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Your all time favorite novels

Rockfish1

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I can't pick one favorite, but I can think of many novels I've loved. For example:

Tolkien
Huge, and also an excuse for this:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.​

Stephen King is a prolific author, but I don't think anything has matched his earliest books. When I read The Stand in high school, I kept friends waiting for half an hour so I could finish the book before going out. They could stay or go, but I was finishing the book.

Larry McMurtry can really write. A splendid book. Also a great mini-series, in which Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones inhabit the roles of former Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call.

When I think about what is the best novel I've ever read, this is probably it. Joseph Heller never did anything like this again. Fabulous satire. Inspired. Hilarious. Tragic.

When I think about the most dazzling book I've ever read it would definitely be this. It's a puzzle book with a huge payoff. David Mitchell's other stuff is also very good. Lots of prizes and nominations. Another puzzle book worth reading is Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost.

Umberto Eco drops bizarre murders into the middle of the Spanish Inquisition. This is the only one of Eco's otherwise impenetrable books that I've been able to read, but it's very good.

I'm not a fan of Mark Helprin's politics, but he's an incandescently good writer, and his stories make me laugh and cry. The first of his I read was Memoir From Antproof Case, which is also excellent.

Richard Russo has written a lot of great books, some of which are probably better than this one, but this is the first Russo book I read, and it's very funny while being insightful and deeply human.


I wouldn't necessarily place this in the same category as the others, but I enjoyed the book, and it's now being released as a movie with John C, Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

There are lots of books that have affected me (Hardy Boys?), but these are some that jump immediately to mind. What are your favorites?

P.S. Also maybe check out English Passengers, Veronica, and Cryptonomicon.

[Edited: Added link.]
 
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I can't pick one favorite, but I can think of many novels I've loved. For example:

Tolkien
Huge, and also an excuse for this:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs
.​

Ha ha. I award full marks for that!
 
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Some good choices. I voted Catch-22 in the PBS series.

I will add All Quiet on the Western Front, the best antiwar novel.

The Foundation Trilogy. For me, it is to science fi what Rings is to fantasy.

Hitchhiker's, absolutely hilarious. I think comedy is hard to write.

To Kill a Mockingbird.
 
I can't pick one favorite, but I can think of many novels I've loved. For example:

Tolkien
Huge, and also an excuse for this:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.​

Stephen King is a prolific author, but I don't think anything has matched his earliest books. When I read The Stand in high school, I kept friends waiting for half an hour so I could finish the book before going out. They could stay or go, but I was finishing the book.

Larry McMurtry can really write. A splendid book. Also a great mini-series, in which Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones inhabit the roles of former Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call.

When I think about what is the best novel I've ever read, this is probably it. Joseph Heller never did anything like this again. Fabulous satire. Inspired. Hilarious. Tragic.

When I think about the most dazzling book I've ever read it would definitely be this. It's a puzzle book with a huge payoff. David Mitchell's other stuff is also very good. Lots of prizes and nominations. Another puzzle book worth reading is Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost.

Umberto Eco drops bizarre murders into the middle of the Spanish Inquisition. This is the only one of Eco's otherwise impenetrable books that I've been able to read, but it's very good.

I'm not a fan of Mark Helprin's politics, but he's an incandescently good writer, and his stories make me laugh and cry. The first of his I read was Memoir From Antproof Case, which is also excellent.

Richard Russo has written a lot of great books, some of which are probably better than this one, but this is the first Russo book I read, and it's very funny while being insightful and deeply human.


I wouldn't necessarily place this in the same category as the others, but I enjoyed the book, and it's now being released as a movie with John C, Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

There are lots of books that have affected me (Hardy Boys?), but these are some that jump immediately to mind. What are your favorites?

P.S. Also maybe check out English Passengers, Veronica, and Cryptonomicon.

[Edited: Added link.]

Despite the gratuitous and telegraphed shot at Atlas Shrugged, I'll agree about Lonesome Dove. As good as the book was/is, the television production was second to none. Contains my favorite scene, where Tommy Lee Jones beats the crap out of the Army scout, after the scout had whipped Newt, and as the awe-struck townspeople stare in open-mouthed wonder and fear after the extreme violence proceeds to calmly and drolly say: "Can't stand rudeness in a man. Won't tolerate it."

