# Must-Read Stories.



## Sam (May 1, 2013)

I'm always interested in what people consider seminal pieces of literature that transcend genre and time. These works are often touted as 'must-read' literature that not only writers but readers should try in their lifetime. Let's see what you've got. Here's mine: 

Thomas Pynchon -- _The Crying of Lot 49._ People would argue that _Gravity's Rainbow _is his best, but this one speaks to me more. Very post-modern, very experimental, but also extremely effective. It helps that it's a conspiracy yarn.

Cormac McCarthy -- _Blood Meridian. _When you've finished this, you won't read another novel for weeks afterwards. Even when you do, this one will be fresh in your mind for a long, long time. It's just . . . staggering. 

George Orwell -- _Nineteen Eighty-Four_. Masterful. Suspenseful. Prophetic. Orwell's 1948 novel is in many ways a scary and prescient representation of the modern world. 

Richard Matheson -- _I am Legend_. Back before vampires were sparkly, they were freaking scary. What _I am Legend _has that Stoker's _Dracula _and Sheridan Le Fanu's _Carmilla _doesn't is the science-fiction element. 

Dashiell Hammett -- _The Maltese Falcon. _Very close with Chandler's _The Long Goodbye _as my favourite crime novel. Hammett dispenses with overbearing description and digression. As a result, _The Maltese Falcon _is packed with action and mystery. 

I have many more, but five is enough to start with.


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## Ariel (May 1, 2013)

Some of my "must-reads" are classics.  Such as:

_Frankenstein_ I recommend reading the original 1918 text and not the one that Shelley released after her husband's death.

_Dracula_ Yes, "I Am Legend" was really good and had great sci-fi but this is the original.  It's nice to see where all the tropes start.

I'm still reading Asimov's "I, Robot" but this far it is excellent sci-fi with heavy science and great writing.


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## moderan (May 1, 2013)

Interesting. I'd actually second but two of Sam's, above...I'm really not oriented toward novels as much as shorter works, and consequently would recommend anthologies, such as...

Dangerous Visions/Again, Dangerous Visions, ed. by Harlan Ellison-the best pair of sf anthologies that has ever existed. Multiple award-winners, unique points of view, transcendant ideas and writing. A must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-written story.

Adventures in Time and Space-very possible the best compilation of Golden Age science fiction, a two-volume set containing some of the best and most famous work by the masters of the field and many forgotten gems.

The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps-A truly outstanding collection of the crime story, reflecting the heyday of the Black Mask set. The very best noir collection available.

The Machineries of Joy-Ray Bradbury. Bradbury has many excellent anthologies. You can't go wrong with any of them. This is to me his finest-imaginative tales told in poetic fashion by a master of the form.

Starlight-Alfred Bester. Collects most of the short work of the greatest prose stylist the field of science fiction has ever seen. Insightful, trenchantly witty, resplendent. Unforgettable.

The Dark Country-Dennis Etchison. Short work by an unheralded master of weird fiction. Every tale is sharper than a child's cry and more powerful and pungent than a god's petute.

Heatseeker-John Shirley. Another largely unheralded master of the form at the height of his considerable powers. Shirley writes in every genre imaginable, though this collection concentrates on horror. Incandescent.

I could go on for pages and pages, but I'll stop with one more:
The Essential Ellison-Harlan Ellison. A gigantic compendium of the finest short work by the finest short story writer that has ever existed. More emotional range, harder edges, softer interludes, richer fields of the imagination than anyone else has exhibited over a 50 year span.


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## Sam (May 1, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> Some of my "must-reads" are classics.  Such as:
> 
> _Frankenstein_ I recommend reading the original 1918 text and not the one that Shelley released after her husband's death.
> 
> ...



Good ones. Just one minor thing. Sheridan Le Fanu's _Carmilla _was written 25 years before Stoker's _Dracula _and was in many ways the inspiration for it.


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## moderan (May 1, 2013)

Sam said:


> Good ones. Just one minor thing. Sheridan Le Fanu's _Carmilla _was written 25 years before Stoker's _Dracula _and was in many ways the inspiration for it.


