Novels that do not die

Tell us about novels that you've read but still lives inside you with its tiny details and unforgotten characters. Maybe yours will be included in someone's summer list for reading , who knows :)
Bread Seller is one of the best novels ,it's an extraordinary novel if I may say. I'd love to know if any of you had the experience of reading this novel.
The Horrible Years is another unforgettable novel, about the World War, a soldier describing the miseries of the destructive war and how he saw his closest friend passing away .

Mordicai richler's "Barneys Version." It illuminated what it is to be Man. It illuminated what it was to be a writer, a lover, and many other things i cannot speak of at this point.

I promise to write their names when I come back online, because, they are many not one as you stated in my mind. Lol.

A few that I recall: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcìa Màrquez, Sons And Lovers by D.H. Lawrence, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (though poetry), Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (though a play), The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Silas Marner by George Eliot.

I think that I have two for sure.

The first one is Precious Bane by Mary Webb. Reading that book was like keeping a secret. For a while it lingered there, and then I was dying to tell someone about it. The story is so simple but yet so gigantic at the same time. I could see the corn being harvested, the dragonflies, and feel what the main character, Prue, felt for Woodseaves. Okay I had to pause for a minute to reminisce. My all time favorite I think...only one other book comes close...

My second is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It is a new novel. You can hear the piano and feel what the blind woman feels while she is playing it. The Cemetary of Forgotten Books is wonderful. I can smell its dust and I wish I could go there with Daniel (The main character)....like I said before, reminisce...

I could go on forever about these books. I think I have mentioned both of them elsewhere on LitNet...just read them.

Hello Grace, I saw you mentioned Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I'm glad you can read authors from Spain (my country) as far as California. I haven't read the book and was thinking about getting it. So you think it's worth reading, right? Thank you! :)

Our Fathers by Andrew O'Hagan, Water Music by T.C. Boyle, and the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin.

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Originally Posted by Bastet

Hello Grace, I saw you mentioned Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I'm glad you can read authors from Spain (my country) as far as California. I haven't read the book and was thinking about getting it. So you think it's worth reading, right? Thank you! :)

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Hi Bastet. Yes, his book Shadow in the Wind was wonderful. Of course I read its English Translation...but if I wanted to, I could attempt the Spanish. For a new novel, it was very, very good. I would get angry when I had to put it down. Hope you read it and have fun.

Your country is beautiful, I hope someday to visit.

:) I will definitely read it then, grace. Maybe we can comment on it after I'm done ;)

Sure thing Bastet. We can start our own thread or something :D

Well,
I think I will not, God Willing, forget the characters in Lawrence's Sons and Lovers as long as I live. It is a magnificent novel. Paul Morel, Mr Morel, Mrs Morel, Miriam, Clara... Vivid characters in ones mind.
I wonder how the readers here did not mention any of Jane Austen's novels. Hers are greatly rich in characters and emotions. I love Sense and Sensibility so much. Who can forget Marianne's speech when she was leaving her home, saying, "Dear, dear Norland! when shall I cease to regret you? --- when learn to feel a home elsewhere? --- O happy house!..." Who can forget her sensibility?
Pride and Prejudice is incomparable, with its charming Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. Oh, Darcy's character is unforgettable! I love him dearly!
This is what is in my mind for now... I will see if something comes up!

I should say Catch 22 by Heller and Catcher in The Rye by Salinger. I can't forget the way Milo Minderbinder made money out of the war and how he created a (himself) joint venture company which is called M & M (Milo & Minderbinder). About Catcher, I can always imagine Holden and his hunting cap.

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Originally Posted by Ahmed-Adel

Pride and Prejudice is incomparable, with its charming Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. Oh, Darcy's character is unforgettable! I love him dearly!
This is what is in my mind for now... I will see if something comes up!

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Sure, Austin is one of my favorite. She has a great sense for the society and its events. I love when she pasteurizes the gossips that goes in women's community lol . what about Elizabeth Gaskell, any one interested in her stories that dig deeply into the catastrophes of the societies, namely the English society during the time she lived?

There's so many novels that have made their permanent mark on me, too many to mention really but I'll give it a try. ;) Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, all of Tolstoy's novels...and a few of his short stories as well, Demons, Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky and his Idiot will contintue to haunt me the rest of my days. The Forsyte Saga is another, I don't know that I will ever "meet" a character that so completely enthralled me as Soames did. I loved Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and hope and pray that he'll write another novel with those characters because I do miss them so. I loved the relationship between the mother and Everett and the role religion played in the book The Brothers K by David James Duncan, the ending got a tad bit melodramatic but the interplay between the members of that family play out in my mind often. And Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul is responsible for my very significant crush on Thor, the Thunder God.

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Originally Posted by subterranean

Catcher in The Rye by Salinger . . . About Catcher, I can always imagine Holden and his hunting cap.

