Read a good book lately?

[Guest Bruce]

Well it's snowing with a vengence so I am in need of a few good books to see me through until spring. Given some of the music recommendations seen in the past around here I figured this would be a good place to ask. Any favorites, riding oriented or otherwise?

 

PS, if it doesn't snow where you live the rest of us don't want to hear about it, OK.

[bento]

i'm reading those stupid wheel of time books.

 

but i've been wondering over the same type thing, but with p.c. or xbox games. the thought of slapping tx around on dead or alive umimited warms my heart

 

oh, and it's packed to the gills with fan service too.

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

i'm reading those stupid wheel of time books.

 

the thought of slapping tx around on dead or alive umimited warms my heart

 

39617[/snapback]

 

Better watch it Bento, I'll be all over you like baby crap on corduroy

 

Good books Check out George Carlin's new book " When will Jesus bring the pork chops ? "

[antonio carroccio]

What about Charles Bukowski? Read this, and tell me later about it!

[bento]

omg tex, if you have teh xbox live, you MUST tell me your gamertag!!

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

Check out George Carlin's new book " When will Jesus bring the pork chops ? "

Try "America - the Book" from the people who bring you the Daily Show with Jon Stewart!

[kenr]

The White Spider - excellent, if you like that sort of thing.....

[staedtler]

good stuff pretty much a classic

[gthyni]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846

 

[Ralph Werner]

My last good read was Shadow Divers. It's about the discovery of an unidentified WW II German U boat off of the NJ coast. The SCUBA dive is over 200 feet - about the limit -and a few die trying to find out why this boat was there in the first place(true story). A well written book in my opinion.

 

Two Wheels Through Terror isn't too bad if you're into MC adventures.

[Admin Jaap]

I'm wrestling with Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" right now. I optimistically bought the book during my studies (long ago) but couldn't get through... bloody hell, difficult reading... Now being more mature and packed with life experience I thought i'd give it a try again, especially because there is a Guzzi on the cover!

 

What can I say... the first time the name Immanuel Kant appeared in the book, this came to mind:

 

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable,

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could think you under the table,

David Hume could out-consume Schopenhauer and Hegel,

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya 'bout the turning of the wrist,

Socrates himself was permanently pissed...

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will, with half a pint of shandy was

particularly ill,

Plato, they say, could stick it away, half a crate of whiskey every day,

Aristotle, Aristotle was a beggar for the bottle,

Hobbes was fond of his dram,

And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart, "I drink therefore I am."

Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;

A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed.

 

[jrt]

Pirsig is a difficult read. I read that book when I was 19 years old and living off the back of a motorbike in the mountains of Georgia/N&S. Carolina and Alabama. I couldn't do anything else...

I'm lately a fan of detective novels- some of the best authors in that genre are:

The Swedish: Henning Mankel (a long series about the career of a dectective- Kurt Wallandar)

Maj Sjowall and Per Waloo, they write as a pair, and they put a dose of Swedish social commentary in their novels

The Japanese: Seicho Matsumoto wrote a book called 'Inspector Imanishi Investigates' that is nominally a detective novel, but is a very cool read about Japan in the '60's.

Martin Cruz Smith is an excellent writer (Gorky Park and a bunch others). His book 'December 6' is set in Japan as well. I like Smith because he really does his background research well.

For gritty, hard boiled reading (forget Bukowski- he's just sick), try James Elroy (L.A.Confidential)...or Jim Thomson (Pop 1280)...or if you really want mean, try Andrew Vachss.

Other Genre's:

Biting social commentary: try Stephen Fry (The Liar). Hell o' funny. Or Tom Sharpe (Porterhouse Blue). Sharpe is very, very, very biting, but very funny. He was expelled from S. Africa for his writing which is extremely critical of the apartheid.

Historical Drama: One of the best writers I've had the pleasure to read recently is Robert Harris. Not the 'Hannibal Lecter' guy, although that's repulsive-compelling as well- read a book by Harris called 'Fatherland'. Absolutely compelling. I'm reading 'Pompeii' by Harris right now- it's about the two days just before Vesuvius erupts. I guess these are detective-ish novels as well.

If you like literary writers (as opposed to pulp), try Robert Stone. He's a hard read, but you'll improve your vocabulary and learn what sentence structure can do. I particularly liked 'Dog Soldiers' and 'Damascus Gate'.

History: I like the blues, so I would recommend Alan Lomax- History of the Blues. 'Border Radio...' by Gene Fowler is a really amusing look at the radio stations that cropped up along the Texas/Mexico border in the '20's-50's (think Wolfman Jack) and all the associated, very weird, people.

If you can't tell, I like to read.

 

For most of the above books- If you just want to try one out, let me know- I'll lend it to you.

Jason

[Guest Dave Pott]

I just finished a book I actually bought for my wife... "The Perfect Vehicle" by Melissa Holbrook Pierson.

 

An easier read than Pirsig but still with lots of philosophical musings about why we love motorcycles and sprinkled with some great road stories.

 

By the way, she happens to be a die-hard Guzzisiti and has only owned and rode Guzzis for the last 20 years.

 

Has anyone heard of this author?? Maybe she participates in this forum

[antonio carroccio]

On this forum only macho-men...........bloody boring!

[GuzzTim]

ah books... I travel a fair bit and reading is the only thing I do on airplanes.. I am a non-fiction reader for the most part, and read a lot about 20th century history which ends up being mostly about the 1st and 2nd world wars.. Anything by John Keegan is good, Also read new biographies on Stalin and Khruschev.

 

However a standout book is Shake Hands with the Devil by Gen. Romeo D'Allaire. He was the Canadian in charge of the UN mission in Rwanda. Its an eye opener on the failings of the UN.

 

Also constantly enjoy re-reading Charlie Wilson's War - about the funding of the mujhadeen during the Soviet invasion of Afganistan. What was most interesting about this book is the way money flows in the US government to covert ops..

 

A real gem of a book is "The Zanzibar Chest" by Aidan Hartley. A book by a war correspondent who discovers his father's past .. set in East Africa (and modern times).. Really well written.

 

Finally my one novel this year turned out to be one of my favourite reads. "Birds Without Wings" by Louis De Bernieres.

 

Oh, and of course my favourite read is my owners manual for the Tuono !! It rocks !!

 

Cheers, Tim