/lit/ - Literature

I'm especially interested in mysterious aliens (at first) and all that stuff. Basically, New World sort of mood. An author trained in anthropology and such would be appreciated.

my friend i think you are in need of some...

Arthur C. Clarke.

all his works but keeping in line with this threads main focus.

you want

Childhoods End.

not only is it the inspiration for Neon Genesis Evangelion.

it is my favorite book

description

Without warning, giant silver ships from deep space appear in the skies above every major city on Earth. Manned by the Overlords, in fifty years, they eliminate ignorance, disease, and poverty. Then this golden age ends...and then the age of Mankind begins....

>>4424562

>inspiration for Evangelion

>mfw

I love Evangelion and tried to read everything that seemed related, like Ender's Game.

What about the Rama stuff, that's Clarke too right?

>>4424535
>>4424550


come to think of it childhoods end meets all of what you are asking.

and Arthur C. Clarke is incredibly inteligent able to debate even steven hawking himself

>>4424564

im actually about to start reading the 3rd rama book (great so far)

do yourself a favor and but his collection of short stories hardcover edition. it is frickin huge and every story in it is a fucking joy to read.

>>4424568

DING DING DING

Sounds like a winner! Thanks!

>>4424571

I read one, The 5 Billion Names of God, or something alike. It was badass.

>>4424568
His prose is painfully mediocre though.

>>4424562
>>4424568
>>4424571


i cant be the only person contributing here?

if anyone else has some more great suggestions lets hear em!

>>4424575

I guess that's a matter of taste. Very few authors have a prose that irk me. Minimalists, maximalists, I generally don't mind as long as it's coherent with what they do. Pynchon or Hemingway, both style fit what they're doing, so both are perfectly adjusted. The rest is taste.

>>4424584

We are alone, friend.

Any edition you recommend for Childhood's End? I'm very excited, about to order it right now.

Here are my "alien books" so far:

>Ender's Game
>Starship Trooper
>The Forever War

>>4424574


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v9aQT9XDaY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj11KXKJOfg

>>4424587
i tried getting a gold hardcover edition signed by clarke himself...

someone beat my 800$ bid...

the mass produced edition is fine though.

you would only want to get something more durable if you realty liked it like i did

>>4424598

http://www.amazon.de/Childhoods-End-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/0345347951/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388495852&sr=8-1&keywords=Childhood%27s+End

How about this?

>>4424587


also keep in mind childhoods end is more on the logical/somber aspect of alien contact.

you wont find mass war like you did in those you already read.

>>4424607

>somber aspect of alien contact

I'm in. I'm so in.

Thanks!

>>4424605


sure looks good.

i enjoy the fact that you like to actually hold a book in your hands too.

you get a lot of digital now (which is perfectly fine great even!) but there is a certain pleasure in holding the actual book in your hands

Maybe the reason no one is posting is we already have a thread about this.
>>4422279

Anyway,
Solaris

>>4424612

I love books. If you've ever held a Library of America book in your hands, you know what I mean:

>acidfree white as snow paper
>sewn, not glued, holds open on a table if left alone
>smells good
>golden ration proportions
>sweet ass hardcover
>ribbon to mark your page
>sweet ass dust jacket

I have two PKD volumes in this edition, each has 4 or 5 novels. Pricewise, you pay way less for one volume of LOA than you'd pay to get them individually.

>>4424613

Shit, I thought that thread had died... it was off my list... Sorry!

>>4424616
I prefer Everyman's Library, it has all the benefits you listed except it doesn't use that super-thin semi-translucent paper, but real paper (still acid free, naturally).

>>4424613


this thread is already larger though.

also let me post some of the best short stories ive seen from 4chans own community.

ill start it with this amazing quote/lecture/speech

>>4424626
>>4424626


the star by arthur c clarke. is great aswell.

>>4424618

I like that edition too, but sadly, they glue pages like it's a paperback. Massive drawback.

LOA's paper isn't transparent at all. It's not that thin.

>>4424627
the taking by dean koonts also a great read

>>4424632

Sweet fucking post, reading.

>>4424632


dune is quite good but massive

>tfw you realize sci-fi is just technology cult mixed with social darwinism ("superior alien beings").

>>4424639


a mote in gods eye is another good choice

>>4424631
Everyman's Library volumes are almost entirely sewn, not glued.

>>4424632

10/10 post. Who the fuck is this anon? He needs to post more.

>>4424645
>>4424644

Imagine how dangerous humanity will be to other races once we achieve a higher tech standing.

>>4424649

Every book I have of them is glued, not sewn. The hell?

>>4424647


this is the last one i have.

>>4424653
Shorter volumes are glued, I believe, but over 350 or so pages (which is the majority of what they publish) is sewn.

>>4424657
Looking at some of my under-350 page volumes, they are sewn as well, so actually I shouldn't pretend I know the rule they go by.

>>4424627

Sauce?

>>4424664

Do they hold open on their own? I doubt any of my Everyman books can do that, and that generally means glued, as mine are. Even my big Ray Bradbury shorts are is glued.

I'll double check to be sure...

>>4424655


lets try and keep this thread alive i would love to hear more suggestions from fellow anons.

>>4424665


some of these can be found on the creepypasta site. space/science section i think...

these however i collected from various 4chan boards.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

>>4424668
I've never heard of holding open on their own as a sign of glued or sewn bindings. In answer to your question, I found that a larger volume with sewn binding stays open on its own and a smaller glued binding does not, but also a smaller sewn binding does not stay open either. I don't think the holding open thing tests binding type, I think it's more related to the tightness of the binding (with larger books being heavier and therefore able to weigh down even tight binding).

>>4424676

Are you kidding? This is fucking GOOD!

>>4424681

http://www.librarything.com/topic/140034

Some Everyman books are indeed glued, not sewn.

All the ones I have are glued, shame.

>>4424585
Bullshit, if prose is shit, so is the book, that is how you critic a book, by its very essence

>>4424704

"Shit" depends on a number of things. Different styles exist, and they have different aims. What is shit to you is excellence to another, especially if you are unaware of the style's purpose.

It has nothing to do with a book's "essence". Hemingway's style is perfect for what he was doing; Pynchon's perfect too, though at a polar opposite.

What is "shit"? Tell me.

>written in 1917

>>4424714
>muh subjectiveness

/r/-ing pictures of subjectivness in literature

>>4424720


i thought the movie was good.

>>4424704
>>4424721


bro dont even start this is not a criticize thread its a recommendation thread.

if you want to criticize a book/author by all means make another thread and discuss away.

>>4424733
Except its not a citique thread

those claims are outrageously wrong

Even the classiscs in Sci-Fi have shit prose, but people suck their cock over the decades because everything past them is generic shit

>>4424562
Just wanted to say that whoever wants to read Childhoods End should prepare for feels.

>>4424754

READY!

>>4424733
fucking pic
hate it

>>4424535
Chanur series by c j cherryh is a very fun read with aliens pov and only one human.

Downbelow station was a good book of hers

Dan Simmons Hyperion.
The Shrike freaked me out. A lot of thought went into this book. Good fun physics too.

>>4424921
Too bad the storyline became so stupid after the first book, although I admit the age-gap, quasi-pedophilic romance through Endymion/Rise of Endymion was immensely titillating for me.

bump

Bump, awesome thread.