I have only ever seen the film, ZULU. I guess it is a tale of the British garrison that prevented the Zulu from invading Natal. I have read about the Zulu discipline, ferocity and skill, and have concluded that they would have made the Spartans quake. A tale of warfare and the men who are called to fight that I am in awe of is Steve Ambrose's, Band of Brothers. Easy company's overrun and destruction of a battery of 88s that were firing on the Normandie beaches is so classic it is taught at the War College.
In the movie they just touch briefly on the Battle of Isandlwana in the opening and mostly cover the Defense of Rorke's Drift mission station that occurred later that day. The Zulu Impi of 3 regiments that attacked Rorke's Drift had actually disobeyed the orders of the Zulu King Cetshwayo by crossing the Buffalo river into British Territory to attack the station. These regiments had not been involved directly at Isandlwana and instead were used to cut off and follow fugitives of the battle. Why they disobeyed orders is not known but one theory was that they too wanted to 'Wash their Spears' which was a figure of speech for engaging in their first battle (and source of the title of the book).
The prequel film 'Zulu Dawn' (1979) covers the events leading up to the war and covers the Battle of Isandlwana where the Britsih led force of 1800 men (with repeating rifles and cannon) was virtually wiped out by the spear and shield wielding Zulu army. You learn in this film how the British government was against an Invasion of Zululand but the British colonial government and local army commander had decided to do so anyway and accomplish it before the slow communications back and forth between South Africa and Britian (months by ship) could stop it. The Zulus had done nothing to provoke war, but in the colonials eyes Cetshwayo and his 35-40,000 man standing army were simply an unacceptable potential threat.
Great idea for a thread @Gerald Wilgus! Especially as I could never pick a favourite books, while picking a few meaningful ones is much easier. I've really enjoyed reading through all of your favourites and recommendations.
Like some others in this thread, I have read a lot of great books, so my selection here is mostly based on how interesting they would be for others to read, and I want to pick a varied selection so hopefully everyone will find something to spark their interest. They are in no particular order:
A) Transmetropolitan (Warren Ellis [writer] and Darick robertson[illustrator]) - The one that made me feel understood
Like @Rodafina, I am really into graphic novels (I just finished Rusty Brown) and if I was to recommend anything to the people here as a primer, it would have to be Maus which is an absolute masterpiece. When it comes to my favourite and most meaningful however, there is no question about it; Transmetropolitan comes out on top.
On the surface I am as dissimilar to Spider Jerusalem, the protagonist of the Transmetropolitan comic series as possible. He is a Hunter S. Thompson like journalist who does drugs, feels strong sexual urges, relishes in making a scene and gives absolutely no stool about what others think of him. However, this comic came at the precise right time and really spoke to me when I was a 16 year old kid. Here is someone who sees all the injustice, corruption and hopelessness of the world and decides to actually do something about it, informing people about the truth they have been thirsting for, without even knowing what was missing from their lives. This series absolutely hammers on the populist liars who only seek to increase their own wealth and power while being disdainful of the less fortunate who are kept in the muck. This series feels angry, and its anger mirrored my own, which I had kept deep inside. Guns Germs and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies - Jared Diamond - the one which made me understand
When it comes to what book has had the most profound effect on my thinking, Guns, Germs and Steel: the Fates of Human Society edges it. When it comes to language and writing, there are plenty of more flamboyant and exciting books to recommend. It is fairly dry, though written for a layperson and interspersed with interesting stories from the author's experiences among Papuan aboriginals. The content however; Gosh, what a work.
I wasn't expecting much when I started reading as I only knew that my father liked it. I though I would learn some stuff (it wasn't my first "academic lite" text), but nothing revolutionary. It ended up being the missing puzzle piece from my worldview; One I didn't know had been wanting and made everything fall into place. Jared was attempting to start the field of "geographical history" with this work; That is, how the environment and available resources influences the culture, growth and thus fate of the society you are born into. However, he isn't looking into recent history, but rather the advent of agriculture and why certain cultures grew, innovated and eventually expanded while others falter. I would say it is one of the most anti-racist books ever written, as it explains that it is not superior culture or intellect among a people who causes them to take over (after all, there is not a significant change in brain structure between ethnicities. We all think alike), but rather the geography, flora, fauna and weather patterns which truly determines the fate of a group. I could discuss the ideas present in this book for a long while, but I recommend just reading it instead. Jared goes over everything logically and in great detail, leaving little room for doubt where there isn't meant to be any. C) Momo - Michael Ende - the one which got me to read all the rest
Momo holds two records for me. It is both the first (real) book I have read, and also the book which the longest time has passed since I last read it. That's right, I haven't reread it once since I was 5/6 years old and got impatient with my mother's reading speed and I still remember certain scenes well. It is by Michael Ende who also wrote the Neverending story and I classify it as the book which sparked my interest in reading. It was a real page turner, but it also trusts its reader to think, and figure things out. My heart was pounding with that end chase and I still get shivers just thinking about it. Of course the plot is all muddled up in my mind now, but I would still fully recommend it. I know I really should reread it but time gets in the way... in some way my life (and everyone else's) is a commentary on the book's themes. Please read it, or give it so someone in your life. D) Bestist Frend Jane - ThenewIAP (unknown) - the one which made me cry
Warning! Irrelevant rambling. Feel free to skip the next two paragraphs
Easily the most obscure work on this entire thread. A few years ago, I fell deeply in love with story books/gamebooks. I read quite a few of them as a kid, but not the "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories so popular in the US, rather roleplaying gamebooks with stats and dice rolls. I read the ones I own, finding all the routes and endings, but sadly they are almost impossible to find where I live, and the ones I had were from the 80's when my father lived in the US. When I got my kindle, I thus decided to search for some more there, and actually found some really good ones, mostly self published by Daniel Pitts and Rudolf Kerkhoven (I highly recommend the Redemption of Mr. Sturlubok: Only 3$. One of the funniest books I have read). However, when checking up on it again when the "choose your own adventure" genre had completely blown out, I rather ironically found it almost impossible to find any good ones. The "New York Times Bestsellers" were painfully, and most of the writers seemed to be doing it for the cash, rather than because they have a passion for the genre.
