My Favorite Books
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- čas přidán 12. 07. 2024
- Now you know!
The books mentioned in this video, with links to my review, if I filmed one.
Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Chabon - Moonglow: • Moonglow by Michael Ch...
Chabon - The Yiddish Policemen Union: • The Yiddish Policemen ...
Diaz - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Eco - The Name of the Rose: • The Name of the Rose b...
HP Lovecraft - everything & anything
Finding a good collected edition of his works can be tricky. Here's a video with my thoughts on the most popular Lovecraft anthologies out there: • Lovecraft Anthologies:...
Pynchon - Against the Day: • Against the Day by Tho...
Pynchon - Bleeding Edge
Stine - You Can't Scare Me!
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/ thebookchemist
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You know he's an English Ph.D. when he lists his favorite books by alphabetical order of their author's surnames in the description section of the video.
Nice selection. An in-depth bookshelf tour would be bad-ass to see, as well.
Why does the ironing board's presence seem so important.
Chekhov's board. If the board is in the background in one video, a shirt is getting ironed in the next one.
It is watching me.
This is secretly a video of Godzilla vs. ironing board
It was placed there intentionally to trigger people with ADD.
Sir: You have a career as a book critic.
You speak like Žižek without all the sniff and I'm saying that as a compliment. Love your channel. Keep it up.
Erfan M need the sniffs
Love your videos bro, keep up the good work! Bringing back some old memories with the goosebump series.
you're the coolest guy around, amazing stuff!
I trust you, you can make me read everything
Currently reading both DFW's Pale King and LeGuin's Terramare , was looking for new reads and as always your channel offers great input! Really can't wait to read Diaz' book from how you described it!
I love the way you speak about books, very insightful
Imagine if you would have produced this in 2014:
"What's up guys. Infinite Jest exists! Well, thanks for watching."
Love-love-love Infinite Jest. Even if TBC no longer touts it as his favorite, it doesn't sway my respect for the book as one of the best I've ever read. :)
@@dudelord787 I can only get a few pages into Infinite Jest. What am I missing?
@@warbrothers7745 The kind of gratification you get from some of DFW’s more approachable work (Cruise ship essay, Consider the Lobster essay, some of his short stories like Good Old Neon (not funny DFW, but take-home-with-you insight DFW), some standalone chapters in The Pale King (ch 22 is a long but great example, it’s roughly the same length as the cruise ship essay; the fourth extra scene in TPK version “with four previously unpublished scenes” also falls into this category) are totally present in IJ, but you have to work/dig for it. It’s a 1,000pg novel. The “holy shit that’s hilarious/profound” moments can’t be on every page or they wouldn’t be those very moments. But also the first chapter of IJ is incredibly important, but not because of the reasons I just gave. That first chapter only makes sense after the book is finished lmao. All that being said, I cannot bring myself to finish The Broom of the System, so hey bro just read what makes you happy, lol it’s cool.
I've read and thoroughly enjoyed many of the books on this list thanks to your recommendations. I know you're not a big fan of audio books, but audible has the Necronomicon and Eldritch Tales Lovecraft collections which are both excellent. One I would add to a similar list for myself would be The Count of Monte Cristo. It's long, but a very rewarding reading experience.
I *LOVE* Chabon too, I haven't read Yiddish Policemen's yet though, but it is on my shelf! Glad it is one of your favorites and I want to pick it up soon!
Girl About Library in that case you should know that his surname in spnish means "guy".....just a very important thing you should be aware of.
So awesome, loved the Goosebumps reference between heavy duty shit like Pynchon and Lovecraft! :D
Have you read Hesse? A lot of people associate Hesse with Siddhartha or Steppenwolf. But Hesse has so much more to offer. Im a big fan of re-reading a work. I’ve re-read a lot of Hesse including his essays and his poetry. What Lovecraft is to you, Hesse is to me.
Das Glasperlenspiel! One of my all time favorites!
More and more as I watch your videos, Mr. Bookchemist, I wonder what you would think of Gene Wolfe and his *Book of the New Sun*. Puzzling, ambiguous, moving, deeply strange, this is a haunting book set in the far future, ostensibly science fiction, but with plenty to say on medieval and religious philosophy, and the role of the narrator. Neil Gamon calls Wolfe "possibly the finest living American writer". If you read it slowly and openly, it is unforgettable.
(fwiw, my favorite authors are Pynchon and Joyce, so there's at least some overlap in our tastes.)
