Favorite Books

Despite running a classic literature site, my favorite book isn't so classic.

My favorite is actually a series of books, The DragonLance Saga by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. There are actually nearly 60 books I think, but the main storyline is what I'm talking about and spans maybe 16 books. When you get to the end of it it's just amazing.

Lord of the Rings is good too, I like DragonLance better though.

The Wheel of Time is entertaining - however I wouldn't call it good writing. Robert Jordan often seems very unoriginal in how he sets up the various cultures, because he simply borrows and blends from real cultures. When I'm reading it I think "Okay so these people are the Victorian Japanese, those people are the Rennaisance Turks.." and so on.

Non-fantasy books I've liked include The Great Gatsby, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gulliver's Travels...

Books I've hated.

Crime and Punishment
The Scarlet Letter
The Lord of the Flies

Well, the insane ramblings of Raskonikov, which you are not sure if they are real or imagined, didn't do it for me. Basically I couldn't stand the rambling, that book would ramble for pages.

Quote:

---

On 2002-01-22 13:15, Admin wrote:

The Wheel of Time is entertaining - however I wouldn't call it good writing. Robert Jordan often seems very unoriginal in how he sets up the various cultures, because he simply borrows and blends from real cultures. When I'm reading it I think "Okay so these people are the Victorian Japanese, those people are the Rennaisance Turks.." and so on.

Non-fantasy books I've liked include The Great Gatsby, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gulliver's Travels...

Books I've hated.

Crime and Punishment
The Scarlet Letter
The Lord of the Flies

---

i completely agree WRT The Wheel of Time Soap Opera :)

i did enjoy reading The Scarlet Letter though, and would add The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay) to a list of my favorites

I don't really have a favorite book, I love to read so much, but my favorite author is Mercedes Lackey. I also like Douuglas Adam's Hitchhiker books. (I've only read the first two, but I've ordered the others--They're on their way)

The trouble with 'Crime and Punishment' is probably its translation. It's not like I speak Russian - but one of my friends says there's no really satisfying english Dostojewsij-translation at all. So take some Russian and enjoy... :)

I liked 'The Dragonbone Chair' (Tad Williams) and its sequels better than 'The Lord of the Rings', though I admid that Williams is another Tolkien apprentice really.

One of MY favorite books is 'Time's Arrow' by Martin Amis. It's a story told by a soul that's living a person's life in reverse.
Thus he's growing younger from the beginning (his death), works in reverse, eats in reverse, turns good deeds into bad deeds because he does them in reverse and vice versa. It's hilarious at times, though there's a serious idea about it, too (the only way of considering holocaust something good), plus a good deal of this 'the cause is the effect is the cause' philosophy (Derrida and that).

Well. Just read it.

And I hated 'The Lord of the Flies', too.

My favorite book is Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. It did not make for a quick read, nor was it an action-packed thriller, but I was extremely impressed with both the author's ideas and eloquence as well as his willingness to "practice what he preached."

Here are some very good books. Unfortunately I cannot find these books translated into Enlish.

Here they are:
Pharaoh by Boleslow Prus, and Les Roi Maudits by Maurice Druon.
I would like to know if they are published in English.

1984 by George Orwell. The Brothers Karamozov by Dostoevsky. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Fight Club by Chuck Palahuniuk (I think thats how his name is spelled). Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. The Stand by Stephen King. Crash by Ballard. Dirty White Boys by Stephen Hunter. Garth Ennis-he writes comics but 99% of his work I've found is excellent.

Hi Chris,

I would love to know what it is that you hated about Crime and Punishment. It is one of my all-time favorite books, and I can't imagine anyone disliking it. But then, a friend of mine recently described Moby Dick as boring, so maybe I have an unusual tolerance for all things tedious.

Cheers,
North

On the contrary, Raskolnikov's ramblings are what I liked, especially after he receives the letter from his mother (which she actually thought would cheer him).
It's the stupid, drunken clerk that he meets whom I don't care for.
(Not to sound too unagreeable).

I read so much there is no way I could name a "favorite" book. Some of my current reads that I really enjoyed are:

Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson
House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus III
Out of the Night that Covers Me - Pat Devoto
Ethan Fromme - Edith Wharton

Hated:

The Scarlet Letter
Wuthering Heights

Loved:

Jane Eyre

Their Eyes Were Watching God
-Zora Neale Hurston

Uncle Tom's Cabin
-Harriet Beecher Stowe

East of Eden
-John Steinbeck

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
-Ken Kesey



Black Elk Speaks
-John Neihardt

Charlotte's Web :)
-E.B. White

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
-A.Wolf as told to John Scieszka

_________________
. . .and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. . .

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Athena on 2002-03-27 19:02 ]</font>

I also loved the Dragonlance saga I've read many of the books. My personal favorite from them was probably Dragons of summer flame (mostly because of the return of Raistlin).

other favorites:

Steppenwolf - Hermann Hesse
Even Cowgirls get the blues - Tom Robbins
Anything by Chuck Palahniuk (author of fight club)

I also hated Scarlet letter

Ooooooooo...... definately Beowulf. Can't explain it, just love it :D . I'm also a fan of almost anything by Bradbury, he's so poetic and I'm a sucker for it!

