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favourite fiction books
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- Lemon Quarter
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favourite fiction books
What are fellow Fools all time favourite works of fiction? Just the top 2 or 3 please. Difficult I know but I'm looking for new books to read, and maybe a bit of discussion, and thought this might be an interesting way to go about it. No restrictions on genre.
I'll kick off with 3 of my favourites;
Never let me go by K. Ishiguro
Winter's tale by M. Helprin
Cosmicomics by I. Calvino
BoE
I'll kick off with 3 of my favourites;
Never let me go by K. Ishiguro
Winter's tale by M. Helprin
Cosmicomics by I. Calvino
BoE
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
They change all the time...
Some randoms from the top ten
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
The Hound of the Baskervilles - AC Doyle
Moonfleet- J Meade Falkner (it's a kids book, so what)
For a short 'classic -Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde- Robert Louis Stevenson
have just started the War of the Worlds...I like my Victorian/Edwardian stuff
Some randoms from the top ten
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
The Hound of the Baskervilles - AC Doyle
Moonfleet- J Meade Falkner (it's a kids book, so what)
For a short 'classic -Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde- Robert Louis Stevenson
have just started the War of the Worlds...I like my Victorian/Edwardian stuff
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
The difficulty is that favourates can become worn out with re-reading.
Many that I regard as classics and use to think of as "favourates" are no longer.
ie
Lord of the Rings.
The Count of Monte Christo
etc.
Lois McMaster Bugold's books are mostly still up there in the favouates. She's semi-retired now so new stories are only if she feels like writing one.
This is an exceptional one, but mentions characters from a previous book. The setting is fantastic/or fantastical, but the people described come across as very real.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/619 ... gPS&rank=1
I'm currently enjoying re-reading Mark Heydon's books.
ie
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/ ... 13th-witch
That series somewhat strangely takes characters from a previous thriller series he wrote and adds magic into the mix!
The laundrey files books by Charles Stross are great too. SOE wasn't disbanded and works to stop the Angled ones taking over the world. I love the idea that the "Hero" is rushed to Mitlon Keens by police helicopter because there's one too many concrete cows.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101 ... dE8&rank=1
Many that I regard as classics and use to think of as "favourates" are no longer.
ie
Lord of the Rings.
The Count of Monte Christo
etc.
Lois McMaster Bugold's books are mostly still up there in the favouates. She's semi-retired now so new stories are only if she feels like writing one.
This is an exceptional one, but mentions characters from a previous book. The setting is fantastic/or fantastical, but the people described come across as very real.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/619 ... gPS&rank=1
I'm currently enjoying re-reading Mark Heydon's books.
ie
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/ ... 13th-witch
That series somewhat strangely takes characters from a previous thriller series he wrote and adds magic into the mix!
The laundrey files books by Charles Stross are great too. SOE wasn't disbanded and works to stop the Angled ones taking over the world. I love the idea that the "Hero" is rushed to Mitlon Keens by police helicopter because there's one too many concrete cows.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101 ... dE8&rank=1
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- Lemon Slice
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Re: favourite fiction books
I second 'Count of Monte Cristo'
Not so much amazingly written, although it's good, but for being a different type of war novel 'Alone in Berlin'. It opened my eyes to German resistance to NAZI's
Anything by John Buchan or Walter Scott
I also recently recommended 'A town like Alice' to a friend who then cursed me for not being able to stop reading and sleep. So anything by Neville Shute too. A bit dated maybe but great stories.
Not so much amazingly written, although it's good, but for being a different type of war novel 'Alone in Berlin'. It opened my eyes to German resistance to NAZI's
Anything by John Buchan or Walter Scott
I also recently recommended 'A town like Alice' to a friend who then cursed me for not being able to stop reading and sleep. So anything by Neville Shute too. A bit dated maybe but great stories.
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
Lark Rise to Candleford and Still Glides the Stream by Flora Thompson, I read both books at least twice a year, my third choice is all of Terry Pratchett Discworld series, I can almost quote them verbatim.
R6
R6
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
"Dune" by Frank Herbert. Power politics in a feudal interstellar society where humanity has turned its back upon computers ("Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind") and instead developed humans through intensive training (and selective breeding). Interstellar travel depends upon the spice "melange", which is found on just one planet (the desert world "Arrakis"). The Emperor of the known universe fears that the immensely popular Duke Leto Atreides will become a threat to his position so he stitches him up by giving House Atreides the stewardship of Arrakis, replacing the Atreides' bitter enemies House Harkonnen in the hope of provoking a war between the two houses.
"Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein. The classic of military science-fiction, as humanity's all-volunteer military (modelled closely on ancient Sparta) goes to war against an alien insectoid race ("The Bugs") after the bugs totally destroyed Buenos Aires in a sneak attack. Starship Troopers has had a huge influence on the American military, for over six decades it has been on the compulsory reading list for almost everyone undergoing military training and quite a bit of its doctrine and tactics have been adopted (see the link below).