Keep up the fun, informative, contagiously enthusiastic videos!
I've been willing to read Gene Wolfe for ages! I can't wait to dive into his oeuvre!!
Matia you are the best! Thank you for your videos!!!
1:51 The Name of the Rose - Yes, I'm so happy you finally read it and I figured it'd be in this list! (Sorry, I'm working through your old videos.) It is also one of my top favorites. I should re-read it... I wish I could read it in Italian.
You're one of the few Booktubers I've seen who has a similar taste to me, it's so refreshing! (When you mentioned Goosebumps... I used to be obsessed with those when I was a kid.) I'm excited to try the ones you've mentioned.
11:41 reminds me of The Count of Monte Cristo's themes!
Thoroughly enjoyed the video!! I’ll be watching!!😊
Cool vid. I'm especially partial to Pynchon as well, although I have more of an affection for his earlier work. It'd be cool to hear about any literary theorists/philosophers you have an interest in.
i have an english copy of the name of the rose here. to be honest i've been putting it off since it looks so... cerebral and daunting. i will definitely be reading it this time, thank you for the encouragement and introduction of this novel, sir!
Great choices. Pynchon and Lovecraft are pretty up there for me as well. By the way I just read somewhere online that there is an HBO adaptation of Lovecraft Country being made, I thought you might be into that. I used to love Goosebumps, but I dont remember many of the ones I read, the ones I do remember were fun though, there was something creepy about reading them in my school library. There was one about a kid who couldnt stop eating glue and started eating everything around him, the one with the two kids with the plant man father, they were silly but it was one of the series that got me into reading.
Stay Out of the Basement (the one about the plant-man father) is also among the series' greatest heights. I'd heard about Lovecraft Country! Seems like perfect tv series material, what with the self-conclusive chapters and all :)
One Hundred Years of Solitude changed the whole direction of my reading forty some years ago.
I loved Name of the Rose. It was brilliant in it's construction and a great exploration of 14th century ideas. I loved the philosophical and historical parts because I have been obsessed with that period for a while. Intertextuality is my bread and butter.
The Medieval Reader And to think it probably isn’t even in my top 5 of Eco’s books.
Foucault’s Pendulum is first, of course. Not only my favorite book by Eco. Not only my favorite novel. It’s my favorite book of all time.
The other four would probably be The Prague Cemetery, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, Belief or Nonbelief and The search for the perfect language.
If you enjoy H.P. Lovecraft, you should try Borges (who I imagine you have already heard of) and Thomas de Quincey
Yiddish Policeman's Union is so good, I found it it from watching this video a while back, read it 3 x, would never have found it without The Book Chemist. Much Appreciated.
Have you read The Recognitions yet? I remember you talked about how you were putting it off because of its length in a video quite a while ago. Please read it. It's so perfectly in your wheelhouse and I cant imagine you not adding it to this list upon finishing it.
Not yet man! I'm sure you're right but I'm way behind with so much other stuff :P maybe next year!
Is recognition really good? I bough it but started and stopped. The size of this book does not scare me.
You've convinced me to re-read Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I got halfway through in my sophomore year of college but never finished for some reason.
Oscar Wao has been on my shelf since it came out. I think you convinced me.
I would say that probably my all-time favourite book and a book I recommend to everybody, and specially to Spaniards (as I am Spanish too) is the Tree of Science, by Spanish author Pío Baroja. It's a true masterpiece about growing up and learning what the world is about. And the best thing I read in high school with difference. Take a look to it and you'll understand why. Also I love Kavalier and Clay, and almost everything Terry Pratchett has written and I have read.
Duly noted, thanks! (since we share a love of K&C and Pratchett I'm guessing I should like Baroja too :) )
+The_Bookchemist You're welcome sir! Hope you'll enjoy it. Currently reading Oscar Wao because of your video and having a blast! Thank you for your channel!
Enjoyed your list bro.
I just discovered this channel. So glad I did. My reading taste are changing, and your channel fits it. I want to read the Oscar Wao book. Where are you from? your accent is awesome.
Italy!
Amazin video. Is always amazing find new books to get and being amazed by them. Have you ever read Bolaño or Borges? any thought?
I love Borges, whereas I've only read one Bolano novel so far (The Third Reich) and hugely enjoyed it too; I think I'll be reading The Savage Detectives sometime soon!
Miguel Zarate please say something about a writer from the country I was born in....grow up
awesome books, if only I had a dozen versions of me to read all these st the same time. btw if you had to choose which among lovecraft do you love the most?
