I think all of the users of this forum have favorite books. I want you to share your favorite book and why it is your favorite??:confused5:
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I think all of the users of this forum have favorite books. I want you to share your favorite book and why it is your favorite??:confused5:
It's a tough choice, but I'm going to have to say Mrs. Dalloway.
First off, Woolf's prose is elegant and evocative without being too flowery. Superficially, it makes the novel a pleasure to read while making you want to come back later for close readings.
Second, I think it's awesome that the novel takes place during one day. Woolf's decision to include such a small time frame helps celebrate the mundane, and it also raises the importance of moments as opposed to events. You can see how really isolated and fleeting moments like Septimus and hat-making can improve the lives of characters. Woolf's distinction between inner and outer time is also brilliant, for more reasons than I want to go into.
Third, Woolf deals with the idea of shared and communal experiences, and dares to ask questions about what it means to be part of a community. The Marxist notion that humans are merely part of a larger system of production planning doesn't apply here. Rather, can certain events (like a party or a conspicuous skywriting plane) really unify us for a few moments of shared understanding? Is there such a thing as a communal conscience? Just how individualistic are we (and should we be)?
If my thoughts seem poorly-formed, it's because the novel continues to make me think about these issues. That's the hallmark of a great novel, after all--something that stays with you after you've read it and causes you to endlessly ask questions. As Mark Twain said, "The moment you think you understand a great work of art, it's dead for you."
Anywway, what's your favourite work?
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Naked Lunch isnt far behind however.
Mmmm...Depends which side of me you're asking.
The philosophic side of me is drawn to The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The poor side of me prefers Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller.
The tough side likes A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.
My inner contemplative romantic is fond of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
And then, of course, my misanthropic side likes sharpening his world-hating teeth on Louis-Ferdinand Celine's Journey to the End of the Night.
If I'd have actually finished either of them, my overall picks would probably be Ulysses or In Search of Lost Time...But I haven't, so I can't say with any certainty. I've read enough of both to get that feeling from them, though.
My favorite book is purpose driven by rick warren..because this book teach me what life is all about..and why it is happening to you??it is really cool you can read it also if you did not read it yet..:seeya:
Toss up between Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock, and Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell.
Lately it's been The Recognitions by William Gaddis. One thing I love about it is that there is a labyrinthine web of connections and subtle allusions among various scenes that is nearly impossible to grasp on a first reading, so that the work gains great depth when reread. Another thing is that nearly everything we learn about the characters comes through dialogue so that it often seems like we have unmediated and objective access to them; and the dialogue is pitch perfect. Also, it is often hilarious, the descriptive passages are beautiful and fresh, and the thinking on the nature of art and aesthetic authenticity is profound. It is especially wonderful for anyone with an interest in the painting of the Dutch and Flemish masters.
In terms of 'most rewarding'...
"Against the Day", by Thomas Pynchon.
That is all.
Well, it's different from time to time. But "The Catcher in the Rye", "Crime and Punishment", "The Stranger" and "Of Mice and Men" always has a special place in my heart. "The Catcher in the Rye" especially when I was younger, and don’t now have brilliant I think it would be today.
The one I'm reading at the moment, if it's a good book, so "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" would be it....
For years it was To Kill A Mockinbird but I'm currently reading Jane Eyre and am completely blown away...
My favarite is Improbable by Adam Faver. At the beginning it wasn't excellent, but then it become the best book I have ever read
I have two book I love most. The first is The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, and the second one is Cassandra's Brand by Chinghiz Aitmatov. After reading Cassandra's Brand, I regret I wasn't the one to write such a novel, but I am glad he made it.
I've just finished Dante's Inferno now. Well, it's now my favourite book.
You can't stop there--that's only a third of the book. There's still Purgatorio and Paradiso. Some (maybe even many) are of the opinion that Purgatorio is better than Inferno, and that Paradiso is better than Purgatorio. I'm the exact opposite . . . but I'm more of a "hell" guy.Quote:
Originally Posted by ForrestJG
My favorite book is Moby Dick. I've never read anything so dense (or, I've never read anything where I've explored the density so much--I wouldn't dispute that Dante's Comedia is more dense, though I think MD comes close). It's at times philosophical, terrifying, and very funny. It's still the most beautifully written prose I've ever encountered. It's a hard read, but that's part of the appeal--conquering the White Whale is a rewarding experience.
