Reading manly books doesn’t just mean you have to only read Tom Clancy, Andy McNabb, or Chris Ryan. So what are the criteria for good bloke literature? Well, for starters, if you’d kill to go get plastered with the author, you should probably read his books. Here are five classics to get yourself stuck into.
Jack Kerouac – On The Road
This book is an absorbing and inspiring travelogue that should inspire you to abandon your 9-5 grind for a life of booze, jazz, beer, girls, poetry, and more booze). Or, at the very least, to show up 15 minutes late to work simply to irritate the boss.
The book was adapted into a movie back in 2012. It’s a bit of a mystery how they did it, to be honest. There isn’t much of a narrative, and it’s really just Kerouac and his buddies travelling, getting into trouble, and going to parties.
Anyway, if you’re wondering where all the full stops are while you’re reading, don’t look too hard —because there aren’t many. This is primarily due to the fact that he penned the entire thing in two weeks on a single large sheet of paper. We believe there was likely some sort of, erm, ‘chemically-aided mind alteration’ involved.
Mikhail Yurevich Lermontov – A Hero Of Our Time
This short, humorous novel contains duels, horse thievery, romance, deceit, and one of the finest central characters ever written, so you should definitely dip your toes into this icy pool of Russian literature.
Lermontov’s Pechorin is handsome, arrogant, bored, and a complete jerk. None of this, however, stops you cheering for him as he skilfully outwits his pompous comrades and seduces women he doesn’t care about.
This book is the definitive guide to being a complete fucking arsehole, if there is such a thing.
Ernest Hemingway – The First 49 Stories
Adventurer, boozer, and war hero all rolled into one. Ernest Hemingway was the epitome of hairy-chested, old-school masculinity. His penchant for booze was only equalled by his love of shooting things, thanks to his supposedly indestructible liver.
Oh, and he could really write. If you’re looking for a book to read, The Old Man And The Sea is a classic that you can finish in a couple of nights. Nothing, however, compares to this collection of his early short stories, which are perfect for when you’re craving some cigar-chomping, whiskey-slugging manly literature.
Hunter S. Thompson – Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
You’d like to go out with Hunter S. Thompson for a night out like you would Hemingway, but you’d never leave him in charge of your goldfish for the weekend. The gonzo pioneer’s studies of American culture (as well as his own drug self-destruction) provide a unique, never been matched kind of journalism.
This classic follows fictionalised versions of Thompson and his attorney on a trip to Las Vegas “in search of the American dream.” A trip that primarily consisted of consuming copious amounts of drugs.
Whenever you get a chance, you should also check out the 1998 film adaptation starring Johnny Depp, and the graphic novel by Troy Little.
Lee Child – One Shot
Okay, so while Lee Child is just a Villa-supporting mass-market thriller author and not a tortured genius who defined a generation, his Jack Reacher novels are among the most addictive page-turners currently available.
One Shot — our favourite of the books thus far — follows Reacher, a hulking, destitute ex-military cop as he wanders from town to town. He accomplishes this, like every great hero, by a nuanced blend of Sherlock-esque deduction abilities and brutal violence.
Reacher undoubtedly gained some fame outside of his devoted fanbase, thanks to the film adaptation, which starred Tom Cruise (incorrectly cast) as the six-foot-five, 250-pound hero. While it’s cool Jack Reacher was brought to the silver screen, and Cruise did an okay job as Reacher, it was still an extremely questionable miscast.
However, Amazon made up for this with their recent Reacher series. So make sure you read the novel, and definitely check out the show on Amazon.
