I love asking people about the books they’re reading. In a world where everyone on commutes are on their phones, when I see someone reading a physical book, it always results in a conversation.

Man’s Search For Meaning by Frankl changed my life. Don’t really pay mind to the logotherapy half of the book, but the prison camp stories were heart breaking. Specifically on a paragraph where he recounts thinking about his wife, who he was separated from by the Nazi’s, and detailing how even if he could only hold her in his memories that it would be enough for him. Froze me for the rest of the day. Absolutely love that book.

To Cliff and everybody else, I'm looking for some short stories to read. Here are some of my favourites. Please leave me some recommendations! - "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson - "A Hunger Artist" by Frans Kafka - "In the Penal Colony" by Frans Kafka - "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel García Márquez - "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" by Gabriel García Márquez - "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen" by Tadeusz Borowski - "In A Grove" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa - "A Christmas Tree and a Wedding" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - "Dubliners" by James Joyce (collection) - "For Esmé-with Love and Squalor" by J. D. Salinger (collection)

@BetterThanFoodBookReviews

6 жыл бұрын

The Return - Roberto Bolaño

@RxxSTaRz

6 жыл бұрын

"Jack, July" by Victor Lodato

@briancollins1296

6 жыл бұрын

As far as beefy and yet concise short story collections go, I'd have to recommend "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. 1", edited by Rob Silverberg and containing many of the classic sci-fi short stories in that canon (except for "The Lottery", funnily enough, though maybe that lack of overlap will be beneficial to you), with stories that were published between 1929 and 1964. Essential sci-fi anthology.

@brandongacer1850

6 жыл бұрын

White Nights - Dostoevsky

@patrickclamrod9454

6 жыл бұрын

I'm not familiar with that one unfortunately but I have to recommend Wells Tower's collection called Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. It was recommended in an interview by Paul Thomas Anderson and it's amazing man.

I'm from Mexico and I really like to watch your reviews, you inspire me and motivate me. I think that we need more people like you.

ok. I now want to hear your review of Elementary Particles. I often ask people what they’re reading. What a person reads tells a lot about them, for sure. When I was 13/14 I decided to read Matilda’s reading list (yes, the protagonist of that children’s book). It was the best decision ever. I was introduced to so many great classics at a time when I could barely analyze a text. It helped make me the literature-lover that I am.

@matchasketch8224

4 жыл бұрын

What are some books in her reading list? :0

@mikemauro3119

2 жыл бұрын

Cool, but that is a very British list.

@Onthemountainintheocean

Жыл бұрын

Elementary particles and houellebec (spelling?) in general is great

I agree absolutely with you on that : talking about books even with total strangers is a shortcut to their soul.

One of the things I find most interesting about my reading life is the fact that I'm fluent in three languages : Portuguese, English and French. And I find it very interesting to read books in their original language after having read a Portuguese translation. Sometimes it feels like there's changes in tone or that some phrases sound better (or worse) in their original language. As an example of that, I would put the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho's international success : his foreign translators must be amazing because his original work in Brazilian Portuguese is garbage. It also provides me with choices : I was looking for a copy of Hans Staden's True Story An Account of Cannibal Captivity in Brazil yet I found the English version too expensive. I was able to find a French version titled Nus, Feroces et Anthropophages which cost me less than half the price and which contained amazing illustrative artwork. I would have a hard time reading a translation of someone like Albert Camus and believe me, since I read the Portuguese translation, Michel Houellebecq is way funnier in French. And of course I am immenselly grateful to books for actually being able to talk, read and write in 3 languages. They definitely played a big part on my fluency development (and if anyone is of the opinion that there's definitely room to grow, I totally agree). Get a life. Read a book.

@billyb6001

2 жыл бұрын

Ya. When I was learning Spanish. I would put on Spanish versions of my favorite books in english.

@JCarpenter1984

Жыл бұрын

Vous avez bien raison, rien de mieux que de lire en version originale.

I love asking students what they are reading and if it's good when I'm out on lunch duty. (I'm a teacher) This is why I end up reading a lot of YA but I love the conversation and I get to point them to some older fiction when I can/is appropriate.

I agree. Glad I revisited your KZread channel again. I am missing my books right now. They are packed boxes in my parent's garage. The day I actually get to unpack them and place them in my own bookshelves again, will be another one of those joyous moments.

