My brain just melted. This Ubik stuff is mental.

Just recently finished 1984 by George Orwell, had to read it for a class as it somewhat ties into the current issue we're studying, which is the North Korean government and just the history of the country in general.

mwahaha stumbling down the rabbit hole!

Atlas Shrugged-Ayn Rand

long ass book!

Ubik was awesome. Some of the most thrilling sci-fi I've ever read.

I've gone on to:
http://autoblography.co.uk/images/Mother%20Night.jpg

That's twice you'd posted pics of a book with little more than tantalising remarks like; "My brain just melted" and "Some of the most thrilling sci-fi I've ever read".

Very frustrating. I might even want to give these books a go, if I knew what the fuck they were about.

And don't dare tell me to "Google it" either...

It's Kurt Vonnegut. Most of his work is wacked out enough that a plot synopsis sounds a bit like a toddler's account of a conversation with their imaginary friend, but there's little he's written that's not fantastic.

I haven't read Mother Night so I can't help ya' there.

Ah...hmm, well I really can't tell you what Ubik is about without ruining the fun of it. It's psychological sci-fi and deals with an Agency which is supposed to fight or neutralize psionic talent such as precognitives and psychokinetics with anti-talent. Anyhoo, they're hired by a mysterious employer to neutralize a supposed psionic agent which infiltrated some secret company on the moon but then all shit breaks loose which as Cardboard noted, makes you feel like you've gone through the rabbit hole... Just fucking get it. Seriously, it's a mind fuck.

In general I feel silly giving synopses of books because for me it's about the quality of the writing more than the story itself...and I sort of assume that people have read most of these anyways. :\

The other book you're referring to is Matter by Banks I believe. I thought it was ok. It has some interesting concepts (I'm not sure if you've read any of his Culture sci-fi, I haven't and if you haven't either the Culture is essentially a superdeveloped peaceful society which has ditched the monetary system, whose inhabitants are essentially immortal and works to the betterment of the galaxy by supervising the development of the lesser societies), like for example, most of the book is set on a Shellworld, which is an artificially created planet with multiple inhabitable levels. It tells the story from three viewpoints, 3 royal siblings from Sursamen which is a medieval sort of world on the 8th level of the Shellworld, whose father is killed and they go about seeking vengeance etc. It's very long (nearly 600 pages) and takes too long to get to the climax which is pretty spectacular. :\

How to Win Friends and Influence people by Dale Canegie...it's my 3rd read. Love that book...

My favourite Vonnegut.