Suggest just one book to read.

[murphyz]

On many forums I see people listing their favourite books, and must say I disagree with many, as I am sure many will disagree with me...and so I pose this question.

Can you name here just one book that you would suggest others should read. Do not suggest Harry Potter or a world renowned book that everyone knows of, such as Lord of the Rings, but instead make it one book that you enjoyed and which others may not have been introduced to.

Again, I urge that you limit your suggestion to just one book, and any links to the book would be appreciated.

I should go first then - right?

Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things

The book is set in India and is based primarily around a twin boy and girl who grow up there. The novel is highly verbose and beautifully desriptive, however can be confusing when you first read it and is well worth a second read when you know where the story is heading - simply due to the fact the start of the book is 23 years into the future of the lives of the twins and it jumps back and forth throughout, and also because there are things that occur, even in the first chapter, which arise later in the book and it's upon a second read that you truely appreciate it.

The novel's main theme, I find, is 'Time as Destroyer' and you may notice this theme running throughout the novel, and somehow being balanced out by a single scene of true love.
Readers who are fans of Indian literature may see influence from authors such as Rushdie (Midnight's Children) but also that it is influential of current authors, such as Amitav Ghosh (The Glass Palace).

This is Roy's debut (and only) novel and won the Booker prize in 1997 after taking Roy six years to write. She has now moved on to political essays and recently spent time in jail for expressing her political views.

Well worth reading, and perhaps a little too well known to suggest to the majority. However, by looking upon the members and their posts on this forum I feel that it is worthy of suggestion and not many of you would have read it. I do suggest it for a 'monthly group read' at some point in the future.

Mxx

 

[Samurai Chicken]

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

 

[murphyz]

I see in other threads that you are suggesting this. Can you give us more info such as what it is about and why you like it so much, perhaps also what books it may be similar to?

Mxx

 

[funes]

murph, I haven't read Gravity's Rainbow but I am familiar with Pynchon. In any event, Gravity's Rainbow is pretty much the American version of Joyce's Ulysses . If you're curious, you might want to start with The Crying of Lot 49 .

 

[Martin]

Right, one book only... Lemme think...

Well, I've recently read an astonishingly good book, by a twenty-something yeard old ... well ... kid, really (I'm 23, and I can only dream of what he accomplished).

I'm talking about 'Everything Is Illuminated', by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Here's the blurb:
With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man -- also named Jonathan Safran Foer -- sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.

Read this, read this, read this.

Oh, and by the way, 'quixotic' means 'Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality'. Pssst, don't tell anyone I looked it up...

Cheers, Martin

 

[murphyz]

sounds good Martin, thanks. I think I will give it a go when I get through some of my backlog of books.

Cheers

Anyone else?

Mxx

 

[phil_t]

I know lots of people have enjoyed the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, but i just read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency again and i have to say its just fantastic - nothing makes sense until the last ten pages, which is one sign of a good book

 

[PatrickBateman]

I am going to have to suggest "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis. I found it much better than the movie, which was somewhat of a disappointment even though i saw it previous to reading the book.

Its a narrative, Patrick Bateman is the main character, he is in his twenties and works for Peirce and Peirce, it takes place in 1989-1990, and is more to show the culture of the period than anything else. Bret Easton Ellis is one of the more detailed writers I have read and it shows in this book. It is pretty graphic and goring so if you don't like that kind of stuff you might want to stay away from this book though its a very good read.

 

[repairman_jack]

i suggest "The Tomb" by F. paul wilson

heres the summary:
Here we first meet Repairman Jack, who most assuredly does not tinker with appliances. He fixes "situations" for people, often putting himself in deadly danger-for a fee. He's approached by two people today. The first is an Indian diplomat with the UN who wants him to retrieve a family heirloom, a necklace stolen from his mother during a vicious mugging. The second is his estranged lover, Gia, who dropped him when she learned how he made his living; now she wants to hire him to find her elderly aunt who vanished without a trace from her bedroom the night before.

During the course of "fixing" these two problems, Jack will meet the beautiful and erotic Kolabati, and encounter the horrifying rakoshi. (He'll also relive his first fix-it job as a teenager.) Gradually Jack will come to realize that the two jobs are linked, and that an ancient vengeance has reached from the days of the Raj to ensnare Gia's daughter Vicky.

and i looked at some websites and its average rating was 4/5

 

[EmptyM]

"Replay" by Ken Grimwood

 

[DamianJB]

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Unbelievably Short, Sweet and Dramatic...

 

[Ashlea]

What a great thread that I missed! Good one to bring back from hibernation.

Time and Again

Makes me wish more novels were "illustrated." Si Morley is picked by a government program to slip back in time. The book includes pics and drawings from his trip. Unlike most time travel concepts, you don't have to have a machine, it's all in the power of the mind, which I find a lot more fun.

Skip the sequel (From Time to Time) and grab his short story collection instead, About Time.

 

[Litany]

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas. I know it's a classic and that everyone here will have heard of it, but it still gets overlooked by people. Either they're put off reading classics by being forced to read them in school, or they go for more mainstream titles by Dickens or the Bronte sisters. Well, this book is an absolute treasure from start to finish. I know it looks long and daunting, but this book has everything. A tale of love, revenge, wrongful imprisonment, hidden treasure, sword fights, murder, the works.

And don't be put off if you saw the film and thought it was a bit pants. They never manage to do this book justice. The version I've linked to has the true story that it was (very loosely) based on in the introduction, and all I can say is crikey. Admittedly some of the characters are a little one dimensional, and it's also a little wordy (he was paid by the word afterall), but they're good words damnit.