A Prayer for Owen Meany is up there. The Art of Racing in the Rain is a particular favorite, as a dog lover. Finally, any of Nelson DeMille's books are way up there.
 
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Despite the gratuitous and telegraphed shot at Atlas Shrugged, I'll agree about Lonesome Dove. As good as the book was/is, the television production was second to none. Contains my favorite scene, where Tommy Lee Jones beats the crap out of the Army scout, after the scout had whipped Newt, and as the awe-struck townspeople stare in open-mouthed wonder and fear after the extreme violence proceeds to calmly and drolly say: "Can't stand rudeness in a man. Won't tolerate it."

A Prayer for Owen Meany is up there. The Art of Racing in the Rain is a particular favorite, as a dog lover. Finally, any of Nelson DeMille's books are way up there.
John Irving rules.
 
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Some good choices. I voted Catch-22 in the PBS series.

I will add All Quiet on the Western Front, the best antiwar novel.

The Foundation Trilogy. For me, it is to science fi what Rings is to fantasy.

Hitchhiker's, absolutely hilarious. I think comedy is hard to write.

To Kill a Mockingbird.
Love Mockingbird. I should love Hitchhiker’s, but inexplicably I don’t. I may need to re-read Foundation. Been a long time.
 
John Irving rules.

I would have agreed when Irving was in his Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules and the A Prayer for Owen Meany run. Everything since reminds me of Willie Mays stumbling around the outfield for the Mets when he was well past his prime.
 
I can't pick one favorite, but I can think of many novels I've loved. For example:

Tolkien
Huge, and also an excuse for this:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.​

Stephen King is a prolific author, but I don't think anything has matched his earliest books. When I read The Stand in high school, I kept friends waiting for half an hour so I could finish the book before going out. They could stay or go, but I was finishing the book.

Larry McMurtry can really write. A splendid book. Also a great mini-series, in which Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones inhabit the roles of former Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call.

When I think about what is the best novel I've ever read, this is probably it. Joseph Heller never did anything like this again. Fabulous satire. Inspired. Hilarious. Tragic.

When I think about the most dazzling book I've ever read it would definitely be this. It's a puzzle book with a huge payoff. David Mitchell's other stuff is also very good. Lots of prizes and nominations. Another puzzle book worth reading is Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost.

Umberto Eco drops bizarre murders into the middle of the Spanish Inquisition. This is the only one of Eco's otherwise impenetrable books that I've been able to read, but it's very good.

I'm not a fan of Mark Helprin's politics, but he's an incandescently good writer, and his stories make me laugh and cry. The first of his I read was Memoir From Antproof Case, which is also excellent.

Richard Russo has written a lot of great books, some of which are probably better than this one, but this is the first Russo book I read, and it's very funny while being insightful and deeply human.


I wouldn't necessarily place this in the same category as the others, but I enjoyed the book, and it's now being released as a movie with John C, Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

There are lots of books that have affected me (Hardy Boys?), but these are some that jump immediately to mind. What are your favorites?

P.S. Also maybe check out English Passengers, Veronica, and Cryptonomicon.
Obviously, for me, Tolkien tops the list. I reread the entire trilogy every couple of years, and include The Hobbit probably every other time. The entire collection together is my all-time favorite literary work.

In second place would be the only other novel I make an effort to reread regularly, Centennial. I like everything I've read from Michener - I'm still not through the entire library - but this one stands out as his best to me. Even the first chapter - 40 pages on the geological formation of Colorado - holds me enraptured.

Other books that immediately stand out, in no particular order:

Brave New World - In the argument over Huxley and Orwell, I've always sided with Huxley. His dystopia is scarier because it is more realistic. As Neil Postman said: "What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one."

An Instance of the Fingerpost - Iain Pears' masterpiece is a case study in the use of the unreliable narrator. Four people tell the same story, except not only do they disagree on the details, they disagree on what the story even is.

Trinity - I've read several Uris novels. They are all technically excellent, but Trinity was the only one that didn't make me feel that I was kind of, sort of, just maybe, getting lectured at a little bit.

Run - The first novel Ann Patchett wrote after becoming famous, the characters inhabit a world we lived in very recently. It's not a political novel, but the issues of race and community raised in it very much come from the optimistic vision of the possible America we all saw in the wake of the 2004 DNC (the novel includes a scene in which a character walking on campus notices an "Obama 2012" sign in a dorm window).

