Your favorite book

[Poplin]

At the moment, mine is Atlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand. I read this last year at the advice of a friend who knows me well. Indeed, it put into words things that I myself had been thinking about.

This book illustrates Rand's philosophy--that we live in a rational world, that our ability to think is what makes us humans, that we must work for the betterment of ourselves, and that we should deal with others fairly. It is hard to paraphrase a 1000+ page book.

Anyway, this book has love, adventure, philosophy, and a few gunfights. I'm sure all members of TFL share at least some of Rand's ideas. It's a real page-turner, even the 60-page speech near the end. It has a permanent place in my bathroom reading selection. Highly recommended.

So, what's your favorite book?

 

[ds1973]

Definitely

"Atlas Shrugged" is definitely one of my favorite books.

Poplin, I recommend you read "The Fountainhead". It's by Ayn Rand and was written before Atlas Shrugged. I read them in reverse order too, and I still enjoyed Fountainhead. You sort of see where its setting up ideas for Atlas.

"Atlas Shrugged" is a great book.

 

[4V50 Gary]

W.H.B. Smith's Small Arms of the World. If you have no other gun book, it should be this one.

 

[AAChang]

For the purposes of this forum "Starship Troopers" was a pretty good book. "Where the Red Ferns Grows" wasn't bad

 

[Christopher II]

Fiction - Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon
Non-fiction - Dava Sorbel's Longitude
Gun-related - Probably Louis Awerbuck's Tactical Reality

Later,
Chris

 

[MH]

I own the illustrated copy of Sobel's "Longitude" - glad to see some one else likes it too!

 

[C.R.Sam]

Complete Guide to Handloading...Phil Sharpe.

 

[WESHOOT2]

"Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein.

In fact, all his books are the best.

 

[Colombe]

"We the Living", by Rand.

 

[Caeca Invidia Es]

My absolute favorite of all times is One by Richard Bach

 

[DC]

The Bible

Not for religious purposes. It encompasses the compleat human experience: law, strife, sociology, psychology, politics, war, good and evil, tenderness, savagery; a look into the heads of the ancients....who are no different than us.

 

[Matrix]

My favorites are in categories, and are subject to change.
Sorry I can't list just one.

Currently, my favorite novels are "Cold Mountain" by Charles Frazier and "All the Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy.

Favorite hunting books are "Death in the Long Grass" and "Maneaters" by Peter Capstick. "Longbows in the Far North" by Don Thomas.

Favorite gun books are Elmer Keiths autobiography "Hell, I was There", Charles Askins autobiography "Unrepentant Sinner" and any of the books by Jeff Cooper.

Favorite history books are "Blackhawk Down" and "That Dark and Bloody River" by Alan Ekert. "Modern Times" by Paul Johnson, and Shelby Footes Civil War trilogy.

Favorite political/philosophy books are anything by Rand or William F. Buckley, of the original Firing Line.

Favorite business books are "The Bankers" by Martin Meyer and anything by Tom Peters.

Spiritual books: Holy Bible (Lamsa's translation) and Buechner's "Alphabet of Grace".

And finally, favorite humorist is P.J. O'rourke, "Parliament of Whores".

 

[444]

Definitely, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I have read it seven times. Great to see others have discovered it also.

 

[Monkeyleg]

This is really amazing. I read Ayn Rand's books when I was about 13, back in the early sixties. None of the other "brainy" types had ever heard of her. I was also heavily into Bob Dylan at the time, so the college kids didn't know what to make of me, nor me them. The books definitely had an effect.

My most favorite book, based on number of times read, has to be "A Tale of Two Cities." Somehow, though, I can't imagine myself knitting when Chuckles Schumer takes center stage.


Dick

 

[444]

Atlas Shrugged is being lived out in current day Kalifornia. That is the first thing I thought of when I heard about these "rolling blackouts".

 

[ArmySon]

Mine is D-Day by Ambrose

Lets try to keep this thread from being closed with favorite firearms related books. Otherwise, we'll have to be meanies and close the thread for being off-topic

 

[Tamara]

I could get stranded on a desert island with Starship Troopers and The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Gibson's Neuromancer and Virtual Light/Idoru/All Tomorrow's Parties, PJ O'Rourke's Holidays in Hell and Give War A Chance, Hackworth's About Face, Orwell's 1984, Tolkien's magical The Silmarillion and Lord of the Rings, and my handy little bound edition of Plato, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius.

One favorite book? Just an impossible question...

 

[Mike Irwin]

Favorite pulp fiction: The Stand, by Stephen King

Favorite non-pulp fiction: The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemmingway

Favorite gun book: Tie, between The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson and the S&W Revolver Shop Manual, by Jerry Kuhnhausen.

Favorite Author: Tony Hillerman

 

[justice4all]

Without a doubt, Atlas Shrugged, followed closely by everything else Ayn Rand ever wrote.

I find it incredibly sad that all through high school and college I never so much as heard of Ayn Rand. Luckily a friend of mine introduced me to her via The Virtue Of Selfishness, and I realized that I was not the only person who believed in absolute freedom. I've considered myself a disciple ever since.

My first pistol is named Kira, after the heoine in We The Living. My Jeep is Dagny, and my dog is Ragnar Buckshot Justice.

It's no wonder I spend so much time here.

To keep the moderators happy, I will point out that Ayn Rand was a supporter of the RKBA, and concealed carry. During the scene where Hank Rearden is given the bar of gold by Ragnar D. he is carrying a revolver in his pocket. And as it turns out is willing to use it to prevent the Ragnar from being captured by the police who pull up during their conversation. Fransisco D'Anconia also uses handguns to defend Reardens mills, and Rearden himself, during the riots. And when the heroes get together in the end to rescue J.G. they dispatch his guards with well-aimed shots.

The philosophy of this book, as it relates to violence and defense is essentially that no one has any right to initiate the use of force, but everyone has an absolute right to retaliate against violence with violence. This aspect of Objectivism is embodied in the character of Ragnar Danneskjold, and this is why I named my dog after him. To finish my thoughts here, and to also reply to another thread about dogs, they should be like most of us try to be: as peaceful as we possibly can be until the time comes when we have to fight back, at which point we become deadly.

 

[brianidaho]

Another Ayn Rand fan here, Atlas Shrugged is my favorite book, followed by The Fountanhead, and probably Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal. I read A.S. every couple of years, it's a great way to keep things straight, in what often seems to be an irrational world (gotta quite reading the local paper).

So, is Atlas Shrugging? The CA scenario makes the book look more prophetic all the time. First the state forces power companies to sell power for less than they have to pay for it, then when problems occur, they seriously consider nationalizing the power industry. Socialism is running rampent in the state, and the brains are leaving, several of the other engineers I work with are refugees, and we are hiring another. Maybe the collapse of socialism will come sooner than anyone might think.

Think I'll start another post on the topic....

For less-serious reading, anything by Tom Clancy lights my fire. Favorites are Executive Orders, Without Remorse and Hunt for Red October. I also like Harold Coyle, especially Team Yankee.

Bri

I will choose a path thats clear, I will choose freewill.

[Edited by brianidaho on 01-28-2001 at 11:59 AM]