Intelectual Books

[O-Ren]

I need to improve my vocabulary in 4 months for my senior mats. anyone have some interesting books they'd like to recommend any genre is fine just something to spur my brain into writing better.

P.S:non-Fiction please.

[Kaki]

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/2/2e/180px-Oh,_the_Places_You'll_Go.jpg

You could read up on some philosophes....

[O-Ren]

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/2/2e/180px-Oh,_the_Places_You'll_Go.jpg

You could read up on some philosophes....


My history teacher read us that book it was too teach us something I'm sure but I never paid any attention because I though it was a joke.

[Kaki]

its not a very deep book.....but there is are folks like voltaire ..

[O-Ren]

Any other books you'd recommend? I could be reading them now instead of being addicted to this forum.

[Hoon ♥]

Salt by Mark Kurlansky?


its about salt, and its significance in world history :3

[Kaki]

I'd recommend vampire chronicles....and 1984 .

but for your purposes....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment find works by the important figures at the bottom....

[O-Ren]

Alright, just need a couple more.

[Kaki]

There must be more than enough on my list.....

[O-Ren]

Could you list the top two, theres way too many and I have no clue what most of them are about maybe something science-related? Oh and do you think I'll be able to find the ones you listed in the local library?

[Kaki]

certainly, in the us that is. You can also check online.
well why not read some fun theories about time.....then let us know how it was.

[The Space Cowboy]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

[O-Ren]

certainly, in the us that is. You can also check online.
well why not read some fun theories about time.....then let us know how it was.

I've read Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman it was really good although to me it had nothing to do with time just human behavior and the like.

[Dr. Boskov Krevorkian]

Kafka, Nietzsche, Goethe, Faulkner (If you can stand him).

All authors.

[O-Ren]

Kafka, Nietzsche, Goethe, Faulkner (If you can stand him).

All authors.

Actually I can't stand Nietzsche but I have a certain tolerance for things. Any specefic books?

[Sakura Kaijuu]

Even though they're not non-fiction, I agree with Kickero about the Discworld series. They are in large part a sociopolitical satire, which means they're funny and relevant. Particularly the books about the City Watch and the random ones set in Ankh-Morpork (The Truth and Going Postal). Not to say the others aren't awesome, but some of them side more on literary satire (the witches books), and some are pretty philosophical (the Death/Susan books -- Hogfather, Thief of Time, Mort, Soul Music, Reaper Man).

Also, in the vein of fiction, Neil Gaiman is pure gold. Very philosophical. American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, the Sandman series (a comic book series, but it is made of God and win and whatever else there is out there), Stardust...and probably some others that I'm forgetting.

For non-fiction, I dunno if they're much good for vocabulary building, but Bill Bryson writes some pretty awesome books, generally about different countries or about language and things. For instance, A Walk in the Woods is about his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail, and Notes from a Small Island are about his final (mostly) walking trek through England before moving back to America.

[O-Ren]

I think I've searched the forum enough and I've come to a conclusion about the five books I'll read in no particular order.

1.The Count Of Monte Cristo
2.The Alchemist
3.Dantes Inferno
4.Discoworld series-1
5.Enlightenment throughout the Ages
(6)Candide by Voltaire (maybe)

[destroy_musick]

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

heavy going philosphy is sure to improve the cogs in your brain and flesh out your vocab

Frank Herbert uses quite a few not-well-known words and an extensive vocabulary in his fantastic (and legendary) Dune book. You could give that a shot too

[olaf]

I think I've searched the forum enough and I've come to a conclusion about the five books I'll read in no particular order.

1.The Count Of Monte Cristo
2.The Alchemist
3.Dantes Inferno
4.Discoworld series-1
5.Enlightenment throughout the Ages
(6)Candide by Voltaire (maybe)
sucks huge balls. (if you're 12 years old you could find it decent.) realy medicore stuff = mysticism from McDonald

BUT

if you have more time I would recomend reading Thomas Mann. The Magic Mountain or Joseph and His Brothers.

[Machinesister]

Anything by Michel Foucault. God I hate Foucault.

[Guardsman Bass]

Are you looking for 'complex' works (essentially, things like the original works of Pluto and the like)? Fictional works?

For a non-fictional, enlightening read, try some of Jared Diamond's books about civilization, such as Guns, Germs, and Steel. I don't necessarily agree with all his conclusions, but he provides a vast, expansive argument covering enormous areas of history and politics.

[HOOfan_1]

Read anything by Plutarch, Cicero, Pliny, Cato, Livy, Thucydides or Herodotus, Descarte, John Locke, Thomas Aquinas Rousseau, Machiavelli

Try Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men by Eric Foner.

[Zazen]

Deep books huh? The Stranger by Albert Camus, although the book is only 100 a pages long it still is one of the most philosphical books from the 20th century.

Jean Cocteau, Kurt Vonnegut, Salman Rushdie are also good writers. Check them out.