Favorite books and recommendations of INTPs
[INTP]
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I loved Factoring Humanity. It's a science fiction book that is very philosophical i it's way, as it deals with what humanity is. [it also mentions jung, lol] I'd also recommend Shakespears Planet and Steal Across the Sky, as they both deal with what aliens might be like, but its more realistic because instead of them going to us, we go to them. [I really like Shakespear's Plant, it's a lovely book]
I don't know if you like romances, but if it's mixed with sci-fi, I find it to be good. I liked The Host, though it really just grazed the surface of a topic much bigger than the giant book, but it was entertaining and pleasurable.
Hmm...I really liked Farenheight 451, but you might have had to read that in school, but even if you did, I suggest you read it again.
I never finished Ender's Game, and I mainly think it was because when I was reading it, I was really busy and wasn't up for reading much, but people seem to like it, so I would give it a try. I'm planning on finally finishing it, and though it's a little slow from what I've read, the characters are extemely well devolpoed.
I don't know if you like romances, but if it's mixed with sci-fi, I find it to be good. I liked The Host, though it really just grazed the surface of a topic much bigger than the giant book, but it was entertaining and pleasurable.
Hmm...I really liked Farenheight 451, but you might have had to read that in school, but even if you did, I suggest you read it again.
I never finished Ender's Game, and I mainly think it was because when I was reading it, I was really busy and wasn't up for reading much, but people seem to like it, so I would give it a try. I'm planning on finally finishing it, and though it's a little slow from what I've read, the characters are extemely well devolpoed.
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596 Posts
Hm, let's see... I've read:
Wheel of Time (entire series so far)
A Song of Ice and Fire (entire series so far)
Enderverse (2 books from the Ender series, and... 2 from the Bean series.)
Dune (just the first book)
Prince of Nothing (Just the first book so far)
Lord of the Flies
American Psycho
His Dark Materials (entire series)
Brave New World
1984
A Clockwork Orange
Catch-22
I might have missed a few, but that makes up the majority of them...
Must-reads for INTPS:
1984... This book changed the way I think... And by association, my entire life.
Catch-22... It's just hilarious. Also, the last Snowden scene was gut-wrenching.
A Song of Ice and Fire series... In-depth, brutal fantasy. No "chosen one" bullshit... It is essentially devoid of those cliches you see in fantasy all the time.
Dune... One of the most... "intelligent" sci-fi books I've read. It's amazing how expansive and detailed Herbert makes this world.
Wheel of Time (entire series so far)
A Song of Ice and Fire (entire series so far)
Enderverse (2 books from the Ender series, and... 2 from the Bean series.)
Dune (just the first book)
Prince of Nothing (Just the first book so far)
Lord of the Flies
American Psycho
His Dark Materials (entire series)
Brave New World
1984
A Clockwork Orange
Catch-22
I might have missed a few, but that makes up the majority of them...
Must-reads for INTPS:
1984... This book changed the way I think... And by association, my entire life.
Catch-22... It's just hilarious. Also, the last Snowden scene was gut-wrenching.
A Song of Ice and Fire series... In-depth, brutal fantasy. No "chosen one" bullshit... It is essentially devoid of those cliches you see in fantasy all the time.
Dune... One of the most... "intelligent" sci-fi books I've read. It's amazing how expansive and detailed Herbert makes this world.
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344 Posts
One of my all-time favourites is The Joke by Milan Kundera. Not as profound as The Unbearable Lightness of Being, but probably a better novel.
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All of Count Leo Tolstoy's books are wonderful, but War and Peace is describes life very, very well. I would also recommend the Death of Ivan Ilyich.
If you're looking for more modern books, Alice Sebold is a good author with which to start.
If you're looking for more modern books, Alice Sebold is a good author with which to start.
I actually dislike scifi books as so many of them are too clever for their own good - I doubt the authors know what they are on about. I like crime fiction, but I also like historical non fiction, especially if it covers Ancient Egypt, or early Norman life. Crime fiction that covers my favourite historical periods have me stuck in my room for hours.
Since getting a Kindle, I've started reading freebee classics such as Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Since getting a Kindle, I've started reading freebee classics such as Uncle Tom's Cabin.
