Modern books that you wish we could record.

Cori · Post by **Cori** » February 2nd, 2011, 11:27 am

Ooooh, Alan, I have The Siege of Swayne Castle by R.C. Sherriff ... would be another great read here.

Some_Old_Bird · Post by **Some_Old_Bird** » February 3rd, 2011, 9:00 am

there is alot of great ancient chinese literature i wish we could record but the translations aren't in the public domain yet.

if i had to pick just one i'd love to record The Naked Earth by Eileen Chang. I explained why in another post but here it goes again:

I doubt anyone other than me and the Library of Congress (whose copy I had to photocopy) has a copy of this book. The book is called The Naked Earth by Eileen Chang. It was originally written in the 1950s in Chinese. The author was a mainland Chinese who fled to Hong Kong after the Communists usurped control of the Mainland. She was commissioned to write two novels that make the Communist Party look bad by the American government and The Naked Earth is one of the two. She wrote it in Chinese and then translated it to English. The problem is, it didn't sell widely among English readers and has been out of print since the 50s. Also it irreverently mentioned Chiang Kai-shek in one chapter and was banned in Taiwan for that reason for a long time. Today, Chinese versions in Taiwan are not hard to come by but the English version is virtually impossible to find. The publishing company that first published it in English is closed down as of long ago. It doesn't even have an ISBN number. So I was hoping I could record my copy and on this site so it could reach the ears of listeners the world over. The author was a master storyteller and even in translation her works are resplendent. But due to the political situation she was born in, she was only really known by overseas Chinese and eventually died in obscurity. I don't want Ms. Chang's works to vanish the way humanity let her vanish so I hope the Admins. would let me record this book. I think this is a grand opportunity for Librivox to open the world to some new and astounding literature. The problem is am not sure if "forgotten/abandoned by history" = "in the public domain"

~王鳴龍

(gotta love that copy+paste sh*t)

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » February 3rd, 2011, 6:23 pm

jollyrogered wrote:Douglas Adams would be wonderful. I would love to do Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand!

I haven't read Atlas Shrugged yet, but I've heard good things about it. Thomas Sowell's works would also be good to read as they are so accessible and written in an clear and uncomplicated style.

ashleighjane · Post by **ashleighjane** » March 9th, 2011, 2:54 pm

I think the Ink heart series would be great to record, since it is really all about the power of reading aloud

Ailina · Post by **Ailina** » April 5th, 2011, 7:20 pm

The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath). Hands down.

I would LOVE to read this.

Hilara · Post by **Hilara** » April 8th, 2011, 11:37 pm

I'd love for all the Richard Dawkins and Robert Anton Wilson books to be read!

Robinsgirl · Post by **Robinsgirl** » April 10th, 2011, 8:42 pm

The Silver Sword.

sohana · Post by **sohana** » April 13th, 2011, 1:17 pm

Wolf Hall- Hillary Mantle
Midnight's Children- Salman Rushdie
100 Year's of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Beloved- Toni Morrison
White Noise- Don Delillo
Their eyes were watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
Black Boy-Richard Wright

anjieliu · Post by **anjieliu** » April 18th, 2011, 9:48 am

Extremely Loud and Incrediby Close by Jonathan Safran Foer!

Samanem · Post by **Samanem** » April 21st, 2011, 2:34 pm

An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears. With one reader for each of the vantage points. One of my favorite books of all time.

Vandermast · Post by **Vandermast** » May 4th, 2011, 5:52 pm

Fingerpost is a brilliant book!

tattiebogle · Post by **tattiebogle** » May 12th, 2011, 10:51 am

All of the Lucia & Mapp books by E F Benson and the two written by Tom Holt with the same characters.
Anything by Brahms & Simon.
Both of David Niven's biographical works: the Moon's a Balloon & Bring On The Empty Horses.
All of Nancy Mitford's books, especially Love In A Cold Climate, The Pursuit Of Love and The Blessing.
Any of Joyce Grenfell's "sketches" - especially Don't Do That, George.

"Laughter is the best medicine" - but why wait till you are ill?
Tattiebogle

embroidered flower · Post by **embroidered flower** » May 27th, 2011, 10:17 am

any of the HOOD series by Stephen Lawhead and "on the night you were born" by Nancy Tillman because I love to read it out loud!

Ernst Pattynama · Post by **Ernst Pattynama** » June 3rd, 2011, 7:27 am

... a dramatic reading of Iris Murdoch's THE BELL ...

kattekliek · Post by **kattekliek** » June 4th, 2011, 1:55 am

Just mentioning ... we are currently setting up legamus.eu, where books published in 1923 or later, and written (and translated if applicable) by people who died >70 years ago (now: >1940) can be recorded by narrators who live in countries where these books are in the public domain (= almost anywhere outside the USA). There might be some books in this topic as well that would be possible to record over there.