Post #235,626
11/23/05 8:26:35 AM
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Top 20 geek novels
1. The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams 85% (102)
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell 79% (92)
3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley 69% (77)
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip Dick 64% (67)
5. Neuromancer -- William Gibson 59% (66)
6. Dune -- Frank Herbert 53% (54)
7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov 52% (54)
8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov 47% (47)
9. The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett 46% (46)
10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland 43% (44)
11. Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson 37% (37)
12. Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 38% (37)
13. Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson 36% (36)
14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks 34% (35)
15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein 33% (33)
16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick 34% (32)
17. American Gods -- Neil Gaiman 31% (29)
18. The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson 27% (27)
19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson 23% (21)
20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham 21% (19) From [link|http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/archives/2005/11/09/top_20_geek_novels_the_results.html|The Guardian] I guess I'm only three quarters geek as I've only read 15 of these. -----------------------------------------
No new taxes.
--George H. W. Bush
We don't torture.
--George W. Bush
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Post #235,627
11/23/05 8:31:36 AM
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Wow.
Only read 5 of 'em myself. Numbers 1, 2, 3, 8, and 13.
-YendorMike
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania
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Post #235,628
11/23/05 8:32:46 AM
11/23/05 2:18:59 PM
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I own 8 of them.
1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 14 and 19.
By a country mile, the best 3 are 2, 3 and 14.
Peter
[link|http://www.no2id.net/|Don't Let The Terrorists Win]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Home]
Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
Edited by pwhysall
Nov. 23, 2005, 02:18:59 PM EST
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Post #235,629
11/23/05 8:34:13 AM
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I'm missing 10, 12, 19, and 20
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Post #235,632
11/23/05 8:57:03 AM
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I've read 14 of them.
The ones I haven't read:
10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland 43% (44)
14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks 34% (35)
16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick 34% (32)
17. American Gods -- Neil Gaiman 31% (29)
19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson 23% (21)
20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham 21% (19)
When somebody asks you to trade your freedom for security, it isn't your security they're talking about.
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Post #235,635
11/23/05 9:00:14 AM
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read all but #19 but where is tolkien?
"the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #235,639
11/23/05 9:09:24 AM
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I have all but 10, 12, 17, 20.
Although I'm pretty sure I could care less about reading Microserfs.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #235,666
11/23/05 11:15:37 AM
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put American Gods onto your list
"the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #235,701
11/23/05 1:19:19 PM
8/21/07 6:36:56 AM
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Ditto
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #235,662
11/23/05 11:00:48 AM
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I may have read one of them - two on the outside . . .
. . but that was in my tender youth.
Oh well, my geek credentials were already pretty weak.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #235,685
11/23/05 12:07:07 PM
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Believe me when I say this Andrew
I've met you. Your geek credentials are strong. Strong like Tarzan's loin cloth.
-----------------------------------------
No new taxes.
--George H. W. Bush
We don't torture.
--George W. Bush
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Post #235,664
11/23/05 11:11:58 AM
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5 / 20 read here.
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Post #235,702
11/23/05 1:22:45 PM
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Re: 5 / 20 read here.
Same here.
Brenda
"I'll rock the darn boat all I want to, and if it's meant to stay afloat, then it will. If not, then we'll just all go down with the bloody ship!"
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Post #235,683
11/23/05 12:04:00 PM
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10 out of 20.
Yup:
1. The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams 85% (102)
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell 79% (92)
3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley 69% (77)
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip Dick 64% (67)
5. Neuromancer -- William Gibson 59% (66)
6. Dune -- Frank Herbert 53% (54)
7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov 52% (54)
8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov 47% (47)
11. Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson 37% (37)
15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein 33% (33)
Nope:
9. The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett 46% (46)
10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland 43% (44)
12. Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 38% (37)
13. Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson 36% (36)
14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks 34% (35)
16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick 34% (32)
17. American Gods -- Neil Gaiman 31% (29)
18. The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson 27% (27)
19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson 23% (21)
20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham 21% (19)
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Post #235,688
11/23/05 12:18:16 PM
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So then I'm 90 % geek - haven't read 17 & 20. (AFAICT.)
Bowing down before Über-geek BOxley's 95 %, I can't help but agree with Scott on Microserfs.
[link|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode|Christian R. Conrad]
(I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.)
Yes Mr. Garrison, genetic engineering lets us correct God's horrible, horrible mistakes, like German people. - [link|http://maxpages.com/southpark2k/Episode_105|Mr. Hat]
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Post #235,744
11/23/05 6:50:31 PM
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not so much geekiness as reading nut, 5-7 books a week
although lately I tried to read "the quiet frenchman" but could finish it. Last time that happened was during one of mailer's later works. 180 pages in and the characters were still carbourd cutouts. That could have been the translation although I really dont think so.
thaqx,
bill
"the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #235,757
11/23/05 7:25:21 PM
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Mailer as in Norman?
