A play, not a book but -
Mourning Becomes Electra
A play, not a book but -
Mourning Becomes Electra
Oh, and what I consider the most compellingly economic title for a novel...
Something Happened
....by Joseph Heller
Further than that, there's this lot.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Fifth Business
Catch-22
The Sirens of Titan
Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem
Rendezvous with Rama
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Magic Christian
Jude the Obscure
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
The Illustrated Man
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul
Once you start thinking about it, you can't stop...
The Kraken Wakes
The Midwich Cuckoos
The Horse and his Boy
Love in a Time of Cholera
The Dancers at the End of Time
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I don't even like some of these books, and I'm not entirely sure why some of them seem to me to be great titles, but they have a resonance such that, if I were to see them in a bookstore, I'd pick them up, even though I already own them.
If I had to choose one though, even given my admiration of that Heller title at the top, I think I'd have to go with Donald Westlake's.....
Adios, Scheherezade
Last edited by MarkBastable; 07-23-2009 at 07:51 PM.
The whole taking a line from a poem thing (or in this case a hymn) has endeared the titles of the 2nd and 3rd books of David Webber's Safehold series--By Schisms Rent Asunder and By Heresies Distressed.
The humorous short story writer, Patrick F. McManus titles his books after one of the stories in them and has published such gems as A Fine and Pleasant Misery, They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?, The Night The Bear Ate Gumba and Never Sniff A Gift Fish. Depending on your age and upbringed (you need to be an old codger from the sticks) the stories themselves are even more humorous than the titles.
togre -- you bring back a flood of wonderful memories by bringing up McManus. I loved reading his stories when I was younger and I still return to them when I need a good, honest laugh.Originally Posted by togre
Here's one of my favorite book titles: Abbey's Road, Take the Other, by Edward Abbey.
“Oh crap”
-- Hellboy
? A play is a book...
Anyhow, I like 'The Agony and The Ecstasy'
Thomas Gray - Far From the Madding Crowd
The already mentioned The Grapes of Wrath is for me the perfect title. It is poetic, beautiful, and somehow mysterious. Before I read the novel I found it amazing, but the story of the Joads gives the title an extraordinary power; no wonder Steinbeck was proud of his choice of title.
Two other great titles:
Fleich ist mein Gemüse (Meat is My Vegetable)
Snø vil falle over snø som har falt (Snow Will Fall on Fallen Snow)
Although the latter is a good title in translation, it cannot compare to the original, which is the translation's biggest problem - some words, phrases, and sentences have a quality which cannot be translated. What I try to say is: learn Norwegian
...................
Last edited by MarkBastable; 07-24-2009 at 05:56 PM.
This calls to mind the one critic's summation of the film i.e. "All agony and no extasy." Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit but it certainly nailed that particular example of Hollywood's artistic licence.
Something Wicked This Way Comes ~ Ray Bradbury
Originally from act 4 of Macbeth "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."
I've always admired anyone who can write well in trochaic pentameter!
docendo discimus
Even as I qualified my choice of Mourning Becomes Electra by saying, "...it's a play, not a book...", I thought, "Well, the actual physical object is a book, and I expect that'll be pointed out." On the other hand, I knew that if I didn't make that qualification, it would be suggested that the word 'book' in this context meant a text intended to be experienced direct from the page - so a novel, non-fiction work, or even poetry - but not a play, screenplay. or the collected shooting scripts of the original series of Lost.
I figured out within ten minutes of subscribing to this forum that it doesn't matter what you say, someone'll say otherwise. And as a practising contrarian, I don't mind that at all.
It's published and read when it is studied by English classes. It's read by the actors and director and anyone involved with the show. And O'Neill's plays pretty mcuh have to be read as they are so unstageable.
I hate the idea of belittling plays just because the eventual product will be a show and it's not in continuous prose. Poetry's pointless reading unless you read it out loud and in its original language (although one might make a claim for the epic stuff).
Last edited by kelby_lake; 07-26-2009 at 06:15 AM.
Actually, I nearly suggested it myself. It is a great title. I reckon you can get away with it. After all, many plays were written & were never expected to actually be 'played' or acted out. This practise can even be traced back to the Romans & Greeks (they had to make their own entertainment in those days as You Tube hadn't been invented).
An example of this in English literature would be Milton's Samson Agonistes.
docendo discimus
All my favorites have been mentioned repeatedly.
I did get a kick out of two Dalkey Archive Titles:
In Candyland it's Cool to Feed on Your Friends-- James Chapman
Were We Were Going and What We Were Doing-- Damian Searls
Now if we are talking YA books, all bets are off, since I think quirky'catchy funny titles are almost pre-requisite of publishing these days.
----
I also think that Faulkner is great with titles but most of the authors that I like come up with great titles. I like some Melville titles especially of his shorter work.
The Enchated Isles. The Bell Tower. Benito Cereno. The Pizza Tales (the name of all of the stories together). The Pizza.
"bruised reed" Isaiah 42:3
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