Bertrand Russell The History of Western Philosophy
John Fowles;
The Magus
Geraldine Pinch;
Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction
C.C.W. Taylor;
Socrates: A Very Short Introduction
Christopher Kelly;
The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction
Anthony Storr;
Freud: A Very Short Introduction
Giulio Leoni;
The Third Heaven Conspiracy
China Mieville;
Un Lun Dun
Michael Tanner;
Nietzsche; A Very Short Introduction
A. C. Grayling;
Russell: A Very Short Introduction
Michael Durrant;
Plato's Quinean Beard: Did Plato Ever Grow It?
Michael Morpurgo;
The Mozart Question
W. V. Quine;
On What There Is
Aeschylus;
Prometheus Bound And Other Plays (The Suppliants, The Seven Against Thebes, The Persians)
Tad Williams;
Otherland: Sea of Silver Light
Seneca;
Letters from a Stoic
Bretrand Russell;
The Problems of Philosophy
Lise Myhre;
Nemi
Julia Annas;
Plato: A Very Short Introduction
Hesiod;
Theogony & Works and Days
Plato;
Gorgias
Lao Tzu;
Tao Te Ching
Epicurus;
Letter to Menoeceus
Julia Annas;
Ancient Philosophy A Very Short Introduction
Lucan;
The Civil War
Peter Singer;
Marx A Very Short Introduction
Lucretius;
The Nature of Things
The Hippocratic Writers;
Hippocratic writings
Jonathan Barnes;
Aristotle A Very Short Introduction
Mary Beard & John Henderson;
Classics A Very Short Introduction
Helen Morales;
Classical Mythology A Very Short Introduction
Tad Williams;
Mountain of Black Glass
Tad Williams;
River of Blue Fire
Michael Moorcock;
Elric of Menibone
Love.
Tad Williams;
Otherland
It's... not bad. :S But for some reason, it just really didn't hold my interest, and I don't know why. I'm one of those people who usually refuses to stop reading a book once I've started reading it; but this one I could have put down at any point, and happily forgotten about it. I had to force myself to finish reading it, and I just don't know why. It's well written, the characters are interesting, *shrug* It just didn't click for me. I shall read the next one, hoping that now the scene is set, it will engage my interest more.
Stephen King;
Fire Starter
Good, not his best work, but not his worst, either.
James Herbert;
Nobody True
I'm cheating slightly hear, because I haven't actually finished reading it, but I really needed to whine about it. It's so frustratingly full of inconsistencies and obvious plot twists that takes the main character half the book to figure out when to you, it was obvious from the first mention - I exaggerate not. The main character mentions something, then says he'll come back to it later - the next time he mentions it, he brings it up as an idea that just now occurred to him - even though it occurred to him several days prior. The bloody-mindedness of the character drives you crazy and it's a weee bit too heavy on the angst and bad luck. It's also repetitive, Herbert explains things several times, when in fact, no explanation was needed at all. Unless someone very close very highly recommends another of his books, I don't think I'll bother. It didn't seem so bad when I first started reading - clearly not a creative genius, nowhere near as good as King, but still read-able. Now I'd barely class it as readable.
Milton;
Paradise Lost
Alena Jezkova;
77 Prague Legends
J. K. Rowling;
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Sophocles;
Antigone
Sophocles;
Oedipus the King
Ambrose Bierce;
The Devil's Dictionary
David Gemmel;
Shield of Thunder
Stephen King & Peter Straub;
Black House
Maybe because I haven't actually read Straub, I failed to see much influence of his in this book - it was very Kingish, fairly closely related to the Dark Tower, with a typical Kingian ending. It was good, I liked it. It was great to just pick up a book, kick back, and for once to glance at the clock and wince when you realise an hour has passed, and you've only read 20 pages.
Lynn Truss;
Talk to the Hand
Compared to Eats, Shoots and Leaves it was disappointing, she made some good points, but unlike E,S&L, there was no didactic element. It was just her having a good old rant. And despite ranting about manners, she manages to be offensive in quite a few places. In the beginning, for instance, she tells any young readers to put the book down, how could anyone who wasn't wrinkly possibly care about manners?
René Descartes;
Meditations on First Philosophy
David Gemmel;
Lord of the Silver Bow
William Blake;
The Marriage of Heaven & Hell
I'm a huge fan of Blake and lean towards agreement with his ideas and philosophy, I find his poet wonderful and lyrical, so yes, I loved this books, and would recommend it to everyone - even if you don't love Blake, it's a short read, so you won't waste too much time.