The Dispossessed - Probably my favorite science fiction novel. I picked it up for fifty cents at a garage sale, and sat on it for years before actually reading it.

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters - Every chapter in this novel is a self-contained story, but they are all tied together beautifully.

Hit Man - One of the funnest crime novels I've picked up, it introduces Keller, your boring, every day, professional assassin and stamp collector.

The Terminal Experiment - Not strictly speaking the best novel ever written, but still one of my favorites, because there is so much going on. The premise is a doctor who wants to pinpoint the exact moment of death after a horrifying experience at an organ harvest, but in the process also accidentally discovers the human soul. Sawyer tackles the thorny issues this raises head-on, and weaves in his protagonist's personal issues into a suspenseful murder mystery involving artificial intelligence. The "twist" resolution of the mystery is a bit obvious, but the journey there is so fun, it's worth it.
 
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I would have agreed when Irving was in his Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules and the A Prayer for Owen Meany run. Everything since reminds me of Willie Mays stumbling around the outfield for the Mets when he was well past his prime.
To your point, that’s the stuff I think about when I think about John Irving. I haven’t kept on since then.
 
I would have agreed when Irving was in his Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules and the A Prayer for Owen Meany run. Everything since reminds me of Willie Mays stumbling around the outfield for the Mets when he was well past his prime.
I remember absolutely loving A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Love Mockingbird. I should love Hitchhiker’s, but inexplicably I don’t. I may need to re-read Foundation. Been a long time.

I just listened to The Second Foundation on recording and thought it was excellent. Although I think Childhood's End was better.
 
Ditto to:

John Irving
Stephen King (actually had been avoiding The Dark Tower series forever until last year...really liked it)
Tolkien

Also:
Wolfe (Bonfire, The Right Stuff, Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test...which leads into two of my favorites novels:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion (my favorite by Kesey)

Also, anything by Pat Conroy (Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, Lords of Discipline)
Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, etc)

I could go on...
 
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And I think I will...

While I also loved Catch 22, I am a big fan of Heller's God Knows. Another book he wrote, Something Happened is very intense and sad.
I remember reading Something Happened probably in high school. I thought the book was great but I think it is my all time favorite book title.
 
Many already named. Stephen King is so underrated . The Stand is my favorite. John Irving, Thomas Wolfe. Herman Wouk Winds of War, Leon Uris Exodus and Mila 18. Donna Tartt A Secret History, Ragtime by Doctorow,
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Gone With the Wind, ( sorry but my earliest truly epic novel that made me fall in love with reading). Alice Walker The Color Purple, French Lieutenant’s Woman, Sophie’s Choice, Barbara Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible. Off the top of my head...
 
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Many already named. Stephen King is so underrated . The Stand is my favorite. John Irving, Thomas Wolfe. Herman Wouk Winds of War, Leon Uris Exodus and Mila 18. Donna Tartt A Secret History, Ragtime by Doctorow,
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Gone With the Wind, ( sorry but my earliest truly epic novel that made me fall in love with reading). Alice Walker The Color Purple, French Lieutenant’s Woman, Sophie’s Choice, Barbara Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible. Off the top of my head...
Exodus is an interesting book. Mostly well-written, it's really hard to get past the Palestinian caricatures throughout. Even scenes which in theory portray Arab characters sympathetically really don't. For example, Ari responds violently to his "friend" voicing the idea that he - an Arab - might marry Ari's sister, but Ari suffers nothing and is afforded no opportunity for growth from this. Without resolution, it seems to be that Ari's disgust at the idea was perfectly proper.
 
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Exodus is an interesting book. Mostly well-written, it's really hard to get past the Palestinian caricatures throughout. Even scenes which in theory portray Arab characters sympathetically really don't. For example, Ari responds violently to his "friend" voicing the idea that he - an Arab - might marry Ari's sister, but Ari suffers nothing an is affording no opportunity for growth from this. Without resolution, it seems to be that Ari's disgust at the idea was perfectly proper.
Man, you have quite the memory. I don’t remember it very well at all, only that I liked all of his books. Sometimes thy don’t hold up well. I may try that again.
Anyone read Fletcher Knebel? I used to love his stuff. Rachel last week was talking about how Seven Days in May somewhat mirrors what’s going on with the Russians, but it’s out of print. I’d love to reread it.
 
