So for our final english book assignment, I can read any English book (as in not American) and perhaps russian (he said we could do Anna Karenina). Was thinking about The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I got 5 weeks to read it...so anything 1000 pages or less. Thanks.

War of the Worlds was a fun read.

Even better would be The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Something by Terry Pratchett might be good too. Good Omens would be my first choice. Edited by: Norpin at: 3/24/04 7:45 am

if you wanna keep it fun and lighthearted:
Anything by Tolkien
Anything by Douglas Adams

Did you check out the Rogue Reading list?
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To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else.
~ Bernadette Devlin McAliskey

Anything by Terry Pratchett... read one, chances are you'll read 'em all right after. 'Cuz I'm Psycho Like That...

Do yourself a favor and read a Neil Gaiman book. May I recommend American Gods.

Yes, he's not american...by birth at least. gnmish.gearbinder.ring.warden.sullon.zek
'Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest... Honestly.'

Clive Barker - Weaveworld

If you're thinking of Russian, I would go with Crime and Punishment. I just finished it and I totally loved it.

Edited by: Lamil at: 3/24/04 6:05 pm

I really like Orwell. Read "the road to wigan pier" or :down and out in london and paris" or "burmese days". (Everyone reads 1984 and Animal Farm at some point.)

"A Modest Proposal", by Jonathan Swift.

Okay, so it's not technically a book. Just do Gulliver's Travels instead. D">

Crime and punishment is a good read. Anna Karenina is a fast one as well. The Russians are great realists.

Madame Bovary is also sort of fun.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Only 150 pages but definitely one of the most influential books of the 20th century.

Ender's Game <====AMAZING read

/agree Norpin and Aidden
Check out some Douglas Adams. Hitchhiker's Guide is a good place to start off.

**edit** Added linkage and Adams promotion. **edit** Edited by: Aurarier at: 3/25/04 12:00 am

I would second Vindicor's suggestion of Barker's Weaveworld, but not sure if that would count as non-American. If I remember right he was born in England but now lives in the US. The book is set in England though, if that helps.

Apart from that my recommendation would be check out some stuff by Iain Banks. Anything really, but my favourites are Walking on Glass and Complicity. He's Scottish, so definitely qualifies.

About Douglas Adams, I think I must be in a very small minority of people who didn't like Hitchhiker's Guide. It just felt like he was trying too hard to be funny and "wacky". /shrug

Quote:About Douglas Adams, I think I must be in a very small minority of people who didn't like Hitchhiker's Guide. It just felt like he was trying too hard to be funny and "wacky". /shrug
I'll back ya on that. I read the first three chapters of Hitchhiker's, and simply found it to be bizarre, not funny. Couldn't get into it.

You have to get to the great rationale of the book. I think its somewhere in Restaraunt at the End of the Universe where he lays out a theory for why no one really exists and everyone you see is actually just a figment of a fevered imagination.

But honestly, who can't use a little injection of wacky every once in a while. Isn't that why we keep Glip around?

'Vurt' or 'Automated Alice' by Jeff Noon. Personally, I liked 'The Devils' by Dotoyevsky.

For fun, Rilasis, read Crime and Punishment, then watch Crimes and Misdemeanors and compare and contrast. Which is the more realistic portrayal of guilt today?

Might read crime and punishment later...got The Idiot on amazon for 45 cents like new