Unknown;
Beowulf
Vergil;
The Aeneid
Dostoevsky;
Crime & Punishment
Margaret Atwood;
The Penelopiad
Compared to The Handmaid's Tale it was disappointing, and after having spent weeks reading, and re-reading epic, I was almost horrified to see Epic characters treated in such a way - one of the "praises" on the back of the book compared it to Desperate Housewives, which to me seemed like a damning criticism. However, the ideas that it raises are very interesting and offer a new perspective on some of the events in the Odyssey. It was worth it for that, and prehaps the "Praise" it got was undeserved.
Homer;
The Iliad
Far harder than the Odyssey in that you have to know a lot more about Greek culture to pick up the subtle drama. Otherwise it may very well seem like an epic of killing. But any deeper study of the text would reveal far more than that.
Plato;
Protagoras
Plato;
Apology
Having opted to study Philosophy and Classics, it would be a fair assumption that this is a perfect dialogue for me to read - which would be correct, having studied this particular dialogue for several weeks, I feel it is highly significant to understanding Socrates and his beliefs.
Stephen King;
The Dark Tower
The ending takes a wee bit of time to get used to it, which I think is the case for most people - I've talked to a lot of people who hated it to start with, but after thinking on it, wouldn't have it any other way. Very sad book. :( Very well written.
Stephen King;
The Song of Susannah
Stephen King;
The Wolves of Calla
Stephen King;
Wizard And Glass
Sappho;
Poems and Fragments
Stephen King;
Needful Things
Stephen King;
The Waste Lands
Stephen King;
The Drawing of Three
The books only get better as the series continues, it books are usually slow moving for the most part, giving plenty of time for character development, which I feel King fully utilises.
Stephen King;
The Gunslinger
I would describe this book almost as a prologue rather than a book in its own rights - it sets all the questions up, but provides no answers, it is an appetiser for what is to follow.
Pat Barker;
Regeneration Trilogy
The second in the triology is a bit OTT on the sex-content; but it's a good account of civ. life during the war, the first book is awesome, as is the last. Of course, it doesn't have a happy ending.
William Blake;
Songs of Innocence and Experience.
Awesome. Just awesome. Obviously, you'll get far more out of it if you take time to analyse and study each poem by itself, and in relation to the others; than if you just read through them all once and put it down.
Sebastian Faulks;
Birdsong
Very good; I came at this book expecting to not like it because I didn't like the subject matter, or the genre. By the end of the book, I not only loved the book, but also loved the genre.
Stephen King;
The Dark Half
Stephen King;
The Dead Zone
Stephen King;
Carrie
Stephen King;
Skeleton Crew
Stephen King;
'Salem's Lot
Stephen King;
Gerald's Game
Stephen King;
Four Past Midnight
Stephen King;
Night Shift
Stephen King;
Pet Sematary
Homer;
The Odyssey
I loved it, but then, studying Classics, I probably would. The translation I read was into blank verse, they made no attempt, as some do, to alter the text to make it rhyme in English. Though with certain phrases it is still obvious it is poetry (such as 'Dawn came early with rosy fingers', which is frequently repeated.) I recommend it to all.
Paulo Coelho;
Veronika Decides to Die
Good. For me, the end somewhat ruined it; but it was clever, and beautiful, the way it didn't focus just around Veronika, but also showed how she affected other people too, was good.
Shakespeare;
Othello
Good. The characters are so interesting, and contain such depth that I read it over several times, and still notice new things about them through their language.
Bram Stoker;
Dracula
Good. Compared to the other 'gothic' novels I'd had to read - Wuthering Heights & Frankenstein, it was bloody awesome.
Emily Brönte;
Wuthering Heights
Bad. Ouch. It just seems like a very immature novel - who is the reader supposed to sympathise with? Cathy - the characters are all too self-centred for the reader to sympathise with them.
Mary Shelly;
Frankenstein
I didn't enjoy this book much. I found it too miserable. Not sad, just miserable. frankenstein's self-pitying, pseudo-pious behavious is tedious after almost the first page.
Stephen King;
The Shining
Joseph Heller;
Catch 22
Once again, a wonderful book I'd recommend to everyone. funny, kinda weird and then at times, deadly serious - the tragedies in the book are made all the more poignant by the humour through the rest of it. Everyone should read this book.
Sylvia Plath;
The Bell Jar
interesting, but not the most involving read ever It was interesting in some places, but dull in others, and not very clear.
Ken Kesey;
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Wonderful and moving, I'd recommend it to anyone.