Desperate for more storybook goodness, I searched online and found a website for amateur writers of storybooks which turned out to mostly contain pretty bad work, with some interesting nuggets. Interestingly enough, the highest rated books were often those I liked the least since they tended to be grimdark affairs with lots of gratuitous sex scenes and basic fantasy plots. I was just about to give up, when I looked at the "modern" section, and in second place was the most beautiful and heart wrenching short story I have ever read.
Since it is a short story, I won't delve into the plot. The writing reminded my of Brokeback mountain with the sweeping vistas of Southeast US, feelings of loneliness and deep yearning for something you can never have. While it is technically a gamebook, the whole first half contains no choices of meaning, and it doesn't lose any of its flair when it opens up. I have read all paths of it. Now, I am a person who never cries over media. I cannot recall a single instance of doing it, even when reading touching stories which made me emotional. It's simply not something I do since I feel as if I cannot allow myself to cry over fiction when there is enough "real" stuff worthy of my tears, and I don't allow myself to cry over the "real" stuff either as then I would never stop crying. On my second reading of Dearist Frend Jane last year however, something broke inside of me, and I felt deep catharsis as I cried my eyes out at a scene in the long "prologue"
, perhaps because I now knew it was autobiographical
.
This story is obscure enough that the likelyhood of encountering someone else who has read it is close to nonexistant. Less than 150 people on this blue planet have finished it. I strongly recommend every work I mentioned here, but if I had to pick one thing to make you read, it would be this. It is free, and thus completely accessible, I haven't ever had the chance to discuss what this book means to me in a way someone else could understand, and it makes me immeasurably sad to know that in a few decades, it will have fallen in complete obscurity, with no-one left to remember it, and no physical copy in existence for someone to pick up. Here is another link in case you missed the previous one.
In conclusion, this is far from a comprehensive list of the books which mean a lot to me, but as soon as I take one step down things get more nebulous. Some books are harder to recommend despite meaning a lot to me, while others are great works but simply haven't affected me as profoundly as the ones I already mentioned. Terry Pratchett is my favourite author, but that is largely because he is very consistent, so I always know I will enjoy one of his books.
One last recommendation is the excellent Adventure one of the Stand Still Stay Silent webcomic series by Minna Sundberg (Link here - all of it is available for free). I ran out of characters so can't explain why, but just trust me, OK?
Here is my guilty pleasure The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce
Short stories, like, Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, The Parentecide Club, and, of course, The Devil's Dictionary. Every Holloween, with my spouse's family we would play charades, then, after having hot dogs around a fire, and making S'mores, I would get on my headlamp and read stories from Bierce like, Oil of Dog.
I mentioned that I like good Science Fiction. I enjoy reading the writings of Cordwainer Smith who has a very singular voice. I have his complete short stories as well as Norstrilia. The structure of his tales is unique and I especially enjoy tales like, The Ballad of Lost C'mell, or The Dead Lady of Clown Town. Certainly his writings are mythopoetic.
The only other Science Fiction writing that so thoroughly explores the human condition, though more realistically, is Miller's, A Canticle for Leibowitz, an astounding novel.
Has anybody read any of this? I'd be interested in your take.
This is a very difficult question as I read a lot but whilst I could choose Lord of the rings for many reasons, I think I’ll go with Sabriel by Garth Nix as it really influenced me as a kid. The final lesson of “everything and anything has a time to die“ was profound as I read it shortly after my grandmother had died When I was 13 and I was struggling with understanding. It also has a snarky white cat, necromancers, and an awesome heroine. It’s still one of my favorite go to books to this day.
The Bible
Never Ending Story
Wind in the willows
This Present Darkness
Reference books (dictionaries, Encyclopedias)
Comic books (marvel and dc mostly)
"for dummies" books (cooking)
Anne of Green Gables
The Chocolate touch (lol)
(i'm not gonna lie) picture books of nature and people
Clan of the Cave Bear series got me hooked on archaeology, paleontology, and ancient history. (Plains of Passage was my favourite of the series.) I love pictures book. (Always have.) And my sister is still angry that Grandma gave the Bird Children to me and not her. (She never read it obsessively, I did.)