Actually, the original is Joseph Polidori's the Vampyre, a novella written at the same time (1819) as Frankenstein, inspired by the same Lake Geneva conversation.


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## Ariel (May 1, 2013)

Haven't read either.  I'll have to see about picking them up.  Thanks for the correction.


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## PiP (May 1, 2013)

Sam said:


> I'm always interested in what people consider seminal pieces of literature that transcend genre and time. These works are often touted as 'must-read' literature that not only writers but readers should try in their lifetime. Let's see what you've got. Here's mine:
> 
> 
> George Orwell -- _Nineteen Eighty-Four_. Masterful. Suspenseful. Prophetic. Orwell's 1948 novel is in many ways a scary and prescient representation of the modern world.



I read this book when I was at school. It sounded far fetched at the time...

I would also add _Animal Farm_, by George Orwell. I loved the way it portrayed the ideals of communism in a simple story.

 In fact, I should buy both books and read again.


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## Ariel (May 1, 2013)

"To Kill a Mockingbird"

It's my favorite book. Every time I read it I get something new from it.


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## Sam (May 1, 2013)

Fyodor Dostoevsky -- _Notes From the Underground. _An in-depth look into the depressive life of a recluse shouldn't be as good as this, but it is. An atavistic reaction to rationalism and utopianism; this is one the most poignant stories I've ever read.


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## Jon M (May 4, 2013)

_Intimacy_, by Raymond Carver. Probably my favorite story of his.


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## dale (May 4, 2013)

anything by john steinbeck. especially his novellas. the man could write straight from the soul so simplistically, it was absolute genius.


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## Rustgold (May 4, 2013)

moderan said:


> Actually, the original is Joseph Polidori's the Vampyre, a novella written at the same time (1819) as Frankenstein, inspired by the same Lake Geneva conversation.


Wasn't that a competition between friends on who could write the most scary story (or something like that - from memory it was the year of the long winter - could have been one of the volcanic events, don't quote me on that last bit)?


I've found that most 'must reads' are rather lame & dull & slow on the story front.  But I'll be a sucker and try 'I Am Legend'.


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## moderan (May 4, 2013)

It certainly was...and anything by Matheson is worth reading. He was a master of many forms of prose and many genres. I also recommend The Shrinking Man and the Legend of Hell House. To me, both are superior to the first-named book. The man's first published short story won a Hugo (Born of Man and Woman). He's also responsible for many memorable teleplays.


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## Pluralized (May 4, 2013)

The Coffin - Ray Bradbury. Bizarre, yet brilliant and superb.


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## moderan (May 4, 2013)

The Psychologist Who Wouldn't Do Awful Things To Rats-James Tiptree, Jr.
Once you've finished that, get everything else by that author.


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## Tiamat (May 5, 2013)

_On the Beach_ by Nevil Shute - Set in Australia during the 60s, it's a beautifully tragic story about the inevitable end of mankind after a nuclear war.  The last survivors are all in the southern hemisphere and all they can do is wait and make the most of their last days as they wait for the fallout to reach them.  It says a lot about humanity, even at the bitter end.


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## JosephB (May 5, 2013)

I read that when I was kid -- and loved it. Forgot all about it and can't really remember the details. Think I'll give it another go.


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## Rustgold (May 5, 2013)

Rustgold said:


> I've found that most 'must reads' are rather lame & dull & slow on the story front.  But I'll be a sucker and try 'I Am Legend'.



Sorry, but having struggled to finish it, I found myself underwhelmed by his story; and not only wouldn't I read it a second time, I wouldn't seek out any other book Matheson wrote.  Some aspects are done well I grant you, but the book as a packaged product, no.  I think one of the problems is that in an attempt to be realistic, he got a little too dull; I don't mean a lack of action/combat dull (I actually liked that), I mean storyline/progression dull.  But maybe it just doesn't appeal to me.