So glad I found you! I was so amazed because you are the first "non-spanish-speaker" (as far as I already know :S) who likes latin american literature. I asked myself many times how did you get to know such amazing books! Was "La belleza de pensar" that interview? Thank you for doing such a great work! :)

What a great video! Love those suggestions. I can throw two more in the mix, unless they were already there and I missed it. First would be the indexes of great books, often bios, and secondly, college syllabi online. Of course it's good to compare different syllabi from various schools. This will give you both a wide view, but also allow you to note some common titles as well. Enjoy!

great tips. I especially subscribe looking up people you admire and seeing what their favourite books are, but indeed the most important takeaway is the power books have to bring people together and the opportunities it presents you with if you're getting the recommendations in person. another tip that you didn't mention, and often works out well for me, is treating books like music artists. the same way I'm likely to like other artists from a music label that publishes a project I love, the same happens with books. especially when they are small-ish publishing houses, or publish contemporary authors, or poetry, or forgotten cult classics, and so on, so it might also be worth looking into.

He's definitely talking about infinite jest at 5:29

@BlielPol

4 жыл бұрын

His disdain towards Wallace and Infinite Jest (the few times he brings it up) is almost like a meme at this point 😂

thank you so much for this video man and for the recommendation to look up who your favorite artist, favorite books. I've found so many great books already and found my favorite author even I greatly appreciate it man

This channel is very good for ASMR, your voice very nice to listen.

@BetterThanFoodBookReviews

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I should do something with that.

@bigfat4172

4 жыл бұрын

17:21

@Crowborn

3 жыл бұрын

@@bigfat4172 LMAO

It’s funny you mention Powell’s employees being really knowledgeable - on my second visit a this past summer, I was checking out; Story of the Eye, per your recommendation, and Maldoror, among a few others, and the cashier comments about seeing a theme forming. He said he had finished the Bataille, but hadn’t finished Lautréamont. So yeah, I’d say they know what’s good over there.

Happy Holidays, man! Awesome video!

Hi Cliff, your review of The Willows by Algernon Blackwood was recommended to me yesterday by KZread. I enjoyed it so much, I subscribed to your channel. I am 66, live in Australia, and have been a reader all my life. I recently semi-retired so I have more reading time. So happy! I love your suggestions in this video as I always love to know what people I admire are reading - authors, filmmakers, musicians etc - I’m always interested in what they read. I’m now enjoying a wide range of booktubers and so glad I can now watch your reviews too. Thank you. Theresa

By Pynchon I've only read The Crying of Lot 49 and Inherent Vice, so I still haven't read any of his crazy-ass tomes, but in any case, if you haven't lost all hope for enjoying Pynchon, I would highly recommend Inherent Vice given that it's more accessible than his other stuff (though it's still by all means quite the mind-twister, and it's really funny and the characters are great and bla bla bla. It's a great fucking book in my own humble anonymous opinion)

@asderc1

6 жыл бұрын

John Smith Also "the secret interrogation" the last sort story in his "slow learner" collection is an absolute must read if you enjoyed his other stuff, one of his best and only 80 pages or so.

The mug looks great! It reminded me of the Death engravings from the Middle Ages. To ask someone about their books is awesome. I used to go to the library and read the titles of the spine, and with no reference or previous knowledge, if the title called me, I took the book home with me, always had great results :D

@MrFredstt

6 жыл бұрын

That's I still do it. I go around looking at the names of the books/covers and if it speaks to me, I pick it up and read the first chapter or so to get a feel for it and then decide whether to get it or not.

@literarylady1125

5 жыл бұрын

This is a cool method. I might try it.

Oh wow!! Can‘t wait for the Houellebecq review!!!!

I’d like to see a review of any Yasunari Kawabata or Blaise Cendrars, pls. Merry Christmas Cliff!

Honestly, I just read everything I’ve heard of in terms of them being great works. Once I run out of those, I’ll worry about getting recommendations haha

@matchasketch8224

4 жыл бұрын

Chris Diboll Haha same! I still have so many classics to get through! However I’m finding Don Quixote (what I”m currently reading not quite to my taste haha

Yeah, these are the methods I use too. Thanks for the video man. Also thanks for reminding me to go like your facebook page (spend so little time there so I've totally forgotten that). Also please review Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning. I just read it. It was horrifying and quite enlightning. Also I finally read Story of the Eye :D it was pretty amazing. Merry Christmas Cliff!!

Would love to hear a Curzio Malaparte "Kaputt" review, nothing else quite like it. Also, maybe a video on how you organize your books in your home?

Something that I have done recently is get all my friends up on Goodreads so we can all see what we are reading and what we all enjoy. I would fully recommend it

Some of my favorites: Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, On the Shortness of Life by Seneca, Mother Night by Vonnegut, White Fang and The Call of the Wild by London, and the Stranger by Camus.