~Kris

I too hated the Scarlet Letter, and loved the Weis and Hickman Dragonlance, long ago. They have a lot of other great stuff, including the Death Gate Cycle, which I personally enjoyed even more than Dragonlance, and they are currently working on the Starshield series, which is nice.

As for a favorite, it's just too hard to choose. Some mentioned here stand out, including the Hitchhiker's Guide series, and I think I'd add the Illuminatus! Trilogy into the running.

"a Quest Among the Bewildered" by Wulf Zendik

This was a tough one for me because of the great number of books that have influenced me, and all my sentimental favorites - you'd almost have to say that there's a favorite book in each and every category, fiction or non, bio, sci-fi, classic, other, and then there's shakespeare. So many books...

I finally come to which book has the most lasting value, the most impact, the most power to enrich my life, and the book i'd most choose for someone else to read - and I don't mean just to kill time!
So, I think it deserves to be newly elevated to a status deserving of the emotional impact it made on me, and the possible social and cultural impact on humanity.

This is a must read for any thinking feeling human being, if only for the wonderful descriptions of how it feels to be in love and for the author's courage to be honest about the things that everybody thinks and feels, but are afraid to say to each other.

-dennis

Here's a URL for anyone interested http://www.aquestamongthebewildered.com/

I really go through phases as far as what genre of books I read. When I was young (and I still pick them up once in awhile), my favorite books were : The Secret Garden, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and this one called Ruby in the Smoke.

Now that I am older, I read everything from the classics to horror. My faves are:
Incarnations of Immortality series
Pride and Prejudice
The Great Gatsby
Silence of the Lambs

Just to name a few. I seem to be in the minority though when I say I did enjoy The Scarlet Letter, Wuthering Heights, and Lord of the Flies. I did not like Heart of Darkness and this one book about the Civil War...for some reason the name escapes me. I picked it to read for a summer book report....Oh well.

I'm not sure if I could pick a favourite author, let alone a favourite book. My taste is just a bit too eclectic, or as my sister would say, random. In grade 8, I lived off of my dad's old philosophy texts from university, so I have a place for Confucius, Aristotle, Machiavelli, etc.

Grade 9-11, I was obsessed with Terry Pratchett. I'm in Grade 12 right now, and I'm back on Pratchett, mostly because I met the guy a couple weeks ago at a reading he did.

However, my Literature 12 class gave me a nice broad view of things, so I'm now big on Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and all the other old epics. Hence my name. ) I ended up writing a mock epic abour WRITING a mock epic, with Eric, son of Chuck (me) as the title character. And I blame Beowulf, and Eaters of the Dead entirely for this. D

Beowulf rocks. 'Nuff said.

:D

~Kris

"Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet. Wow.....a little racy but gorgeously written. Great plot, great characters, great setting, very realistic.

"Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet. Wow.....a little racy but gorgeously written. Great plot, great characters, great setting, very realistic.

Hello!
I love "The Little Prince" .....

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is easily the funniest book I've ever read. If you haven't read it, and you want some laughs, check it out.

Ive always loved Charles Dickens-GREAT EXPECTATIONS, DAVID COPPERFIELD etc.- JANE AUSTENS books are great unless you get bored by all the balls and pretty dresses :)- TOLKIENS books of course are... well...I cant find the words.they might be a bit too good actually-TOLSTOIS WAR AND PEACE was incredible-JANE EYRE is marvellous-
CRIME AND PUNISMENT was in its own way very good-
THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY was one of the funniest most amusing things ever, really puts things into perspective.You should also read MADAME BOVARY-so thats my wiev of having a favourite book. ;)

Zeowyn, if you liked Hitchhiker's Guide, you'd love just about ANY Terry Pratchet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by northorbitranger

Hi Chris,

I would love to know what it is that you hated about Crime and Punishment. It is one of my all-time favorite books, and I can't imagine anyone disliking it. But then, a friend of mine recently described Moby Dick as boring, so maybe I have an unusual tolerance for all things tedious.

Cheers,
North

---

I'm often surprised there's actually people who didn't find Moby-Dick boring! If you are ever curious about reading dozens of essays on 19th century whaling, then Moby-Dick is the book for you. I wasn't, though, so I found it painfully boring, really. I did enjoy Crime and Punishment quite a bit, though.

My own personal favorite is The Count of Monte-Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas.

Gaiman's American Gods and Sandman
Dune
the Idiot
Hitchhiker's Guide
Focualt's Pendulum
Gates of Fire
Watchmen

Top few would be, Lord of the Flies, I don't get how so many hated it, 1984 by George Orwell, The Martian Chronicles-Ray Bradbury and Julius Caesar- Shakespeare.

