Your Favourite Book of all Time

scojones

DaveMcG wrote:

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, at the moment.

I absolutely love this book.

Dagnir Glaurung

It's very difficult to choose a single book. At this moment I'll go with The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

perfidiousmonk

Glad to see so many out there with good taste. Between ye all ye have managed to name many of my favourite books and, as I can also not choose one, here are a few additional ones;

Crime and Punishment by Doestoyevsky,
Anything by Conrad,
The Trial by Kafka,
The Outsider by Camus,
Baudilino by Umberto Eco.
And if ye want something a bit newer, check out the footbal factory, can't remember authors name, but it's really good.
There seems to be some controversy surrounding Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho. My advice is do not get blinded by the insanity, the violence and the depravity, this is the point. The book is a satire of the darkest kind. As far I can see the point is that, though Bateman is so obviously disturbed, the world he lives in is so vacuous and fake, full of self absorbed children, that he is never discovered. Power and privilege give one the means to cover unfortunate secrets, that is what the book is about.

takola

The Guardians of the Tall Stones By Moyra Caldecott

That definitely has to be my favourite book.

Blush_01

Far from the Maddening Crowd - Thomas Hardy.

Because I'm a big sucker for a romance where the female protagonist isn't a bloody wimp.

And I've been appalingly bad at reading over the past few years.

muesli_offire

originally posted by perfidiousmonk
There seems to be some controversy surrounding Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho. My advice is do not get blinded by the insanity, the violence and the depravity, this is the point. The book is a satire of the darkest kind. As far I can see the point is that, though Bateman is so obviously disturbed, the world he lives in is so vacuous and fake, full of self absorbed children, that he is never discovered. Power and privilege give one the means to cover unfortunate secrets, that is what the book is about.

Yes, and since it's impossible in the world we live in to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves. It's an important message, crucial really, and it's beautifully stated in this book.

I read Baudolino a few yrs ago and enjoyed it. Although not a great fan of Eco's professorial swagger and quixotic ruminations I did develop an attachment to it in a 'here's the fantasy-book with the speech impediment that none of the other fantasy-books will play with' kind-of-way, but people get to like him cos he tells lots of late medieval sex-jokes.

Recent favourites:
A Seperate Reality - Carlos Castaneda
Tales of Power - Carlos Castaneda

Drug-books. Highly recommended, immensely popular - although I've only met two people who've read him. Shamanist, guru, magician, sham-artist, guy who took too many drugs - you decide. Why this man never fomed a cult I do not know.

Anyway I must return to listening to my new Robert Palmer cassette.

dream brother

The count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas!
such a good read and surprised that it's not mentioned more!

growler

Catch 22 , Joseph Heller..works on so many levels.

The World According to Garp. and most John Irving novels.

Gullivers Travels.. Jonathan Swift as relevant today as it ever was.

An Unsung Hero, the story of Tom Crean on the Antartic expedition with Scott, amazing tale of heroism , bad weather and adversity.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, for the sheer pleasure of laughing out loud.

The Baroque Cycle : Neil Stephenson, fascinating historical fiction.

All Patrick o Brians books about Jack Aubrey and the royal navy, amazingly well written and educational to boot.

arctic lemur

LM Alcott 'little women'
James Herriot 'all creatures great and small'
Sue Townsend #Adrian Mole Series'

hiscan

the bfg
read it many moons ago now

youcancallmeal

I quite enjoyed Leon Uris's Exodus even though it was heavily biased.

emeraldstar

Pride and Prejudice
My fave ever since I was 10 and have to read it at least once every year ...love it!!

Oobie

I recently finished the His Dark Materials trilogy and couldn't believe how brilliant they were so I think they're now my all time favourite books.

