NationStates

Eh...hallo nationstates, long time listener first time caller n'at.

5 Books to twist your Melon. In Proscending order.

I. Naked lunch. William S Burroughs.
Indescribable.

II V.A.L.I.S. (etc) Philip K Dick.
works which made me re-evaluate my relationship with reality

III Briefing For a Descent into Hell. Dorris Lessing.
see above

IV Lanark. Alisdair Gray
A book which changed my perceptions of the city which I live in (Glasgow) forever

V The Illuminatus Trilogy (+surrounding appendixes, apocrycha, footnotes, supplements, spells etc.). Robert Anton Wilson & Bob Shea
A monumental piece of memetic architecure.

Of those books you listed, I've read the Illuminatus! Trilogy, and just wanted to say that it is a perfect thing to read for those who like either books that screw with your mind, absurd humor, or both. Not to mention it's importance to conspiracy fiction in general.

Try the The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Sanders. It's very odd.

Try "The Name of the Rose" and "La Increíble Flama de la reina Lloana", both by Umberto Ecco.

World War Z that book gave me the only nightmare i've ever had.

I've read the Illuminatus! Trilogy. Cooky but fun.

I've seen Naked Lunch; it certainly is not the same thing as the book, but it does indeed have that effect.

Not a book just a short story. "Everlasting" part of "Zima Blue" by Alastair Reynolds.

Anything by Slavoj Zizek.

I have not read the book it is based on, just seen the film, but the Manuscript found in Saragossa fits the bill.

Perfume by Patrick Suskind.

(I probably should re-read it while NOT bent on mushrooms before recommending it but ... I'm not sure I WANT to read it again. Elegant but creepy.)

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov.

(Read the poem, which is obscure but quite good, and go to the commentary every time. Funny and profound in that self-mocking Nabokov way.)

Garturkistan wrote:5 Books to twist your Melon. In Proscending order.

I've never posted in A&F before. Is it usual here to make up words?

If so ... I'm going to like this place.

Naked lunch. William S Burroughs.
Indescribable.

It was OK. Apart from the boy-rape interludes, I can't see what the fuss is about.

II V.A.L.I.S. (etc) Philip K Dick.
works which made me re-evaluate my relationship with reality

Noted. I read some other PK Dick, and it was strange.
Was Barefoot in the head one of his?

III Briefing For a Descent into Hell. Dorris Lessing.

Oh yeah. I got the feeling it was auto-bio but somehow she could still write.

Latish in life, she did a 5-book sci-fi (-ish) series, not great but The Marriages Between Zones 3, 4 and 5 was pretty strange.

Anyone meaning to talk themselves out of having children should read The Fifth Child.

V The Illuminatus Trilogy (+surrounding appendixes, apocrycha, footnotes, supplements, spells etc.). Robert Anton Wilson & Bob Shea
A monumental piece of memetic architecure.

Eh, Wilson just shits me. Sometimes collaborations are different (for instance I can't stand Pratchett, he thinks he's funnier than he really is, but Pratchett and Gaiman were OK in Good Omens)

Another reason: I had a friend who was mad for Illuminatus but seemed to take it seriously. I haven't cracked a page of it ... sometimes people can be too enthusiastic about a book they wred, it's like watching someone far-out on drugs when you're straight. "Thanks, but actually I don't want a bit of what you're smoking".

Noting two recommendations in this thread, I'll reconsider.

Nearly any short story by Jorge Luis Borges: "Los inmortales", "Las ruinas circulares", "La lotería en Babilonia", "La biblioteca de Babel"...

does twist your melon mean bad?

a girl i met once said i twisted her melon, i told her i have never touched her melons.

it's either House of leaves or House of tea leaves.

not sure but i read it and its a total mind fuck.

also... a scanner darkly.