Books disliked: great Expectations- charles dickens
Books hated: Bodily Harm- Margaret Atwood.

why do they call wuthering heights a classic? Did anyone else think healthcliff was a whiner and his love a total snob? :evil: Anyone, now that I got that off my chest, my favs are Roscoe by william kennedy, the eyre affair by jasper fforde, and Ingenious Pain by Andrew Miller

My top books are The Plague, The Glass Bead Game and The Portrait of Dorian Gray.
I didn't exactly hated Lord of the Flies, but while reading it I was so terrified, that i decided not to experience that ever again.

Orson Scott Card "Enders Game" all the way!!!
Its the most inspiring book i've read

"The appeal of Ender's Game is hard to explain. One
of my personal thoughts is that people who love
the book can really identify with Ender. When I
read Ender's Game, I felt as if I was Ender. He is
a child who is way above the level of all the
other children in his school. He finds school
extremely boring because he is never challenged
(something a LOT of gifted and talented children
identify with.) Ender is constantly made fun of
because he is a "Third". In the future, families
are only allowed to have two children unless they
are given permission from the government to have
more. The I.F. is looking for the one who has all
the right characteristics to lead Earth's fleet.
Ender's older siblings Peter, and Valentine, who
are just as intelligent as Ender but were rejected
for other reasons, are the only reason Ender was
allowed to exist.The characters in the book are so
believable, and you really care about them. The
book is also very good science fiction and has a
lot of thought provoking ideas such as the
"Ansible" which carries messages across the
universe instantly. Ender's Game won both the Hugo
and Nebula Awards. The best way for you to
understand why Ender's Game is so widely popular
is to read it for yourself. I would recommend this
book to anyone interested in science fiction or
even anyone who enjoys reading at all."

http://www.ender.com/ender/

Interesting...

Enders Game...I'm glad I'm not the only one who found that book amazing...However, i was rather dissapointed in the two sequels, Xenocide and Speaker for the Dead...

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy - Laurence Sterne
Although I only have an incomplete copy and don't understand the French parts. I'm still looking for a complete copy.

My favourite novel is Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, it has changed the way I see things forever and I strongly recommend it to anyone, especially to those with strong political views or those who are discontented with the world today.
I also loved The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings part 2) and the rest of the trilogy too.

I've considered The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler my favorite book for several years now. Though I don't know if I'd consider one of the greatest books ever written, though it definitely vies for the position of greatest mystery novels ever written. It's more like comfort food- or the literary form of it.

Raymond Chandler was a very talented, and it sadly underrated as an author. He didn't have crisp plotlines of, say, Agatha Christie, but he could write descriptions like few others I've come across. Can you really think of others who could give poetic descriptions of a decaying, post WWII Los Angeles? Even if it's not needed, the L.A. Chandler created in his novels are always vibrant because of the care give to even the minutest of details.

And don't forget the wit constantly utilized by Philip Marlowe. Many of the classic lines from the screen version of The Big Sleep (1946) were written by Chandler in the original novel. ("She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up," etc.)

(By the way, I also highly recommend Farewell, My Lovely and Lady in the Lake, as well as The Little Sister and The High Window, which are more minor Chandler efforts).

________________________________

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

Catcher in the Rye (which is another favorite, as seen below) is the Salinger book everybody knows about. Franny and Zooey actually isn't a novel at all- rather, it's two short stories combinded into one book. One centers around Franny, the other Zooey, and the connection between them is that they are siblings.

I liked this movie for the same reasons, or because of my love for, Wes Anderson's 2001 movie The Royal Tenenbaums, for Franny and Zooey are both part of a family and were both considered (along with their other siblings) child geniuses, and now that has all faded, and now they are all cynical young adults who's intelligent, caustic comments try to mask their breaking hearts and internal confusion. It's a heartbreaking story about absolutely nothing really. But I like books like that. Franny and Zooey hits a chord in me like few other books do.
________________________________

Other books I adore:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
A Streetcar Named Desire (or anything else) by Tennessee Williams
The Trial by Franz Kafka

_________________________________

My least favorite book of all time:

The Adventures of Huck Finn by Mark Twain

has no one read Dune? that would have to be one of my favorites. Also on the list would have to be: Enders Game, 1984, The Once and Future King, Gates of Fire, Watership down, and Leviathan.

Ack! so many books, so many genres! Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien, but I think can almost be assumed without writing it! I loved the Dune series but I got a bit bored at around book four. The Clock Without Hands by Carson McCullars but I also like absolutely everything she wrote. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Newer novels that I read recently but will likely remain on my all-time-favorites list are The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

Don Quixote by Cervantes. The type of book that needs to be read once a year (I can't wait til I finish it!)

Favourite book? That's an easy question. "Foucault's Pendulum" by Eco. One and only :D