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I have no idea how I could have forgotten to list The Catcher In The Rye, too - one of the books that got me most interested in literature. :nod:

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Originally Posted by miss tenderness

what about Elizabeth Gaskell, any one interested in her stories that dig deeply into the catastrophes of the societies, namely the English society during the time she lived?

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I heard about Gaskell's novel North and South, but didn't read it. I will tell you my opinion, God Willing, when I read it!

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Originally Posted by miss tenderness

what about Elizabeth Gaskell, any one interested in her stories that dig deeply into the catastrophes of the societies, namely the English society during the time she lived?

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I tried to read North and South but could not get through it so left reading it. It is my habit to stop reading the book that I don't find interesting and North and South was so boring that I left reading it in the very start. I will not like to suggest someone to read her novels. There are better authors.

How can you forget ,,Gone with the wind''? It's my favourite novel from all times!

I must recommend Stuart-a life backwards by Alex Masters but I must warn you as well that there is more than meets the eye as it is a non-fiction about a homeless, psycho, hostage-taker thief. Its really brilliant.

I would recommend Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith. Forget the Hitchcock movie! This is the original book on which the movie was based and as so often happens, the book is MUCH better! It's all about an ordinary everyman who loses his very identity (and his moral compass) after meeting a satanic version of himself. Think "Mirror Universe From Star Trek" and you'll get the general idea.

"Treasure Island," by RL Stevenson is one of the greatest adventure novels ever written. Many of it's phrases have become common usage today, such as "Dead Man's Chest." In addition, Long John Silver has to be one of the most evil and insiduous villians in fiction. I have read this novel countless times, and recommend it highly.

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Originally Posted by Ahmed-Adel

I heard about Gaskell's novel North and South, but didn't read it. I will tell you my opinion, God Willing, when I read it!

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May I recommend Gaskell's Mary Barton. I assure you that you're gonna love it , if we share the same taste. I'll be pleased to discuss it with you .I read it like three years ago and still remember its characters. Pensive , I agree with u about better authors .

I could never forget Elizabeth and Darcy from "Pride and Prejudice" (isn't it obvious from my username?). They're just incredible characters and I fell in love with them immediately! "Nicholas Nickleby" and "A Tale of Two Cities" are also firmly stuck in my memory. There are just so many special books out there that I just can't mention them all.

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Originally Posted by miss tenderness

May I recommend Gaskell's Mary Barton. I assure you that you're gonna love it , if we share the same taste. I'll be pleased to discuss it with you .I read it like three years ago and still remember its characters.

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First, thank you for recommending another novel :). This is very nice of you. Sorry for replying so late :(
Second, I am sure we will discover that we have the same taste! As long as you love Jane Austen, then our taste is so close.
I actually don't know whether I will find that Mary Barton; but anyway I will tell you my opinion about North and South -- I am forced to read it as we will have it in our Novel course next year God Willing :). I think that since you said it is good, then it is good. Your opinion is enough for me.
Now, I was really amazed when I saw the Arabic words in your signature. Wow, are you an Arab? Are you a Muslim? Greatly excellent will it be if so!
Waiting for your reply ya Miss Tenderness!
Salaam :)

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Originally Posted by ElizabethBennet

I could never forget Elizabeth and Darcy from "Pride and Prejudice" (isn't it obvious from my username?). They're just incredible characters and I fell in love with them immediately! "Nicholas Nickleby" and "A Tale of Two Cities" are also firmly stuck in my memory. There are just so many special books out there that I just can't mention them all.

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Hi Lizzy,
I am happy you love those characters; they are adorable. Nice Avatar.
Jane Austen is excellent in portraying characters and describing them. She has a sense of irony also which adds to her merits. Nice Avatar.
Has anyone seen Pride and Prejudice the movie? It is really excellent also. Nice Avatar.
Charles Dickens is also one of my favourites. I cannot forget the character of Oliver Twist or David Copperfield. They are still living in my mind -- and in many others' minds.
Hey, you know Arabic? This is good. I am surprised by your good command of English though you are originally from Germany.
Nice Avatar! It is a very good pose. :thumbs_up
Sorry for digressing from the main topic here; but, as Tristram Shandy says in L. Sterne's Tristram Shandy, "Digressions... are the sunshine; ––– they are the life, the soul of reading..."
Sorry, too, for calling you Lizzy without having permission first!

Ahmed ,did i recommed North and South? maybe it'll surprise you that I have not even read it :lol: idefinetly did not recommend it. I loved Gaskell coz of Mary Barton.
I am a Muslim ,hamdulilah, apparently you did not see that coming?


dear new member Elizabeth Bennet, I wish you to find ur Darcy :) happy to have you here . how is it going in Lebenon?can't people live in peace just for one year?