Man, you have quite the memory. I don’t remember it very well at all, only that I liked all of his books. Sometimes thy don’t hold up well. I may try that again.
Anyone read Fletcher Knebel? I used to love his stuff. Rachel last week was talking about how Seven Days in May somewhat mirrors what’s going on with the Russians, but it’s out of print. I’d love to reread it.
It's not great memory. I read it recently. It was the most recent Uris book I read. I don't know why it took so long.
 
Anyone read Fletcher Knebel? I used to love his stuff. Rachel last week was talking about how Seven Days in May somewhat mirrors what’s going on with the Russians, but it’s out of print. I’d love to reread it.
Never read him, but I've heard vaguely positive remarks about that book. Might try to hunt it down. I do love a good political thriller.
 
Man, you have quite the memory. I don’t remember it very well at all, only that I liked all of his books. Sometimes thy don’t hold up well. I may try that again.
Anyone read Fletcher Knebel? I used to love his stuff. Rachel last week was talking about how Seven Days in May somewhat mirrors what’s going on with the Russians, but it’s out of print. I’d love to reread it.

I was actually reading Seven Days In May when I heard JFK was shot. I was at IU reading it after lunch.

Rachel said that? Seriously? Oh my!
 
Ditto The Stand. I am familiar with most of the physical settings for the story.

Additions:

Harlot’s Ghost
Centennial
Hunt for Red October.

Edit: Bridge on the Drina

Edit II: Killer Angels.
 
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To Kill a Mockingbird
MacBeth
Julius Ceasar
Ancient Evenings
Winds of War
Most Wilber Smith books (were my fav and loved them as a kid.)

The first three particularly shaped my life and how I saw the world.
 
Despite the gratuitous and telegraphed shot at Atlas Shrugged, I'll agree about Lonesome Dove. As good as the book was/is, the television production was second to none. Contains my favorite scene, where Tommy Lee Jones beats the crap out of the Army scout, after the scout had whipped Newt, and as the awe-struck townspeople stare in open-mouthed wonder and fear after the extreme violence proceeds to calmly and drolly say: "Can't stand rudeness in a man. Won't tolerate it."

A Prayer for Owen Meany is up there. The Art of Racing in the Rain is a particular favorite, as a dog lover. Finally, any of Nelson DeMille's books are way up there.
The shot at Atlas Shrugged is far from gratuitous. That book has set conservatives back for decades. It’s the antithesis, in terms of quality and message, than Rand’s real masterpiece: The Fountainhead.

Catch-22 is my all time fave and Lonesome Dove is also spectacular. Can’t disagree with either of those.

While it may be because of bias, I think Black Hawk Down is an incredible piece of journo-novelism. The access that Bowden had to guys who are otherwise tight-lipped was amazing and he managed to focus on the real story of Mogadishu: the guys who were fighting for their lives.

I also really enjoyed the novel (not movie - tho I suppose that was enjoyable for other reasons) Starship Troopers. The discussion of what it means to be a citizen (and earning it vice being born into it) is quite interesting.
 
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Ditto The Stand. I am familiar with most of the physical settings for the story.

Additions:

Harlot’s Ghost
Centennial
Hunt for Red October.

Edit: Bridge on the Drina

Edit II: Killer Angels.


Lots of agreement
Centennial - locations are my brother's domain
Hunt for Red October
Killer Angels
Mila 18 - Uris on the Warsaw Ghetto
Anything Uris and anything Michener
Any of Alan W. Eckert's historical novels
 
Many already named. Stephen King is so underrated . The Stand is my favorite. John Irving, Thomas Wolfe. Herman Wouk Winds of War, Leon Uris Exodus and Mila 18. Donna Tartt A Secret History, Ragtime by Doctorow,
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Gone With the Wind, ( sorry but my earliest truly epic novel that made me fall in love with reading). Alice Walker The Color Purple, French Lieutenant’s Woman, Sophie’s Choice, Barbara Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible. Off the top of my head...
Uris Uris Uris - I read something by him almost constantly. Mila 18 is my favorite. Surprised?
 