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167 Posts
Essays and Aphorisms by Arthur Schopenhauer
To have or to be by Erich Fromm
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
Life without principle by Henry David Thoreau. My favourite essay of his
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa (I love his poems too)
I recently bought Psychological Types by Jung
To have or to be by Erich Fromm
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
Life without principle by Henry David Thoreau. My favourite essay of his
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa (I love his poems too)
I recently bought Psychological Types by Jung
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post office - bukowski
heart of darkness - conrad
breakfast at tiffanys - capote
journey to the end of the night - celine
on the road - kerouac
anything by hp lovecraft
oh, "inteview with the vampire" by anne rice is awsome, surprisingly
heart of darkness - conrad
breakfast at tiffanys - capote
journey to the end of the night - celine
on the road - kerouac
anything by hp lovecraft
oh, "inteview with the vampire" by anne rice is awsome, surprisingly
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167 Posts
hmm I don't know.. those are very ENTJish.
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Many people have read 1984, and it's great, but Geroge Orwell also wrote a book called Animal Farm which was just AMAZING, I suggest you guys check that out, it's only around 100 pages or so, maybe 120?
Since we're talking about books, I might as well ask you guys if you know who wrote a book called Blue? It's about a kid turning into a swordfish.... I read it a long time ago and I have done google searches and searched libraries and I can't seem to find it! I also think it was written by a woman... can't be sure though
edit: great idea for a post btw
Since we're talking about books, I might as well ask you guys if you know who wrote a book called Blue? It's about a kid turning into a swordfish.... I read it a long time ago and I have done google searches and searched libraries and I can't seem to find it! I also think it was written by a woman... can't be sure though
edit: great idea for a post btw
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211 Posts
Ok, where to begin, where to begin... 
1) "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera (I read it when I was a teenager and it had a huge influence on me - I read it several times; Kundera writes also pretty good essays)
2) "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf (this women was a genius for writing it)
3) "The Magus" by John Fowles (this one is a mindfucker)
4) "Solaris" by Stanislaw Lem
5) "The Trial" and "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka
6) "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood
7) "The Magic Toyshop" by Angela Carter (I like this one very much, but I don't know whether especially male INTPs would buy it Carter writes quirky, kinky, over-the-top gothic fiction; she did also Freudian rewritings of children fairytales, which pretty much tells you what to expect )
8) "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith
9) "Under the Skin" by Michel Faber
10) "The Painted Bird" by Jerzy Kosinski (this one is very good, but really shocking and very brutal; it's a bit like "Requiem for a Dream" - you cannot look away, but you feel violated afterwards)
11) "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman (to recover after "The Painted Bird")
12) "The Truth" by Terry Pratchet (not only is it a Pratchet book, it also has a plot!)
1) "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera (I read it when I was a teenager and it had a huge influence on me - I read it several times; Kundera writes also pretty good essays)
2) "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf (this women was a genius for writing it)
3) "The Magus" by John Fowles (this one is a mindfucker)
4) "Solaris" by Stanislaw Lem
5) "The Trial" and "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka
6) "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood
7) "The Magic Toyshop" by Angela Carter (I like this one very much, but I don't know whether especially male INTPs would buy it
Carter writes quirky, kinky, over-the-top gothic fiction; she did also Freudian rewritings of children fairytales, which pretty much tells you what to expect )8) "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith
9) "Under the Skin" by Michel Faber
10) "The Painted Bird" by Jerzy Kosinski (this one is very good, but really shocking and very brutal; it's a bit like "Requiem for a Dream" - you cannot look away, but you feel violated afterwards)
11) "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman (to recover after "The Painted Bird")
12) "The Truth" by Terry Pratchet (not only is it a Pratchet book, it also has a plot!)
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Listen,
Vonnegut, Vonnegut, Vonnegut.
Etc., etc., etc..
So it goes..
[inside jokes/references]
Vonnegut, Vonnegut, Vonnegut.
Etc., etc., etc..
So it goes..
[inside jokes/references]
first off, im really not one for any time of fiction. i more typically like non-fiction books. the only exception seems to be when ive got a strong interest in the style or subject. i like zombies and dystopian stories. side note: i love the fallout video games.
1)World War Z - Max Brooks
2) The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks (nice book but not really a hit-down-n-read sorta thing)
3) The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene (currently reading this one. its an enormous book by my standards. very intimidating book because of its content)
4) Freakonomics - Levitt and Dubner (currently reading as well. just very interesting statistics and how certain things work)
5) The Next 100 Years - Friedman (currently reading. its like a history lesson and relating past events to what could be coming in the next 100 years)
6) 1984 - Orwell (i feel everyone should read this book and discuss it)
I'm sure there are more but sadly my books are in storage right now. But those books I honestly enjoyed.
hope this has helped.