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Originally Posted by miss tenderness

Ahmed ,did i recommed North and South? maybe it'll surprise you that I have not even read it :lol: idefinetly did not recommend it. I loved Gaskell coz of Mary Barton.
I am a Muslim ,hamdulilah, apparently you did not see that coming?

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Well, I know you did not recommend it :). It is the only novel I knew by Gaskell!
This is excellent you are a Muslim. I felt this from the Arabic words in your signature. Actually I didn't share in or see the Religious Forum, so I didn't know you are a Muslim before this! Now I know :).

Hey all,
Did the novels die or what? :D
Novels do not die... Remember this!
I have still some more novels living in my mind. I still remember the details of George Orwell's Animal Farm. I still remember Boxer's character. I will never forget the scene when Boxer was taken from the farm -- that was too melancholic :( .
What about all of you? I want this topic NOT to die :thumbs_up

Hmm, there are indeed so many novels out there that can never die, whose characters leave an indelible imprint on our minds... I haven't even read HALF the classic novels out there, but so far, these are a few of the books I could not forget:
Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams (it's a play, but can't help mentioning it)

And many more to come! :D

A few others I forgot to mention: Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man by James Joyce, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy, Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, and, of course, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

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Originally Posted by mono

Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy...

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Ah, you're a fan of Jude too now :D

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Originally Posted by melancholia

The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams (it's a play, but can't help mentioning it)

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Well, melan, if any literary piece of work is worth mentioning we will be really glad to see it mentioned anywhere. I'm not a very punctilious myself:D. so you like the Glass Menegerie,to be honest it's my first time to see it mentioned as a favorite, but I do agree with you that it's distinguished , a heroin of that sort isn't much celebrated by dramatists, don't you think? And it's just a great of Williams to give us an insight about such kind of people who secretly suffer.

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Originally Posted by Manfred

"Treasure Island," by RL Stevenson is one of the greatest adventure novels ever written. Many of it's phrases have become common usage today, such as "Dead Man's Chest." In addition, Long John Silver has to be one of the most evil and insiduous villians in fiction. I have read this novel countless times, and recommend it highly.

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I completely agree, Treasure Island is one of my favorites, and I will never forget the phrases, songs, characters, they are permenanetly imprinted in my mind.

Tolstoys novels are unforgattable as well as wethering heights I think that characters like heathkliff and katherine are timeless and the three mosketeers for dumas as well as my childhood for maxim gorky .

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Originally Posted by subterranean

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Originally Posted by mono

Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy...

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Ah, you're a fan of Jude too now :D

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Indeed! I wonder of one person who recommended me his literature . . . :D

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Originally Posted by Samah

Tolstoys novels are unforgattable as well as wethering heights I think that characters like heathkliff and katherine are timeless and the three mosketeers for dumas as well as my childhood for maxim gorky .

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The three mosketeer is interesting ,also Duma's the count of monte cristo. Samah,are you,by any chance, a just graduated student of English literature ?just wondering?

Are there any novels that caught your attention for contemporary writers? I liked My Way to Freedom by Nelson Mandela also The Imprisoned by Malika Offaghir, maybe those are not quite novels but more to be considered autobiographies. They are amazing, living suffer stories for living people, I'd love if anyone recommend books of the sort for me to read.

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Originally Posted by miss tenderness

The three mosketeer is interesting ,also Duma's the count of monte cristo. Samah,are you,by any chance, a just graduated student of English literature ?just wondering?

Are there any novels that caught your attention for contemporary writers? I liked My Way to Freedom by Nelson Mandela also The Imprisoned by Malika Offaghir, maybe those are not quite novels but more to be considered autobiographies. They are amazing, living suffer stories for living people, I'd love if anyone recommend books of the sort for me to read.

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hey Miss Tendress sorry for being late in my responding but i've just seen your post and no I'm not a graduate student for english literature ,are you?
and I read the count of mote cresto and I liked it very much but I didnt read any of the other novels you mentioned but i'll try to , I've never read anything to Malikah I dont know is she good ? and did read anything to saad minah?

oh okay then:)there were sth in my mind and now it turned to be not true:) thanks anyway.
and yes,Iam.

More than a year ago I came across a book by George Gissing (then an unknown author to me). It was Odd women, and I read it. Since then Odd Women has become one of my favourite books and it had a great impact in reshaping some of my principles. After that I read The New Grub Street. George Gissing, in my view, should be considered a great author - but I find it amazing that I knew nothing about him and that almost nobody knows about him. It is also very difficult to find his books.

Curently I am reading his In the Year of Jubilee. Odd Women is still his best.;)

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Originally Posted by miss tenderness

oh okay then:)there were sth in my mind and now it turned to be not true:) thanks anyway.
and yes,Iam.

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maybe you thought that you know me personaly , Am I right ? but I dont think so , and good luck for you in your studies at I wanted to study english literature in univesity but I changed my mind later but I still think its a very interesting thing to study .