Favourite book of all time (or just at the moment)

KevinH · 22-11-2008 8:55pm

East of Eden is mentioned alot on this thread so I thought I'd post ... I'm most of the way through it and I've never really seen it listed as people's favourite book before.

I think it's very good ... adam trask, charles and cal are great characters ... but cathy, lee and samuel hamilton just don't hold together ... if they were more understated characters it would be up there for me but as it is no way.

dohouch · 22-11-2008 9:22pm

Well I actuall bought 2 copies of this for other people, "Auto da Fé by Elias Cannetti" but that was in 1977.

More recently "Birdsong by Sabastian Faulks", did'nt buy copies for anybody, but talked a lot about it. If u want to know what it was like in the trenches of the First World War, this is the book to read.

P.S. The first 100 pages are a love story, and then the war starts.

cautioner · 23-11-2008 9:48pm

I've read "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson several times and it never fails to blow my mind. A very important book for me; pretty much made me want to become a biologist of some form.

Reganio 2 · 25-11-2008 9:52pm

Jackie Loves Johnser OK

That book was top notch. Very good story to it and its just about life in Ireland for the 2 of them. Haven't read it in a while now but I have read it twice before and may do again. Anybody else ever read it? What you think?

Gu3rr1lla · 26-11-2008 3:44am

Walden; Life in the Woods by Thoreau - that guy resonates so much with me

MissIT · 04-01-2009 5:41pm

1984 by George Orwell

Krusty_Clown · 04-01-2009 9:26pm

Life of Pi - Yan Martel - The idea of picking it up to read some more made me smile.
Do androids dream of electric sheep? - Philip K Dick - My preferred vision of the future
The Stand - Stephen King - A great post apocalyptic adventure
The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F Hamilton - The ultimate space opera?

5times · 06-01-2009 4:06am

It's between:

Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem

or

The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon

Chabon probably pips it.

Yo Mamma · 06-01-2009 9:47am

'A Deepness in the Sky' by Vernor Vinge

'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King

MizzLolly · 09-01-2009 11:35pm

Memoirs of a geisha - Arthur Golden

adagio · 10-01-2009 12:37am

Lord of the Rings - the endless possibilities of discovery through travel contained in this book still fills me with optimism.

An Evil Cradling - Brian Keenan's book. I'll never forget his description of the smell and color of a bowl of fruit against a horrifically bleak background. An essential read.

The man who loved a polar bear (and other psychotherapist's tales) - Robert U. Akeret's autobiographical yearning for answers in his latter years has placed characters in my mind that will never fade - Please Read.

Cheers and I'll be making additions to my reading list from your recommendations.:D

Bebra · 12-01-2009 3:42pm

As a kid, it would have been Huckleberry Finn.
All time favourite is probably The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass.

meditraitor · 12-01-2009 3:50pm

Yo Mamma wrote: »

'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King

That good?, Ive been putting of reading it for a while

Mine was The Alchemist, loved it. Not a classic in the sense of East of Edan or Catch 22 but it left me feeling good.....

+ Anything by Steven Erikson

aghastlrbaboon · 12-01-2009 3:59pm

Perfume by Patrick Suskind is an all time favourite. really enjoyable dark humour, an engrossing story and a totally remarkable double barrell ending.

I will throw my affection for sf/fantasy in as well with Frank Herbert's 'Dune' and the first 3 Foundation novels by Asimov ranked as all-time greats. I also think anything i've read by A.E van Vogt has been amazing particularly 'the world of Null-A' , 'the pawns of Null-A' and 'the voyage of the Space Beagle' (stilll cant find a copy of Slan for all my efforts)

Stethebee · 13-01-2009 12:52am

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Malari · 13-01-2009 1:18pm

The Time-Traveller's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger, which I've just re-read. It was such a cool, effortless, unsappy love story with an amazingly original twist. I think it has to be my favourite.

Or...We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. This one was sitting on my shelf for ages because one of the press snippets on the front cover said "for anyone who has or has thought about having kids", which is not me :-) But I identified so much with the main character (the mother, not Kevin!) when I finally read it, and I loved the metaphors and writing style. Fantastic book.

miaowchi · 16-01-2009 1:00am

Bill Bryson -
A Short History of Nearly Everything..... answers sooooo many questions. Everyone has to read this book!!!

SeantheMan · 16-01-2009 1:33am

MissIT wrote: »

1984 by George Orwell

Same

That or the David Gemmel - Troy Trilogy (can't pick 1 ):rolleyes:

af_thefragile · 16-01-2009 5:45pm

The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.
The way this one is written and composed is beyond amazing!

damselnat · 21-01-2009 12:24pm

Have to agree with Wuthering Heights...very challenging, depressing book, but unforgettable...I also love A Clockwork Orange and The Collector, two books I keep coming back to...for all it's incredibility I adore Great Expectations...De Niro's Game for it's sheer understatement and beautiful prose...and The Age of Innocence...*adore*

ArmCandyBaby · 21-01-2009 3:02pm

Shantaram - It sounds ridiculous when summarised as "A convicted armed robber escapes from a maximum security prison, fleas to Bombay, joins the mafia as a smuggler and counterfeiter, gets jailed again, and later joins the war in Afghanistan as a mercenary..." But it's not that kind of book at all. Absolutely phenomenal, even just for it's description of Mumbai (which makes all the stuff mentioned above extra sweet!

)

OldBloke · 21-01-2009 5:02pm

The diving bell and the butterfly - inspiring.

questioner · 21-01-2009 8:11pm

Off the top of my head, Flowers for Algernon - One of the most memorable books I've had the good fortune to come across, I've no problem with others taste but it irritates me when people say they couldnt follow it because of the phonetic writing style of the first quarter of the book.

Portrait of Dorian Gray, One of the few classics that lived up to its reputation, spare but effective writing style coupled with engaging plot.

Read East of Eden years ago and loved every minute, although i did tend to read less critically and could lose myself in a story much more easily back then.

And the Magus by John Fowles, found it depressingly easy to identify with the protagonist.

Guilty pleasures would include the collected works of Stephen King and Irvine Welsh.

mal1 · 22-01-2009 11:19pm

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand for me as well. The ideology of the book mightn't go down well during recession times but the book is still a classic.

Dr. Baltar · 23-01-2009 12:35am

Right now at the moment, I think 1984 by George Orwell is my favourite book.

af_thefragile · 26-01-2009 1:19am

ArmCandyBaby wrote: »

Shantaram - It sounds ridiculous when summarised as "A convicted armed robber escapes from a maximum security prison, fleas to Bombay, joins the mafia as a smuggler and counterfeiter, gets jailed again, and later joins the war in Afghanistan as a mercenary..." But it's not that kind of book at all. Absolutely phenomenal, even just for it's description of Mumbai (which makes all the stuff mentioned above extra sweet! )

Aren't they making a movie of this with Johnny Depp in it?