Erm... Let's sort these by type :
Video games : UT2004 and rocksmith 2014 have given me much space and piece of mind. The former also introduced me to online friends, a clan, map making, writing and even forum posting.
Honorable mention : limbo. Until then, I presumed that as games got technologically better, their quality had to be better. Limbo was the first to show that indies could do better with (much) less, going with full immersion rather than technological power lifting
Board games : Catan, pandemic and carcassonne. Each I have good memories of playing them with (different) groups in different points in my life.
Movies : fight club & Donnie Darko. Cult classics that showed me more of the world as it was rather than I... Sort of naively assumed it to be.
Honorable mention : big lebowski. Okay, it's a simple comedy. But I love nearly every scene individually. It stands out as a single in its genre, so while masterpieces as memento, godfather, the matrix (the first one) and a while does of others are strictly better, it doesn't really has that special place as this one.
Books : the never ending story, 1984. The new topping /bottoming book
The former is a child's fantasy. Upon hindsight, the movies kind of stuck. The book still stays strong.
1984 just hit me in the stomach reading it. I was unfamiliar with dystopian fantasy, and that one was and still is the best one in its category
The new topping book and the new bottoming book are books I wish my library had but they didn't. It explains how bdsm really works as it is. Honestly : search these books if your sexual drive involves unusual kinks (and forget about hisoire d'O, let alone fifty shades of Grey)
Honorable mention : slaughterhouse five. As an amateur writer I... Tend to grade stuff as I read it. Perhaps arrogant, but I often presume I can match the writing style or even improve it to paint the picture better.
But Kurt Vonnegut? He was to a writer what a chess master is to a regular player. I couldn't even believe what I was reading at first. A mish mash of bad science fiction, time travel, slapstick and a war story... W T F??? but damn it... It hit hard. And it's indeed the best anti war novel written (that I know).
EDIT: graphic novels: Maus, elfquest, V for Vendetta
When you look up Maus, you know what to expect. Well... Similar as with 1984, I just grabbed it off a library shelf, kind of expecting a world War 2 adventure novel. It... Is certainly not that. It's the tragic tale of a son trying to write down how his father survived Auschwitz. As such, it's horror that's only intensified by the animal characters.
Incidentally : some people (morons) advocate against the swastika symbol on the cover. They do not understand that this would increase chances of parents thinking it's a child's comic (and believe me : this is perhaps the most mature novel on the planet. It just happens to be in comic form). Or they're afraid that neo nazis read it? (which would be hilarious, really) either way... I've known about the holocaust, but this novel upped my understanding much more than that child's excursion to a concentration camp.
Elfquest... Oh, it's popular, alright. But when compared to pretty much any power house in the fantasy genre, it's flat out better (except perhaps lord of the rings... Perhaps). Wendy Pini's aan absolute genius in her creation of every character and their stance in the world. The story 's top notch (basically a group of wolf-elves trying to survive in a hostile world), the drawings are amazing and it doesn't resort to cliches, despite it having aloooot of chapters.
V for Vendetta I read just when the movie hit. The novel' s better. 1984 is better in this genre, but there are plenty of great (though chilling) ideas in here.
Honorable mentions : swords & gallons, Thorgal, chninkel
Swords & gallons (I'm not even sure of the English name) is... I guess 'farce' is the correct name : an absurd theater piece where everything goes wrong. The overall story is okay - ish, but the scene details, the amazing drawing style and the many hidden gags everywhere make it a joy to read and reread.
Thorgal grew on me. I initially thought it to be 'just' another viking tale, but the use of sword & sorcery tropes with a pacifist protagonist and his ever evolving family turn this in works of art. 2 of the albums (beyond the shadows and alinoë) and out as absolute gems you really HAVE to read
Chninkel: sort of looks like Thorgal meets dark crystal. It's a one shot album where one tiny guy has to save the world. I can barely think of the ending without getting emotional. It's... That good.