I live in Florida, not exactly the easiest place to find people who enjoy reading. I need to move or I'm gonna die alone.

Love this! Load of thanks =) I agree with the Goodreads part too!

9:18 the famous "Powell's City of Books," here in Portland, ORE!

Thank you so much for the advices! Excelent video :)

I never even considered looking up books people I like have read! Lol. Thank you, so stoked to google all the goodness! 🙏💟

Ever read any Thomas Mann? For some reason I think his works would appeal to you. Try 'Dr Faustus'.

@TT-zi7hi

5 жыл бұрын

or, the Magic Mountain!

The two most requested books are from The Meme Trilogy? Really makes you think.

Angela Carter's The bloody chamber and other stories was reviewed on better than food. Never heard of her before that review. She's a bloody good find.

As a college student doing work/study in the library, I found many books that people were reading on the shelf floating around of returned books.

@MichelleLaMay

3 жыл бұрын

MY FAVORITES IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER One Hundred Years of Solitude GG Marquez Song of Solomon Toni Morrison Death Comes To the Archbishop Willa Cather Little Dorritt and Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens Small Island Andrea Levy The Godfather Mario Puzo Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitch War and Peace and Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy *As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, Absolom, Absolom, The Hamlet, The Town and The Mansion, Go Down Moses William Faulkner Red Badge of Courage S Crane Life of Pi In Search of Lost Time Proust East of Eden John Steinbeck Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie Ulysses James Joyce Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe The Complete and Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant

Hahaha love the mug. I'm definitely ordering one.

Hey Cliff! Thanks for all the great book recommendations! I figured I would return the favor. 1) A Scanner Darkly by Phillip K. Dick - This is, in my opinion, Dick's magnum opus. It's a dark philosophical novel about perception and drug addiction which is both deeply entertaining and thought-provoking. It's one of the few novels I've read more than twice. 2) The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain - This short novel is completely dissimilar to Twain's other works. It is, roughly, a reflection on religion. If you're interested, look it up on KZread to see claymation version of one of the best scenes. 3) Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse - Another short drug-related philosophical novel which reminded me somewhat of Notes from Underground. 4) The October Country by Ray Bradbury - This is a horror short story collection. While not as thought-provoking as the other entries on this list, it's one of the most entertaining books I've ever read. (Admittedly, I probably wouldn't like this as much if I wasn't such a fan of horror literature.) It was so fun it made me want to explore some of Bradbury's other work. 5) American Splendor by Harvey Pekar - Peker wrote underground comics. His take on life was both dark and insightful. And I am always up for recommendations of great entertaining pessimistic literature if anyone has any! Thanks!

There've also been 'people who life and breathe books' working in chain stores. I was one of them until my retirement two years ago.

I recommend The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer. I think it’s in your area of interests.

Except for Hamlet he didn't mention reading plays. After I gave up trying to be an actor, I still read plays scripts; all of Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde and finally came to Chekov. Reading his 4 great plays changed my life; I was bold over. It was years before I saw any of them performed. One production of Three Sisters was was one of the most moving experiences I have had in the theatre, especially the last act., the pathos was overwhelming.

love your youtube activity. You should review “Barabbas” by Pär Lagerkvist. It’s a very short novel (100 pages) and it’s really profound. If you indeed read it but have second thougts on reviewing it because it has this religious sort of message you should keep in mind that the author wasn’t a christian but a deist. Anyway keep up the good work man! Happy hollydays!

click butter excepted... have you read Hamlet's Mill or reviewed anything from Updike?

Please review Right mind left mine. I finished it in less than a week and it really had me thinking.

STORY OF THE EYE? ooo i love that book!

Have you read 'Call me by your name' by André Aciman? It's a great novel. It is my favourite book so far. It was very hard for me to pick a favourite book but this did it for me. I would love to hear your thoughts on it. There's a movie done too. Can't wait to see how many Oscars is going to get. 😊

Thank you for this great video. Could you add link towards you goodreads account, so people can follow you?

It was an independent bookstore clerk that recommended Houellebecq to me too... Elementary Particles, called Atomised in Australia. Bought a copy and it sat on my shelf for years before I finally got around to reading it. Holy shit. Read a chunk of Houellebecq's work now and love his writing. It's both the most depressing and most amazing shit I've read in years...

Review "Good Morning, Midnight" from Jean Rhys?

Love the mug

I'm digging the channel. I was hoping to see the channels you enjoy after watching this video.

