whats ur fav book

My favorite book of this month is "The structure of Evolutionary Theory" by Steve Gould. Its pompous. its ful of really bad writing, its a treasure of thought and its his last work. I love it. But it takes a dedicated couple of weeks.

My favorite book of all time? Tough choice. THE IDIOT by Dostoevsky, or THE LONG GOODBYE by Raymond Chandler, or maybe my favorite is the next book that I am going to write myself...

Favorite of favorites??? probably the Virginian. A treasure to me for sort of odd reasons, a paperback circa 1955. A transitional book, the earliest I remember being a part of me becoming myself. Not a book I would pick as the wisest, best written, etc. But the one I would save from the raging river of time.

Long term favourite: The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing

Long term favourite: The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing

Msolga, I wish you would explain to me what is so great about The Golden Notebook. Every time I pick it up and start reading it it seems so dreary, altough sexually frank.

larry,

If you've read the book what explanation are you interested in? Other than the usual "poo-poo on your taste" bit.

Craven:

I wasn't asking you, I was asking Msolga why she thought the book was so great. Butt out.

That question is not possible to answer with me i really cant single out.
growing up with 3 pastors in my immediate family the bible has by far been the most influential book in my life, i find its stories did and still hold a lot of meaning to me. their are alot of books that i read when i was young that are favoriets, robinson crusoe, Jules Vernes books like the mysterious island and twenty thousand leagues under the sea, the Hobbit and Watership Down. I will read these to my children, if i ever have any.....i read mostly non-fiction and if i listed one, i would have to list a couple hundred more. the collections of bill watersons calvin $ hobbes comics have brought me a lot of joy. I consider Calvin and Hobbes to be great art.

the kama sutra

larry r

What do I like about the Notebook? Many things. But sexual frankness wasn't the most important.
* I found all Lessing's writings at this time in her life fascinating - Africa, London, Communism (youthful idealism followed by disillusionment with the restrictions on writers & artists), political correctness vs emotional honesty & integrity, etc.
* About the Notebook in particular: I loved the way that she interwove the "fiction" story throughout the book with the various notebooks (political, emotional, art/writing, etc.) I was very impressed at how she attempted to reconcile all the different & conflicting aspects of the life of Anna, the writer with the writer's block.
* I loved her conversations with Mother Sugar (the psychiatrist she consulted about her inability to write). The discussions about art & the individual, freedom & political commitment, emotional honesty ..
* I found her recreation of her idealistic life in Africa, followed by the austerity of London & restrictions of the Communist Party in the 1950s vivid & engrossing.

There is much I loved about that book & I read it a number of times, years ago. Possibly the reason I found her writings (at this stage of her life) so engrossing was that she spoke of aspects of life that I was very preoccupied with myself. She tackled so many important questions with integrity. She was an inspiration.

I guess what writing we like or don't like is a very subjective thing, larry.
Probably for you, too. What you found dreary I found rich & inspirational.

A fine Balance, by Rohintan Mistry - one of the very few books which had a profound impact on my life and made me cry buckets !!

Gautam

Tell us a bit about this book ... I'm intrigued!

Hmm...currently, The Debt to Pleasure, by John Lanchester, a culinary thriller written in the first person with deft Dickensonian prose. Neat little book, with a lot of culinary history and recipes woven into the intriguing story. Big fan of Poe, and Conan Doyle. No movie can do justice to Stoker's Dracula. Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky, another book that really engrossed me, but the movie fell short. Kerouac, On the Road, great book...not a huge fan of the other novels he wrote....maybe Dr. Sax. Shakespeare, Chaucer, Swinburne....The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks, that book freaked me out.

fav books
favourite author is Dorothy Dunnett for the sheer quality of her writing, thorough research, fast moving intricate plots, not treating the reader as an idiot and leaving you work things out for yourself, rich characterisation, the way you learn about everyday life in varied countries at a particular era of time. They are totally brilliant.

Convoluted like le Carre, switch the brain on!


if you fancy reading anything by her, start with The Game of Kings - the first in the Lymond series. 6 thick books that start in Scotland when Mary Queen of Scots is a child, the 'hero' returns to Edinburgh, an outlaw and amongst other mayhem, robs his mother and friends at knifepoint and sets light to the castle..... Over the 6 books you travel through Ireland, France, Turkey and the Mediterranean, the Knights of St John, to Russia, England and back to Scotland - breathtaking and a fascinating insight into the world at the time, its politics, morals, daily life, smells .... you also eventually discover why he does the things he does!

Lighter relief: Terry Pratchett, Thorne Smith, Anne McCaffrey, ....

3 favorites that come to mind
Man I guess 2 of my favorites woould be called "magical realism"
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" the acknowledged masterpiece, and
"Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin
the other one is "Gain" by Richard Powers
I've read everything by each of the above authors (or tried my best to) and they just don't have the perfection that the ones I cited do
I just discovered this website, so this is my first time
If anyone has read any or all of those three and could suggest something along similar lines and quality I'd be grateful

Most favourite ever, probably Bulgakov's Master and Margarita (not sure about the English title, read it in russian)
Brothers Karamazov would be up there too
Read everything from William Sarroyan and John Irving
Jerome Klapka Jerome's 3 Men on a Bummel
Love the magical realism too, we have a few grand pieces in Slovak

Milan Simecka's Circle of Defense

Depends on the mood really.

Dagmaraka makes a point. She said 'mood', but for me it's a little more. My memories of some books has as much to do with the memory of a season or time in my life when I read it, as it has to do with the book. Sometimes, I pick these up to get back in that cozy place.

These are like old slippers to me:
Hawaii by James Michener. A romantic windy, overcast week, when my high school boyfriend was away with his family. I was quite the tortured soul, alone with the generations of Hawaii. Heavenly.

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood. I was a young mother, sent kids and husband off packing for the first real free time in eleven years. (I had to work, they went to the beach.) I luxuriated over every silly, well-written but soap opera-ish word.

Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence. Sitting in my immaculately cleaned, tiny apartment, my baby's bassinet next to me, hearing his miraculous breathing. He slept, I read.

Glad for this thread. Its been too long since I looked back in on the Robber Bride. :wink:

Over time, I've enjoyed Anne Rivers Siddons, LOVED Anne Tyler,...