Who’s Read what of Iron Maiden’s literary source material?

What have you read of the following?

  • The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux

    Votes: 5 13.9%
  • Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allan Poe

    Votes: 14 38.9%
  • Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham

    Votes: 2 5.6%
  • Where Eagles Dare, Alistair MacLean

    Votes: 4 11.1%
  • Icarus (Greek myth)

    Votes: 14 38.9%
  • The Charge of the Light Brigade, Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

    Votes: 9 25.0%
  • The Inhabitant of the Lake, Ramsey Campbell

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sun and Steel, Yukio Mishima

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Dune, Frank Herbert

    Votes: 14 38.9%
  • Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

    Votes: 18 50.0%
  • The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Alan Sillitoe

    Votes: 4 11.1%
  • Moonchild, Aleister Crowley

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Seventh Son, Orson Scott Card

    Votes: 3 8.3%
  • The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco

    Votes: 8 22.2%
  • Lord of the Flies, William Golding

    Votes: 27 75.0%
  • When Worlds Collide, Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer

    Votes: 1 2.8%
  • Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

    Votes: 19 52.8%
  • Out of the Silent Planet, CS Lewis

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Longest Day, Cornelius Ryan

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • El Dorado, Edgar Allan Poe

    Votes: 3 8.3%
  • I think the poll omits titles, I’ll put them in the thread

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • None of these

    Votes: 1 2.8%
  • When the Wild Wind Blows, Raymond Briggs

    Votes: 4 11.1%
  • Tam o’ Shanter, Robert Burns

    Votes: 6 16.7%
  • The Quest for Fire, J.- H. Rosny

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

    Votes: 5 13.9%
  • Dracula, Bram Stoker

    Votes: 9 25.0%
  • Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare

    Votes: 4 11.1%
  • The Duel, Joseph Conrad

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Run Silent Run Deep, Edward L. Beach

    Votes: 1 2.8%
  • The Odyssey, Homer

    Votes: 7 19.4%

  • Total voters
    36

Frenetic Heretic

Above reproach
By literary, I mean books (fiction or non) or poems, not stage plays, television, or film.

edit: okay, songs based on films that were based on books are added.
 
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I have read:

“Murders In The Rue Morgue”
Poe’s writing style is a bit much for me, with some exceptions, but I enjoyed the base story.

“The Charge Of The Light Brigade”
Very well composed poem, really like how Tennyson uses repetition to enhance the effect he brings across to the reader.

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Really like this one. Steve crammed a lot of it into the song, but it’s the music that really accents the lyrics to make it the monster epic it is. As far as the story itself goes, one needs the full-length version to really get sold on everything Steve hints at. And damn is it great.

Lord Of The Flies
Golding really nailed this novel. The deeper you go, the more intense it gets. The symbolism really wraps around your mind and pulls you in. When characters you’ve come to like die, you’re really hit with a ton of bricks. And that ending is one of the most cinematic pieces I’ve ever read. Truly a great novel and made me appreciate the song itself more than I already did.

Brave New World
Once again, the ending — in its terrific bleakness — is a monster. Getting there isn’t quite as good, but it’s a consistently intriguing novel and has a lot of parallels with modern life. Definitely worth a read.
 
Dune is one of my favourite novels ever, along with the rest of the original series written by Frank Herbert. Obviously Iron Maiden led me to it.

I had to read Lord of the Flies at High School for English so we completely over analyzed it and I can't stand it as a result. I don't think too highly of the Iron Maiden song so I'm not sure if I'd have bothered reading it of my own free will. I seem to remember there being a conch shell and a character called Piggy.

I definitely started reading Brave New World, also because of Iron Maiden, when I was at school but I don't think I ever finished it. I specifically remember taking the book out of the school library. I'd also asked the school librarian about Where Eagles Dare but the library didn't have it so she recommended The Eagle Has Landed instead.

I was unaware that Midwich Cuckoos was a novel. I know the name from a London-based band who have/had an attractive Italian lady as the singer and whom I saw supporting another band in London a couple of years ago. Which Iron Maiden song is based on this novel?
 
I've only read Lord of the Flies completely so far. I've read the first part of Dune a while ago, but I plan to revisit it and the sequels soon enough, since I'm really looking forward for the movie by Villeneuve.

I try to tackle Brave New World too at some point and Edgar Allan Poe's works are pretty much general knowledge, so I definitely should take a proper look at them too.

EDIT: Oh, I've actually read Seventh Son of a Seventh Son too. As far as that kind of light fantasy novels with rather young target audience go, it's actually pretty ok, the world is rather interesting and there's some neat story elements, but other than that, it's not the most intriguing series around.
 
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I had to read Lord of the Flies at High School for English so we completely over analyzed it and I can't stand it as a result.
I had a very similar experience to this. In fact A level Literature in particular put a major dampener on reading novels (or poetry) for me in general. The approach to analysis just gets lodged in your mind. LOTF was pretty well written, but not an enjoyable read.

Oddly enough, I'm still okay with Rime. Maybe because I've also listened to it read by actors too, and that gives it a new, dramatic dimension. Much more colourful use of language, too.
 
I also read Lord of the Flies for schoolwork back in 7th grade of elementary school (I was around 13), but it wasn't that unpleasant since it was part of the rather extensive selection of classic literature to choose from and I was genuinely interested about it anyway.

Good read - highly recommended if someone around here hasn't given it a try yet.
 
The Murders in the Rue Morgue is an archetype of detective stories à la Sherlock Holmes. The influence on Conan Doyle's work is immense. The revelation of the murderer is very surprising.
 
The Name of the Rose is one the very best book I have read, an extraordinary piece of literature, very erudite, and a landmark for those who like history and crime novel.

Ah, I forgot to mention it in my post above, but yes, that one is also on my must-read list! Shame that I haven't read it already.
 
So many people have this to say about Lord of the Flies. Shame, really, it's an excellent novel.
I’m lucky because while I read it in school, it was because I personally wanted to. I entered public school in 10th grade. It was required reading for 9th.
 
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