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Okay, global geeks and reading geeks please help me out.

I gotta pick a book of this list for a global project...and I'm not familiar with any of them. Anybody read or have an idea on what I may enjoy (for those of you who know me pretty well?) I'm not into the whole blood and guts theme, so please don't recommend those. I'm gunna end up looking a lot of them up on google, but I thought you guys might have some ideas. I always turn to my FishProfillians.

Here's the list:
Hard Times -- Charles Dickens
Master and Man – Leo Tolstoy
Guns, Germs and Steel – J. Diamond
Things Fall Apart - Achebe
Sophie’s World – Jostein Gaarder
1421 - Gavin Menzies
The Gifts of the Jews – Thomas Cahill
Forgotten Fire – Adam Bagdasarian
Broad and Alien is the World – Ciro Alegria
Tree of Red Stars – Tess Bridal
The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: a Muslin Traveler in the 14th Century – Ross Bunn
Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver*
Plagues and Peoples William McNeill
The Fixer – Bernard Malamud
Nectar in a Sieve – Kamala Markandaya
Giving up the Gun: Japan’s Revision to the Sword 1543-1978 – Noel Perrin
War of the Rats, David Robbins
Dream of the Red Chamber – Tsao Hsueh-Chin
Throwing Fire – Alfred Crosby
Longitude – Dava Sobel
The Art of War – Sun Tzu
The Joy Luck Club , The Bonesetters Daughter – Amy Tan
A Passage to India E.M. Forster
The Travels of Marco Polo – Manuel Kromroff
The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli
Memoirs of a Geshia -*
Cry Beloved Country – Alan Paton
Rape of Nanking the Forgotten Holocaust of World War II – Iris Chang*
The Good Earth , Oriental Woman*, Letter from Peking – Pearl S. Buck
Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemmingway
No Longer at Ease – Chinua Achebe
1984 George Orwell

I can also ask to do others if they relate to the topic.

The * means you need parental permission, BTW.

Thanks

EDIT: *learns correct sentence structure*

Last edited by Ferretfish at 08-Feb-2005 17:51

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

[font color="#008000"]I recommend the animorphs books...any of them. They are great reads.[/font]

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Born in radioactive waters, the Mutant Goldfish swims...
Check out my profile to see my tank setup(s)!

How can harry potter not be on that list?

I would read this one

Throwing Fire – Alfred Crosby

just cause its sounds interesting

Well, let me just talk about the books I've read:

Master and Man – Leo Tolstoy
I'm a huge Tolstoy fan, but I really didn't like this one as much. It's good, but there are better ones on the list. Like most Tolstoy, his style takes a little getting used to.

The Art of War – Sun Tzu
A very good book which is a good outline of strategy for pretty much anything in life. Highly recommended.


The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
The book that makes you completely realize that times were different back then: "'Tis better to be feared than loved" and "The ends justify the means" really make this clear. A lot of philosophy, so if that isn't your cup o' tea, not recommended.


Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
Not my favorite Hemingway, but like most of his books, fairly clear and straightforward. A pretty quick read. Not bad, but I didn't particularly like it.

1984 - George Orwell
An excellent book. My favorite on the list. I highly recommend it. Orwell can get pretty deep and descriptive at times, but this is the one I would recommend the most. The ending is perfect.

Joe Potato




Last edited by Joe Potato at 08-Feb-2005 17:59

the joy luck club is beautiful.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Memoirs of a Geshia -* Absoultely an awesome book, I can't say enough good about it. It wasn't **that** racy or I wouldn't have reccomended it to my Mom (who also loved it).


The Good Earth , Oriental Woman*, Letter from Peking – Pearl S. Buck -- read it in I think 8th grade(a really long time ago), pretty good and was quite an eye opener.

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

i also reccommend 1984 by George Orwell. it's very good! and so very very realistic about society and stuff

but you have to READ it though, don't go cheap and buy the movie, doesn't compare to the book (some people in my class did that in HS)

Hey sis, I would go with either:

Rape of Nanking the Forgotten Holocaust of World War II – Iris Chang*; becuase I have always been interested in reading books about the Holocaust

or

1984: This book is an awsomely weird twist on life, and is a fairly quick read. I really enjoyed it.