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## Staff Deployment (May 5, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> _Dracula_ Yes, "I Am Legend" was really good and had great sci-fi but this is the original.  It's nice to see where all the tropes start.



I tried. It's terribly written: verbose, slow-moving, stylistically stagnant, and not at all frightening on any level. I much prefer _The Picture of Dorian Grey_ and _White Fang_ in terms of classics. Both of them scared me, in different ways, when I was younger. That whole thing with the dog-fighting ring and the pit bull was terrifying.


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## Rustgold (May 5, 2013)

Staff Deployment said:


> I tried. It's terribly written: verbose, slow-moving, stylistically stagnant, and not at all frightening on any level.



Totally agree.

Which one of your recommendations had the dog-fighting?  I might try it when I recover from reading the latest underwhelming book.


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## moderan (May 5, 2013)

Staff Deployment said:


> I tried. It's terribly written: verbose, slow-moving, stylistically stagnant, and not at all frightening on any level. I much prefer _The Picture of Dorian Grey_ and _White Fang_ in terms of classics. Both of them scared me, in different ways, when I was younger. That whole thing with the dog-fighting ring and the pit bull was terrifying.


It's not a horror novel. It's science fiction. But I disagree entirely as to your interpretation. Especially the part about terribly-written. With all due respect. How do you feel about Henry James?


Rustgold said:


> Totally agree.
> 
> Which one of your recommendations had the dog-fighting?  I might try it  when I recover from reading the latest underwhelming book.


White Fang. You're both terribly well-read. I trust your opinions.


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## Staff Deployment (May 6, 2013)

Rustgold said:


> Totally agree.
> 
> Which one of your recommendations had the dog-fighting?  I might try it when I recover from reading the latest underwhelming book.



White Fang, by Jack London, used to be my favourite book. I like it more than _Call of the Wild_, though the latter is still a good book (albeit with a jarring change of tone about two-thirds through, and only a fleeting reference at the end to the main theme hinted at in the title). Both are about the thin line that separates "wolf" and "dog" and London is excellent at conveying the setting as its own effective character.

I think there was a thread recently about favourite short stories, which I didn't post in but I jotted down a few and checked them out. A few hits and misses. One was by London (_To Build a Fire_) and though a dragging beginning turned me away from it at first, when I returned, it was an incredibly moving story about a man slowly succumbing to frostbite and death. It kind of made me want to read White Fang again.


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## Ariel (May 6, 2013)

On a completely different note: I highly recommend the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett to anyone with a daughter (or son).  She's a strong female character with a practical mindset who just seems _real_.  The books say a lot about human nature and society in a charming, funny, and honest way.  The books are for kids but they don't pander.


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## Leyline (May 6, 2013)

_Space Time For Springers_ by Fritz Leiber

_A Saucer Of Loneliness_ by Theodore Sturgeon

_The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas_ by Ursula K. LeGuin

_Gonna Roll The Bones_ by Fritz Leiber

_Slow Tuesday Night_ by R.A. Lafferty

_Queen Of The Black Coast_ by Robert E. Howard

_Ill Met In Lankhmar_ by Fritz Leiber

_The Word For World Is Forest_ by Ursula K. Leguin

_All Pieces Of A River Shore_ by R.A. Lafferty

_The Longest Voyage_ by Poul Anderson

_The Last Castle_ by Jack Vance

_The Island Of Doctor Death And Other Stories_ by Gene Wolfe

_The Scenic Route_ by Harlan Ellison

_Lull_ by Kelly Link

_Flying Lessons_ by Kelly Link

_Shoggoths In Bloom_ by Elizabeth Hand

_The Pigs Are Not Alone_ by Christopher K. Miller

_By His Bootstraps_ by Robert A. Heinlein

_The Game Of Rat And Dragon_ by Cordwainer Smith

_Creation_ by Jeffery Ford

_Keepsakes & Treasures: A Love Story_ by Neil Gaiman

_Time Considered As A Helix Of Semi-Precious Stones_ by Samuel Delaney

_When It Changed_ by Joanna Russ

_Out Of All Them Bright Stars_ by Nancy Kress

_The Pure Product_ by John Kessel

_Think Like A Dinosaur_ by James Patrick Kelly

_Riders Of The Purple Wage_ by Phillip Jose Farmer

_West_ by Orson Scott Card

_Getting To Know You_ by David Marusek

_Details_ by China Mieville

_The Reason For Not Going To The Ball_ by Tanith Lee

_And All The Children Of Chimaera_ by Kate Orman

_Little Gods_ by Tim Pratt




Speculative short fiction only, and that just scratches the surface.