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a13103/starship-troopers-is-the-new-the-art-of-war/
"The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman. IMHO the other classic of military science-fiction. Arguably this is the opposite of Starship Troopers in many respects. Here humanity gets dragged into a war by a few politicians, fighting an alien race on very dubious grounds. The war is fought by resentful conscripts who when they return home after a tour of duty, have aged a couple of years whilst several decades have passed on Earth (thanks to the time dilation effect of special relativity). They discover that Earth has changed a lot and has little use for them - except as soldiers in the war, and many are forced to re-enlist. Haldeman has said that the book was heavily influenced by his military service during the Vietnam War; it shows.
"Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein. The classic of military science-fiction, as humanity's all-volunteer military (modelled closely on ancient Sparta) goes to war against an alien insectoid race ("The Bugs") after the bugs totally destroyed Buenos Aires in a sneak attack. Starship Troopers has had a huge influence on the American military, for over six decades it has been on the compulsory reading list for almost everyone undergoing military training and quite a bit of its doctrine and tactics have been adopted (see the link below).
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a13103/starship-troopers-is-the-new-the-art-of-war/
"The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman. IMHO the other classic of military science-fiction. Arguably this is the opposite of Starship Troopers in many respects. Here humanity gets dragged into a war by a few politicians, fighting an alien race on very dubious grounds. The war is fought by resentful conscripts who when they return home after a tour of duty, have aged a couple of years whilst several decades have passed on Earth (thanks to the time dilation effect of special relativity). They discover that Earth has changed a lot and has little use for them - except as soldiers in the war, and many are forced to re-enlist. Haldeman has said that the book was heavily influenced by his military service during the Vietnam War; it shows.
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
We may have different tastes so my choices may not work for you. I say this as Never Let Me Go really didn't make much of a hit with me.
War and Peace or Anna Karenina. Don't be put off by the size of these novels or their reputations, I found them very readable.
A novel series that I have returned to over the years and re-read is A Dance To The Music Of Time by Anthony Powell. 12 novels, each about 220 pages, so you can read the first one to see if you like it without making a big time commitment. All of the characters are incredibly well drawn. There is a strain of quiet humour throughout. Although the novel sequence covers about 50 years, think of Fitzrovia in the 1930s to get a feel for the atmosphere of the novels.
The other novel series that I would rate very highly is the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The setting is the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Forget Hornblower, though. These novels have tremendous depth of plot, character and detail, and are far more mature and rich than Hornblower. There are about 15-20 of them. I am trying not to get through them too quickly, a bit like having a favourite bottle of say, single malt, that you don't want to finish too soon.
Finally, any novel by Zola. When I picked up my first Zola novel, I was expecting a French version of Dickens. After the first 10 pages with an unromantic and quite graphic depiction of copulation, I realised Zola was on a different level altogether. La Terre or Germinal.
War and Peace or Anna Karenina. Don't be put off by the size of these novels or their reputations, I found them very readable.
A novel series that I have returned to over the years and re-read is A Dance To The Music Of Time by Anthony Powell. 12 novels, each about 220 pages, so you can read the first one to see if you like it without making a big time commitment. All of the characters are incredibly well drawn. There is a strain of quiet humour throughout. Although the novel sequence covers about 50 years, think of Fitzrovia in the 1930s to get a feel for the atmosphere of the novels.
The other novel series that I would rate very highly is the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The setting is the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Forget Hornblower, though. These novels have tremendous depth of plot, character and detail, and are far more mature and rich than Hornblower. There are about 15-20 of them. I am trying not to get through them too quickly, a bit like having a favourite bottle of say, single malt, that you don't want to finish too soon.
Finally, any novel by Zola. When I picked up my first Zola novel, I was expecting a French version of Dickens. After the first 10 pages with an unromantic and quite graphic depiction of copulation, I realised Zola was on a different level altogether. La Terre or Germinal.
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
doug2500 wrote:Not so much amazingly written, although it's good, but for being a different type of war novel 'Alone in Berlin'. It opened my eyes to German resistance to NAZI's
My goodness, Alone in Berlin! Yes, what a stunning book. After just the first few pages, I felt I knew what it must have been like to be an ordinary person living under the Nazi regime. Imagine how it pervaded all aspects of your life.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
I know you said two or three, but.. mentions of series novels and Berlin reminded me of the excellent Bernard Samson triple trilogy+ prequel/ backstory by Len Deighton ('The Poet of the Spy Story'...)