Strokesfan

Check out www.whatshouldireadnext.com - type in your fav book to date and it should recommend similarly good books....

xzanti

I don't read half as much as I should but what I have read and loved are... The Lord of the Flies.. The Catcher in the Rhye... The Da Vinci Code... A Child Called It.... Mr. Nice... and all the the Brendan O'Carroll books (very funny IMO) Those are the ones that stand out in my head...

helles belles

Pride and Prejudice
read it at least three times a year since i was 9/10.
i saw the bbc version when i was younger and i was enthralled and later i even bought dvd of it.:D

RuggieBear

growler wrote:

The Baroque Cycle : Neil Stephenson, fascinating historical fiction.

Cryptonomicon is my favourite Stephenson book and fav of all time

theCzar

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, its a well written and brilliantly researched... pfffffffffffftt-hahahahahahahaha, couldn't keep a straight face. :rolleyes:

but seriously folks the best book ever is, Catch 22, or is it East of Eden? Bugger, it was hitchhikers guide wasn't it? No, wait, Count of Monte Cristo? Nope, definitely Lord of the Rings, or is it? How many answers am I allowed?

The Bollox

I haven't read that many books, but of what I have read I would say The Hitch Hikers Guide, it's a true masterpiece, Douglas Adams must have had many a screw loose to be able to think outside the box like that. (did you know he was asked to name Pink Floyd's album, The Division Bell, and he is in the video of High Hopes)

Youbee

My favourite book is On The Road by Jack Kerouac - Inspirational!
Puts me in a good mood for a month every time I read it. (5 times and counting)
TnaG showed a film about kerouac on wednesday but it was cock.

da_deadman

Well I'd have to say my absolute fave is the Lord of the Rings. Fan-bloody-tastic!

But one that comes a pretty close second in my favourite books is 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' by Dave Eggers. For me, this was one of those books that you don't want to stop reading but you want to stay exactly where you are and read every single word in one go. And to think I got so much enjoyment from stg£2 in a charity shop in Edinburgh...

amptypockets

hard to pick just one so here's my top 5

fortress of solitude- jonathan lethem
his dark materials- phil pullman
hitchhikers guide to the galaxy- douglas adams
love in a time of cholera- gabriel garcia marquez
the princess bride- william goldman

Bandana boy

the princess bride was such a brilliant book

but i read his dark materials twice and while i enjoyed them i dont understand this "best thing ever" tag.
LotR great
but for
Fun/Humour "Good omens" T Pratchett & Neil Gaiman" just edges out Guards Guards and the rules of etiquette

Heart "To kill a mocking Bird" nothing else comes close

Action "Bourne identity" Damn you Matt Damon for not being as cool as the real Jason bourne

Sci-Fi/Fanatasy by a whisker the magcian series but I am liking Juliet E Lewis two series a lot

Oh and Non fiction i really liked Freakonomics

Deer

My favourite book in the past six years has definately been The Ground Beneath her Feet by Salman Rushdie. It's the book that made me stop reading chick lit trash and discover how good reading was again.

gracehopper

1.Lord of the rings

2. Shantaram

3. Celestine prophesy

lu22

ringolevio, by emmett grogan changed my way of thinking forever!
on the road, by mr kerouac has a resident spot beside my bed!
and starter for ten by david nicholls.... very funny !

friggs

my fav book of all time would definately be Ken Follet's " The Pillars of the Earth"! A truly magnificent read.

Then most Wilbur Smith books and all the Nelson DeMille books

kinaldo

hmmm...

I should really get back to reading more. I've had On the Road by Jack Kerouac for about 3 years now after my old man recommended it but still haven't gotten past the first page

as for my favourites...

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote. It's like the perfect 3 minute pop song wrapped up in a couple of hundred pages. The film failed by comparison with the exception of Audrey Hepburn. Capote was a genius. In Cold Blood is also one of my favourites, but not something I would read again anytime soon.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is easily the funniest sh1t I've ever read and American Psycho is not far behind. Have fond memories of reading the latter on the New York subways a couple of years ago. Describing Genesis' music as funkier and blacker than anything Prince or MJ did still gets me going

uncle ernie

either trainspotting or to kill a mocking bird

Beruthiel

amptypockets wrote:

his dark materials- phil pullman

I can't seem to find this on play.com
does it come in three parts and if so, what is the name of each one?
thanks