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Good Novels (pg. 4)
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Mainly I didn't buy into the premise - art will never be completely eradicated by science. |
I don't really think that's the "main premise." I see the main idea as that people can be enslaved as much by their own appetites for pleasure and short attention spans as by a straight-out dictatorship. I see Huxley as asking, "What is political freedom worth if people stop caring about the kind of meaningful life pursuits that it makes possible?" The absence of art in the book is just a consequence of the near-universal shallowness and obsession with immediate pleasure (and the deliberate dumbing-down and stratification of the populace), not necessarily the main point.
I think the book is kind of a companion to Fahrenheit 451, only in Brave New World the common people are even more complacent and ignorant than in Bradbury's work -- there are no firemen needed because people no longer care enough even to be curious about the forbidden ideas contained in books. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
there are no firemen needed because people no longer care enough even to be curious about the forbidden ideas contained in books. |
Those most prone to "forbidden" ideas are typically not well-read. Political ideology may be gone, but certainly crime wouldn't be eradicated simply because one doesn't have books to imagine it. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Those most prone to "forbidden" ideas are typically not well-read. Political ideology may be gone, but certainly crime wouldn't be eradicated simply because one doesn't have books to imagine it. |
By "forbidden" ideas I mostly meant the ideas that a totalitarian regime would consider dangerous to its own existence -- individual rights, political representation, etc. |
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| Hurock |
Thriller/Action = Robert Ludlum
Action/Weirdness/Gore = Chuck Palahniuk |
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| woscar |
Any specifics from Ludlum? I've heard he's very hit and miss along with Tom Clancy. Although I've heard his good novels are remarkable.
As for Palahniuk, I've only read "Fight Club" yet. Absolutely fantastic in every aspect. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
IMO Nabokov was the best English prose stylist of the twentieth century -- certainly of the second half. And English wasn't even his native language.
:D |
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| Hurock |
| quote: | Originally posted by woscar
Any specifics from Ludlum? I've heard he's very hit and miss along with Tom Clancy. Although I've heard his good novels are remarkable.
As for Palahniuk, I've only read "Fight Club" yet. Absolutely fantastic in every aspect. |
The Altman Code was really good, but you can also look for the Bourne trilogy. |
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| wotyzoid |
| quote: | Originally posted by woscar
As for Palahniuk, I've only read "Fight Club" yet. Absolutely fantastic in every aspect. |
QFT, Chuck is amazing. I hear his latest, STUFF, is pretty good as well. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Omega_M
Shantaram. Read it. 1000+ pages. Worth it.
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This has me very interested. Added to the queue. Goal is to finish this before the Johnny Depp film adaptation is finished. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
Finally actually added to my list. Still looks fascinating. |
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| Aortik |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
IMO Nabokov was the best English prose stylist of the twentieth century -- certainly of the second half. And English wasn't even his native language.
:D |
You should read Nabokov's Invitation To a Beheading if you've not before. I do not feel it was written quite as well as Lolita was, but I thought it was a brilliant and sick sort of comedy on human suffering and the processes we construct to facilitate it. |
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| stan229 |
Brent Week's Night Angel Trilogy is awesome
Way of Shadows, Shadows Edge, Beyond the Shadows |
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