| Author | Message | ||
     Marriedabuell |
Just finished reading 2 good ones "one man caravan" by Fulton and "Danny Liska" by D. Liska both are about journeys around the world on motorcycles very entertaining! has any one out there read something good lately that maybe one of us would like to read? | ||
| Sfarson |
Peter Egan's "Leanings" Neil Peart's "Ghost Rider" | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Neil Peart's "Ghost Rider", Great book! | ||
| Spike |
Wouldn't be right to discuss good books on a motorcycle-related website without at least mentioning it: "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig | ||
| Reepicheep |
Ya know... I am trying to get through that book now (Zen...). He has some cool concepts and some cool points, and the rare instances where he actually talks about motorcycles are great, but way too much of the book takes an obvious weak or flawed base assumption, then builds these elaborate houses of cards to support them. I know I should just sit back and admire the house of cards, but I can't get past the obviously flawed base assumptions. The book would have been REALLY cool if he had the guts to narrow it down to just 100 pages or so of "the motorcycle experience" and another 100 pages or so of "thoughts as to why the sum of the parts is often greater then the whole" and left it at that. But thats just me. The book has merit. | ||
| Blake |
Bill, You summed up my thoughts on Zen... perfectly. You should be a critic. | ||
| Ravnos |
Has anyone read the sequel to Zen & motorcycles? From my understanding the book is written several years later and says how wrong he was in Zen. | ||
| Reepicheep |
A real stretch here for motorcycle related content, but I really enjoy Neal Stephenson books. They are not for everyone, but I really enjoy them. They are in the near future tech genera. The best (IMHO) is Cryptonomicon, but it has no motorcycle content that I can recall, though there is some very applicable wisdom there. Unlike his other books, this one is based in the past and present. I can't count the number of times I have thought to myself "Suck it up and show a little %^&$#@* adapability" when I am frustrated or uncomfortable, which was a characteristic learned from one of the main characters (a cool Marine) in the book. A fantastic read, and in my opinion his best work that I have read... Probably the second best is Snow Crash, and it actually does have touches of motorcycle content, though it is pretty peripheral. It suffers (like Diamond Age) from some really weird background stories that seem... both really weird and out of place. He had a killer story line, but should have left the key plot threat as "It just happens this way". Instead he tried to weave the plot threat through all of history and provide evidence that anchors it at the dawn of recorded history... it is admirable and he does a pretty good job of it, but I think it distracts and detracts from the overall story and has obvious holes in logic in that regard. Had he left the main plot threat as something that was "just discovered" the whole thing would have had no real logic holes, and would have been a really fun kinda creepy thing (like the nanotech stuff in Diamond age... it is obviously fiction, but you keep thinking to yourself there is no good reason things like this can't happen). Diamond Age is a must read to start wrapping your mind around the possibilities of nano-tech. Again, no motorcycle content, but it does have some cool similiar constructs. It again suffers from this weird tangent (the drummers) that was weird, totally un-necessary, and out of place. The book would have been lean, mean, and totally compelling without it... a totally gripping page turner. Regardless, it is still a very good book. | ||
| Boese |
no bike but good book: testament - john grisham | ||
| Henrik |
"Sportbike Performance Handbook" by kevin Cameron. You won't find much better information/description of how things work, pros cons etc. Henrik | ||
| Blake |
Second that. | ||
| Bomber |
Aprilla's book on chassis design (N.B., if you are numerically challenged, it'll make yer head spin) | ||
| Jim_m |
Reepicheep, Stephenson has only one real fault in his books (at least the ones I've read by him)...he cannot end them. It always seems as though he suddenly realized that "oops, the end is coming, I better wrap things up"...Cryptonomicon wasn't as bad as Snow Crash or The Diamond Age though. That said, I love his work as well as Umberto Eco. | ||
| Dynarider |
In the latest issue of spiderman he spins a web any size & catches thieves just like flies. That Stan lee is one hell of a writer aint he?  | ||
| Phillyblast |
Two personal faves are "Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance" and "Goldbug Variations" by Richard Powers. No motorcycle content, sorry. Also, William H. Gass' "The Tunnel" although at 650 pages, and 30 years to write, I think I can be excused for not finishing it yet. I keep getting distracted by Ed McBain pulp novels.  | ||
| Jim_m |
Dyna, Stan Lee doesn't write Spider-Man anymore... I don't know if the newspaper strip is still published, but that has been the only Spider-Man he's written lately, other than the movie adaptation.  |
