Favourite novels about families.

Buddenbrooks, by Thomas Mann.

I chose it, because I like the descriptions of that period (German Empire), that town (Lübeck), those people ... ... ...
The "decline and fall of a family" mirrors in unique fashion the tensions between 19th-century traditions and 20th-century transformations.

link: The Buddenbrook House

I haven't read that one myself, Walter, but find that a fascinating time in history.

At the moment I'm reading a book of short stories by Alice Munro -The Lives of Girls & Women. Beautifully & honestly written stories of growing from childhood to adolescence in a small town.
And about generations: the mother's struggle to overcome the religious fanaticism & cruelty of her own mother. As she watches her daughter sample different churches in the town in an attempt to find out if there is a god.
I like it that the stories were written from the young girl's perspective. Her questions & perceptions are so fresh & candid. She is such a thinker & so smart!

The Cottonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver.
Cloudstreet - Tim Winton (but, you prolly know about that one)
Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells

little k

I have seen the Cootonwood Bible praised to the skies on Abuzz, many times ... What is it about this book that seems to engross everyone, I wonder? Perhaps I should read it, too?

Yes, I'm familiar with Cloud Street, but didn't finish it for some reason. Maybe I should give it another go?

You Can't Go Home Again and Look Homward Angel- Thomas Wolf

Long Day's Journey Into Night - Eugene O'Neil (its a play but reads like a good book)

The Jalna series by Mazo de la Roche was the first series about families that I loved. Then the Forsythe Sage by Galsworthy. I've read that cover to cover to cover a few times. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields is probably the most recent book about a family that was just perfect for me. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. Many of the Alice Munro books. hmmmmmmmmm, there are more, but those are particular favourites.


ooooh and let's not forget the Swallows and Amazons books by Arthur Ransome. Children's books that i discovered as an adult. A wonderful series about brothers and sisters.

ohhhhh and i do like the Buddenbrooks as well.

ehBeth-- I really enjoyed Cat's Eye. It was among those I picked up later for a second read.

littlek-- Is YaYa as good as the movie? Better? Thought the movie was great.

A little darker, but my most luxurious family read was Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence.

I must say Anne Tyler is great for funky families. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Patchwork Planet and Accidental Tourist are worth a look.

Brideshead - Evelyn Waugh

ehBeth & Lash

LOVED Cat's Eye! I've also given it a 2nd read. (Does anyone remember the "Mean & Evil Characters ..." thread on Abuzz?) Oh, that Cornelia was a NASTY one!!!

Ah, Sons & Lovers! Wonderful! The hold that the mother had on her son! Excruciating.

Fall of the House of Usher?

I cant think of a family book really

oh wait...Little Women or Little House...those were nice when I was a wee one.

Actually I enjoyed Bonsetters Daughter but, not many people I think to recommend that to because my girlfriends were a bit put off by it and couldnt finish it but, I thought it wonderful.

Joanne

I read & listened to a recorded performance of Long Days Journey .. many years ago ... How terribly sad that family was! Never forgotten it.

Have any of you read Lawrence Durrel's hysterically funny account of his eccentric family's stay on an island in Greece? So funny I nearly wet myself laughing .. And delightful!

Lash - Yaya, the book, is waaaay better than the movie.

MsOlga - The Cottonwood Bible is about a missionary who takes his family to the congo. He is a hell-bent evangelical who married a not-so-religious southern girl. They have 4 daughters. You learn about the congo and about the working of a very strange family. It is truely fantastic.

I haven't read L. Durrel's book, I like funny.

Thanks for a reminder about Buddenbrooks -- a book I read and reread as a teenager and loved. Brideshead, too. Have just finished Franzen's The Corrections, is a great read. The family is funny, awful, and very real. Gerald Durrell (a naturalist) actually wrote the memoir about Corfu, not Lawrence. They're brothers, barely speak, and pronounce their last name differently. Talk about FAMILY!!

The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux

I have always thought Little Women too
sweet and perfect to be anything but some
odd person's personal fantasy. The same
goes for a good many "family" stories. I
truly did enjoy The Deep End Of The Ocean,
and The World According To Garp and there
is another one on the tip of my tongue...guess
I'll be back later when my memory returns.These
may seem peculiar choices for a "family" book,
but then, all families are very different.

White Noise by Don DeLillo. Not just about families, but a big family is the setting for a rollicking look at contemporary life in U.S. It's got it all: love, fear of death, and an airborne toxic event...