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## Leyline (May 6, 2013)

amsawtell said:


> On a completely different note: I highly recommend the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett to anyone with a daughter (or son).  She's a strong female character with a practical mindset who just seems _real_.  The books say a lot about human nature and society in a charming, funny, and honest way.  The books are for kids but they don't pander.



I've been meaning to tell you, A. : considering your love for both Pratchett and Dungeons & Dragons, you really should explore Fritz Leiber. He was a huge influence in the creation of both. He was fascinated by Gygax's invention, and even allowed him to incorporate his characters and settings in the 1st Edition mythos. Discworld is a clever, absolutely loving parody/tribute to his Lankhmar stories. 

And the man wrote like a God.


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## Rustgold (May 6, 2013)

Staff Deployment said:


> White Fang, by Jack London, used to be my favourite book. I like it more than _Call of the Wild_, though the latter is still a good book


Of all the books we had to read when I was at school, Call of the Wild was one I liked.  Definitely a book I'd recommend to younger readers.


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## JosephB (May 6, 2013)

There are different kinds of "must reads." An individual's "must read" list is going to be more about personal taste -- things that inspired or influenced a given reader or writer. That will vary widely -- so it's really more like a favorites list. Then there are the "must reads" like in school, as in "MUST read." Akin to that are books perceived as so influential or important the you "must read" them. The latter two are also about personal taste and opinion -- but other people's. Many good books have been spoiled for readers  because they were forced to read and artificially analyze them in school. The first kind is really what's important --  important to you -- and maybe to me if we have similar tastes -- but it really comes down to personal preference.


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## Leyline (May 6, 2013)

JosephB said:


> There are different kinds of "must reads." An individuals "must read" list is going to be more about personal taste -- things that inspired or influenced a given reader or writer. That will vary widely -- so it's really more like a favorites list. Then there the "must reads" like in school, as in "MUST read." Akin to that are books perceived as so influential or important the you "must read" them. The latter two are also about personal taste and opinion -- but other people's. Many good books have been spoiled for readers  because they were forced to read and artificially analyze them in school. The first kind is really what's important --  important to you -- and maybe to me if we have similar tastes -- but it really comes down to personal preference.



Yep. Really, the only way this can be approached is by thinking someone walked up to you who had just started reading for pleasure and said 'What books/stories must I read, _in your opinion_?' If you know the person, you might be able to tailor the answers to a more individual list, but the person is a hypothetical. 

Funny thing: the Gaiman story I listed? I _despised_ it on first read. It literally disturbed me and kept me from sleeping. I was actually angry at Gaiman. It was in an anthology of horror stories and -- despite not containing a hint of the supernatural or even much suspense -- it managed to be the most pure example of the horror story in that rather huge anthology. Anger gave way to respect and admiration for what the writer had accomplished. And I _still_ feel the need to warn potential readers to brace themselves. Because the horror there (dropped in casual friggin' conversation, an utter ambush on the reader) is true and disturbingly real.

