What are your favorite all time books?

[Physics_wiz]

What is your favorite? You can have more than one favorite .

My favorites are :

"Fooled by Randomness" By Nassim Taleb
"Atlas Shrugged" By Ayn Rand

(I didn't read too many books so those might not be that good since it was a small sample)

 

[arildno]

I guess it must be "Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R Tolkien
Another favourite re-read is "Maurice" by E.M. Forster.

 

[wolram]

Noddy goes to toy town, any thing beyond that is a strech for the imagination

 

[neutrino]

Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. It may not be the best book ever written, but it has played a very special role in my life.

 

[arildno]

Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh. It may not be the best book ever written, but it has played a very special role in my life.

First book you read?
Wrote love poems in it??

What role??
I'm piqued..positively sizzled by curiosity.

 

[neutrino]

Well, I had absolutely no idea of what mathematics was all about before reading it. It doesn't mean that I'm really good at it now, but I'm way better than what I would've been if I hadn't read that book.

 

[Mattara]

"The Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan

I'm actually re-reading the Knife of Dreams book as we speak.

 

[chroot]

My favorite books... great question. Let me think for a bit...

The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman
Applied Cryptography by Schneier
Snow Crash by Stephenson
Heart of Darkness by Conrad
The Cave Divers by Burgess

and surely many more.. I'll have to go through my bookshelves at home and recall my old favorites.

- Warren

 

[daveb]

Watership Down by Richard Adams, followed closely by Master and Margarita by Bulgakov

 

[Hootenanny]

"The First Casualty", Ben Elton. Witty beyond belief

 

[Physics_wiz]

Applied Cryptography by Schneier

What kind of background do I need to understand this?

 

[Astronuc]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I've got my towel ready and my electronic thumb is always on.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

How to Profit from the Coming Boom in Nuclear Technology, by Effasin Frank.

 

[franznietzsche]

The Trial - Kafka
Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Nietzsche
The Stranger - Camus
The Convenant - James Michener


The list would be longer, but I restricted myself to my favorite of each author. First and third should be no surprise I imagine .

@Physics_wiz -- Ayn Rand? To each his own i suppose.

 

[Cyrus]

I'm not all that big on reading books. That's not to say I don't like them, but I don't love them either.

 

[chroot]

I'm not all that big on reading books. That's not to say I don't like them, but I don't love them either.

It shows.

- Warren

 

[Cyrus]

Thanks, I try. Does Dr. Seuss count as a literary masterpiece?

 

[Mattara]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I've got my towel ready and my electronic thumb is always on.

I never got that book. At all

 

[selfAdjoint]

I never got that book. At all

Me neither. Is it something with us?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Me neither. Is it something with us?

In part, comedy is the art of surprising people. HHGTTG is an exercise in witty surprises.

My all time favorites:
I would include Hitchhikers Guide
Childhood's End
Ringworld
Aztec
One of my favorite short stories is Shottle Bop

IMO, one should be careful about spending too much time with one's nose in fiction. And much of the classical literature will leave you isolated and needing Prozac. Of course, most people here are probably already relatively isolated by their love of science.

 

[Astronuc]

If one gets the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I'd recommend

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

It has five books of the trilogy and a short story.

One will also find tips on "How to Leave the Planet" - which are:

1. Phone NASA - Adams gives the number - and tells the reader to explain to NASA that it is very important to get away as soon as possible
2. If NASA does not cooperate, phone the Whitehouse - number given
3. If they don't cooperate, phone the Kremlin - number given (but may have changed since the book was released)
4. If that fails, call the Pope - number given, but may also have changed.
5. If all the above fail, flag down a passing flying saucer and explain that it's very important to get away as before your phone bill arrives.

Of course, all this was written before the internet, so likely one only needs to send an email these days.

Of course, there is Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire series, and those were all mostly good.

 

[siddharth]

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

 

[fourier jr]

The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field by Jacques Hadamard
i'm about halfway through it now & it has articulated & 'demystified' many things that i suspected about discoveries (or inventions, creations etc) of any kind, not just mathematical ones. one thing that really stood out for me was a sentence or two about classmates of galois who said that galois was repulsed by his algebra texts because they didnt give any insight into how mathematical discoveries were made. i guess they just said 'this is how its done, do it this way' etc etc without explaining why it was interesting or important to learn or where it came from. after reading that i had a better understanding of why my favourite textbooks are my favourites and not other ones.

The Revolt of the Masses by Jose Ortega y Gasset
one of the most exciting & inspirational books I've ever read. I'm going to read it again when I'm done the hadamard book above. see the quotes thread for many tidbits from the book.

The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian
a list of 300 maxims (basically rules to live by) such as these ones:
Maxim #57: Be slow & sure. Things are done quickly enough if done well. If just quickly done they can be quickly undone. To last an eternity requires an eternity of preparation. Only excellence counts, only achievement endures. Profound intelligence is the only foundation for immortality. What is worth much costs much. The precious metals are the heaviest.
Maxim #204: Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult and difficult tasks as if they were easy. In the one case so that confidence may not fall asleep, in the other so that it may not be dismayed. For a thing to remain undone nothing more is needed than to think it done. On the other hand, patient industry overcomes impossibilities. Great undertakings are not to be brooded over, lest their difficulty when seen causes despair.

the hobbit & lord of the rings of course (NOT harry potter )

all the shakespeare i did was in high school; i kind of wish i'd done some in university now. i always liked hamlet even though it's kind of sad. i guess if I'm ever in the mood for a happy version of hamlet i could always watch the lion king.

 

[fourier jr]

I'm not all that big on reading books. That's not to say I don't like them, but I don't love them either.

There are four way to know much: live for many years; travel through many lands; read many good books (which is easiest); and converse with wise friends (which is most enjoyable).
Baltasar Gracian

 

[arildno]

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

It can't be. The third book haven't come yet..

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Fiction is better than fact, if I want fact I'll go to school, oh yeah I did, LotR or anything by David Gemmel but Legend and Waylander and John Shannow Novels in particular. Gemmel is a master story teller, unparalleled in fantasy at the moment, IMO.

There are a few classics I've read too that rate highly but I won't bore you with the details, one involved a whale, the other a windmill and the third a murderer.

 

[arildno]

Gemmel..that's the guy writing about Thunk, the Death Hammer, or someone like that?

 

[siddharth]

It can't be. The third book haven't come yet..

It has, atleast where I live.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786818611/?tag=pfamazon01-20

The third book was the best.

 

[J77]

Most books by Ian MacEwan - probably Atonement, Comfort of Strangers, A Child in Time, and Enduring Love stand out for me.

The Story of Lucy Gault by Willaim Trevor is also excellent.

 

[3trQN]

Some of the memorable books I've read:

Fermats Last - Singh

The Silmarillion - Tolkien (and also any of the ME books)

Alice in Wonderland

The TAO of Meditation

I guess i don't read many non-technical books

Other books i recently read, some book on Non-local universe and the fabric of the cosmos ( and a whole host of feynman pop physics books ).

Recently read:
The Non-local Universe
The fabric of the cosmos
The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex WorldEDIT: Feel free to suggest something for my reading list