Ditto The Stand. I am familiar with most of the physical settings for the story.

Additions:

Harlot’s Ghost
Centennial
Hunt for Red October.

Edit: Bridge on the Drina

Edit II: Killer Angels.
Don’t you think Stephen King is just vastly underrated? I think it’s party because he just cranks them out. So many authors that I loved early on, get sloppy or lazy after they become bestsellers, or have someone else writing their books. Michener is one I loved early but didn’t enjoy his later work. I just finished Stephen King’s The Outsider and he still generally grabs me on the first page and keeps me entertained. I’ve used his book “ On Writing “ in the classroom also. He hates overuse of adjectives , though and I have a problem with that when I write professionally. Always trying to look for a good adjective .
Killer Angels....yes!
 
Despite the gratuitous and telegraphed shot at Atlas Shrugged, I'll agree about Lonesome Dove. As good as the book was/is, the television production was second to none. Contains my favorite scene, where Tommy Lee Jones beats the crap out of the Army scout, after the scout had whipped Newt, and as the awe-struck townspeople stare in open-mouthed wonder and fear after the extreme violence proceeds to calmly and drolly say: "Can't stand rudeness in a man. Won't tolerate it."

A Prayer for Owen Meany is up there. The Art of Racing in the Rain is a particular favorite, as a dog lover. Finally, any of Nelson DeMille's books are way up there.
Love Art of Racing in the Rain and DeMille. Didn’t like his most recent but Charm School is one of my favorites.
 
Don’t you think Stephen King is just vastly underrated? I think it’s party because he just cranks them out. So many authors that I loved early on, get sloppy or lazy after they become bestsellers, or have someone else writing their books. Michener is one I loved early but didn’t enjoy his later work. I just finished Stephen King’s The Outsider and he still generally grabs me on the first page and keeps me entertained. I’ve used his book “ On Writing “ in the classroom also. He hates overuse of adjectives , though and I have a problem with that when I write professionally. Always trying to look for a good adjective .
Killer Angels....yes!

I'm 1/2 through Outsider. So far, I like it. That being said, my one issue with King is that in many of his books, his endings are waaaay anticlimactic and forgettable. For example, his earlier stuff, like The Stand, The Shining, Carrie, had memorable endings. Under the Dome...wtf? When he was really cranking them out (TommyKnockers, etc) the stories were kind of blah, even though the story telling was so effortless and real. His dialogue is incredible. Then out of the blue would come a home run like Misery or The Green Mile.

As I said earlier, just last year, I finished The Dark Tower series and I really enjoyed it. Many of his fans hated the ending, but I found it to be very satisfying.

I liked his Bachman books...The Long Walk and Rage were real page turners.
 
I love our book threads. My favorite thing to do as a teacher was to find the kid that didn’t like to read and try to figure out what he/she would be interested in. It’s so true if they see their parents reading at home, they will generally grow up to be readers too. I’ve always though travel is so important to give people a different point of view and think outside their own box, but I realize everyone can’t do that. Reading is an even more important way and I’ve always tried to find books that help me learn about other cultures. James Clavell’s Shogun just got added to my list. The one time my mom ever stood up for me against my teacher was when we went to the school library we only had one section we could check books out from. I was reading Nancy Drew in first grade and they wouldn’t let me get it. Mom came in and had me sit with the principal and read it to him, and then I could get what I pleased. She also never censored what I read, These were pretty trashy, but did have some interesting plots. Anyone even heard of Harold Robbins? She read those and I started borrowing them from her when I was about 11 or 12. I always told my kids that they would never ever be bored in life if they liked to read. It’s the thing I miss most about teaching.
 
I'm 1/2 through Outsider. So far, I like it. That being said, my one issue with King is that in many of his books, his endings are waaaay anticlimactic and forgettable. For example, his earlier stuff, like The Stand, The Shining, Carrie, had memorable endings. Under the Dome...wtf? When he was really cranking them out (TommyKnockers, etc) the stories were kind of blah, even though the story telling was so effortless and real. His dialogue is incredible. Then out of the blue would come a home run like Misery or The Green Mile.

As I said earlier, just last year, I finished The Dark Tower series and I really enjoyed it. Many of his fans hated the ending, but I found it to be very satisfying.