[/ramble]


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## Terry D (May 6, 2013)

Of course there are no "must reads", but here's my heavily slanted take on some of the best representatives of their sort:

Novels

_Ringworld_ by Larry Niven
_The October Country_ by Ray Bradbury
_Dune_ by Frank Herbert
_Fail Safe_ by Eugene Burdick
_'Salem's Lot_ by Stephen King
_Childhood's End_ by Arthur C. Clarke
_Rendezvous_ _with Rama_ by Clarke
_Fahrenheit 451_ by Bradbury
_And Then There Were None_ by Agatha Christie
_The Summer of Night_ by Dan Simmons

Collections

_The Hugo Winners vol. 1
Dangerous Visions
Night Shift
The Illustrated Man
The Martian Chronicles
The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe_
_Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos_ by H.P. Lovecraft

Non-Fiction

_The 13th Valley_ by John M. Del Vecchio
_Devil in the White City_ by Erik Larson
_Quasar Quasar Burning Bright_ by Issac Asimov
_When Rabbit Howls_ by Trudi Chase
_Into Thin Air_ by Jon Krakauer


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## JosephB (May 6, 2013)

Leyline said:


> Yep. Really, the only way this can be approached is by thinking someone walked up to you who had just started reading for pleasure and said 'What books/stories must I read, _in your opinion_?' If you know the person, you might be able to tailor the answers to a more individual list, but the person is a hypothetical.
> 
> Funny thing: the Gaiman story I listed? I _despised_ it on first read. It literally disturbed me and kept me from sleeping. I was actually angry at Gaiman. It was in an anthology of horror stories and -- despite not containing a hint of the supernatural or even much suspense -- it managed to be the most pure example of the horror story in that rather huge anthology. Anger gave way to respect and admiration for what the writer had accomplished. And I _still_ feel the need to warn potential readers to brace themselves. Because the horror there (dropped in casual friggin' conversation, an utter ambush on the reader) is true and disturbingly real.



A book that would be on my list is _The Great Gatsby -- _and for me it would be on all three types of "must read" lists I mentioned. I didn't like it when I first read it -- because I had to read it in school and I was forced to subscribe to all the phony, scripted analysis. My teacher went into this appropriated thing about the character names and what they meant -- Daisy in particular -- and I had the temerity to ask if Fitzgerald has said that or if it was just someone's opinion. It didn't go over well. All that nonsense just turned me off the book. I read it again years later, after I'd poured through all the Fitz. short stories and I really enjoyed it. Of course a lot of it was not so much about the book, but because I didn't like doing what I was told.


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## Leyline (May 6, 2013)

JosephB said:


> A book that would be on my list is _The Great Gatsby -- _and for me it would be on all three types of "must read" lists I mentioned. I didn't like it when I first read it -- because I had to read it in school and I was forced to subscribe to all the phony, scripted analysis. My teacher went into this appropriated thing about the character names and what they meant -- Daisy in particular -- and I had the temerity to ask if Fitzgerald has said that or if it was just someone's opinion. It didn't go over well. All that nonsense just turned me off the book. I read it again years later, after I'd poured through all the Fitz. short stories and I really enjoyed it. Of course a lot of it was not so much about the book, but because I didn't like doing what I was told.



_Gatsby_ -- and Fitzgerald in general -- is on my list of 'I don't get the fuss.' I don't hate it, but I can't see what the big deal is all about. Others include Hemingway, McCarthy, Pynchon, Updike, Cheever and your favorite, Carver. You might notice there's no Bradbury on my list. The only thing of his I like is _Dandelion Wine_ and, to be honest, it's pretty twee and precious as well. I find his work gimmicky and florid to the point of purple for the most part, backward-looking obsessed, with more than a whiff of the Luddite.  I don't care for Asimov or Clarke either -- I find both of them pretty boring. And it's, every inch, pure personal taste. I don't think any of those writers are objectively bad. I just don't get the hoopla.


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## Ariel (May 6, 2013)

I couldn't pinpoint just one story for you but I was floored by Ernest Hemingway's short stories in school.  I searched both him and Steinbeck out and couldn't seem to read enough, especially their short stories.

Junot Díaz's "Drown"--the language is hard and real.  Beautifully written.  No quotation marks though.