Impossible to say, but I'd go with The Silver Key as a symbol of the rest of his production. (Or with The Dunwich Horror which is sheer perfect).
Reading Wonder Boys, currently then? Then, his ones before. Thx, mate!
Great video Hp Lovecraft skill to create that dense sense of doom is so masterful!!! ..I am curious to know if you could do in a future your top 5 goosebumps novels and top 5 Italian Contemporary authors either that has been translated or not.
I'll think about that, why not - there are a couple of videos about Goosebumps on my channel already, though they're rather ancient! Thanks for the suggestions ;)
Yay !!!....Would be looking forward to see the Goosepump top 5 ☺!!!
I actually just finished reading Thomas Pynchon's "Against The Day" a little while ago. I thought it was very interesting. I am not able to understand a lot about math, so I don't think I could understand fully all of those concepts from Physics he put in there (I had to look for and read about them, that is how I know they are from physics) but I think it is still a great book. I have not yet been able to get admission to any kind of graduate program, but I do still enjoy reading books a lot. It looks like you enjoy reading a lot as well.
Have you read Michel Houellbeq's "H.P Lovecraft: Against The World Against Life"..?
"Michael Chabon is the novelist equivalent of The Beatles." -The_Bookchemist, May 17, 2017
I've read At the Mountains of Madness on your recommendation as one of the worst books but what's your favourite book by Lovecraft?
It's very difficult to say as he wrote so many stories I find perfect, but among these Dagon, The Call of Cthulhu, The Color Out of Space, The Dunwich Horror and The Silver Key are probably a safe bet. As for his "novels," The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is truly amazing (and The Shadow Over Innsmouth too of course, which some people will consider a novella).
The_Bookchemist Thank you.
Hi, greetings from Perú. I just wanted to ask
what books of Cortázar have you read? do you like their stories?
The Blow-Up collection lately (which is an English collection of stories that may have been taken from several original ones), plus a few stories here and there when I was in high school. I love Cortazar's stories, they're exactly my type of stuff. Would love to try his novels.
Digging your channel big time. Great to hear someone talking about Pynchon. Have you read any William Gass or William Gaddis? Would be interested to hear your thoughts on their work.
I've always been very indimidated by both - I have The Recognitions on my shelf since, like, 2012, but I've bee too afraid to dive in so far!
@@TheBookchemist Bruh try The Tunnel by William H Gass.... It's a massive masterpiece... You would be blown away by legions of information drafted by him.... It deeply reflects the way hitler government used to work....
Where did you get that shirt? My husband would love it!
threadless.com !
Fullmetal Alchemist + FFVII/FFVIII = Against the Day!? It's official now, I'm going to have a new favourite book after the following summer. I've been re-reading Fullmetal Alchemist lately, I never get tired of it, there's so much packed in it and the way Hiromu Arakawa captured the essence of brotherhood in the Elric brothers is just incredible. Perfect manga that manages to avoid most of the sins of shonen manga (for example Dragonball, which I liked when I was younger, but I find very dull and almost unreadable these days). Also, I couldn't agree more with your opinion about The Name of the Rose, it was spot on. Amazing book, amazing love letter to literature if I may so. My italian isn't good enough to read it in the original yet, but maybe some day I can ditch my Finnish edition... Anyway, nice selection, it's never an easy task trying to limit one's favourite books to some top10 list.
I so agree. It's hard (and silly and useless) to compare narratives from different media, but if I'd had to pick THE single most beautiful story I have ever read (on the level of characters, plot, narrative techniques and all) I might go with Fullmetal Alchemist.
I remember a video in which you actually rank you favorite books of all time, a chart in which you put Against the Day behind another Pynchon's novel. Would you mind linking me that video?
I don't think that video exists - but I did film a video where I rank Pynchon novels and put AtD behind Bleeding Edge! (I still stand by that choice by the way)!
czcams.com/video/jsQy8o5wAMM/video.html
The_Bookchemist p
When you were in Italy, how long does it usually take before your order from bookdepository arrives in your doorstep?
They occasionally took ages (two weeks, rarely more) but most of the time I remember the books arriving within a week from my order!
Thanks for the reply! I'm actually from the Philippines and I'm using a third party shipping courier. Their EU headquarters is in Italy and they'd ship it directly to my home. From where I come from, bd deliveries take forever, hence the 3rd party courier. :)
Have you read Foucault's Pendulum? I'm halfway through. I think it has the same problem with The Name of the Rose
Sadly, no! I hope to get to it before the end of the year but the chances are slim!
