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Great books no one but you has heard of

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insofar Monstrum from Areopagus Since: Apr, 2009
#26: Aug 16th 2009 at 9:47:19 AM

I've read both Jennifer Government and Syrup.

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
LuckyRevenant ALMSIVI from The Flood Since: Jan, 2001
ALMSIVI
#27: Aug 18th 2009 at 6:59:05 AM

Wheelers by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen is pretty good. More or less hard science fiction about first contact with Starfish Aliens. Takes place sorta 20 Minutes into the Future, but after a world war...or robot war. I can't remember at the moment.

edited 18th Aug '09 6:59:28 AM by Lucky Revenant

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."
Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
DUMB
#28: Aug 18th 2009 at 12:07:26 PM

I read a non-fiction book by the same pair, and it was amazing. They cited Wheelers a lot.

edited 18th Aug '09 12:07:38 PM by Tzetze

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
dkellis Since: Jan, 2001
#29: Aug 23rd 2009 at 6:29:24 AM

I mostly know the names Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen from the Science of Discworld books. I assume they wrote or at least heavily outlined the non-fiction parts: the first book's was fascinating, the second's was thought-provoking, the third's read like an extended rant against creationists.

Maxmordon El Presidente from Venezuela Since: Jan, 2001
El Presidente
#30: Aug 23rd 2009 at 10:41:31 AM

The Tunnel By Ernesto Sabato, even Albert Camus admited he was inspired to write The Stranger after he read it.

VampireBuddha Calendar enthusiast from Ireland (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
Calendar enthusiast
#31: Aug 23rd 2009 at 10:56:11 AM

@Dookie2: I've read The End of Eternity as well; didn't realise it had a wiki page.

Ukrainian Red Cross
Nokhet Since: Dec, 1969
#32: Aug 23rd 2009 at 7:39:31 PM

The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney. One of the greatest adventures in human history that nobody knows about, plastered into a fictional world.

Landstander God Of Cake from Somewhere else Since: Jan, 2001
God Of Cake
#33: Aug 27th 2009 at 4:27:09 PM

While somewhat iconic for baby boomers, sadly Erica Jong's Fear Of Flying has been forgotten about and I don't know of anyone my age who has read it or ever heard of it. It's more of a female Portnoy's Complaint than comparable to any sort of "chick lit"

Emperor Wu liked cake, but not exploding cake!
Hyardacil Since: Dec, 1969
#34: Aug 30th 2009 at 5:55:08 AM

My five cents would be "Ocean Sea" by A. Baricco.

tmoh Nightmare Fetishist Since: Jan, 2001
Nightmare Fetishist
#35: Aug 30th 2009 at 11:53:49 AM

All of mine are kids' and young adult books: Michael Dahl's Finnegan Zwake mysteries, Robin Jarvis's Wyrd Museum trilogy, and the Castle Cant books by K.P. Bath. The closest I've gotten is findiing people who know about Jarvis's other books. sad

I can't make a single post without a Discworld reference. See?
Sparkysharps Since: Jan, 2001
#36: Aug 30th 2009 at 1:44:40 PM

It's hard for me to determine what would count as books that "nobody but me has heard of" on the basis that I had the misfortune of growing up in an area where the only thing anybody has read is Harry Potter, their high school reading list and Twilight. Pretty much everything else is something they haven't heard of (I have never felt like head-desking more than when I heard the words "H.P. Lovecraft? Who's that?" from an English teacher). I'll try, though (my college buddies are more well-read, so the list will pretty much be "stuff they haven't heard of").

edited 30th Aug '09 1:44:51 PM by Sparkysharps

insofar Monstrum from Areopagus Since: Apr, 2009
#37: Aug 30th 2009 at 2:04:20 PM

Really? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Lamb, and World War Z are all best-sellers (and Lamb and WWZ have like 600 reviews each on Amazon).

My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Sparkysharps Since: Jan, 2001
#38: Aug 30th 2009 at 2:11:16 PM

As I've said before — My peer group apparently doesn't read much, so my definition of obscure is warped.

Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
LuckyRevenant ALMSIVI from The Flood Since: Jan, 2001
ALMSIVI
#40: Aug 30th 2009 at 2:45:40 PM

when I heard the words "H.P. Lovecraft? Who's that?" from an English teacher

Hearing you say that makes me want to say that I frequently get my English/Creative Writing teacher started on rants about how awesome Lovecraft is while the rest of the class sits in confusion.

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."
ShayGuy Since: Jan, 2001
#41: Aug 30th 2009 at 2:54:55 PM

At least you've presumably never had a writing teacher who though The Eye Of Argon was well-written.

Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
DUMB
#42: Aug 30th 2009 at 2:57:19 PM

Well, my freshman English teacher believed in ghosts and thought that Romeo And Juliet was the most romantic thing EVAR, so not nearly as bad, but still.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
TheJackal Lurker from the UK Since: Dec, 2009
Lurker
#43: Aug 31st 2009 at 3:50:39 AM

At least on here, anything by Andy McNab or Ian Rankin. Though this may be because this is a predominantly American wiki and those authors don't seem to be very well nown outside the UK (or at least, that's the perception I've got of them).

TheEvilDr.Bolty The Evil Dr Bolty Since: May, 2009
The Evil Dr Bolty
#44: Aug 31st 2009 at 7:27:23 AM

Don't know anyone else who's read Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston. Great book, although it's a total Mind Screw.

FurikoMaru Reverse the Curse from The Arrogant Wasteland Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: He makes me feel like I have a heart
Reverse the Curse
#45: Sep 1st 2009 at 4:13:08 PM

The SPQR mystery series. I read the third and fifth books in my high school library and I've been looking for them again ever since. No one I've met is even aware of their existence, despite what awesome fangirl-fodder they are.

Phule's Company was also pretty fun, if hilariously over-the-top in its Stu-ish aspects.

A True Lady's Quest - A Jojo is You!
Zephid Since: Jan, 2001
#46: Sep 1st 2009 at 4:21:43 PM

A Mist of Prophecies. Follows a detective named Gordianus in Rome investigating the death of an acclaimed prophet/prostitute named Cassandra.

I wrote about a fish turning into the moon.
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#47: Sep 2nd 2009 at 11:24:55 AM

No ones heard of the Lost Regiment. Shame really, they're fun and exciting.

At least one person has read The Lost Fleet since there is a page for it, but it only had like, five examples.

LuckyRevenant ALMSIVI from The Flood Since: Jan, 2001
ALMSIVI
#48: Sep 2nd 2009 at 8:13:10 PM

Wait, is this the same Lost Regiment as the Civil War regiment that got stranded in that strange, brutal world? I've never read them, but I'm pretty sure I have them. Well, my dad has them. Or had them. He didn't like them much and may have returned them or given them to Half-Price books.

"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#49: Sep 2nd 2009 at 8:19:15 PM

If you here a thumping sound in the distance, it's my head repeatedly hitting the desk.

You have them and haven't read them! I only have three of them and I can't find the rest! Frikkin' three!

I am in dispair over the cruel ironies of life!

Sneeb super sugoi kawaii neko desuas from poo world (aka tvtropes) Since: Jan, 2001
super sugoi kawaii neko desuas
#50: Sep 2nd 2009 at 8:39:43 PM

The Man Who Was Thursday. Such highbrow funniness

an heroic gesture would do the world good

Total posts: 273
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