Euphorix

My policy is to read at least 100 pages (or about 1/5 to 1/4) of the book, in order to let the author finish introducing all aspects of the novel that will become relevant. If I am still genuinely bored with the book, I'll put it down -- more reluctantly so if it's a highly acclaimed book. An example is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath -- I've read dozens of positive reviews, but found it genuinely dull. I feel there must be something wrong with me, so I'll leave it on the shelf until I can work up some desire to finish.

This. Buy this.

I've only just bought this book, and with the overwhelmingingly positive feedback from all angles, I can't wait to get started .

But surely Edgar Allan Poe deserves a mention as well. Surely one of the most prolific short story writers ever?

Chekhov. That is all.

I thought Dostoevsky was an existentialist, and spent a lot of his time attacking nihilism?

You read fast. I'm looking forward to those reviews, by the way =).

And what a great video to go along with it too.

Now that's a good book, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Hope you'll do the same.

Well it's a good thing I mentioned that, because I was very close indeed to buying that massive tome. My policy has always been to buy the best possible books when reading translations from non-English languages (because, being trilingual, I know how much is lost in translation, and can't shake the feeling of being cheated of the author's style and original intent when reading translated novels) and buying English texts in the cheapest possible edition -- it's not like they're going to change the text itself. But I guess when it comes to literature of such high quality, it's worth investing properly in a decent edition -- it could, and should, after all, last you for quite some years, perhaps even your entire life, provided you're careful.

Once I finish reading The Stranger in French (L'

True, if you want commentary -- but otherwise, how cheap they are! Shakespeare's and Austen's collected works for less than

Sorry, are there two Oxford editions?

Personally, I can't get enough to Tennyson, and certainly plan to buy this when I, cough, finish reading everything I was meant to have read: OUP (Publisher) Amazon Amazon (Alternative versions) Thoughts on Tennyson? Does anyone own any of the collections of his work and are able to recommend any one version?

Camus's The Stranger is one of my absolute favourite books -- mainly because my biggest interest in life is philosophy, and the protagonist sums up the concept of angst so beautifully and understandably, his eccentric mindset seems not only logical, but unavoidable. That book definitely gets my vote for the best short novel. Otherwise, I loved A Clockwork Orange, which left a deep impact on me.

"To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth." John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath

I'll keep a very close eye on this thread to find what you think of it; it sure seems great, but I've got plenty of books to be read as it is....

I was just about to ask you where it was, as I want nothing more than to go to one myself, but then I noticed you're in Australia....

It may be somewhat ironic after Amethyst's post, but one thing that annoys me to no end is incorrect use of apostrophes. Thankfully you don't see much of this in books; but the general population - hopeless. I recall my English teacher telling me 98% of the British population could not use an apostrophe. I don't know his source, but it wouldn't surprise me the least. One particularly daft student in my class used to sprinkle apostrophes a little bit everywhere - sometimes next to random s's in the middle of words. Needless to say, I nearly strangled him.

Thank you very much. I just realised I forgot Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. Thirteen books now. And edit again: Forgot Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Up to fourteen.

As the title so succinctly explains, I'm going to try to clear out my bookshelf from unread books before 2010 begins, so that I may commence the 50-books challenge for next year. 1. Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness & Other Stories 2. Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle [Finished - Aug 17] 3. Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment 4. Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Karamazov Brothers 5. F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby 6. Joseph Heller - Catch-22 7. Frank Herbert - Dune 8. Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis 9. Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar [Currently reading] 10. John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath [Currently reading] 11. John Steinbeck - The Pearl 12. Voltaire - Candide 13. Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting 14. Oscar Wilde - Picture of Dorian Gray Twelve Thirteen Fourteen books, four months or so. Some of them are doorstoppers, others are toilet paper. Shouldn't be too hard.

Yes, it makes a difference: if the name is Fyodor Dostoyevsky, I read it; if it's Stephanie Meyer, I put it back down.

Some of my closest friends are avid readers; I have no problem lending them three to four books at a time; I have always gotten them back in the past.

Alex Garland - The Beach Douglas Coupland - JPod Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club Aravind Adiga - The White Tiger ... And that's all that springs to mind immediately....