a real pleasant surprise was
germinal by emile zola.
loved it
but the very best is
in search of lost time by proust
if you have a couple of spare months.
sorry just realized germinal was a late 19th century work--still great though
a real pleasant surprise was
germinal by emile zola.
loved it
but the very best is
in search of lost time by proust
if you have a couple of spare months.
sorry just realized germinal was a late 19th century work--still great though
Last edited by tscherff; 05-03-2012 at 07:14 PM. Reason: mistake in date written
I've been fortunate enough to read the below. there are many others, of course.
Master and Margarita
The Trial
On The Edge of Reason by Miroslav Kreleza is a gem almost equivalent to The Trial
Another in the same mode All The Names by Jose Saramago.
To The Light House was interesting. Maybe a cut below or anything by Herman Hesse.
I'd second The Trial. Haven't read it yet, but I understand The Castle is also great (Kafka).
I agree! This is a must. Others:Originally Posted by Alexander III
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Book of Disquiet Fernando Pessoa
Nausea Jean Paul Sartre
1984 by George Orwell
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Blindness Jose Saramago
Cosmicomics Italo Calvino
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Kundera
I would recommend Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler, not only as an interesting read but as an informative book for anyone who might be inclined to put idealistic wishful thinking before reality.
Here is the publisher's description:
Darkness At Noon stands as an unequaled fictional portrayal of the nightmare politics of our time. Its hero is an aging revolutionary, imprisoned and psychologically tortured by the Party to which he has dedicated his life. As the pressure to confess preposterous crimes increases, he re-lives a career that embodies the terrible ironies and human betrayals of a totalitarian movement masking itself as an instrument of deliverance. Almost unbearably vivid in its depiction of one man's solitary agony, Darkness At Noon asks questions about ends and means that have relevance not only for the past but for the perilous present. It is—as the Times Literary Supplement has declared—"A remarkable book, a grimly fascinating interpretation of the logic of the Russian Revolution, indeed of all revolutionary dictatorships, and at the same time a tense and subtly intellectualized drama..."
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Reckon if Orvell tried reading through the list Mortal gave him he might be half way through by now or perhaps the pile of books fell on him and crushed him. It was a few writers short ha haeon and Tournier for example.
I'll try to keep my recommendations short :lol . How about...Reckon if Orvell tried reading through the list Mortal gave him he might be half way through by now or perhaps the pile of books fell on him and crushed him. It was a few writers short ha ha
The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
Crock of Gold by James Stephens
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
The Story of O by Anne Desclos
Penguin Island by Anatole France
The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin by Maurice Leblanc (the short story collection not the play of the same name)
Good Soldier Svejk by Hasek Jaroslav
D H Lawrence: Women In Love Many critics consider this the greatest novel written in English in the 20th-century, second only to Ulysses.
George Orwell: 1984 You have to read it. No excuses. Orwell's great attack on totalitarianism. It should be compulsory reading in every school.
P G Wodehouse: Right Ho Jeeves Sublimely beautiful language and arguably the funniest novel in English.
Aldous Huxley: Crome Yellow I'm going to chuck this in as it's a personal favorite.
Hermann Hesse: Siddhartha
I know you asked for novels, but can I just recommend two works of non-fiction that read almost like novels. Primo Levi's The Truce, about his journey home to Italy from Auschwitz, and Goodbye to All That, by Robert Graves, about his experiences as a British officer in WW.1
Last edited by WICKES; 05-30-2019 at 01:46 PM.
A lot of nice recommendations on this thread. I'd like to suggest the following:
1. Thomas the Obscure by Maurice Blanchot (a very demanding work, but it really pushed the novel form to new highs and limits)
2. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi (a realist novel to keep the scales even)
Last edited by laugher; 06-04-2019 at 01:20 AM. Reason: added more info.
Gonna skip the obvious titles...
Herman Broch - The Spell
Georges Simenon - The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
Klaus Mann - Mephisto
Patrick Hamilton - The Slaves of Solitude
Hermann Hesse - Narcissus and Goldmund
Michel Tournier - The Ogre
D.H. Lawrence - The Plumed Serpent
Michel Houellebecq - The Possibility of an Island
Alfred Doblin - Tales of a Long Night
Aldous Huxley - Eyeless in Gaza
George Orwell - Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Ok, can't recommend enough, Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.
I love this list
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