Video games : UT2004 and rocksmith 2014 have given me much space and piece of mind. The former also introduced me to online friends, a clan, map making, writing and even forum posting.
Honorable mention : limbo. Until then, I presumed that as games got technologically better, their quality had to be better. Limbo was the first to show that indies could do better with (much) less, going with full immersion rather than technological power lifting
Board games : Catan, pandemic and carcassonne. Each I have good memories of playing them with (different) groups in different points in my life.
Movies : fight club & Donnie Darko. Cult classics that showed me more of the world as it was rather than I... Sort of naively assumed it to be.
Honorable mention : big lebowski. Okay, it's a simple comedy. But I love nearly every scene individually. It stands out as a single in its genre, so while masterpieces as memento, godfather, the matrix (the first one) and a while does of others are strictly better, it doesn't really has that special place as this one.
Books : the never ending story, 1984. The new topping /bottoming book
The former is a child's fantasy. Upon hindsight, the movies kind of stuck. The book still stays strong.
1984 just hit me in the stomach reading it. I was unfamiliar with dystopian fantasy, and that one was and still is the best one in its category
The new topping book and the new bottoming book are books I wish my library had but they didn't. It explains how bdsm really works as it is. Honestly : search these books if your sexual drive involves unusual kinks (and forget about hisoire d'O, let alone fifty shades of Grey)
Honorable mention : slaughterhouse five. As an amateur writer I... Tend to grade stuff as I read it. Perhaps arrogant, but I often presume I can match the writing style or even improve it to paint the picture better.
But Kurt Vonnegut? He was to a writer what a chess master is to a regular player. I couldn't even believe what I was reading at first. A mish mash of bad science fiction, time travel, slapstick and a war story... W T F??? but damn it... It hit hard. And it's indeed the best anti war novel written (that I know).
EDIT: graphic novels: Maus, elfquest, V for Vendetta
When you look up Maus, you know what to expect. Well... Similar as with 1984, I just grabbed it off a library shelf, kind of expecting a world War 2 adventure novel. It... Is certainly not that. It's the tragic tale of a son trying to write down how his father survived Auschwitz. As such, it's horror that's only intensified by the animal characters.
Incidentally : some people (morons) advocate against the swastika symbol on the cover. They do not understand that this would increase chances of parents thinking it's a child's comic (and believe me : this is perhaps the most mature novel on the planet. It just happens to be in comic form). Or they're afraid that neo nazis read it? (which would be hilarious, really) either way... I've known about the holocaust, but this novel upped my understanding much more than that child's excursion to a concentration camp.
Elfquest... Oh, it's popular, alright. But when compared to pretty much any power house in the fantasy genre, it's flat out better (except perhaps lord of the rings... Perhaps). Wendy Pini's aan absolute genius in her creation of every character and their stance in the world. The story 's top notch (basically a group of wolf-elves trying to survive in a hostile world), the drawings are amazing and it doesn't resort to cliches, despite it having aloooot of chapters.
V for Vendetta I read just when the movie hit. The novel' s better. 1984 is better in this genre, but there are plenty of great (though chilling) ideas in here.
Honorable mentions : swords & gallons, Thorgal, chninkel
Swords & gallons (I'm not even sure of the English name) is... I guess 'farce' is the correct name : an absurd theater piece where everything goes wrong. The overall story is okay - ish, but the scene details, the amazing drawing style and the many hidden gags everywhere make it a joy to read and reread.
Thorgal grew on me. I initially thought it to be 'just' another viking tale, but the use of sword & sorcery tropes with a pacifist protagonist and his ever evolving family turn this in works of art. 2 of the albums (beyond the shadows and alinoë) and out as absolute gems you really HAVE to read
Chninkel: sort of looks like Thorgal meets dark crystal. It's a one shot album where one tiny guy has to save the world. I can barely think of the ending without getting emotional. It's... That good.
Last edited by Taleweaver,
