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Books that totally blew you away

DATo

Active Member
Fail Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. This was on a reading list when I was a junior in high school. The story deals with the possibility of an accidental nuclear war. I was recently discussing this book with a friend who happens to be a professor of physics and he told me he couldn't sleep for a week after reading this book, which was understandable because I couldn't either. This was the greatest thriller I have ever read and I recommend it highly.

The Hound Of The Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle. I first read this at a relatively young age and having already read The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes I was well acquainted with the backstory of Holmes and Watson. The story read so fluidly and was so interesting that it was hard for me to put the book down. This was another of those books that ended too soon. If it had stretched 900 pages I wouldn't have minded a bit. I think it would be fair to say that this novel is Doyle's flagship of the Holmes canon.

David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens. This was Dickens' favorite of all his novels and it is my favorite as well. The book can be read superficially and one can be highly entertained, or the reader can analyze it for a plethora of Dickens trademark devices like foreshadowing and metaphorical allusions and symbolism. I absolutely loved this book.

To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The "Hey Boo" moment of this book remains the most magical experience of my entire reading life. For the life of me I didn't see it coming and when it did it blew my face off. I literally gasped and had to put the book down because my eyes were so teared up I couldn't read. Every word of this book was golden. I personally consider this book to be The Great American Novel which critics and reviewers have been forever searching. They can stop: it has already been written.
 
There is a BAR Booklist you can also add your Memorable Books to (or vote for) if you are so inclined. :)
 
Just finished a book that stands out head and shoulders above any other novel I can remember reading:
Stoner by John Williams.​
It looks like it may be headed for my Best of the Best for 2014.
 
The Rebel by Albert Camus really put a lot of things into perspective for me.

Frankenstein. I first read it when I was 14 and loved the gothic horror aspect of it. Re-reading it as an adult, the loneliness in the subtext (although I guess it's not all that subtle) got under my skin. It's just the right balance of sci-fi, horror and tragedy.

The Stand (re-release "complete" version). It goes a little askew in the third act, but those first 100 pages or so....probably the scariest thing I've ever read.
 
Just finished a book that stands out head and shoulders above any other novel I can remember reading:
Stoner by John Williams.​
It looks like it may be headed for my Best of the Best for 2014.

I have just put Stoner on my "To Be Read" list. Thanks for the recommendation!
 
I have just put Stoner on my "To Be Read" list. Thanks for the recommendation!
Thanks for your confidence. I hope you enjoy it. It is off the beaten track by way of story line, but an overwhelming favorite on a different forum. I'll be glad to hear your reactions.
 
Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey is one of my favourites. A book that had me laughing, crying, and thinking about Indian society and culture (among many other things)... Actually, Family Matters and A Fine Balance were pretty good too. Let's put them up there.

Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, more for the imaginative setting and characters.

And, of course, Nabokov's Lolita.
 
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