The Beatles have plenty of experimental tracks. From Revolution 9 to What's the New Mary Jane, I Am The Walrus, Only a Northern song, A Day in the Life... I get your point though.
War & peace .Love it
Unrelated but you remind me so much of gael garcia bernal!!
Nice shirt, where did you get it?
threadless.com!
No McCarthy or DeLillo or Roth???
Tsk tsk tsk haha
I know right. No Borges too.
McCarthy should make it on the list for sure. But making lists is impossible.
It's his list, not yours. Why does everyone have this asshole mentality?
even worse, no Beckett
Even worse, no Woolf or Proust--there are no better fiction writers, IMO.
I’m glad to watch this back and remember you saying in a later video that you liked Foucault’s Pendulum better than The Name of the Rose.
Sure - if I ri-filmed this vide, Pendulum would be in it! (Rose may still get a mention)
i like your list, except no vonnegut. also try the poisonwood bible.
That mother fucking island sounds great
James Lee Burke
He's a prose specialist writing crime fiction. One of the greatest writers I've read
What happened to your disturbing books video I can’t find it anymore! 😭
My two favorite books are The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub- nothing can beat it- and Candy by Luke Davies.
Your shirt is awesome.
I would happily subscribe to the mentioned above The List, adding necessarily the Genius French author François Rabelais, also the Russians Dostoevsky's Demons & Lermontov's Hero of Our Time
If you love Lovecraft so much, you have to read Michel Houellebecq's essay on his life and work: "H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life".
Is it very good? It's been on my radar for ages!
The_Bookchemist You are going to love it, I assure you!
You are italien, true? So first i love your post about Flaubert parrot , and now i would like to here from you about my favorite writer ever, Natalia Ginsburg...
I've only read Lessico Familiare (Family Sayings), but I loved it! Such a heartfelt, moving novel.
Don’t know if you’ll ever read this comment but id love to know what you think about Haruki Murakami/if you’ve read any of his work. Love the channel btw
I only read Dance Dance Dance, and loved it - it was very much, 100% my type of novel. If I could read freely without thinking about my research area (which is contemporary American literature) I would devour the whole of Murakami's oeuvre, together with Umberto Eco's and Orhan Pamuk's.
The_Bookchemist thanks for the reply! Read a lot of his stuff recently IQ84 was proberbly my favourite
Would you speak about the literary theories
Ciao, sono un utente italiano, ti seguo da poco, ma devo dire che il tuo canale è davvero interessante, i miei complimenti! Toglimi una curiosità, ho visto che sei un dottorando, dove lo stai facendo?
In Inghilterra! (Se sei interessato a parlarne di più o a seguire quel percorso scrivimi a ravasimattia@yahoo.it che ne parlo volentieri!)
Like your shirt! Godzilla is my spirit animal. Or maybe Dostoevsky.
My $0.02--
Shakespeare
Faust but only as translated by Walter Arndt--Part II Act 5 equivalent to anything in Shakespeare and possibly exceeds.
Man Without Qualities--Musil = Pynchon without the nonsense.
Against the Day
MiddleMarch--reading first part of Daniel Deronda-- Pynchonian in insight and brilliance.
Mason and Dixon
Vineland
Ten others--probably Brothers K.
Logan Roy: 'Do you know my favourite Shakespeare quote--take the f**king money!'
Wow a booktuber who loves lovecraft
I do not like Lovecraft that much but maybe I will read him again.
Diggin the Beatles lesbian haircut
I love Oscar Wao
Your link to your Bleeding Edge review is broken.
I've removed many of my old reviews - I'm just not satisfied with them anymore. I'll film new ones as soon as I re-read those books ;)
No Foucault’s Pendulum? I’m very sad
Thank you, the selection is very cool, and the t-shirt!
Show the cover of the books your talking about !
Yes, I have a hard time getting the title or the author, you go thorugh that too fast. Show the book clearly instead of just waving it around. Great Comments. Thanks.
Disappointed not to see Infinite Jest after all the praising!
As he said his preferences are very fluid, he made a video about why he didn't like DFW/IJ anymore :)
If you like poetry you should check out @she.empty on Instagram. Truly puts feelings into words.
Hey, you should fill out your bio a little more - I (and your other fans) would probably love to know what your research is on!
