brainy books

[papayahed]

Now that I'm out of my superfluous phase (Michael Crichton)does anyone have any recommendations for "brainey, thought provoking" books? Not the usual classics, something different, off the beaten path?

[mono]

Hmm, tough question. I must admit that, surprisingly, some of Michael Crichton's works can seem quite "brainy" and mind-blowing, but if you look for something else out-of-the-ordinary, most of the strange content and rhetoric of Tom Robbins can seem quite thought-provoking, attributing new ways of writing the common novel. As for mysterious sorts of topics, Robin Cook wrote a few works that show a "brainy" quality in medical ideals.
If your search does not restrict itself to fiction, I highly recommend works by Robert Anton Wilson. He did write one novel entitled Schrodinger's Cat, which I have not yet read, but have heard wonderful things. His non-fiction works, however, especially Quantum Psychology, boggles my mind in awe.
Good luck, papayahed. I apologize that most of my knowledge restricts itself to the classics, other than the above.

[Scheherazade]

Now that I'm out of my superfluous phase (Michael Crichton)does anyone have any recommendations for "brainey, thought provoking" books? Not the usual classics, something different, off the beaten path?
You mean philosophical books or 'highbrow' literature?

[Yorkie]

How about a bit of existentialism? Albert Camus' The Outsider is certainly thought-provoking, although it does fall in to the 'classics' category.

[Scheherazade]

You have to read 'The Plague' after 'The Outsider' though... Just to see the change he goes through...

[papayahed]

You mean philosophical books or 'highbrow' literature?


either is good.

[Scheherazade]

Camus could go under both titles, I guess. I like Kafka as well.
'Catch 22'
'One Hundred Years Of Solitude'
'The Crucible' by Miller is very good as well. ;)

[byquist]

I've got a killer book for you. I would never buy such a book but it was in a pile of give-away books at an exclusive private school where I sometimes substitute. It will task your mental fortitude. Again, I don't even recommend it but you said you wanted something different and challenging. (Maybe you know it, anyways.) It's called "The Noonday Demon" by somebody, quite sure it's Andrew Solomon. It's tough reading, but you'll learn a lot about, let's say, mental issues. Not for easy reading at the beach.

[nothingman87]

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse

[amuse]

Silencing the Past by Michel-Rolph Trouillot. excellent review here (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/364.html).

[subterranean]

The Name of The Rose and Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

[Snukes]

I heartily second Foucault's Pendulum (about the dangers of conspiracy and actual creative power of writing - mmm!), and add the Space Trilogy (a beautiful look at how other planets could be different from ours in both physics and spiritual development - also mmm!) by C.S. Lewis.

[IWilKikU]

I would give Kurt Vonnegut a go. Slaughterhouse 5, of course, but for more off the beaten path I would recomend Timequake, his most recent novel.

[Sitaram]

Noonday Demon" by somebody, quite sure it's Andrew Solomon

Possibly, many people are unaware that this title comes from a verse in the Psalms which speaks of "the demon of noonday." The ancient Greek desert solitaries called this demon of noonday "akedia" which means boredom or ennui but may be thought of as depression.


Here are some excerpts from an excellent article on the meaning of Akedia and depression in the Philokalia, which I have posted in the Religious Texts section:

http://online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57372#post57372

[Monica]

The Name of The Rose and Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

Anything by Umberto Eco. And Mann's "Magical Mountain" :wave:

[subterranean]

What's magical mountain about Monica? Can you give a brief review please?

[Monica]

It's about a young man, Hans Castorp, who goes to visit his cousin in a sanatorium in Davos and he ends up staying there himself. The most challenging stuff in the book, I think, are the debates between Castorp's two friends - Naphta and Settembrini. Also the concept of time is pretty original.
Btw, I think I got the title wrong. It should be "Magic Mountain" :)

[EAP]

'Requiem for a Dream' by Hubert Selby Jr.

[vango]

"Fortress Besieged" by Qian Zhongshu, full of Chinese humor

[IWilKikU]

My favourite Eco is Foucolt's Pendulum, but his newest one Baudlino is good too. Or for something more introspective than his novels I really liked his short essay collections How to Travel with a Salmon and Misreadings. I haven't read any of his serious philosophy books, but I've been eyeing his new art/philosophy/aesthetics book, On Beauty. Looks interesting.

Edit: muffed up the italics :rage:

[IWilKikU]

'Requiem for a Dream' by Hubert Selby Jr.

I havn't read the book, but that is THE most powerful film I've ever seen. The final 15-minute montage... :sick: :bawling: yikes!

[subterranean]

There's also thie Eco's book, which I haven't quite finish till now :blush: ..Travel in Hyperialism..not too heavy but 'tis indeed inspiring

[Monica]

Travels in Hyperreality is great (I don't know if you can depend on my opinion, though, because I love everything by Eco :)) If you want something funny try Travels with a Salmon or Kant and the Platypus. About literature: Six Walks in the Fictional Woods and essays On Literature.

[Capnplank]

I would give Kurt Vonnegut a go. Slaughterhouse 5, of course, but for more off the beaten path I would recomend Timequake, his most recent novel.

I think Timequake was my least favorite of all the Vonnegut stuff I've read. I'd definitely agree with checking something out by him if you haven't though... My tastes would push "Cat's Cradle", "The Sirens of Titan", and "Bluebeard" up there as my preferences of his works.