They are Winter (set in Berlin 1899-1945) and Game/Set/Match/Hook/Line/Sinker/Faith/Hope/Charity (mainly London and Berlin in the early 1980s)
I like a good spy novel - I've just started the first Slough House book by Mick Herron (Slow Horses ) - a rather unconventional spy series apparently
They are Winter (set in Berlin 1899-1945) and Game/Set/Match/Hook/Line/Sinker/Faith/Hope/Charity (mainly London and Berlin in the early 1980s)
I like a good spy novel - I've just started the first Slough House book by Mick Herron (Slow Horses ) - a rather unconventional spy series apparently
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
I always suggest John Brunner's four big dystopias for this kind of thing:
- Stand on Zanzibar (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410 ... n_Zanzibar)
- Sheep Look Up (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410 ... ep_Look_Up)
- Shockwave Rider (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410 ... wave_Rider)
- Jagged Orbit (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/470 ... gged_Orbit)
each deals with a different "issue" in a remarkably prescient way (with a groovily dated 60's/70's vibe)
I found "The City and The City" by China Miéville remarkably well done (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/470 ... y-the-city)
and if you haven't tried Neil Gaiman; "American Gods" I can very much recommend (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/301 ... rican-gods)
and I'm just re-reading the complete H P Lovecraft who's always fun! not least because of all the things everyone else has pinched from him..
- sd
- Stand on Zanzibar (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410 ... n_Zanzibar)
- Sheep Look Up (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410 ... ep_Look_Up)
- Shockwave Rider (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410 ... wave_Rider)
- Jagged Orbit (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/470 ... gged_Orbit)
each deals with a different "issue" in a remarkably prescient way (with a groovily dated 60's/70's vibe)
I found "The City and The City" by China Miéville remarkably well done (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/470 ... y-the-city)
and if you haven't tried Neil Gaiman; "American Gods" I can very much recommend (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/301 ... rican-gods)
and I'm just re-reading the complete H P Lovecraft who's always fun! not least because of all the things everyone else has pinched from him..
- sd
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
Rhyd6 wrote:Lark Rise to Candleford and Still Glides the Stream by Flora Thompson
I'll second Lark Rise (Still Glides is not quite as good).
And I have been to Juniper Hill and seen Flora Thompson's house.
The others in the same countryside genre are Alison Uttley's Ambush of Young Days, The Farm on the Hill and The Country Child
Ambush is now hard to get hold of but is the nearest equivalent to Lark Rise.
Both Thompson and Uttley have phenomenally detailed memories of their childhood; Uttley was convinced that on occasion she was actually switched back in time to her early years, sufficient for her to correspond with JW Dunne, the Serial Time man (q.v.)
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
It'd be a tie between Kafka and Ray Bradbury, I'm afraid. Two quite extraordinary minds. But, since Bradbury was at his best writing short stories, Kafka would have to win the play-off.
Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled was a pretty shameless plundering of Kafka's ideas, but might suit a casual reader a little better.
Considering that I studied literature and languages at university, it was perhaps a little awkward that I was never really taken with 19th century fiction. I haven't even read that much Dickens. But I was caught completely off guard by Wuthering Heights. I had to present a seminar paper (for Richard Hoggart, not that I'm bragging.....), and I just knew in advance that I was going to hate the damn book. And I didn't, and I couldn't. It took my breath clean away. Extraordinary.
Two very short books I really must re-read sometime are Conrad's Heart of Darkness (which I first read while drinking heavily - the special effects were seriously memorable
), and Flaubert's A Simple Heart. If you've never tried old Gustave, do give it a go. Very few writers apart from Shakespeare could match him for the sheer flow of his prose. (He had a special trick using three main clauses per sentence that just carries you along. Hard to describe why, but waltzes rely on threes as well.)
Other favourites come and go. I must have another go at Peter Carey some time - he delights me and infuriates me by turns, and I still don't think he can do female characters convincingly, but I'd have him on my desert island reading list all the same.
BJ
![Neutral :|](./images/smilies/icon_neutral.gif)
Considering that I studied literature and languages at university, it was perhaps a little awkward that I was never really taken with 19th century fiction. I haven't even read that much Dickens. But I was caught completely off guard by Wuthering Heights. I had to present a seminar paper (for Richard Hoggart, not that I'm bragging.....), and I just knew in advance that I was going to hate the damn book. And I didn't, and I couldn't. It took my breath clean away. Extraordinary.
Two very short books I really must re-read sometime are Conrad's Heart of Darkness (which I first read while drinking heavily - the special effects were seriously memorable
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
Other favourites come and go. I must have another go at Peter Carey some time - he delights me and infuriates me by turns, and I still don't think he can do female characters convincingly, but I'd have him on my desert island reading list all the same.
BJ
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
Rhyd6 wrote:Lark Rise to Candleford and Still Glides the Stream by Flora Thompson, I read both books at least twice a year, my third choice is all of Terry Pratchett Discworld series, I can almost quote them verbatim.
