I hope we can start a comment thread about favourite reads here. I've just complied a top 10 of my current favourite books (fiction) on the blog. But you don't have to recommend 10, 1 book is fine ( :
Over to you bloggers in blogosphere...
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Ooh, I was an English major, so that's a dangerous question! But in the interest of not writing a novel in this comment box, I'll keep it down to five:
ReplyDelete*"The Power and the Glory" by Graham Greene -- Extraordinarily powerful novel about faith where none should exist
*"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee -- Umpteen reads later it's still the most moving book on racism and courage I've ever read
*"She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb -- The fact that this book, which spans a woman's life from childhood to her 30s, was written by a man blows my mind
*"Little Children" by Tom Perrotta -- It's a fabulous movie, but the book about the crazy lives of suburbanites is even funnier
*"The Giant's House" by Elizabeth McCracken -- I'm a sucker for unconventional love stories, and this one about a lonely librarian and the world's tallest teenager stole my heart
Darkmans, by Nicola Barker...deliciously twisted and confounding.
ReplyDeleteTrainspotting, by Irvine Welsh, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.
Anything by Chuck Palahniuk (except Guts *shudder*)
The Liar by Stephen Fry
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers.
Probably a dozen more I'm forgetting.
Excellent question!
ReplyDeleteTom Perrotta's 'Little Children' blows my mind. It's fantastic.
Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' is the most Pulitzer Prize-deserving book I've ever read. It's genius.
This is the 25 year old single man in me talking, but Chuck Palahniuk's 'Fight Club,' and 'Invisible Monsters is fantastic.
Jose Saramago's 'Blindness' is really dense, but worth it. It's about a million times better than the movie.
Ian McEwan's 'On Chesil Beach.'
And finally Thomas De Quincey's 'Confessions of an English Opium Eater.' Is pretty great as well.
@ M Carter : "To Kill a Mockingbird" is probably in my top 15 ( ; BTW, glad you liked the Morissette song compilation.
ReplyDelete@ Simon and @ Blake: "Fight Club" is a favourite film of mine, I did a paper on the novel, but the film had a bigger impact on me, because I saw film first. Loved the ending with song "Where is my mind" screaming back at me, a highlight of my cinema visits for sure.
I never got into 'The Road' or 'Blindness' for some reason, the characters were not interesting to me. But I respect both books have a large following. I prefer "1984" or "Brave new world" in that category.
Keep em coming, bloggers, I'm always interested in book recommendations ( :
I read a lot of English as well as Bengali books. I'm sure you wouldn't really be very interested about my favourite Bengali books, so I'll stick to the English ones.
ReplyDeleteNow, I haven't really made any list per se as regards my favourite English books (and that includes English translation too). So here are some of the books that I love and that instantly come to my mind, in no particular order:
1) On the Road - Jack Kerouac
2) Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
3) Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
4) Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
5) The Outsider - Albert Camus
6) The Age of Reason - Jean-Paul Sartre
7) Double Indemnity - James M. Cain
8) Farewell My Lovely - Raymond Chandler
9) The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain
10) Godfather - Mario Puzo
11) The Sicilian - Mario Puzo
12) The Dream Merchants - Harold Robbins
13) Memories of Another Day - Harold Robbins
14) Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth
15) Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum
16) No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
17) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
18) The Killing Joke - Allan Moore, etc. etc.
@Shubhajit: I apparently forgot to thank you here for your book list, great stuff! Looking forward to movie adaptation of On the Road.
DeleteAnyone still checking this post, have any of you read the novels of Anne Perry? I recently saw Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures and am totally fascinated by this woman who actually killed a woman, became a Mormon, and then a successful author. If she's a Mary Higgins Clark type, I'm not interested, but has any read/recommend her?
ReplyDeleteNever read Anne Perry myself.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the books at the top of list on librarything.com are often the author's most popular work with the most reviews/readers. Might be helpful in selecting for you. The 5 star rating system there is useful like imdb, more accurate than amazon ratings, I think.
Anne Perry: http://www.librarything.com/author/perryanne&norefer=1
Not in any particular order...