And one more thing: since Amazon is evil (like all mega corporations), Book Depository (www.bookdepository.com/) is a great, free shipping alternative that's sometimes cheaper than Amazon!
Is that a Junghans watch? 👀
No, Daniel Wellington!
Hi is harmony korine?
Motherfucking Godzilla! Awesome shirt!
As much as I respect your literary taste (not considering Wallace and your late dissent of Infinite Jest), the GooseBumps cameo came across as a kind of "Oh don't worry guys, I'm not pretentious" type choice in this list. I read Rotten School by R.L. Stine as a kid so I can understand the love of his storytelling, but I mean... compared to the other books you mentioned... I just don't know.
"fuck the rest" XD
No need to preface with disclaimers. It is clear that they are YOUR favorites.
Just curious... who is your favourite woman writer?
If we're talking fiction exclusively (no comic books), Jennifer Egan. Ayelet Waldman would be a close second together with Joyce Carol Oates and George Eliot.
Thanks, I've never read Ayelet Waldman, will check her out!
Interesting list. I'm surprised you didn't mention Infinite Jest, but again it seemed it's been lost within the piles of literary works you've read since.
PAS L'OPTION ANGLAIS
I like your fucking vids
Adam Savage didn't like Bleeding Edge as much as you: czcams.com/video/48mZU2DCb-k/video.html
I'll bet getting a pizza delivered to your desert island is a bitch! Good luck with that Victory Garden you've begun fertilizing with Book of the Month Club rejects.....
Health and balance
Tio Mitchito
Against the Day instead of Gravity's Rainbow? Rainbow will reward you with multiple readings, Against the Day is a marvelous failure, more a SF novel than a work of literature but personal choice is always subjective so, thanks for the list.
Whelp. This list is very male-centric. What are some of your favorite books by women or GNC folks?
His list of favorites doesn't have to conform to your woke preferences
@@ottooldenhardt Lol. Of course not. You'll notice I didn't say "rewrite this list immediately to include people who aren't men," but instead, "in addition to these favorites, what are some books by women or GNC people that you've also enjoyed?"
His favorites can be whatever his favorites are. I generally prefer reading books by non-men and am always looking for recommendations, hence the "woke" comment.
p.s. we're setting the bar for wokeness pretty low if all it takes is noticing when a list only includes men on it.
Wow, there are so, so many words coming out of your mouth and yet, you manage to say much. It is not your pretty, musical accent, not at all but... I just can't pinpoint what it is.
You don't take books you've already read to your desert island. It's the books you haven't read. That's post-post moderisism.
Final Fantasy 8 sucks
Come on, the first two CDs (before it turns into Dawson's Creek) are pretty solid!
I have to say each time this guy talks about books I’ve read and liked, this guy dislikes. I guess it’s just American vs European outlooks. I happen to be very American in everything but guns.
I HATE it when book readers use the F word..
This guy only reads male writers. Maybe in Italy there is no concern for feminism, but I know there is in England, and this guy seems remarkably unaware of any writing done by women.
The overwhelming majority of great authors are men.
The issue is the lack of attention generally given to female writers, and guys like BookChemist who perpetuate that, not on purpose, but out of sheer ignorance of issues faced by women writers, and especially by people like you, who reduce real, complex issues to simple, straw man statements like the one you made.
I'm sure the BookChemist has read plenty of female writers. But like KingOfHearts said, there aren't that many. This was a list of his favorite books. Maybe you are right, he should've included women writers on the list just because they are women, because that's "equality". Fuck me, right? It's kind of like saying that you are eurocentric because you don't have any traditional tribal music on your iPod.
You seem to understand nothing about the issue. I don't care about this list. I'm talking about BookChemist's - and most likely your's - entire approach to literature. There are plenty of quality female writers. The issue of women in literature is very well documented, and very worth talking about it. Anyone who refuses to educate themselves in this regard, such as yourself, is complicit, a little spineless, and doing a disservice to the world of literature. People like you don't surprise me. You haven't blown my mind. You have taken the easy, simple path, and people like you are everywhere. Either educate yourself, or don't assume that I haven't and respond to something you don't seem to understand, because you actually think the world is that simple.
Alright. Maybe get off that high horse and give me some examples of female authors you would put in the same category as the stuff the BookChemist reads. Or even just the same genre. Go on. I'll wait.
where do you hear about all these books?
I'm not even sure - I think most of these I first discovered because I liked their cover or title in bookstores (it was definitely the case with Chabon).