1)World War Z - Max Brooks
2) The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks (nice book but not really a hit-down-n-read sorta thing)
3) The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene (currently reading this one. its an enormous book by my standards. very intimidating book because of its content)
4) Freakonomics - Levitt and Dubner (currently reading as well. just very interesting statistics and how certain things work)
5) The Next 100 Years - Friedman (currently reading. its like a history lesson and relating past events to what could be coming in the next 100 years)
6) 1984 - Orwell (i feel everyone should read this book and discuss it)
I'm sure there are more but sadly my books are in storage right now. But those books I honestly enjoyed.
hope this has helped.
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I need to stop buying books; I just picked up The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays and Resistance, Rebellion, and Death by Camus.
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Every book that Douglas Adams ever wrote. He's my idol.
I'd also recommend The Hyperion Cantos, which is a sci-fi quartet by Dan Simmons. The variety of sources he draws on for the content fascinated me.
Another of my favorite authors is Victor Hugo, though a lot of people would probably have some difficulty pushing past all of the 'extraneous' information in his books.
The list really goes on and on. I spend most of my time (particularly at school >.>) reading.
I'd also recommend The Hyperion Cantos, which is a sci-fi quartet by Dan Simmons. The variety of sources he draws on for the content fascinated me.
Another of my favorite authors is Victor Hugo, though a lot of people would probably have some difficulty pushing past all of the 'extraneous' information in his books.
The list really goes on and on. I spend most of my time (particularly at school >.>) reading.
Myth of Sisyphus is just so dense and a milestone of the "philosophical thought" of the last century for french people. It's a good choice. :wink:
Sci-Fi & Fantasy (by authors):
(Epic)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Robert Jordan
Steven Erikson
(Series)
C.J. Cherryh
L.E. Modesitt
Kate Elliot
Katherine Kerr
J.V. Jones
Tad Williams
Raymond Feist
Janny Wurts
Mercedes Lackey (gets a little formulaic after a few trilogies, but still enjoyable)
(Comedy)
Terry Pratchett
Douglas Adams
Spider Robertson
(Other)
Iain M. Banks
Robert A. Heinlein
Non-Fiction:
(Reference)
"Ideas" by Peter Watson
"A World of Ideas" by Chris Rohmann
(On Civilization)
"Guns, Germs, & Steel" & "Collapse" by Jared Diamond
"The Limits to Growth" by Meadows, et al
"The Collapse of Complex Societies" by Joseph Tainter
"The Upside of Down" by Thomas Homer-Dixon
"The Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kunstler
"A Short History of Progress" by Ronald Wright (Also see others in the CBC Massey Lecture Series; most are very good & not all fall under this categorization.)
(Economics & Game Theory)
"Happiness" by Richard Layard
"The Origin of Financial Crises" by George Cooper
"The Origin of Capitalism" by Ellen Meiksins Wood
"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins
"Small is Beautiful" by E. F. Schumacher
"The Complexity of Cooperation" by Robert Axelrod
"The Misbehavior of Markets" by Benoit Mandelbrot & Richard L. Hudson
"The Winner Take All Society" by Robert H. Frank & Philip J. Cook
"Shop Class as Soul Craft" by Matthew B. Crawford (More of an extended essay on the nature of work in modern society, but without question an excellent read.)
(Elinor Ostrom also belongs on this list, although so far I've only read summaries of her work. She recently won the Nobel Prize in Economics for research on informal, cooperation-based solutions to the problem of the tragedy of the commons that don't rely on either privatization of property or management by governments.)
(Biology, Ecology, & Evolution)
"The Making of the Fittest" & "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" by Sean B. Carroll
"The Web of Life" by Fritjof Capra
(Nonlinear Dynamics for Dummies)
"Chaos" by James Gleick
"Complexity" by M. Mitchell Waldrop
"Emergence" by Steven Johnson
(Cognition)
"Language In Action" by William Turnbull
"Philosophical Investigations" by Ludwig Wittgenstein (Well, since it's virtually incomprehensible, mostly just read the SparkNotes.)
"Intelligence With Representation" by Luc Steels (This is actually a paper, not a book, but definitely worth reading since he solves the grounding problem of symbol systems. There are a few caveats, but I will only go into those if someone asks for them; this post is too long already.)