ReplyDelete- 100 Years of Solitude
- Wuthering Heights
- The Turn of the Screw
- The Shadow of the Wind
- A Prayer for Owen Meany
- The Catcher in the Rye
@ Jenn
ReplyDeleteI likewise love 'The Shadow of the Wind'
A Prayer for Owen Meany + The Catcher in the Rye are on my to read list ( :
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
ReplyDelete- A Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
- Wildlife by Richard Ford
- Already Dead by Denis Johnson
- Full of Life by John Fante
- Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
@ Miss Topanga
ReplyDeleteThanks, several of your books I don't know, and will investigate ( :
I'm curious about Bukowski and want to read him one day, but didn't like the 80s movie written by him "Barfly" .
I like Carson McCullers, so might try "A Member of the W"
Just to soothe you: I don't like "Barfly" either. But I love everything else Bukowski has ever said, written or done. "Barfly" just didn't work. His style wasn't made for film, I think.
ReplyDeleteOn the road- Jack Kerouac
ReplyDeleteGrapes of wrath- John Steinbeck
I love your blog- I recently started one and i was just wondering what did you do to get viewers? recommendations from other bloggers, advertisement, imdb- can you please give me a hint? :) thanks
Here's the link, if you're interested :)
http://azizaspicks.blogspot.com/
Hi, thanks for the book suggestions, I saw the film version of Grapes of wrath with Henry Fonda recently, was impressed! If you like Kerouac, check out this new song, I love it:
ReplyDeleteGone Kerouac - W. Travis
I just became a follower of your blog ( : You want readers? I suggest joining the LAMB community(rule is you have to wait 3 months). And visit blogs you like, follow them, and comment on them, and if they like your content- they may comment on your site, and follow you back. Good luck, it takes time by the way. I started with zero followers 18 months ago. See you around in the blogosphere ( :
These articles may seem a little overwhelming at first, though they are very helpful
http://www.frontroomcinema.com/midweek-mumbling-movie-blogger-part-1/
http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/2010/04/tips-for-a-successful-movie-blog-ii/
Thanks so much for the reply! It really helps! I keep trying to improve my writing and to see as many movies I can- just to know more about this industry in which I hope to work some day!
ReplyDeleteDiana
-The Waves, Virginia Woolf
ReplyDelete-The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
-Fictions, J.L. Borges
-Kafka, The Complete Works
-The Reader, B. Schlink
-Rayuela/Hopscotch, Julio Cortázar (Andrés Amorós Edition)
-Poe,The Complete Works
-El aliento del cielo, Carson McCullers
-84 Charing Cross Road, H. Hanff
-Kiss of the Spider Woman, M. Puig
And so much more... Do you read Juliet, naked of Nick Hornby? Because behind a great band, there are always a lot of crazy fans-High Fidelity? The movie? If we talk about music and lists...
@AnalÃa: That's a great list of books right there, you have good taste ( :
DeleteThe Reader the film adaptation I actually prefer, because is more ambiguous about characters, but of course the book is more informative.
84 Charing Cross Road I read the book last year and loved it, on the other hand the movie was just okay(maybe the letter format is not good for film)
I don't know the collection El aliento del cielo (The breath of heaven?)by Carson McCullers, I haven't read her short stories. I like her writing style, and enjoyed The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, and The Member of the Wedding.
I loved the movie High Fidelity, haven't read Nick Hornby's novels yet, have wanted to, though ( :
Lots of genius writers and classics on your favorites list, thanks for providing me with fresh inspiration ( :
The Watchmen/Alan Moore
ReplyDeleteThe Time Traveler's Wife/Audrey Niffenegger
Little Children/Tom Perrotta
The Imperfectionists/Tom Rachman
No One Belongs Here More Than You (short stories)/Miranda July
1984/George Orwell
@Shala: Thanks for sharing books you love!
DeleteWatchmen I read this year, it was quite overwhelming to read, so I think a 2nd look is necessary.
The Time Traveler's Wife movie I didn't like, but I think the novel is supposed to be far better. Little Children, I liked the movie, memorable.
Didn't know Miranda July had published short stories! Enjoy her indie films. I will look into her career as a writer. Likewise The Imperfectionists/Tom Rachman, going to see what that's about.
1984 by George Orwell, I've read a few dystopian novels, and that was one of the earliest, and best. Orwell's warnings were so accurate about surveillance in our society.