What to buy for my brother?

[sepandee]

My brother's not really into reading, although in the past 2 years he has shown more interest and has finished 2 biographies.

So I want to buy him 2 books for his birthday: 1 biography, 1 novel. At first I thought of getting him 100 years of solitude, but then i thought perhaps i should go with something that weighs a bit less.

Any recommendations?
And how's The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel"? I was thinking of getting it for myself.

Thanks, everyone! :)

[Alexei]

Both books are really good, but if he isn't really into reading may be you should try with something more intriguing as a story. I have heard a lot of good things about Umberto Eco's works and "The Name of the Rose" could be a good idea. It's both interesting because of the intriguing story line and because of its ideas. Something else i could recommend as capturing attention is "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" by Patrick Suskind, but it is a bit strange and may be it isn't for everyone. despite of that I haven't met someone who doesn't like it so may be i am wrong. These are my first ideas, may be later i will come with a few more :)

The Unbearable Ligthness of Being is a very good book. i strongly recommend it to you. There is a discussion in the book club, so you can see more about it there:
http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22881

[jlb4tlb]

Greetings

You might want to try "The Maltese Falcon" by Hamlet for your novel. For a Bio. I would go with "A Soldiers Story" by Omar Bradley. This autobiography was the basis for the film "Patton".

Good Luck with your choices

Jeff

[papayahed]

What were the biographies that he read? What are his interests?

[JBI]

Get him the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

[sepandee]

I went with THe Name of the Rose and Thousand Splendid Suns (I'm currently reading the Kite Runner in Persian right now). So no bio.

After I finish the Kite Runner, I plan on finishing a novel that I started but put aside, "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. I got to page 30 or so but found it kinda boring and put it aside. Once I'm done with that, I'm going to re-read One Hundred Years of Solitude, this time in English. Then I'll go for The Unbrearable Lightness of Being and A Soldier's Story.

Thanks.

[Etienne]

"although in the past 2 years he has shown more interest and has finished 2 biographies"

I'm not convinced :P

[Princess_1986]

I don't know how old your brother is, but when I first became interested in 'grown up' literature, I read 'Snow falling on Cedars' by David Guterson. For someone that's not familiar with novels, it's an excellent book with a gripping narrative.
Hopefully you can spark the bookworm within him!

[Nico87]

1984 by George Orwell never fails. Get the Everyman's Library edition found on the link below if you decide to get it, a nice edition for a give-away.

http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/classics/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679417392

[blackbird_9]

You can't really go wrong with The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.

[sreeja]

I want to buy horror story books for my brother.