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  & 188 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: now reading

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Author: Aldous Huxley

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Tags: surreal aldous huxley dystopia

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Description: ""Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian""Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow. Huxley foreshadowed many of the practices and gadgets we take for granted today--let's hope the sterility and absence of individuality he predicted aren't yet to come."...

2005-09-03

  & 22 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: now reading

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Author: Kurt Vonnegut

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Tags: surreal kurt vonnegut

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Description: "When people hear the name Kurt Vonnegut, they think of Slaughterhouse 5, or Cat's"When people hear the name Kurt Vonnegut, they think of Slaughterhouse 5, or Cat's Cradle, or perhaps even that his books are often burned in high schools around the country for their dim look at human existence. Not to, in any way, down play the importance or greatness of his more famous works, as I love them all, but I must say that Sirens of Titan is superior to his other works. For some reason, perhaps the science fiction aspects of the novel, this book has not received its deserved recognition. I read approximately the first fifty pages thinking that this book would be about the same as his other novels. I almost put it away to start a different one. Thankfully, I pressed on. Literally, a few pages later, I was entranced by the language, the structure, the revealed surprises, and the humanity of The Sirens of Titan. Every time you think he has revealed the best secret of the book, another one reveals itself. This story is wonderfully intertwined between a set of characters, and the meaning of life. I have since read this book three more times, enjoying it more each time through. If you only read another book in your entire life, please let it be this one. Open your heart and your mind, and let Vonnegut pour into them his wisdom and hope for a better tomorrow."...

2005-09-03

  & 45 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: favorite

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Author: Douglas Adams

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Tags: surreal douglas adams

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Description: "Ford Prefect, Arthur Dent, and the usual cast of characters are back in the late Douglas"Ford Prefect, Arthur Dent, and the usual cast of characters are back in the late Douglas Adams's MOSTLY HARMLESS, an installment of the HITCHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Adams does a stellar job reading his own words as he captures his own dry wit, wry sense of humor, and gift for overstating the obvious. As each scene unfolds and each character appears, Adams takes great delight in the absurdity of the universe he has created, and his own entertainment comes across brilliantly in the reading. Any fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide will enjoy this turn of events as much as the author's interpretation of his work in this thoroughly enjoyable nugget of mind candy."...

2005-09-03

  & 47 users

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Type: fiction

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Status: favorite

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Author: Douglas Adams

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Tags: surreal douglas adams

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Description: "After adapting his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy scripts from the BBC radio series"After adapting his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy scripts from the BBC radio series into two successful novels, author Douglas Adams reshaped a rejected "Doctor Who" script he'd written into this third novel in the original trilogy. Reluctant space traveler Arthur Dent finds himself drawn into a race to save the universe from the people of Krikkit, who, upon discovering that they're not alone in the universe, set out to destroy it. Adams does an excellent job with the reading, although his voice drops too low when characters whisper. This reading comes from the British version of the novel, which contains profanity deleted for U.S. release."...

2005-09-03

  & 74 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: favorite

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Author: Douglas Adams

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Tags: surreal douglas adams

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Description: "Warning! This second volume in the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy""Warning! This second volume in the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series is definitely not a standalone book. Enjoying, or even understanding, the continuing adventures of Earthling Arthur Dent, his strange pal Ford Prefect, and the very, very odd Zaphod Beeblebrox requires previous study and preparation. Confusion and possible insanity awaits the poor soul who tries to figure out the second title without having read the first. Arthur and Ford, having survived the destruction of Earth by surreptitiously hitching a ride on a Vogon constructor ship, have been kicked off that ship by its commander. Now they find themselves aboard a stolen Improbability Drive ship commanded by Beeblebrox, ex-president of the Imperial Galactic Government and full-time thief. Narrated by Adams, this production is a treat for fans of the late author and others who enjoy British comedy. Be sure to buy all five parts of the "Hitchhiker" series or your patrons will storm your office. One caveat: this audiobook will need to be repackaged for library circulation."...

2005-09-03

  & 93 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: I recommend

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Authors: Terry Pratchett Neil Gaiman Terry Neil Pratchett Gaiman

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Tags: surreal gaiman neil pratchett terry

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Description: Even funnier for an atheist. My friends are huge fans of both Pratchett and Gaiman, and I unfortunatelyEven funnier for an atheist. My friends are huge fans of both Pratchett and Gaiman, and I unfortunately have had little contact with both (although I plan to change that soon). I loved this collaboration, and it only furthers my desire to check out these authors....

2005-09-03

  & 33 users

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Type: fiction

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Status: favorite

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Authors: Phillip K. Dick Phillip Dick

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Tags: surreal dick k phillip

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Description: An amazingly-written tale into the mind of a select few addicts. Although the ending notesAn amazingly-written tale into the mind of a select few addicts. Although the ending notes by Dick disappointed me for lacking to address certain things and ultimately generalising all drugs as 'bad,' it is very good at showing the inner-psychology of human beings which are often tossed aside, something I can relate to all-too-well. One of my favorites....

2005-09-03

  & 81 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: favorite

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Author: Kurt Vonnegut

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Tags: surreal kurt vonnegut

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Description: Of the few Vonnegut's I've read, Cat's Cradle is my second favorite. It is theOf the few Vonnegut's I've read, Cat's Cradle is my second favorite. It is the more science-fiction (although not as much as Sirens of Titan) Breakfast of Champions, really. I wrote notes in the book when I passed it around my group of friends. It made me think--like most of Vonnegut's. Amazing read....

2005-09-03

  & 46 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: favorite

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Author: Kurt Vonnegut

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Tags: surreal kurt vonnegut

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Description: I have Vonnegut to thank for a lot of my writing style--his down-to-earth and quintessentiallyI have Vonnegut to thank for a lot of my writing style--his down-to-earth and quintessentially surreal pen has influenced me permanently. Breakfast of Champions is probably one of the best examples to give someone as an example of Vonnegut's work. One of my favorites....

2005-09-03

  & 14 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: I recommend

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Author: Haruki Murakami

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Tags: haruki murakami surreal japanese

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Description: "Sputnik Sweetheart finds Haruki Murakami in his minimalist mode. Shorter than the sweeping"Sputnik Sweetheart finds Haruki Murakami in his minimalist mode. Shorter than the sweeping Wind-up Bird Chronicle, less playfully bizarre than A Wild Sheep Chase, the author's seventh novel distills his signature themes into a powerful story about the loneliness of the human condition. "There was nothing solid we could depend on," the reader is told. "We were nearly boundless zeros, just pitiful little beings swept from one kind of oblivion to another."...

2005-09-03