Best book you've ever read..ever!

Phibsboro

a childish subject i know but thats my point in a way... In hindsight, whats the book that has meant the most to you? Without rereading it, what would you pinpoint as your best ever book?

I say without rereading cos I think sometimes books work at a certain age or period of life and not so much after. So for me, I'd say the first book to get to me was I Am David - required reading in 2nd year school. Luckily I read ahead and got all my crying out the night before the killer scene - i had never seen so many 14 yr old boys in floods in school before

After that I went through loads of arty stuff without much involment except maybe Mann's Death In Venice, tho then only in comparision to the sympathetic treatment given to the protaganist in the movie.

And then in my early twenties I was given Catcher In The Rye by someone who was amazed I hadn't read it. And to my amazement it ... it killed me, as Holden might say Totally killed me, if you know someone who managed to get through their teenage years without reading it, give it to them as a pressie, they'll remember you for life.

And then more recently... I had almost given up on serious reading when a friend lent me Only Let Me Go to read on holidays. I started to read it on the plane over and then rationed myself to two hours a day. I finished it on the second last day of the holiday and wasn't really the better of the experience for months afterwards. I am tempted to say it has haunted me to this day but that exaggerates the point...what I will say is that it doesn't have a whole lot to do with human cloning but much more to do with the human condition.

So, that's me. Best book you've ever read... ever?

stabu

Very tricky and probably unadvisable to call ... mostly for reasons you mention in passing ...it depends on what's going on in your life, the impact could be greater or lesser.

It may also be a good read for the wrong reasons, cos you identify with some protagonist. Catcher in the Rye, has too much of a name in my opinion ... i.e., too many people get given that book to read, in my opinion - gets too much recognition, you know. It's like, kind of, the world is divided into people who have read it and those who haven't. However, it's actually far from being a universal book, in the same way I am David definitely is.

But you asked a question ... and I go for The Odessa File, especially chapter 1.

CAL2

As you say its all about time and place but here goes anyway:

Atomised - cos when i finished it i threw it at the wall as I was so disgusted with the ending - anything that draws a reaction like this is pretty amazing


As it is in heavan - cos the radio/screen play is beautiful

The Outsider - cos it undestands the beauty and tragicness of humunaity.

Next book to read is Beautiful Losers - cos I love L Cohen and the time is right......hope I wont be disappointed but then again i rarely am...

And yeah cathcer in the rye is good but over rated....

mrsdewinter

My feelings and outlook at the time of reading definitely come into play when I'm judging a book.

I read Catcher In The Rye when I was a claustrophobic 15-year-old who was just over a phase of hating the world. Accordingly, reading Catcher was amazing, with Holden's anger and insights expressed in a language I could understand. It was the first time it ever happened to me. Friends of mine who read it a couple of years later were much more :rolleyes: about it.

Anyway, for whatever reasons, the books that took me to a different dimension are: Catcher In The Rye, Rebecca (what can I say? I was a fugged-up 19-year-old who identified with the wraith-like second wife), Colm Toibin's The Master (don't know what that says about me) and Jane Eyre.

I'll keep looking for the next good book that will take my breath away. All tips gratefully accepted...

SuzyBoo

The trilogy Eustace and Hilda by L. P. Hartley. The first part The Shrimp and the Anemone was recommended reading for Leaving Cert in late 70's. Didnt read it then but a year or so later I read the trilogy. Have re-read it a different stages of my life over the last 30 years and will re-read it at intervals until the end. Beautiful evocation of Edwardian childhood, and the foreward to the novel, written by Hartley's close friend, I still have not succeeded in reading without crying.

Also, William Trevor's short story, The Ballroom of Romance, will break your heart. As someone once said, the unexamined life is not worth living but the examined one will make you want to kill yourself!

So many books, so little time....

Phototoxin

I hate a lot of classics.

Nothing I've read is particularly sticking out at me although 'I'm tired.

I did like the little red car and the little red hen. I know the former off by heart.