Hey, I really would like to translate your videos to portuguese (Brazilian), I want my colleagues at college to be able to watch it too hahaha

I recommend you La virgen de los sicarios by Fernando Vallejo, but I dont know if it would be as good in english as it is in spanish.

a) Some people hate being interrupted when they are reading. They bring a book along so they don’t have to talk to people. b) Asking strangers if they like what they are reading may be a good way to make friends (or not, see a)), but going by the average goodreads scores, it’s a terrible way to get book recommendations. I would only accept book recommendations from people that I respected intellectually, people who have similar tastes to mine or from lists of books where I already know some of the titles and can gauge the general quality. Incidentally, this is my go to KZread channel for book recommendations! But you don’t like David Foster Wallace?! Oh well, a little difference of taste can be ok...

Dude. Me and my buddy were talking just the other day about how you would totally be the perfect Dostoevsky fanatic. I know you did a review of Notes from the Underground, but have you read any of his other stuff? So good. Nobody touches Dostoevsky's moral seriousness, or his darkness, or his human concerns.

Has anyone read Atala/René by Chateaubriand? I consider it a gem, as Cliff would say, along with “Stoner” by Williams and “Hunger” by Hamsun. I can’t find anyone who has read it. I know Victor Hugo highly admired Chateaubriand in his younger years.

luv your vids man. !

Something similar happened to me. I didn't used to read much, then I went to some very small crazy indie bookstore and the owner recommended me Houellebecq. Completely changed my life

This was very useful and relatable. :)

Can’t recommend highly enough any of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. Cliff already reviewed A Good Man Is Hard To Find but Good Country People, Revelation and Everything That Rises Must Converge. Hysterical.

If you ever get the chance check out ‘the sea came in at midnight’ by Steve Erickson. Amazing book. It opens with the line ‘I want you at the end of your rope. Lashed to the mast of my dreams.’ Fucking beautiful.

Have you read the sharks, by bjorneboe?

5:30 ...... Infinite Jest much? Also, Portland Native. Powell's is my favorite place in the entire world.

@isaiahsanchevy9252

4 жыл бұрын

Powell's is the only reason I go down to Portland (I live in Washington).

Please read WG Sebald and Teju Cole

You should review Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

Has anyone here read Don Delillo's Underworld? I'm close to half-way through and not particularly enjoying it. Was just wondering if there's an angle to approach it at that makes the book a bit easier to take in.

@TheMaxman96

6 жыл бұрын

Zack Fishley Just power through it. I didn't realize the benefit of reading it until a few months had past and I saw how much it broadened my understanding of what it was like to live in America during the cold war

@Ryan_Ek2

6 жыл бұрын

I stopped reading half-way through. I think DeLillo's tone-deaf dialogue writing killed it for me.

Have a great Christmas Cliff!

@BetterThanFoodBookReviews

6 жыл бұрын

Brendan Scott you too!

Have you read much into the occult by any chance

@burdenonsociety1968

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah I know it's an old comment , and you probably won't answer, but I'd love to read about the occult , where should I start?

@Zach-bt2ky

4 жыл бұрын

burden on society Crowley?

I watched one clip of you years ago reviewing Journey To The End Of The Night by Louis Ferdinand Celine and thought you were an excellent person-hope to communicate with you more!

I have been a book worm, since 1960......I have known many great bookstores, most Mom n Pops.....the best in Montana, is,........'A Few Books More'....Billings Montana.....many 1st Editions and Antiquarian finds...

You’re very inspiring ✨

Jim Morrison was a crazy reader. Had a whole shelf in his early 20s.

Great video Instant subscribe 👍🏼

I wonder if Cliff only reads Literary fiction? I'm sure he must have a secret stash of guilty pleasure books. Like an "Airport Novel" type book.

@bighardbooks770

5 жыл бұрын

laki74 Crime fiction my guilty pleasure . . .

@silvasilvasilva

4 жыл бұрын

Don't be so sure. Some people simply don't like airport books, as you call them. No hidden stacks or guilty reads. The same way others don't like literary fiction or poetry.

Can anyone rec me some books that are similar to Twin peaks? I’ve read all the official books mark frost and Jennifer lynch wrote. I just want something with a similar atmosphere and narrative.

Have you ever read Bless Me, Ultima: By Rudolfo Anaya Check it out.

@brandongacer1850

6 жыл бұрын

Great book. I really hope Cliff reviews it one day.