-----------------------------------------
No new taxes.
--George H. W. Bush
We don't torture.
--George W. Bush
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Post #235,759
11/23/05 7:26:53 PM
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yup nogrok any of his stuff since the utah execution book
"the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #235,696
11/23/05 1:05:13 PM
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I havent read any of them
Hmmmm. Maybe I dont belong in these forums......
Follow your MOUSE
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Post #235,708
11/23/05 1:53:12 PM
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You must read #1
It's the only one that I have read. I have read four books of the trilogy.
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
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Post #235,709
11/23/05 1:58:46 PM
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No, no. She (and you) must read #2.
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. It's [link|http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/|online], so there's no excuse. :-) Cheers, Scott.
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Post #235,731
11/23/05 5:35:35 PM
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Right now I'm re-reading all my psychotherapy texts.
I been doing crisis work for so long I'm worried that my other skills have gotten a little rusty. I'm great at slapping on the psychological bandaid- now I have to focus on what to do when the bandaid is ready to come off. I start my job next week. The dictum "First, do no harm", is running through my head, as is the prayer, "please God, dont let me f*ck anyone up".
Follow your MOUSE
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Post #235,742
11/23/05 6:47:56 PM
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You'll do great. 1984 can wait, so to speak. :-)
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Post #235,743
11/23/05 6:48:07 PM
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as long as the do no harm mantra is there you'll be alright
you must be a good listener to be in the field so thats a plus. Just dont end up with a lot of substance abuse clients, they are usually boring and hard to focus on,
thanx,
bill
"the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #235,752
11/23/05 6:59:25 PM
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You can practice on me
I'll tell you if you are fscking up LOL
Seriously, you'll do great. Stop doubting and start believing. Put your positive affirmations on the mirror.
Go, Laura!
Hugs,
Amy
"It's never too late to be who you might have been." ~ George Eliot
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Post #235,863
11/24/05 10:37:40 AM
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Yeah, I'll be okay.
I'm very aware that clients are consumers who will pay a lot of money for my services. I want them to feel it was money well spent.
Follow your MOUSE
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Post #235,760
11/23/05 7:29:57 PM
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I like that prayer.
Terse, pithy, dense* and heartfelt. You sound like one of the good ones.
*Dense as in high content per word.
-----------------------------------------
No new taxes.
--George H. W. Bush
We don't torture.
--George W. Bush
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Post #235,864
11/24/05 10:38:43 AM
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Thanks. I use that prayer on my kids, too!
Follow your MOUSE
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Post #235,710
11/23/05 1:59:24 PM
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Re: You must read #1
For geek factor, yes, #1 is a requirement. However, I think that 1984 and Brave New World are much more important on the must-read scale.
-YendorMike
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania
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Post #235,706
11/23/05 1:38:50 PM
8/21/07 6:37:02 AM
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Missing 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20
These days my taste runs towards adventure/travel nonfiction.
[link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767915305|The Sex Lives of Cannibals : Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific]
[link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1873475934|Running a Hotel on the Roof of the World: Five Years in Tibet]
[link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1586482378/|Monkey Dancing: A Father, Two Kids, and a Journey to the Ends of the Earth]
[link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345420047|A Viking Voyage : In Which an Unlikely Crew of Adventurers Attempts an Epic Journey to the New World]
[link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395669944|The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck: A Journey into the Himalayas and Down the Brahmaputra]
[link|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0924486201|Desperate Voyage] (Stranded in Panama post WW II, buys a little boat to try to get home to Australia to reach his fiance, with virtually no knowledge of sailing or navigation. That is real love (or something) that is).
That sort of thing. I seem to find myself more interested in the world we're destroying than in the one we are creating.
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #235,727
11/23/05 5:15:14 PM
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Re: Top 20 geek novels
I could only count 5 that I can definitely say I've read (1, 6, 7, 8 & 15), I can't remember if I've read 4 or 20 but the titles sound familiar, and I've seen the movies based on 2 of them (3 and 6). Guess that means I'm not a particularly geeky reader.
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Post #235,733
11/23/05 5:43:57 PM
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Read 7 of the 20
And agree that Tolkien should be on the list somewhere.
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #235,739
11/23/05 6:16:59 PM
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6/20
1,2,3,6,7,15
Have tried to read 13 several times...Hard one to get into.
Can't believe they only have one Terry Pratchett novel on there! Boo! Hiss!
What about Ender's Game? (Currently reading that one. Ha!)
Peace,
Amy
"It's never too late to be who you might have been." ~ George Eliot
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Post #235,756
11/23/05 7:23:46 PM
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The Tolkein complaint
From what I know of this survey, a list of titles were offered to vote on. It may be that Tolkein is so much in the fabric of geekdom, it was considered a given.
-----------------------------------------
No new taxes.
--George H. W. Bush
We don't torture.
--George W. Bush
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Post #235,789
11/23/05 10:19:02 PM
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3 by Neal Stephenson made it on the list???