[EAP]

Kik,

I haven't watched the movie yet, but I don't think a cinematic adaptation will ever be able to do proper justice to that book. And in many ways I am greatful for that.

[IWilKikU]

I havn't read the book, and usually advocate the idea that movies can never live up to books (Kubrick's films being an exception), but there's a absolutely mind boggling 15-20 minute montage at the end where everything just falls to s**t. It's absolutely horrifying/moving/disturbing (understatement)/etc... Seriously. You should check it out.

[mister_noel_y2k]

ive got to agree with capnplank and iwilkiku as saying that kurt vonnegut is just magic. hes interesting and intellectual so give him a shot.

as for the crucible being a good play? i wasnt convinced really, i read death of a salesman and was really impressed then i read the crucible and found myself falling asleep. i got the play as being one arguing against the House of Un-American Activities at the time but a lot of the time nothing was going on. Anyway Arthur Miller is a great writer to read too.

jim dodge anyone?

:banana:

[joop]

what's that site address?

[Morrisonhotel]

How about trying Octave Mirbeau's Torture Garden or Knut Hamsun's Hunger?

[Derringer]

Robertsson Davies The Cunning Man

[NickAdams]

The collected stories of Jorge Luis Borges.

[Fitzy]

I'd recommend trying out Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" if you want something that will make you think. It is told by Severian, a torturer, who is writing about about an earlier part of life from some time in the future. Severian is an untrustworthy narrator and will often skim parts the reader might expect full details on such as battles and at other times speak of people that haven't been introduced yet or events that have not occured. Severian lives in a fallen future Earth and is quite ignorant of technology, if you pay careful attention he will describe objects that the reader can recognize even though Severian has no idea what he is looking at.
Wolfe's use of the English language is amazing.

[Slangalang18ca]

I'm thinking "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand.

[xaqxit]

Borges' essays can be a challenging read too.

[NickAdams]

xaqxit,

I wonder why you haven't suggested Thomas Pynchon.

[willq9]

I'll go ahead and suggest Thomas Pynchon.

Please, read some Thomas Pynchon. V. would be a good starting point, though Vineland is probably his easiest, and Gravity's Rainbow is the masterpiece.

Also: Underworld by Don Dellilo

[kandaurov]

Beckett's trilogy 'Molloy', 'Malone Dies' and 'The Unnamable'. By the way, if you can get through one of those, my heartfelt and ecstatic congratulations. I only made it until page 15 of the first one, then checked into the phychiatric ward for two years :p

[joop]

I really enjoyed john hawkes "second skin", although I don't know how "brainy" it is.

lhaeber mentioned in an earlier post that Sitaram had a website. could someone be good enough to direct me to it?

[insomnia lodge]

It's about a young man, Hans Castorp, who goes to visit his cousin in a sanatorium in Davos and he ends up staying there himself. The most challenging stuff in the book, I think, are the debates between Castorp's two friends - Naphta and Settembrini. Also the concept of time is pretty original.
Btw, I think I got the title wrong. It should be "Magic Mountain" :)


it is "the magic mountain." i agree with monica on many points: this is definitely a book that should be read, naphta is a challenge, and mann's use of time (in addition the sanatorium residents as representatives of pre-war europe) is extraordinary. the "subjective experience of illness" (hate to use wikipedia's words, but they're good ones) is captured perfectly; i often found myself envious of castorp as he wrapped himself up for a night of the rest cure.

[quasimodo1]

Anything by Albert Einstien or Sommerset Maughm, like, "The Razor's Edge"

[Hyacinth42]

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

[joop]

Beckett's trilogy 'Molloy', 'Malone Dies' and 'The Unnamable'. By the way, if you can get through one of those, my heartfelt and ecstatic congratulations. I only made it until page 15 of the first one, then checked into the phychiatric ward for two years :p

I purchased this trilogy in one volume a few years ago, -read "molloy", put the book down and said god, I can't read this.

[Moira]

J. Fowles's The Magus is brilliant and also if you're interested in contemporary authors: Pascal Bruckner, Michael Houllebeque, Amelie Nothomb.....

[Bii]

I'd recommend pretty much anything by Angela Carter for something a bit thought provoking but well written. The following are good:
- The Passion of New Eve - about a guy who is kidnapped by a group of women and forced to undertake a sex change and live life as a woman (but with the knowledge of what it was like to be a man)
- Heroes and Villains - about a post-apocolyptic society where the 'Professors' live in a walled town and the savages live in the wilderness. Marianne is taken from the town to live with the savages, but all is not quite as it seems!

Other than that, you could try again, pretty much anything by Haruki Murakami, all his novels are a curious blend of modern day Japan, with mystical, scientific, philosophical qualities to it. I'd strongly recommend A Wild Sheep Chase, Dance Dance Dance (which is a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase), Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World or the Wind Up Bird Chronicle. All are good.

Anyway, whatever you choose I hope you enjoy it!

[Behemoth]

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

I'd certainly second that, it's a wonderful book and is far more philosophical and engaging than it might appear at first. Bulgakov's novel Black Snow is also great, though less well-known than The Heart of a Dog.

[PeterL]

I think that what you might find "thought provoking" would depend on what you think about and how you think. There is something "thought provoking" in pretty much all literature.

[Sancho]

To The White Sea, James Dickey