"The Quantum Brain" by Jeffrey Satinover
"Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely
"Kluge" by Gary Marcus
"The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge
"Descartes' Error" by Antonio Damasio
"The Social Atom" by Mark Buchanan
(Religion)
"The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot" by Bart D. Ehrman
Okay, I think I'll stop there, since that should keep most people going for a few years!
(There are others that I'm tempted to recommend because they look like they'll be really good, but I have restricted myself only to books/authors I've actually read, with just that one exception.)
(Epic)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Robert Jordan
Steven Erikson
(Series)
C.J. Cherryh
L.E. Modesitt
Kate Elliot
Katherine Kerr
J.V. Jones
Tad Williams
Raymond Feist
Janny Wurts
Mercedes Lackey (gets a little formulaic after a few trilogies, but still enjoyable)
(Comedy)
Terry Pratchett
Douglas Adams
Spider Robertson
(Other)
Iain M. Banks
Robert A. Heinlein
Non-Fiction:
(Reference)
"Ideas" by Peter Watson
"A World of Ideas" by Chris Rohmann
(On Civilization)
"Guns, Germs, & Steel" & "Collapse" by Jared Diamond
"The Limits to Growth" by Meadows, et al
"The Collapse of Complex Societies" by Joseph Tainter
"The Upside of Down" by Thomas Homer-Dixon
"The Geography of Nowhere" by James Howard Kunstler
"A Short History of Progress" by Ronald Wright (Also see others in the CBC Massey Lecture Series; most are very good & not all fall under this categorization.)
(Economics & Game Theory)
"Happiness" by Richard Layard
"The Origin of Financial Crises" by George Cooper
"The Origin of Capitalism" by Ellen Meiksins Wood
"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins
"Small is Beautiful" by E. F. Schumacher
"The Complexity of Cooperation" by Robert Axelrod
"The Misbehavior of Markets" by Benoit Mandelbrot & Richard L. Hudson
"The Winner Take All Society" by Robert H. Frank & Philip J. Cook
"Shop Class as Soul Craft" by Matthew B. Crawford (More of an extended essay on the nature of work in modern society, but without question an excellent read.)
(Elinor Ostrom also belongs on this list, although so far I've only read summaries of her work. She recently won the Nobel Prize in Economics for research on informal, cooperation-based solutions to the problem of the tragedy of the commons that don't rely on either privatization of property or management by governments.)
(Biology, Ecology, & Evolution)
"The Making of the Fittest" & "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" by Sean B. Carroll
"The Web of Life" by Fritjof Capra
(Nonlinear Dynamics for Dummies)
"Chaos" by James Gleick
"Complexity" by M. Mitchell Waldrop
"Emergence" by Steven Johnson
(Cognition)
"Language In Action" by William Turnbull
"Philosophical Investigations" by Ludwig Wittgenstein (Well, since it's virtually incomprehensible, mostly just read the SparkNotes.)
"Intelligence With Representation" by Luc Steels (This is actually a paper, not a book, but definitely worth reading since he solves the grounding problem of symbol systems. There are a few caveats, but I will only go into those if someone asks for them; this post is too long already.)
"The Quantum Brain" by Jeffrey Satinover
"Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely
"Kluge" by Gary Marcus
"The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge
"Descartes' Error" by Antonio Damasio
"The Social Atom" by Mark Buchanan
(Religion)
"The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot" by Bart D. Ehrman
Okay, I think I'll stop there, since that should keep most people going for a few years!
(There are others that I'm tempted to recommend because they look like they'll be really good, but I have restricted myself only to books/authors I've actually read, with just that one exception.)
Here are a few that I liked a lot:
Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson
We the Living - Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Rendezvous With Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
Choke - Palahniuk
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Pirsig
Society of the Spectacle - Debord
The Illuminatus Trilogy - R.A.W
The Ethics of Ambiguity - Simone de Beauvoir
One-Dimensional Man - Herbert Marcuse
The Dark Chronicles - Soroka
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett
Monsters - Greer
Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson
We the Living - Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Rendezvous With Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
Choke - Palahniuk
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Pirsig
Society of the Spectacle - Debord
The Illuminatus Trilogy - R.A.W
The Ethics of Ambiguity - Simone de Beauvoir
One-Dimensional Man - Herbert Marcuse
The Dark Chronicles - Soroka
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett
Monsters - Greer
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