I have read 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 19.
Of those I disliked 13, 15, and 19. (Note: There is a reason that I have only read one by Stephenson.)
When I say disliked 19, I am being generous. I read it as a teenager and am amazed that I finished that piece of crap.
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #235,797
11/23/05 10:54:39 PM
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I thought that was a bit much myself
"It's never too late to be who you might have been." ~ George Eliot
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Post #235,798
11/23/05 10:57:24 PM
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Ditto.
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Post #235,809
11/23/05 11:50:52 PM
11/23/05 11:53:20 PM
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Kinda mixed-bag innit?
First, I'd expand 9, 20; 9. Pratchett has got to deserve 5 mentions out of any '20'. And re 20. those who have never read [link|http://www.kymlicka.ca/stephen/wyndham.htm| Wyndham] (I've read them all, incl. a couple early collaborations not quite so good) have missed a difference between ElectricKoolaid-yada mere mechanical zaniness and.. marvelously wrought, believable extrapolation. Note how many of his ideas --> movies, whether acknowledged or no.
And surely BNW and 1984 are on many lists beyond geekdom (which transcends ITdom, in my lexicon.) If going that far afield - messy because its All up for ratings, including, on This list: surely at least one of Feynman's normal-human books and The. Lectures. And then there's ... ...
4. 15. - I'd expand to "most.. of PKd's short stories", collected in even bucolic library editions (if my local experience is typ.) PKD IMO was no ordinary genius, and the techno aspect is subservient to his wry dissection of homo-sap weirdness on many scales.
(I too would put microserfs or-by-any-name in the Hideous Pron file.)
Guess I get ~ 12; 14 if include skimming of Dune; unsure how much Illuminatus I managed to process long ago. Esoterica for the unwashed.
WTF - these Lists == Rorschachs. Again.
otpy
Edited by Ashton
Nov. 23, 2005, 11:53:20 PM EST
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Post #235,810
11/24/05 12:12:00 AM
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PKD is too goddamn depressing
Androids was kinda cool, but anything else I read from him left me suicidal.
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Post #235,814
11/24/05 12:29:24 AM
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(author not responsible for assigned prison planet)
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Post #235,904
11/24/05 4:21:03 PM
8/21/07 6:40:55 AM
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Color of magic is one of his earliest and weakest
should be a better book or two - Small Gods remains my fave.
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #235,909
11/24/05 4:52:23 PM
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The smartarse style gets on my pecs.
Peter
[link|http://www.no2id.net/|Don't Let The Terrorists Win]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Home]
Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
|
Post #235,918
11/24/05 6:29:06 PM
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'Pyramids' is the one usually recommended to newcomers.
'Guards! Guards!' is also a good starting point.
Wade.
"Insert crowbar. Apply force."
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Post #235,948
11/24/05 9:45:38 PM
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Monstrous Regiment is one of my favs
"the reason people don't buy conspiracy theories is that they think conspiracy means everyone is on the same program. Thats not how it works. Everybody has a different program. They just all want the same guy dead. Socrates was a gadfly, but I bet he took time out to screw somebodies wife" Gus Vitelli
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #235,960
11/24/05 11:57:26 PM
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Not by me. I recommend Small Gods first.
Unless I suspect that the person would like a different variant of Pratchett, in which case I might recommend something like Lords and Ladies.
Not that Pyramids is bad - quite the contrary in fact - but it isn't my favorite.
Cheers,
Ben
I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
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Post #236,041
11/25/05 9:04:31 PM
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Lords and Ladies was my favourite for a long time.
I was going to post that I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for someone interested in sampling the series, but now that I think about it, it is one of the very best ones, showcasing his style very well. It's just that it's sorta a sequel to Witches Abroad.
Pyramids is widely considered a good introduction to the series. It's typical of many of the later books without relying on characters that have been around before. It also has scenes like the test in the Assassin's Guild. Small Gods is a good standalone book if you think the person may not read any others anyway.
The Truth is also possibly a good starting point, except that so much of what makes it good is a) what someone tries *again* (i.e. knock off Vetinari) and b) what is now being allowed from that book forward (i.e. movable printing).
Wade.
"Insert crowbar. Apply force."
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Post #236,068
11/26/05 8:05:12 AM
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Depends on mood, day, etc; just read them all... easier.
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Post #236,126
11/26/05 7:39:07 PM
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Must___conserve.
Have taken a break, acquiring the lot.. Can't tell how long the National Madness shall persist; dare not run out of TP before, at least the impeachments begin.
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Post #235,836
11/24/05 6:06:14 AM
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I've read 1,3,9,10,15,
1 - truly fab of course
3 - Enjoyed it, even though it was a school text
9 - Complete yawnfest, had great difficulty dragging my eyes over each page to reach the end
10 - Really enjoyed it, maybe I was young and naieve :)
15 - An interesting gift from an interesting person. But I probably didn't fully grok it at the time.
Two out of three people wonder where the other one is.
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