IM Leslie and get her opinion, Global, geography type stuff is her deal. If you get something that sounds interesting to me I'll try to get a copy and we can talk about it...might help with the assignment...

Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

If this for a global studies class to learn more about other cultures, I can recomend any of the Pearl S. Buck books. I know The Good Earth was on my daughters AP list. If you are taking any AP classes, you might be able to kill two birds with one stone. Buck was the daughter of missionaries in China and knew the culture intimately. Her books are big, but highly enjoyable. A good way to learn Chinese culture before WWII.

Things Fall Apart - how an African man runs afoul of the colonial power structure. Author was inspired by the Greek idea of Hurbis. Enjoyable, shows the clash of cultures in colonial Africa.

Cry the Beloved Country - also a good book. What is was like being an African in South Africa back in the bad ol' days.
'
The last two books I had to read for an African History class in college, but thoroughly enjoyed them and the class discussions. Buck, I read for the sheer enjoyment.

Hope this helps.

1984 - George Orwell

A must read.. even if it's not for the project. The only problem with this selection is that there's a chance that many will pick it. As a person that seems to like less common things, I would probably choose another for the project.

(A fishy example: Everyone gets neons.. I try to steer clear from them... except, I might have to get them eventually if I get a single planted tank. )

Last edited by BluePhoenix at 08-Feb-2005 20:53

1984 IMO. That's what I would pick, but then again...

I think you might enjoy Poisonwood Bible. I think I have read that one once upon a time...

I would say Sun Tzu's Art of War because it's shortish... but I doubt you'd find it interesting. My brother enjoyed it, it's the sort of book he likes... pretty much military strategy.

><>

Go with "1984", it will certainly be an interesting read for you. Just don't get paranoid after reading the book.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Well, looks like 1984 is a big one huh?

I'll ask my teacher for a copy of that one today.

Anyone who still has thoughts please post though.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

if you can't get 1984, then definitely go with sun tzu. it's a harder read because it's more like philosophy than actual story, but well worth it imho

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Great list! I'll skip the ones I don't have a strong opinion on.

Hard Times -- Charles Dickens
Skip it. Dickens can be brilliant but he was paid by the word, and it shows.

Master and Man &#8211; Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy is always wonderful. Personally I prefer Anna Karennina but this is lovely as well. Brilliant, basically.

Sophie&#8217;s World &#8211; Jostein Gaarder
Unless I'm quite mistaken this is a follow-up to Sophie's Choice, so if you haven't read that, skip this.

The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: a Muslin Traveler in the 14th Century &#8211; Ross Bunn
Could be extremely interesting.

Poisonwood Bible &#8211; Barbara Kingsolver*
Unbelievable. You'll sob, and buy everything else she's ever written, and then cry some more.

The Art of War &#8211; Sun Tzu
Much more interesting than it sounds, and worth having a working knowledge of - it comes up in conversation more than you'd think.

The Joy Luck Club , The Bonesetters Daughter &#8211; Amy Tan
A lot of people love Amy Tan; I can't stand her. I had to keep a chart of all the characters and their relationships in order to get through Joy Luck Club - and I hated half of the people in it.

The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli
Read this. It doesn't have to be now, but if you don't read it you WILL, someday, be embarassed by that hole in your education. A very, very important book. Also, quite funny if read in the right mood.

Memoirs of a Geshia -*
Worth a read, not necessarily Tolstoy but quite good.

The Good Earth , Oriental Woman*, Letter from Peking &#8211; Pearl S. Buck
My younger sister read and utterly despised The Good Earth.

Farewell to Arms &#8211; Ernest Hemmingway
Beware. Very short. Sentences.

1984 George Orwell
Keep chocolate in your room when you read this. And possibly a voting machine. And tissues. And your mother. Disturbing, sad, weirdly uplifting, and definitely worth a read, now or in the future.

-Molly
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