My brother, Danny, has read like two books in his whole life. (Ha! Sorry, Danny, just kidding!) Seriously, he’s really read three.
He recently left this comment on my blog:
Danny said...
How come words are so visual? Why is it that when you read something you can picture it perfectly? I wish I would read more, but I don’t-- other than daily sports/entertainment updates, news, or music stuff I rarely pick up a book. Any advice? I just got a little taste as to why you love books and writing so much. Keep steppin! (minor editing by sis)
When Danny’s not working at his full-time job, he’s working at his part-time job, and at least one night a week he’s gettin’ funky playing bass guitar for his band. If he’s gonna read, it’s gotta be slammin’. It’s gotta be fun and quick and interesting and in-your-face. It’s gotta be deee-cent.
Let’s reach out to this non-reader and help him keep it real.
Any suggestions?
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A few suggestions--
"Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah," by Richard Bach, is a quick, interesting read.
"Knight Life," by Peter David, is the story of King Arthur running for mayor of New York City.
"Good Omens," by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, is a hilarious story about Armageddon.
I don't know about dee-cent, but would he settle for neat?! Has he read No One Here Gets Out Alive (the book about the Doors)? How about Into Thin Air? Michael Chabon goes on and on about the wonders of Terry Pratchett, so Good Omens sounds great! Maybe he'd dig The DaVinci Code.
Good, interesting suggestions. Thank you. Are there others?
Don't know if sci-fi appeals to Danny but I'm not a huge sci-fi fan yet really enjoyed the following:
Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke and Steven Baxter. The first in a trilogy about the earth's time being ripped to shreds and reassembled. Some interesting characters then become juxterposed: Genghis Kahn gets to fight with Alexander the Great and characters from the future meet up with Rudyard Kipling in Colonial India. I haven't read the second book yet and the third is due out soon.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is pretty good although a little too much futuristic military strategy for me (Randy and Daniel enjoyed that part of it - it's a guy thing I guess) It is about a 6 year old boy chosen to train to save the human race from an alien race. Sounds a bit corny but there are some interesting interpersonal relationships.It also questions the justification of destroying the alien race. Sequels include "Speaker for the Dead" and ?? (can't think of it right now)
I was thinking about sci-fi as well, and can't remember a juicier book than Ender's Game. Bradbury's Illustrated Man is written as a series of short stories, so that might work as well. Actually, maybe a collection of short stories would be good - the Pushcart Prize...?
The first book to come to mind is Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. My husband and my brother-in-law-- two reluctant readers-- both devoured it. It is an interesting combination of Chicago history/geography and racy murder story. Not entirely accurate, but reads like a novel.
I can't remember if I gave him Catcher in the Rye one year for Christmas. He might also get taken in by And I Don't Want to Live This Life, which tells the story of Sid Vicious's girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.
My husband, also a musician, *really* loved Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield. It's a really well written account of the battle of Thermopylae, from the pov of one of the Spartans who was there. Interestingly enough, the author is also the guy who wrote The Legend of Bagger Vance. Go figure.
Hey, I notice Danny hasn't commented--he did read all your comments though, and he just left my house with our copy of Into Thin Air. We'll see what happens.
Yeah! Join me in my mild Everest obsession, Danny. I also think he'll like Stephen King's short story collections. One is called Skeleton Crew, but I can't remember the other...
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