Books that have made you want to read other books.

[CaptainCanada]

By which I don't mean the other works of the author, just works of fiction that are discussed in the story or somesuch thing.

As an example, I read Jay Parini's The Last Station (which has been made into a movie with Helen Mirren, James McAvoy and Christopher Plummer that I want to see), which is about the last months of Leo Tolstoy. Finishing that, I decided I should finally get around to attempting one of his behemoth novels and am currently about 100 pages into War and Peace (1100 to go!).

Similarly, I recently read The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies, where they talk about Rabelais a lot, so I'd be interested in checking out something of his at some point.

 

[beverlyann59]

Thanks for sharing.

___________________
London Hotel

 

[CaptainCanada]

There being something inherently risible about this as a discussion topic?

 

[23skidoo]

There being something inherently risible about this as a discussion topic?

Yeah that reaction was kind of puzzling to me too. If the newbie could explain what was meant by that "thanks for sharing", it would be appreciated. If not, a mod might want to check to make sure we don't have a troll loose in the backyard.

On topic, when I read The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson it made me interested in seeking out books on masons and conspiracy theories, as well as a thing called the Principia Discordia which was a tongue-in-cheek "religious document" made by a couple of university students in the 1960s.

Alex

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Funny, the Illuminati Trilogy got referenced a few times in an excellent book I just finished called Strange Days Indeed, by Francis Wheen, the occasional Private Eye columnist.

On topic (which I don't find inherently risible, FWIW), if I've enjoyed a book and the author cites references or influences, I might go and check them out.

 

[trekkiedane]

Back in my youth (a long time ago in a country far, far away for most of you ) the science-fiction books that I found in the library had a page in the back (an order-form actually) with other science-fiction books from the same publisher... obviously I used those lists as recommendations for further reading -and got to read a lot of great SciFi

When I read my first Rushdie, Midnight's Children (still one of my favourite novels!), his style was compared to (among others) John Irving -so, liking the style I began reading his stories too.

Stefano Benni's Terra was so 'different' (from mainstream SciFi of the time) that I began looking for other Italian authors -and found the wondrous worlds of Umberto Eco.

Of course it also happens that some character in a book is reading a book -I'm sure I've been inspired to read those too -I just can't remember any examples right now.

 

[Mistral]

I, too, used the ad flyers in the back of scifi books to find other authors/titles in scifi.

I have never felt the need to read a title that is mentioned in a story. Typically, I've read the tale mentioned already or tried it and decided to pass.

 

[DevilEyes]

Reading John Fowles' French Lieutenant's Woman made me want to read Thomas Hardy's poetry, because I loved the many quotes from Hardy's poems in the novel. And that was actually before I read my first Hardy novel, Tess of d'Urbervilles.

 

[Kira's Mom]

Reading M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries made me want to check out other British mysteries. I just started with Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series, and I'm loving them so far.

 

[Amaris]

After I read Stephen Hawking's "The Universe in a Nutshell", it got me to reading other Physicists' works, like Kip Thorne and Max Planck, then on to scientisist like Carl Sagan and eventually, Richard Dawkins. It was Hawking's book (and a healthy dose of Star Trek), that ignited my interest in physics and cosmology.

 

[SlyCardie]

This happens for me with authors' other works pretty frequently. The most notable time was probably when I read Jurassic Park on a whim some years ago. I really liked it and ended up reading almost everything else that Crichton has written - he ended up being one of my more favorite "pop-y" authors.