R6
Then you will know where my pseudonym comes from
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
BoE
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
servodude wrote:I...
and I'm just re-reading the complete H P Lovecraft who's always fun! not least because of all the things everyone else has pinched from him..
- sd
Ah, the wonderful Lovecraft. Mostly short stories but a few novellas (?) - The Shadow over Innsmouth is terrific.
He is great with atmosphere - forgotten little Massachusetts towns - gambrel roofs, rotting wharves, odd inhabitants and a general air of decay
Stephen King was clearly a big fan - Maine gets the Lovecraft treatment
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- The full Lemon
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Re: favourite fiction books
What a question! Difficult to name only three because there are so many and tomorrow I'll think of more.
Thinking of reads in the past few years the ones which stand out are:-
Peter Hamilton, Void books
Bolitho series, Alexander Kent
Moscow Trilogy, Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion
Ok, that's four from the top of my head today.
For fun, try Eva Ibbotson - books for teens such as A Company of Swans, Magic Flutes (for those into ballet or music!) or Secret Countess.
Arb.
Thinking of reads in the past few years the ones which stand out are:-
Peter Hamilton, Void books
Bolitho series, Alexander Kent
Moscow Trilogy, Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion
Ok, that's four from the top of my head today.
For fun, try Eva Ibbotson - books for teens such as A Company of Swans, Magic Flutes (for those into ballet or music!) or Secret Countess.
Arb.
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: favourite fiction books
bungeejumper wrote:But I was caught completely off guard by Wuthering Heights. I had to present a seminar paper (for Richard Hoggart, not that I'm bragging.....), and I just knew in advance that I was going to hate the damn book. And I didn't, and I couldn't. It took my breath clean away. Extraordinary.
BJ
I was surprised when I read Wuthering Heights. Not the love story that I had been led to expect. Very dark, and that's not just a reference to the main character.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
AleisterCrowley wrote:servodude wrote:I...
and I'm just re-reading the complete H P Lovecraft who's always fun! not least because of all the things everyone else has pinched from him..
- sd
Ah, the wonderful Lovecraft. Mostly short stories but a few novellas (?) - The Shadow over Innsmouth is terrific.
He is great with atmosphere - forgotten little Massachusetts towns - gambrel roofs, rotting wharves, odd inhabitants and a general air of decay
Stephen King was clearly a big fan - Maine gets the Lovecraft treatment
Indeed it would have been great if he had written more longer things to get stuck in to
- but it's probably that "leaving them wanting more" which made him such a rich source of things to lift for other authors
There's something about early occultist fiction that's quite charming
- just before starting the Lovecraft I'd finally read Chambers "King in Yellow"
- and I think I'll explore Dennis Wheatley after this
any suggestions would be gratefully received
- sd
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
Not Lovecraft style, but occult/'strange'
M.R. James (I visited his grave a few times when I lived near Eton...)
Arthur Machen
Robert Aickman
Algernon Blackwood
Dracula is a great read , if you haven't yet. Of Stoker's other stuff- try The Jewel of Seven Stars- make sure you get a version with the proper 'bleak' ending as it was reissued with a different final chapter
Wheatley- hmm, well The Devil Rides Out is a good book, if overlong. The Hammer film is better. His output was massive, covering historical romances, spy stories, even sci fi, and it's generally agreed the quality was...variable.
M.R. James (I visited his grave a few times when I lived near Eton...)
Arthur Machen
Robert Aickman
Algernon Blackwood
Dracula is a great read , if you haven't yet. Of Stoker's other stuff- try The Jewel of Seven Stars- make sure you get a version with the proper 'bleak' ending as it was reissued with a different final chapter
Wheatley- hmm, well The Devil Rides Out is a good book, if overlong. The Hammer film is better. His output was massive, covering historical romances, spy stories, even sci fi, and it's generally agreed the quality was...variable.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: favourite fiction books
AleisterCrowley wrote: The Devil Rides Out is a good book, if overlong.
That's the one I've read and enjoyed (on the back of enjoying the film)
- it's in a compendium with two others that I can't recall at the moment
and I think I have a Blackwood collection somewhere also in the pile of shame
- that will probably be good over xmas
-sd
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Re: favourite fiction books
AleisterCrowley wrote:Not Lovecraft style, but occult/'strange'
M.R. James (I visited his grave a few times when I lived near Eton...)
Arthur Machen
Robert Aickman
Algernon Blackwood
Dracula is a great read , if you haven't yet. Of Stoker's other stuff- try The Jewel of Seven Stars- make sure you get a version with the proper 'bleak' ending as it was reissued with a different final chapter
Wheatley- hmm, well The Devil Rides Out is a good book, if overlong. The Hammer film is better. His output was massive, covering historical romances, spy stories, even sci fi, and it's generally agreed the quality was...variable.
The reason for your nom-de-fool becomes clearer now, Mr Crowley ...
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