Thread: Greatest love stories of all times

Any suggestions? Both new and old books are welcome And they don't all have to be about romantic love, or have a happy ending. Just love in general. I'm kind of working on this idea for a non-fiction piece....

Antony & Cleopatra? Hard to beat that.

Love in general?


Ask the French


“I love Paris in the spring time
I love Paris in the fall
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles.

I love Paris ev’ry moment
Ev’ry moment of the year
I love Paris, why oh why do I love Paris
Because my love is here.”

The Ballad of Lost C'Mell
Helen O'Loy

Time Enough For Love Robert A. Heinlein

A philosophical treatise on love masquerading as the memoirs of oldest man alive. Approaches the concept from many angles, some which may make sensitive readers eyes bug.

The most beautiful and effective segment is The Tale Of The Adopted Daughter.

Ask the Dust by John Fante.

Ligeia

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale is by far the best romance love story I have ever read.

The Thorn Birds was good....

My all time favorite love story is Fargo.

Most love stories happen during the honeymoon stage of a relationship. Those aren't love stories, to me. They are infatuation stories. In that stage of a relationship, your body is releasing all sorts of chemicals that change you. You have no idea if it's a real, enduring thing.

The cop and the painter in Fargo is the most real, most beautiful love story to me.

When she gets a call at some ungodly hour and has to go to work, her husband insists on making her breakfast before she goes. They are sitting in bed, just having woken up. He hacks a huge loogie and she smiles to herself. The beauty of that moment almost brings tears to my eyes.

That is true love. That speaks to me.

You can keep your 'You complete me"s.

I am not much of a love story reader, certainly in recent years, although quite like including it in my owns writing. I would however recemmend the following:

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico - Intense and heartbreaking but wonderfully writing. Beauty and the Beast Tale set during WWII

The Go Between by LP Hartley - Immortal opening line and gets better from there.

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - Absolutely wonderful tale of repressed love between two domestic servants in the 1930's. Set against a backdrop of British Facism this is one of my all time favourite books.

The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye - Sweeping saga set in India.

Originally Posted by Cressida

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - Absolutely wonderful tale of repressed love between two domestic servants in the 1930's. Set against a backdrop of British Facism this is one of my all time favourite books.

Yes, ripped my heart out.

It still hurts.

Ok, so love isn't the focus of these books, but it's definitely an undercurrent. It's not just romantic love either, it's love in general. Both of these are by Mark Helprin.

The Swan Lake Trilogy (they look like little kid books, but trust me, they're not)
Winter's Tale

Another one that comes to mind:
The Dream of Scipio-Iain Pears

And a short story by Kristen Kathryn Rusch:
Without End (This one can be found in The Retrieval Artist and Other Stories)

Greatest love stories books of all times :

- True Believers by Nicholas Sparks
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- Emma by Jane Austen
- The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

El amor en los tiempos del cólera - Gabriél García Márquez