius and hilarious. You should read Mark Twain's Letters to The Earth. In fact, anything by Twain is generally amazing. The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind is pretty sweet. If you plan to survive the apocolypse, then you may want to pick up a copy of Paul Tawrell's Camping & Wilderness Survival. If you like fantasy, the Inheritance 'trilogy' by Christopher Paolini is pretty good. The Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett is badass. Michael Crichton has several good novels. Check out NEXT, If you're religious, you might wanna look into the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'amour is pretty awesome. Shakespeare, Poe, Dickens, Melville, Oscar WIlde, Plato, Pascal, Whitman, Thoreau. I also read an awesome western novel called The Last Trumpet, but can't remember who wrote it. Pick up an anthology of English literature. There are many more, but my fingers are tired.

[VPR3]

This is great book for practicing social engineering.........
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Stress-Rohan-Candappa/dp/0740704745