1984

"How To Make A Good Script Great", "Slow Motion: Changing Men, Changing Masculinities", "Cryptonomicon", "1984", "Lord Of The Rings"

It's a great read and fun to pair with 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451.

I know people love 1984 but I found it exceedingly boring when I tried to read it. But it does have some very interesting ideas. My issue with 1984 may have been prior exposure to it's best ideas elsewhere. Orwell is a great writer, highly recommend both "Homage to Catalonia" and "Animal Farm". Complex topics written in an accessible style.

The Hobbit - Tolkien Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth Book 1) - Goodkind Faith of the Fallen (Sword of Truth Book 6) - Goodkind Ender's Game - Card 1984 - Orwell I'm looking to read Asimov's Foundation series again. Maybe spend more time with Hyperion.

I can't give just one, but here are a few that had a strong influence on me: "12 Rules for Life" by Jordan Peterson, "Why Switzerland?" Jonathan Steinberg, "Little Book of Common Sense Investing" by John C. Bogle, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Butron Malkiel, "Liberalismus" by Ludwig von Mises, "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, "A Treatise of Human Nature" by David Hume, "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat, "Autobiography" by Benjamin Franklin, "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, "Gespräche mit Goethe" by Johann Peter Eckermann, "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, "The Old Regime and the Revolution" Alexis de Tocqueville, "On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill, "A Treatise on Political Economy" by Jean-Baptiste Say, "The Man Versus the State" by Herbert Spencer, "The Revolt of the Masses" by José Ortega y Gasset, "Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy" by Joseph Alois Schumpeter, "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" by Karl Popper, "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Friedman, "On Power" Bertrand de Jouvenel, "1984" by George Orwell, "The State" by Anthony de Jasay, "Sketched With the Quill" by Andrzej Bobkowski, "My Correct Views on Everything" by…

* Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo. Powerful anti-war story. * Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts. Shaped my views on hard work and travel. * 1984, by George Orwell. Brilliant and terrifying. * The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. Overcoming mental pain through consciousness. * Planetwalker, by John Francis. Inspired me to walk and put myself into things more. * Pure enjoyment: Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson), Ready Player One (Ernest Cline), Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons), Red Rising trilogy (Pierce Brown). Honorable mention: The Water Knife (Paolo Bacigalupi).

I reread 1984 this year and it gave me trouble sleeping for a few weeks afterward. The writing is so perfectly concise that your mind adds visceral details that fill everything in for you. It makes the environment (political, physical, economic, etc.) and everything Winston goes through so much more real.

Some titles I've recently read or at least have placed on my reading list. -------------------- Philosohpy Letters from a Stoic: Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium - Seneca Meditations - Marcus Aurelius (must read) The Republic - Plato -------------------- History Five Chimneys - Olga Lengyel The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (must read) The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank -------------------- Fiction (particularly dystopian) 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451 (crime/action) Child 44, The Secret Speech, Agent 6 - Tom Rob Smith -------------------- Economics Capital in the Twenty-First Century - Thomas Piketty Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty - Banerjee, Duflo Why Nations Fail - Robinson -------------------- Economics/Decision making/Psychology Undercover Economist, Freakonomics, Nudge, Thinking Fast and Slow -------------------- Random titles The Selfish Gene, Self-Reliance, The Elements of Style (about writing), Slaughterhouse-Five -------------------- Some links to inspire your reading (though you may want to checkout the websites first to get an idea of the topics they cover) http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books…

Thanks for posting this thread, I can see in the other comments lots of books that I now want to read. For me I don't have a one favorite book, but my take would be: - 1984 from Orwell - the Foundation series, from Isaac Asimov (and basically, in my taste any book from Asimov has some good chances to be good) - Hyperion, from Dan Simmons (a good scifi writer as well).

I will pick more than 1: Ubik by Philip K. Dick (it's hard to cherry pick his best work though, ask me a different day and I will choose The Three Stigmata or Do Androids Dream or something else) The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (simply a good story and a great background) 1984 by George Orwell. What all these books share is the idea that sci-fi is about social, cultural and economic dynamics, not ships or time travel. That is my definition of sci-fi: An on-going essay about the evolution of the dynamics of society, using exotic technology/science merely as a catalyst. Runner up: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Could never finish (can't recommend): - Neuromancer - Cryptonomicon (Does the author feel entitled to mock the homosexuality of Alan Turing? Found that somewhat arrogant and in bad taste.)

There are very few books that redefine the way people view the world. This book is one of them. It is one of those books we all get assigned in high school and then think we have read due to its ubiquity, but never really read. We should.

I'm a big fan of Sci-Fi because I feel it makes people think about what they want the future to be, as well as avoiding the re-hashing of historical and current events that many fiction books set in the present do. With that in mind a list of great books to read: The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson Gridlinked - Neal Asher Neuromancer - William Gibson The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton Fallen Dragon - Peter F. Hamilton Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan Market Forces - Richard Morgan Blindsight - Peter Watts The Electric Church - Jeff Somers Tunnel in the Sky - Robert A. Heinlein The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein 1984 - George Orwell

1984 and A Brave New World

Brother in the Land, Danny Swindells That needs explaining. It's a teenagers book I read about when I was 16. Of all the books I've ever read it is the one that sticks with me most strongly - it is about passion, anger, compassion and loss. I always think it captured humanity really well. EDIT: for the plot think "Day of the Triffids" style end of the world, but bleaker and more realistic. I suspect it was just my age and I have given the book more weight than it deserves - but it affected me strongly. The other book is probably 1984, Orwell

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand 1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury And, sorry, but I have 3 "number 1 fav" books: 1. 1984 by George Orwell

Read the whole set: We 1984 Anthem Brave New World I love dystopias, and these four have always seemed to work together, to me.

I love 1984. I wouldn't say it was inspiring (its dystopian) but rather an eye-opening experience. It made me change the way I look at security and privacy.

I consider this to be the greatest sci-fi short story of all time. http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html I'm a big fan of the book 1984, along with the full length works of Asimov.

1984 (George Orwell) Fountains of Paradise (Arthur C Clarke, Space Elevator SciFi) Dune Series (Herbert) Ender Series (Orson Scott Card) 2001 Series (Arthur C Clarke)