I love adventure books and this book is one of the best adventures ever. Dumas knew how to buckle a swash. Truly a master of the genre and one of the few books named a classic and actually worthy of the accolade.

 

[Wabbit]

Right, one book only... Lemme think...

Well, I've recently read an astonishingly good book, by a twenty-something yeard old ... well ... kid, really (I'm 23, and I can only dream of what he accomplished).

I'm talking about 'Everything Is Illuminated', by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Here's the blurb:
With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man -- also named Jonathan Safran Foer -- sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.

Read this, read this, read this.

Oh, and by the way, 'quixotic' means 'Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality'. Pssst, don't tell anyone I looked it up...

Cheers, Martin

A friend of mine read this. As she read it she would tell me what was happening in each chapter so in a way I have "read it" too lol FANTASTIC book

Regards
SillyWabbit

PS: will post back with my recommendation later as I have no time now!

 

[kskyhappy]

just one book are you kidding? if i knew who i was recommending for i could take a stab at it!

okay so if you are recommending "god of small things" (which i haven't read due to it's best seller status putting me off), though i assume it's some sort of spiritual book about not overlooking the small things in life, kind of like Frank lloyd wright saying "god is in the details", somebody probably dies and the protagonist gets by beautifully by realising just how great flowers are minutes before saving a small village of peasants from an oppressive regime or developers, the sum total of which is how great the author is for pointing all this out to us lesser mortals.

oops sorry murphyz didn't mean to rant or in any way attack your recommendation in fact i mean to read it at some point! my branflakes were stale this morning and the coffee hasn't sunk in yet.

anyway i recommend "astonishing the gods" by Ben Okri, it's like stepping into a richly painted oil painting whilst the colours are still wet and smudgeable, i don't know which category to put it in, something along the lines of a surreal fable.

ksky - apologises to murphyz again for being a philistine about god of small things ( i could have erased it but like chicken soup a rant is good for the soul)

 

[Wabbit]

Treasure Island!



Great book! Everybody should read this at one point. It really is wonderful! What's so good about it? Well, for one, it has pirates! ARRRRR. There be plenty O pirates, pirate lingo and pirate type going on! There's adventure and mystery by the bucket( of grog )full! And finally, the book is just really well written. The plot is tight. The tension is maintained. The characters are great and the story moves well. Oh, and it's god PIRATES! ARRRR

So, be yea not a scurvy landlubber and get yea a copy O treasure island!

Failing that, if yea be poor! Here be an online version for you to read. X be marking the spot! ARRRRRR

X

Regards
SillyWabbit

 

[VTChEwbecca]

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

The interplay between the Chinese and American cultures is fascinating. Its been a while since I've read this particular book (I plan on re-reading it soon), but its always been one of my favorites.

This is from Books a Million:

The Hundred Secret Senses is an exultant novel about China and America, love and loyalty, the identities we invent and the true selves we discover along the way. Olivia Laguni is half-Chinese, but typically American in her uneasiness with her patchwork family. And no one in Olivia's family is more embarrassing to her than her half-sister, Kwan Li. For Kwan speaks mangled English, is cheerfully deaf to Olivia's sarcasm, and sees the dead with her "yin eyes."

Even as Olivia details the particulars of her decades-long grudge against her sister (who, among other things, is a source of infuriatingly good advice), Kwan Li is telling her own story, one that sweeps us into the splendor, squalor, and violence of Manchu China. And out of the friction between her narrators, Amy Tan creates a work that illuminates both the present and the past sweetly, sadly, hilariously, with searing and vivid prose.

"Truly magical...unforgettable...this novel...shimmer with meaning."--San Diego Tribune

 

[RaVeN]

Skip the sequel (From Time to Time) and grab his short story collection instead, About Time.

Time and Again is a wonderful book Ash and I agree about the sequel. I didn't know about the book of shorts though. I'll have to check it out, thanks.

My suggestion is one I've mentioned on here a few times before. Peace Like a River by Lief Enger.

It's set in the '60's and has the feel of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Painted House. I defy any one to read it and not enjoy it.


RaVeN

 

[Crystal]

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery.

Not a thick one, only about 100pages. But I like it for its conveying the delicate soul. There is secret of what is really important in life, and you will find it in this very little book.

(maybe many of you have read it???)

 

[Wolf]

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas. I know it's a classic and that everyone here will have heard of it, but it still gets overlooked by people. Either they're put off reading classics by being forced to read them in school, or they go for more mainstream titles by Dickens or the Bronte sisters. Well, this book is an absolute treasure from start to finish. I know it looks long and daunting, but this book has everything. A tale of love, revenge, wrongful imprisonment, hidden treasure, sword fights, murder, the works.

And don't be put off if you saw the film and thought it was a bit pants. They never manage to do this book justice. The version I've linked to has the true story that it was (very loosely) based on in the introduction, and all I can say is crikey. Admittedly some of the characters are a little one dimensional, and it's also a little wordy (he was paid by the word afterall), but they're good words damnit.

I love adventure books and this book is one of the best adventures ever. Dumas knew how to buckle a swash. Truly a master of the genre and one of the few books named a classic and actually worthy of the accolade.

I think this may be mine too. Even Tom Sawyer references this book as "the great escape." I picked this book up one day because someone told me it was the fiction book with the most pages in the library (gradeschool K-6.) It lead me to his other wonderful stories and eventually to a collection of books that covers 2 & 1/2 shelves in our library. I still have much reading to do, but am reluctant to read a 100 year old book with uncut pages.