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## Caragula (May 6, 2013)

Ian McEwan - Atonement
Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum
John Fowles - The Magus
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell
Little, Big - John Crowley
Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig
Earth Abides - George R Stewart
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey


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## Folcro (May 7, 2013)

Leyline said:


> _Gatsby_ -- and Fitzgerald in general -- is on my list of 'I don't get the fuss.' I don't hate it, but I can't see what the big deal is all about. Others include Hemingway, McCarthy, Pynchon, Updike, Cheever and your favorite, Carver. You might notice there's no Bradbury on my list. The only thing of his I like is _Dandelion Wine_ and, to be honest, it's pretty twee and precious as well. I find his work gimmicky and florid to the point of purple for the most part, backward-looking obsessed, with more than a whiff of the Luddite.  I don't care for Asimov or Clarke either -- I find both of them pretty boring. And it's, every inch, pure personal taste. I don't think any of those writers are objectively bad. I just don't get the hoopla.



Finally, I thought I was all alone in my dark, forgotten corner. We'd get along well. I loved the first three chapters of Gatsby, after that (out-of-touch rich dude with a crush on an idiot) it went downhill for me.


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## moderan (May 8, 2013)

There are hundreds if you just do novels. Thousands if you include the OP literally and work in short stories.
More novels that, in my opinion, transcend genre and become something new, or become/define a genre themselves:
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
Neuromancer, by William Gibson
Ashenden, by W. Somerset Maugham (1)
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson (2)
 a couple of novellas*:
The Colour Out of Space, by HP Lovecraft (3)
Dragonrider, by Anne McCaffrey (4)
Candide, by Voltaire
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson (5)
The Metamophosis, by Franz Kafka
A Christmas Carol, By Charles Dickens
some shorter things**
Gonna Roll the Bones, by Fritz Leiber
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, by Harlan Ellison
The Fog Horn. by Ray Bradbury
The Gold Bug. By Edgar Allan Poe (6)

*one or two might have been mentioned already;I didn't collate
**ditto
:

(1) Ashenden was the first of the British Secret Agents. Maugham's style was somewhere between Fleming and Greene. Arguably set the template for the whole thriller genre as well.
(2) The "possessed property" myth begins here. The haunted house had ben treated with before, but not in this fashion. Leads directly to Hell House and the Shining, by Matheson and King, two seminal works in any genre, and many others.
(3) If you've read a better description of the effects of raditasion poisoning, lead me to it. This is the first example I know of the disaster genre. Everything from cozy catastrophe (The Days of the Triffids, No Blade of Grass), every radiation disaster, every radiocative dystopia, comes from here.
(4)As good a case could be made for the earlier "Weyr Search" but this is to my mind more explicit in it's presentation and is therefore the usher of the "tame the flying dragon" school that took flight in fantasy and flocked to television.
(5) Every schizophrenic killer comes from here. Every one. The only thing as powerful is the tale of Springheel Jack.
(6) The first real detective story. They all come from this study of ratiocination.


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## JosephB (May 8, 2013)

^ one's a book on Christmas. Mmm hmm.


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## JosephB (May 8, 2013)

Leyline said:


> _Gatsby_ -- and Fitzgerald in general -- is on my list of 'I don't get the fuss.' I don't hate it, but I can't see what the big deal is all about. Others include Hemingway, McCarthy, Pynchon, Updike, Cheever and your favorite, Carver. You might notice there's no Bradbury on my list. The only thing of his I like is _Dandelion Wine_ and, to be honest, it's pretty twee and precious as well. I find his work gimmicky and florid to the point of purple for the most part, backward-looking obsessed, with more than a whiff of the Luddite.  I don't care for Asimov or Clarke either -- I find both of them pretty boring. And it's, every inch, pure personal taste. I don't think any of those writers are objectively bad. I just don't get the hoopla.



To each his own, mon frère.


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## Staff Deployment (May 9, 2013)

moderan said:


> The Colour Out of Space, by HP Lovecraft (3)



yess



moderan said:


> A Christmas Carol, By Charles Dickens



nooo



moderan said:


> I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, by Harlan Ellison



yessssss



moderan said:


> raditasion ... radiocative ... ratiocination



Do you have oddly-specific dyslexia?