Cliff! (And KZread) I have a catastrophic habit of **not** finishing most books I pick up. This being said, I try to make my reading list really really count. Need some recs, but my owns list is scant due to my horrid ADD. - Borges, Collected Works (my prized textual possession) - Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried (Read it when I was 17, really affected me. Still does.) - Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (because I have lungs and a brain, I suppose) -Joyce, Ulysses (i've read 35 pages. Ive owned it for 3 years) -C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces (I rather like this so far) -Kalil Gibran, The Prophet. (Makes me weep at times.) --Read fragments of Roland Barthes' Mythologies and loved it. Back in the day I did all the typical boy reading-- Orwell, Huxley, Herbert, Asimov. Only Bradbury stuck with me the most... He's got the most lyrical heart. Also need your recs for Nietzsche and Jung.

I started my descent into literature, particularly American, Modernist, Postmodernist, Women's Literature, because I was sick of having to read stuffy English poets like Larkin and Hughes at school, (which produced some mediocre grades). This led me to Plath, Bukowski, Kerouac, and Ginsberg, then I discovered more based on who name dropped them as influences. Then I discovered more European avant garde work through Cliff and checking out interviews with intellectuals. Now this poor, lazy, average, student is the only person from my school to apply and get an interview at Oxford and is waiting on the results from that to study English Lit with a focus on American Modern/Postmodern lit. Reading fucking changes lives.

@joni1405

5 жыл бұрын

How on Earth could you find Philip Larkin stuffy? He wrote a poem that starts with the line "They fuck you up, your mom and dad" and started Aubade (which I think is his best poem) with "I sleep all day and get half drunk at night." Philip Larkin is essentially the polar opposite of stuffy

@joni1405

5 жыл бұрын

Sorry, Aubade actually starts "I work all day and get half drunk at night." It also has half a dozen of all time great lines like "Death is no different whined at than withstood" and referring to death as "the anesthetic from which none come round"

Thank you, Clifford. I've been following you and a few others on KZread and I'm going to start my own channel, next month. Have you read, A Confederacy of Dunces? I havent in years. Would love to read it w you, others. Im a Joycean and Faulkner fan and Dante scholar. Well? Dante admirer, lmao! Keep up the Great Work. IMA send you $10 bucks next month. Slainte, mate. BTW I live ind.t. Portland!

Bookstores, garage sales and antique stores. Good luck.

I just bought several book lots on eBay :) can't always guarantee quality but it's quality of author's to try :)

@malloryanderson724

5 жыл бұрын

I meant quantity of author's lol

I do need a life changing book... I am particularly interested on people (complex) personalities right now.. any sugestión over here? 🤔🙄

@MrPROJECTSyNc

3 жыл бұрын

Anything by Dostoevsky is great

"Angst" by Graciliano Ramos

Great video!

Cliff ... you know something? You’re the shit. I fucking love you, dude.

I know this is sci-fi, but have you ever considered reading Dune by Frank Herbert?

@jeffreywilson9913

4 жыл бұрын

Also Philip Dick

How great is Journey To The End of the Night....! Hypnotic...! Mesmerizing....! Celine...!

@fuzzydunlop4513

2 жыл бұрын

A great book!... dreamlike!... compelling I admit!... yet what a downer!... scumbag!... vile lecher!... misogynist... or rather a indiscriminate misanthrope..! Ellipses galore..!

@dashbustour3647

2 жыл бұрын

@@fuzzydunlop4513 Last time I read it was years ago. I wonder what it would be like now.

@fuzzydunlop4513

2 жыл бұрын

@@dashbustour3647 I just read it a couple weeks ago or months. He's definitely one of the best writers Ive read BUT often I find him to be too pessimistic and in such a way that's one-dimensional. I think part of the end was a little drawn out but still, awesome book, I just know for me I can't take books like that too serious or else it fucks up my head

One of my favorite musicians has the name of a book tattooed hugely on his forehead, maybe I should go read that one 🤔 lol.

Great video

This is a beautiful community.

The Silent Bookclub....on Facebook. Almost as good as KZread for book discussions and recommendations.

Black Swan Green is a really good book by David Mitchell. A young man's coming-of-age story. Here are some quotes (he later wrote Cloud Atlas): www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2166883-black-swan-green

Blond Rasputin! Keep reading and reviewing!

I absolutely hate reading and cringe whenever I think about it any way to help this?? I legit cant read more than 5 pages of a book.

Cool you mentioned Jordan Peterson! Recently looked at his book recommendations and excited to start tackling a few of them. This is such a great video, excited to go look for more recs from cool people. Also great to know DavidBowie had a list of books too! Yayayayay.

From here on out I’m making a vow to ask anyone with a book what they’re reading

Check out Art Garfunkel’s reading list. INSANE

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

@bighardbooks770

5 жыл бұрын

Jose Giovanni Didnt Cliff review that, already?

You are an awesome dude

@17:40...he's eating his words lol