Your all time favorite novels

[Marvin the Martian]

@Marvin the Martian

After finishing the original Foundation series, I'm taking a break from Asimov. Should I come back to him and read the sequels? Is it worth the effort, or will it just feel like he was forced into it by his publisher?

Meanwhile, I'm going to read some Connie Willis (Passage), and some old Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash), before he became Wordy McWorderson, while I also wait for my holds on N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth series to come through.

I will say it depends on your opinion of the grand reveal. I read the books at their release, the mention of earth began a failure in my suspension of disbelief that kept getting worse. As such, I did not enjoy the sequels.

But most people I met did not have that problem. And it is a good exercise in noting the changes in Asimov's writing style. I have heard it suggested by others that the prequels should be read but not the sequels. But again, if the tie in does not bother you I think you will like them.

I have way too many books in my queue now, but rereading the series with the 2 prequels and 2 sequels is on it.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Finished Connie Willis' Passage. This book takes something out of you. The first two parts are confused and addled, although not as much as the characters, even as it builds to an expected secondary climax. But the confusion makes sense, considering the subject matter. But then, as the pieces begin to fall together in the third part, you are racing to put the puzzle together, and even though you now know exactly where you are going, it is no less emotionally draining. The story is both happy and sad right up until the final page.

I felt tired reading this book, but not in a bad way. Like I'd spent something valuable that was worth spending for the insight I'd gained. Or maybe not insight. Just nuggets of thoughtfulness that the book forced me to consider, carefully and with determination. During the last three chapters, I caught my eyes watering more than a few times, but it wasn't out of either despair or joy. And not even melancholy. I'm not sure what it was, to be honest. But it was something deep and wrenching.

This novel is not one to read on a plane or at a bus stop. You need to find time to sit down and dedicate 100% of your mind to this one.

 

[Hoopsdoc1978]

The wife says I can’t wait for the new Fox series, The Passage, which is premiering January 14th. She says she wants me to watch it with her.

So, like an idiot, I decided I need to read the book, at least, the first of the Trilogy.

The novel by Justin Cronin is OUTSTANDING. Just an epically vast, multi level masterpiece.

I’ll never be able to enjoy the series now. I’m quite sure it won’t be anywhere as good.

 

[hoosboot]

The wife says I can’t wait for the new Fox series, The Passage, which is premiering January 14th. She says she wants me to watch it with her.

So, like an idiot, I decided I need to read the book, at least, the first of the Trilogy.

The novel by Justin Cronin is OUTSTANDING. Just an epically vast, multi level masterpiece.

I’ll never be able to enjoy the series now. I’m quite sure it won’t be anywhere as good.

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.​

Salem's Lot/The Shining/The Stand
​

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.

Lonesome Dove
​

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.

Catch 22
​

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.

Cloud Atlas
​

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.

The Name of the Rose
​

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.

A Soldier of the Great War
​

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.

Straight Man
​

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.

The Sisters Brothers​

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.]

I was cleaning some stuff out of my office when I came across two of my favorites that aren't talked about much:

NO BEAST SO FIERCE: Edward Bunker's stark and riveting account of the challenges of recidivism. IMHO, as authentic a crime novel as there ever will be.

THE VIRGIN SUICIDES: The dark tale of the mysteries of adolescence that owns and embraces the male gaze years before the male gaze was really a big issue.

Both were made into (IMHO, again) really average movies that vividly illustrate the limitations of cinematic adaptations.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

@Rockfish1

Finished Snow Crash tonight. It very much reminded me of Seveneves, in the sense that, it started very promising, but about half way through, I started to get bored and wonder when this guy would just STFU already about some things, but then as it built toward the climax, it had me hooked. I actually think it was a tighter novel than Seveneves, since more of the important threads that got tied off at the end were deployed early, whereas in Seveneves, he often dropped new things into the narrative from nowhere.

Overall, I'd recommend the book, but I'm still not enamored with Stephenson the way I'm told I'm supposed to be. Thirteen years between them, and I don't see much difference between the books. A good story, with some really great dialogue, and too many pages of bullshit interspersed throughout, slowing it down.

Also, the oversexed fifteen-year-old was a bit weird.

 

[NPT]

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.​

Salem's Lot/The Shining/The Stand
​

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.

Lonesome Dove
​

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.

Catch 22
​

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.

Cloud Atlas
​

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.

The Name of the Rose
​

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.

A Soldier of the Great War
​

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.

Straight Man
​

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.

The Sisters Brothers​

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.]

Didn't they make a movie of Lonesome Dove? If so, have you seen it?

 

[Rockfish1]

Didn't they make a movie of Lonesome Dove? If so, have you seen it?

An excellent miniseries.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0096639/

 

[Rockfish1]

@Rockfish1

Finished Snow Crash tonight. It very much reminded me of Seveneves, in the sense that, it started very promising, but about half way through, I started to get bored and wonder when this guy would just STFU already about some things, but then as it built toward the climax, it had me hooked. I actually think it was a tighter novel than Seveneves, since more of the important threads that got tied off at the end were deployed early, whereas in Seveneves, he often dropped new things into the narrative from nowhere.

Overall, I'd recommend the book, but I'm still not enamored with Stephenson the way I'm told I'm supposed to be. Thirteen years between them, and I don't see much difference between the books. A good story, with some really great dialogue, and too many pages of bullshit interspersed throughout, slowing it down.

Also, the oversexed fifteen-year-old was a bit weird.

I preferred Cryptonomicon, which is also an unruly book.

 

[NPT]

An excellent miniseries.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0096639/

Thanks.... I have the book but have never got around to reading it but I may now that you've made me interested in it. Seems like I remember that someone told me they had made a movie of it but I couldn't remember for sure thus my question to you.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I preferred Cryptonomicon, which is also an unruly book.

Yeah, I think I'm going to take a break from Stephenson before I tackle that one.