I have to say my favorite book is The Great Gatsby. Ofcourse I just read it again, so that may be why but it is hard to say. When I read a great book, it then becomes my favorite. And I haven't read them all!!
Seriously though, I have never read such a beautiful writer as Fitzgerald. I'm pretty fussy, and I hate bad metaphors. His are brilliant. So is the imagery.
I read Catcher in the Rye as an adult, it's just as good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregory Samsa
Ditto on Catcher in the Rye. I've read it probably 3 or 4 times now. I have to say though, I have been thoroughly enjoying Of Human Bondage and it could be my new novel of choice of the Bildungsroman bent.
As new members, you will learn that Catcher is one of the most contentious topics on the forum (which is good), along with that ol' scamp Bukowski.
Definitely 1001 Nights for me. I love its narrative diversity and its imaginative settings. Although it's mainly a collection of folk stories, I still feel there's a lot of depth to the themes that appear.
For a single cohesive work though, definitely Divine Comedy.
Depends on the mood.
Catcher in the Rye for fun. I have no reason why I like this book so much, perhaps at a some level I identify with Holden. I like it when I need to simplify life.
Of Mice and Men shaped my world view, or maybe even changed it. I like it when I'm feeling idealistic.
Infinite Jest - I like it when when feel the urge for complexity.
Has to be For Whom the Bell Tolls for this guy. Its pretty rare to find a book that is both entertaining and poignant, and this work just proves how masterful Hemingway really was
Why is Catcher in the Rye one of the most contentious topics on this forum?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandi
As some above said, for me it also depends on the mood, my favourites would be:
Dante - La Divina Comedia (I don't know how you call the whole book in English)
Austen - Pride and Prejudice
Saramago - Death at Intervals
RSC Complete Shakespeare
It is dificult to say the our favourite book, I read a lot in my life. Maybe the book I read more is Faust by Goethe, I read it in German, in English and Spanish. This book is full of clever quotations you can never forget. Kindest regards from Spain. Juan
My favorite has changed. My new favorite is The World of Sofi by Jostein Gaarder
Les Miserables for me because it simply contains everything one could wish for in a book.
Questions like this are too, too broad. We would need subdivisions (favourite poem, favourite novel, favourite philosophical work . . . ). But seeing that most are citing novels:
- Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus
- Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time
I'm not sure really; whenever I try to think my mind just becomes blank. There's too many I like. Probably the one I really enjoyed though was Candide by Voltaire, and probably The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Lord of the Flies was good too.
After reading books, our favorite can be changed. I think every book has its original meaning,or morel something else. It is really important...
My favourite would have to be One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey. It might be because I expected very little from it and was 50 pages into it before I realized how deeply I'd fallen in love with it. Or it may be because Randall Patrick McMurphy might be the best protagonist I've ever come across.
However it is in a never ending duel with Post Office by Bukowski. Some of the passages have me roaring with laughter while some nearly made me cry. I'd read 3 Buk books before and I didn't know what to make of him but this one is where I got him. I went back and read the other 3 and realized how amazing Buk is.
Catcher in the rye :)
Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton.
To me it was a stunning novel.
The writing style, the details, the characters.
One of those books that felt like I was actually there with them.
Which doesn't happen very often.
Ulyssesby Joyce. Nothing will ever eclipse it. Joyce may have outdated writing after 1922 by just writing this one book. The content and form is shockingly original, there are extracts of great beauty which stand without equal, the story is multilayered and detailed.
Pride and Prejudice
Excluding the last chapter, which is excessively mawkish and emetic, the book is word for word perfect.
Austen did not paint on a large canvas, like Leo Tolstoy, nor did her colours rival the intensity of Shakespeare's; but that which she did depict was as true a representation of nature as anything either of the aforementioned authors ever created.
:pThanks. After you said that I read this book. It is extremely beautiful thanks! :hurray: :spam: :cheers2: :thumbs_up :Chevy_anim:Quote:
Originally Posted by Featchy
I'm fond of Jane Austen too, but Emma is my favourite of her works.
I also have soft spots for Forster's Howards End and Dickens' Great Expectations.
i love this thread mainly because i will graduate from university after two weeks and i will, finally, have time to do some quality reading :D
i really could use the recommends to pick a collection of books
so thumbs up to this thread
until now i only read academic books and sometimes it can be booring. As for a FAVORITE book i will go for twilight by Stephanie Maire
And you will be graduated from the university soon?Quote:
Originally Posted by !MeMa!