12/29   I got a gift certificate for xmas.  What is everyone's favorite book?
        \_ Profiles in Courage, something the shrub should read (if possible).
        \_ APUE, by WRS
        \_ http://csua.org/u/746
        \_ the necronomicon
        \_ As I Lay Dying
        \_ Mein Kampf
        \_ "Thank You For Smoking" - danh
           \_ a danh xmas: link:csua.org/u/747
        \_ O'Reilly's advanced perl book.
           \_ fucking nerd.
              \_ *laugh*
           \_ Perl sucks!
              \_ yeah dude i use .bat files for everything! rewlz!
        \_ The Holy Bible, KJ version.
        \_ Ten Things You Can't Say in America
        \_ Ian Banks' Culture books.  Anything by Terry Pratchett.  Anything
           by Tolkien.  If you want 'serious lit,' try Master and Margarita
           by Bulgakov (recommended by every russian alive!).
          \_  "Envy" by Olesha                  -brain
           \- hello. how do you recommend somthing for someone too dumb
              to specify a genre or otherwise narrow the question a little.
              danhimal: is the C. BUCKLEY books a cheap thrill or is it
              actually good? i dont like PJOROURKE-typestuff. Can you read
              "The War on|against cliche" and report back if it holds up?
                    is just awful in english [likw r. tagore is awful in
              'DYING is certainly a fine book, but I suspect OP will throw
              an E_TOOSHORT on it. To RUSSIAN PARTY, if I had to read one
              PUSHKIN, which work would you recommend. Ok tnx.
                \_ I read every genre except "russian literature"  and
                   estrogen-specific books (romance novels, new age tripe,
                   etc. none of which i would expect to be recommended -
                   in earnest - on the motd) and if some soda geek told me
                   that some romance novel REALLY was their "favorite" book
                   (and I believed them)  I might very well go buy/read it.
                   As a general rule I will read any book which any male
                   says is their "favorite" regardless of genre.  This
                   scheme rarely misfires and has led to my reading many
                   good books that i might otherwise have missed. (The
                   few times it has misfired were cases of books i was
                   going to have to read anyway like _Fountainhead_, or
                   recommendations by not overly bright females, which
                   lead to the modification of the rule incorporated above.
                   \_ would you rather read something recommended by a stupid
                      male or a smart female?
                   \_ Stupid troll.  Russian lit isn't a genre.
              \_ Thank You For Smoking is good.  Maybe you read
                  his not so funny book on washington politics.
                  its nothing like that. - danh
              \_ Reading Pushkin in English is kind of like reading Shakespeare
                 in russian -- doesn't work too well.  Onegin is his famous
                 work.
                 \- well i feel i got something out of reading dante/homer/
                    goethe/vergil in english ... although in some cases i
                    could tell you were missign a lot. however i wasnt that
                    blown away by moliere in english. are you saying it
                    is just awful in english [like r. tagore is awful in
                    english] or just non-optimal? i thought karamazov
                    was stunning in english. but that may be more idea-
                    heavy than language heavy. i didnt think much of the
                    E. Onegin opera however. ok tnx.
                    \_ For Moliere in English, there are very few decent
                       translations.  Every once in a while you get lucky.
                       \- "get lucky"? this seems a dumb comment.
                       Try Mamet and Stoppard for russian translations (I
                       know they both did some Checkov.  I don't know about
                       verse)
                    \_ Ugh.  Reading Dostoyevsky is like eating bricks.
                       In any language.  Ugh.  Heavy, heavy guy.  Shakespeare
                       doesn't flow right in russian.  Russian is a 'suffix'
                                     \- your post doesnt "flow right" [sic]
                                        in english :-)
                       language, English is a 'root' language, so stuff
                       really doesn't translate right.  But shrug, give
                       Onegin a try.
                        \_  with dostoyevsky it all depends on the trans-
                            lation.  Stay away from Constance Garnett in
                            my opinion, and it will be a lot better.  One
                            of the best books I read this year was If On
                            a Winters Night a Traveller by Calvino. -sax
                        \_  you might want to try just skipping over all
                            the spiritual and philosophical discussions.
                            sure you will miss out a lot, but reading the
                            soap opera bits of brothers karamazov wasnt
                            sooo heavy.  entertaining, even.
                                 \- uh so you are saying "just see the
                                    movie".
                            \_ His density has nothing to do with subject
                               matter, imho.  He is just gray and depressing
                               like a lead isotope.
              \_ russian jews -> soap and lampshades is a better idea
        \_ Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon.
        \_ nice troll. subtle.  succict.  Most troll/char ratio.
           \- well strictly speaking much of it turned into
              a reasonable discussion not senseless bickering.
              LEMON -> LEMONADE and all that. --psb