E. A. Poe;
The Gold-Bug
E. A. Poe;
Hans Phaall
E. A. Poe;
The Murders In The Rue Morgue
E. A. Poe;
The Mystery Of Marie Roget
E. A. Poe;
The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket
E. A. Poe;
The Angel Of The Odd- An Extravaganza
E. A. Poe;
The Assignation
E. A. Poe;
The Balloon-Hoax
E. A. Poe;
Berenice
E. A. Poe;
The Black Cat
E. A. Poe;
Bon-Bon
E. A. Poe;
The Business Man
E. A. Poe;
The Cask Of Amontillado
E. A. Poe;
The Colloquy Of Monos And Una
E. A. Poe;
The Conversation Of Eiros And Charmion
E. A. Poe;
A Descent Into The Maelstrom
E. A. Poe;
The Devil In The Belfry
E. A. Poe;
Diddling - Considered As One Of The Exact Sciences
E. A. Poe;
The Domain Of Arnheim
E. A. Poe;
The Duc De l'Omlette
E. A. Poe;
Eleonora
E. A. Poe;
The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar
E. A. Poe;
The Fall Of The House Of Usher
E. A. Poe;
Four Beasts In One- The Homo-Cameleopard
E. A. Poe;
Hop-Frog
E. A. Poe;
How To Write A Blackwood Article
E. A. Poe;
The Imp Of The Perverse
E. A. Poe;
The Island Of The Fay
E. A. Poe;
King Pest - A Tale Containing An Allegory
E. A. Poe;
Landor's Cottage - A Pendant To "The Domain Of Arnheim"
E. A. Poe;
The Landscape Garden
E. A. Poe;
Ligeia
E. A. Poe;
Lionizing
E. A. Poe;
Literary Life Of Thingum Bob, Esq. - Late Editor Of The Goosetherumfoodle - By Himself
E. A. Poe;
Loss Of Breath - A Tale Neither In Nor Out Of "Blackwood"
E. A. Poe;
The Man Of The Crowd
E. A. Poe;
The Man That Was Used Up - A Tale Of The Late Bugaboo And Kickapoo Campaign
E. A. Poe;
The Masque Of The Red Death
E. A. Poe;
Mellonta Tauta
E. A. Poe;
Mesmeric Revelation
E. A. Poe;
Metzengerstein
E. A. Poe;
Morella
E. A. Poe;
Morning On The Wissahiccon
E. A. Poe;
Ms. Found In A Bottle
E. A. Poe;
Mystification
E. A. Poe;
Never Bet The Devil Your Head - A Tale With A Moral
E. A. Poe;
The Oblong Box
E. A. Poe;
The Oval Portrait
E. A. Poe;
The Pit And The Pendulum
E. A. Poe;
The Power Of Words
E. A. Poe;
A Predicament
E. A. Poe;
The Premature Burial
E. A. Poe;
The Purloined Letter
E. A. Poe;
Scenes From Politian
E. A. Poe;
Shadow- A Parable
E. A. Poe;
Silence - A Fable
E. A. Poe;
Some Words With A Mummy
E. A. Poe;
The Spectacles
E. A. Poe;
The Sphinx
E. A. Poe;
The System Of Dr. Tarr And Prof. Fether
E. A. Poe;
Tale Of Jerusalem
E. A. Poe;
A Tale Of The Ragged Mountains
E. A. Poe;
The Tell-Tale Heart
E. A. Poe;
"Thou Art The Man"
E. A. Poe;
The Thousand-And-Second Tale Of Scheherazade
E. A. Poe;
Three Sundays In A Week
E. A. Poe;
Von Kempelen And His Discovery
E. A. Poe;
Why The Little Frenchman Wears His Hand In A Sling
E. A. Poe;
William Wilson
E. A. Poe;
X-Ing A Paragrab
Chaucer;
The Miller's Prologue and Tale
Fantastically, crudely funny. But at the same time, chaucer's intelligence is shown through his more subtle humour.
Shakespeare;
The Taming of the Shrew
As Shakespeare goes it's not one of his best - it's an early commedy, with a very, very weak ending. though there are some very funny scenes, the ending is pathetic.
Stephen King;
IT
Ian McEwan;
Enduring Love
This book grew on me a lot, at first I didn't like it, then, after studying it, I felt I'd got a lot more out of it, since I'd had to sit down and think about it. Worth reading if you're prepared to think carefully about the book.
Tennessee Williams;
The Glass Menagerie
Again, this too is a script I liked more after studying, and sitting down to think about the symbolism present, etc. I doubt I could watch it as a play though, the accents would drive me crazy.
Robert Louis Stevenson;
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Good.
Margaret Atwood;
The Handmaid's Tale
As with most books I was forced to study, but wouldn't have picked up of my own accord, I didn't like it to start with, but it grew on me as I understood more about it, and discussed it's themes and ideas. It's not a happy book, but I do think it's good.
To Read/finish
Aristotle Nichomachian Ethics
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