I liked his Bachman books...The Long Walk and Rage were real page turners.
Yes, his character development and dialogue is so realistic and effortless, he can make the most ridiculous of plots seem real. Did you read the Mr. Mercedes trilogy? Also good. There was a span where I missed quite a few of his books, but I’m going back and catching up.
 
These are not the great American novels, but if you haven’t read local Bloomington guy, Michael Kortya, you might give him a try. So Cold the Water takes place in French Lick and is a good place to start. Many of the books are mysteries and some have a touch of the supernatural. A couple of his early ones reference Nick’s and Bloomington spots. I’ve heard him give book talks several times. Nice guy too.
 
Yes, his character development and dialogue is so realistic and effortless, he can make the most ridiculous of plots seem real. Did you read the Mr. Mercedes trilogy? Also good. There was a span where I missed quite a few of his books, but I’m going back and catching up.

Have read the Mr. Mercedes trilogy, and, as always the writing/storytelling is so gripping.

John Nichols' New Mexico trilogy (The Milagro Beanfield War, The Magic Journey, and The Nirvana Blues) was very enjoyable.

Oh, and all the Thrones books were very good. Martin needs to get off his ass and finish. If he dies before he finishes, I will be pissed. :mad:
 
Don’t you think Stephen King is just vastly underrated? I think it’s party because he just cranks them out. So many authors that I loved early on, get sloppy or lazy after they become bestsellers, or have someone else writing their books. Michener is one I loved early but didn’t enjoy his later work. I just finished Stephen King’s The Outsider and he still generally grabs me on the first page and keeps me entertained. I’ve used his book “ On Writing “ in the classroom also. He hates overuse of adjectives , though and I have a problem with that when I write professionally. Always trying to look for a good adjective .
Killer Angels....yes!

I don’t know about underrated, overrated, or about right when it comes to authors, artists, or musicians. I know what I like. I’ve only read a few of Stephen King books and I have enjoyed all of them. Christine is one that comes to mind.

I like books with humor and satire but they don’t seem to attract good reviews, Catch 22 being an exception. I also enjoy Frederick Forsyth. I’ve mentioned the Theory of Nothing here, a great satire on academia and research.

I will say that a number of reviewers these days are more concerned with the message of a novel rather than its entertainment or educational value. I enjoy Michael Crichton because I actually learn stuff.
 
I really liked The Sisters Brothers. One of the best ever? Probably not for me, but it was a great read.

I can't pick one favorite, but I can think of many novels I've loved. For example:

Tolkien
Huge, and also an excuse for this:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.​

Stephen King is a prolific author, but I don't think anything has matched his earliest books. When I read The Stand in high school, I kept friends waiting for half an hour so I could finish the book before going out. They could stay or go, but I was finishing the book.

Larry McMurtry can really write. A splendid book. Also a great mini-series, in which Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones inhabit the roles of former Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call.

When I think about what is the best novel I've ever read, this is probably it. Joseph Heller never did anything like this again. Fabulous satire. Inspired. Hilarious. Tragic.

When I think about the most dazzling book I've ever read it would definitely be this. It's a puzzle book with a huge payoff. David Mitchell's other stuff is also very good. Lots of prizes and nominations. Another puzzle book worth reading is Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost.

Umberto Eco drops bizarre murders into the middle of the Spanish Inquisition. This is the only one of Eco's otherwise impenetrable books that I've been able to read, but it's very good.

I'm not a fan of Mark Helprin's politics, but he's an incandescently good writer, and his stories make me laugh and cry. The first of his I read was Memoir From Antproof Case, which is also excellent.

Richard Russo has written a lot of great books, some of which are probably better than this one, but this is the first Russo book I read, and it's very funny while being insightful and deeply human.


I wouldn't necessarily place this in the same category as the others, but I enjoyed the book, and it's now being released as a movie with John C, Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

There are lots of books that have affected me (Hardy Boys?), but these are some that jump immediately to mind. What are your favorites?

P.S. Also maybe check out English Passengers, Veronica, and Cryptonomicon.

[Edited: Added link.]
 
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Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett.

If anyone is into "hard boiled" detective novels, Hammett was the greatest...and this was his best. They say Miller's Crossing is the closest there is to a Red Harvest movie, but I would love to see it made into a real film. I think it would be huge...if they were true to its noir roots.
 
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