...Wait I just checked the definition of that last one; apparently it's actually a correctly spelled word, meaning "to form judgments by a process of logic; to reason."

View attachment 4544


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## Leyline (May 9, 2013)

JosephB said:


> To each his own, mon frère.



Of course. 

What we do agree on is Mizz O'Conner. I read her stories and sit my arse down in respect. 'A Good Man Is Hard To Find' is the story I go to when the well gets dry. 'Everything That Rises Must Converge' is damn near close. So are 'The Lame Must Enter First' and 'Judgment Day'. 

I seriously doubt I'll _ever_ write a story as good as those. Yet, I keep trying.

I honestly think my efforts please both Mizz O'Conner and her Lord.

Good enough for me.


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## moderan (May 9, 2013)

JosephB said:


> ^ one's a book on Christmas. Mmm hmm.


'tisn't. Is a book about maturation. About change. And the format has been borrowed, and borrowed, and borrowed...some folks don't like Dickens. But his work formed a lot of the boundaries that current work operates between, created a lot of the expectation that the mere concept of "novel" engenders in this time and place.


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## JosephB (May 9, 2013)

^ Yeah, I know. That's a quote from the movie _Sling Blade__._ And I got it wrong -- it's "One of 'em's a book on Christmas. Mmm Hmm." 

Now how about some of them french fried potaters?


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## JosephB (May 9, 2013)

Leyline said:


> Of course.
> 
> What we do agree on is Mizz O'Conner. I read her stories and sit my arse down in respect. 'A Good Man Is Hard To Find' is the story I go to when the well gets dry. 'Everything That Rises Must Converge' is damn near close. So are 'The Lame Must Enter First' and 'Judgment Day'.
> 
> ...



Yeah, she's pretty awesome. _A Good Man..._ is a go-to story for me too. I've read it umpteen times. We're going down to Milledgeville in a couple of weeks to see her house and pay homage. Do you want me to pick up a Fannery O'Conner bobblehead for you?


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## Kyle R (May 9, 2013)

I'm heading out right now, so I'll be back to add more later, but one book that stands among the top of my list is _The Prestige_ ​by Christopher Priest.

It's about two rival Victorian-era magicians, whose obsessions with each other become antagonistic and spiral out of control. The book weaves multiple narrative styles and voices, mixed with twists and red herrings at every turn. It's like reading a magic trick in itself.


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## JosephB (May 9, 2013)

What time are you going to be back so I can set my alarm?


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## SarahStrange (May 12, 2013)

The play _No Exit, _by Jean-Paul Sartre. Haunting, frustrating, mesmerizing and worth a read through.

_The Good Earth _by Pearl S. Buck. My all time favorite book. In one word, beautiful. 

_The Once and Future King _by T. H. White. Oh Merlin!

And last but not least, _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy _by Douglas Adams. What can I say? Perfection. That's what.


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## Olly Buckle (May 12, 2013)

The once and future king comes in two versions, not sure if they got different titles but after writing it as a kid's book he saw more potential and re-wrote it with two others. The ill made knight, about Lancelot, and The queen of air and darkness, about Morgan le fey, the beginning of that where she is looking for an invisibility spell is one of the most wonderful descriptions of evil through sheer nonchalance.

If you are looking for books that are a help  to the writer almost any of Kipling's short story collections are good, he is a master at the form, but Plain tales from the hills was the first, and maybe the nuts and bolts of constructing a story show a little more.

Someone mentioned Ursula Le Guin, she often manages a unique take, The left hand of darkness is one of my favourites, also Sparrowhawk, wizard of Earthsea, one of those kid's books adults can enjoy.

The war of Don Emanuel's nether parts by Lois de Bernier, if only for its continuous, wonderful, inventiveness, but it is much more than that as well.

If you are into crime novels Agatha Christie was the lady who topped the sales charts, but there were a small group of lady writers in that genre at about the same time and I would recommend Marjorie Allingham for her style and story construction.


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