Top 5 Geek Books To Get You Started On Geek-Lit
I’ve been working through my massive collection of books that I keep promising myself that I’m going to read. Goodreads have set up a reading challenge that allows you to set a number of books that you plan to read in 2015. My friends had started this way before I did but I have a serious competitive streak so I was all over it! But… what to read first? What if I pick the wrong book and I get turned off reading for ages?
Has anyone else felt this? Has anyone had the same indecisiveness that hits them when they enter the candy store of literature and don’t know where to go? All of a sudden the rooms are spinning and you’re stuck. I think this is a thought that plagues many book readers.
Well, be worried no more, as I have compiled a short list of ‘geek lit’ books that you need to read!
I’m going to try to leave out the obvious ones such as Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire so if you’re looking for something a little more alternative, this is the list for you:
1984 – George Orwell
This is another one of those books that if you were forced to read it in secondary school, then its time to grab it from that dusty box for another read. This was one of the first books that looked at technology as a use to foster totalitarianism. The main character is a business person service the state but has become curious to find the ‘truth’ and not the stories that are fed to the masses by the Big Brother powers that be. Reading it will make you want to clear as much of your technology history as much as possible.The book makes you think about the future but not in a sci-fi kind of way. It’s easy to get into and ropes you in straight away with the characters.
House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielweski
This is a brilliant but maybe somewhat intimidating part horror, part philosophical book that definitely makes you work to finish it. It has the experimental writing style that will make you turn the book upside down, inside out and all over the place to ready its footnotes. There are several really interesting layers. The first being a study of a documentary about a photojournalist whose house is opened to reveal other worlds and dimensions and the rest, well, you should read it and find out!
Dune – Frank Herbert
Dune is to sci-fi as Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. It is an amazing story about power and betrayal set in the future. Based on a desert planet the source of a spice called Melange is used in many ways by many factions of humanity. These factions fight for the control over the planet in this epic space opera novel. It can be quite hard going, at times like wading through a swamp of words but it is a very rewarding and enjoyable read. It is Epic in all manners of the words.
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
Ignore the terrible Will Smith action movie when judging whether you should read this book or not. This book is incredibly thoughtful and fascinating. It is famous for the stating the three laws of robotics and the nine linked tales throughout this book deal with these laws and the problems that occur when these laws are applied. Asimov is the master of robotic science fiction, and this is his ultimate robot classic.
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
This is one of the must reads as arguably the first geek character Holden Caulfield tries to deal with fitting in and finding his place in the world that he sees insincere. Though most of us now had our adolescence portrayed in John Hughes movies, The Catcher in the Rye is a novel that made those films possible with its earnest portrayal of teenage-dom. You may have read this in school when you had to study everything about the symbolism, genre and so on but I ask you to read it again now that you’re all grown up.
So what did I miss? What would you put in the must read geek-lit pile? Let us know in comments!
