Thread: Top Ten Favorite Books and Why

Wuthering Heights is my favourite too. I think Heathcliff taught me to write complex characters.

The Magus. A book I think everyone should read first in their teens, then again once a decade. Never watch the film.

Those Who Walk Away - if Death in Venice was a thriller and starred Matt Damon.

The Spire - when blind faith goes wrong.

Honour Thy Father - the smell of burning flesh is still in my nostrils after a decade, and I can still hear the banging coming from the cellar...

Tess of the Durbervilles - Tess is a female Heathcliff

bhagavad gita - wonderful, evocative and full of brain GI

Mog The Forgetful Cat - because Mog is cool.

Web - best spider book ever.

10: On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan. The kind of psychoanalytical writing I often enjoy .

9: Wise Children - Angela Carter. A story I enjoyed for the parallels with Shakespeare and interesting journey of the characters. Plenty of carnival.

8: Regeneration - Pat Barker. This book did more to really address the nuances of psychological traumas during the war than other war novels.

7: The Ropemaker - Peter Dickinson. It's a unique blend of fairy tale and modern fantasy and doesn't fail to explore big ideas.

6: The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks. Weird and wonderful.

5: Snow Falling On Cedars - David Guterson. A beautifully written novel full of well-drawn characters.

4: Pompeii - Robert Harris. One of the best pieces of historical fiction out there. It's immaculately written, as well.

3: Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl. One of the pieces of literature that really got me into writing when I was a young boy. I adored this book and Roald Dahl for any number of his novels.

2: To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee. There are few words to describe literature as good as this.

1: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman. I read these when I was about 13/14 and they're really the best fantasy books ever written, as far as I am concerned. On a different planet to most of the modern imitators. I think of those books around today aimed at young people, Pullman's HDM will be the ones to live longest in the memory. My number 1 because the trilogy focuses on all the things I am primarily interested in.

Sorry. I just can't say in few words why I love these books -- not in a way that isn't trite.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter -- Carson McCullers

In Cold Blood -- Truman Capote

The Great Santini -- Pat Conroy

Cannery Row -- John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men --John Steinbeck

Great Expectations -- Charles Dickens

The Great Gatsby -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

To Kill A Mockingbird -- Harper Lee

The Tin Drum -- Günter Grass

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- Ken Kesey

Originally Posted by JosephB

Sorry. I just can't say in few words why I love these books -- not in a way that isn't trite.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

In Cold Blood

The Great Santini

Cannery Row

Of Mice and Men

Great Expectations

The Great Gatsby

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Tin Drum

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

While I agree it's impossible to do your favourite novels justice with just a few words, I think you could attribute the authors' names to each of the above, Joe.

Originally Posted by Mermaid on the breakwater

While I agree it's impossible to do your favourite novels justice with just a few words, I think you could attribute the authors' names to each of the above, Joe.

There. I guess there are a couple people wouldn't know.

Originally Posted by Baron

Some nice footwork there, props. "You're ignorant if you don't know" is, of course, far better than admitting you were too lazy to credit the authors.

Hey, if that's your take -- whatever.

I only have three. The Kite Runner, The Host, and Life of Pi. I haven't read that many books.

Originally Posted by Dreamworx95

I only have three. The Kite Runner, The Host, and Life of Pi. I haven't read that many books.

Are you really serious about putting a book by Stephenie Meyer in there? I am just sayin'. Lol.

Originally Posted by JosephB

Sorry. I just can't say in few words why I love these books -- not in a way that isn't trite.

What a load of crap.

Emanating from someone who professes to be a writer, to use the excuse that the words would sound trite is uber-pathetic. Why not tell the truth, which is either that you can’t be bothered coming up with justification of your choices, that you have better things to do with your time, or that you lack the skill to provide in-depth analysis of anything?

Are you really serious about putting a book by Stephenie Meyer in there? I am just sayin'. Lol.

Like I said, I haven't read that many books. I'll admit that the Twilight series wasn't that great, but the Host - once you get past all the corniness - is pretty good. Have you read it?

In no particular order:

Five Smooth Stones, Ann Fairbairn
That Man Cartwright, Ann Fairbairn
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemmingway
Testament, Eric Van Lustbader
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
Dolores Claiborne, Stephen King
The World According to Garp, John Irving
The Witches of Eastwick, Updike
We The Living, Ayn Rand

Originally Posted by Dreamworx95

Like I said, I haven't read that many books. I'll admit that the Twilight series wasn't that great, but the Host - once you get past all the corniness - is pretty good. Have you read it?

Only a sample of it, Dream. Her writing is just too hammy for me. I like your honesty, though. I'll leave you alone in your choices.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

What a load of crap.

Emanating from someone who professes to be a writer, to use the excuse that the words would sound trite is uber-pathetic. Why not tell the truth, that you just can’t be bothered coming up with justification of your choices, that you have better things to do with your time, or that you lack the skill to provide in-depth analysis of anything?

You’re all piss and wind, as I’ve said before.

Sorry, but I don't see one description here that would make me want to read any of these. It would take a lot more to write something meaningful, that expresses how I feel about these books -- or that would make anyone else want to read them. Anything less that I might write would be trite, in my opinion. So yes, there are other things I would rather do with my time.

or that you lack the skill to provide in-depth analysis of anything?

Ha ha. I didn't see anything in the OP about providing an "in-depth analysis." How do you come up with this kind of shit?

Dolores Claiborne, Stephen King

I find that King is much more frightening when he writes about real things like abuse than when he goes for imaginary shit like evil cars.

Only a sample of it, Dream. Her writing is just too hammy for me. I like your honesty, though. I'll leave you alone in your choices.

Thanks. It's not just that I haven't read that many books. I've actually read quite a few, but I have a really bad memory and if a book doesn't jump out at me I won't remember it. The Host just happens to be a book that I've read very recently and people keep talking about it so it's kind of hard to forget...