What's your favorite novel?

[Bossy Monkey]

Or if you prefer, which have you read the most often? Or if it's different from one of the above, what's the best novel you've ever read? (For instance, in a different medium, folks are always asking about favorite movies. While I still think "A Clockwork Orange" is the finest film I've ever seen, it's not something I like to think of in connection with the word, "favorite"...)

Me, uhhhhhhh, I think my favorite is still "Island" by Aldous Huxley. I've read "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy something upwards of 20 times, the Hitchhiker's Guide, uh, series somewhere around 10, the Earthsea Trilogy about 10 and the subsequent books in the series once or twice each, all Dashiell Hammett novels upwards of 10 times, too, and Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series a good few times as well, not to mention every novel John Le Carre has ever published at least twice. As such, you'd think one of these would be my favorite, and on some level I guess "Lord of the Rings" is. Best? Ummmmmmmmmmmmm I think I have to go with "Cancer Ward" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, which is way more fun than it sounds.

You?

[Angelus]

1. "Interview With the Vampire."

[bloodyjack]

18. big ups for Anne Rice

and some more big ups.

[LastKnight]

22. one of my favorites, probably not the number one, but close. nt

[noonwitch]

29. I like "The Witching Hour" best, despite the way the ending sucked

The story itself, and the characters are amazing. I have never read such an addictive book-I couldn't put it down when I read it.

[WiltedFlowerChild]

2. "Absalom, Absalom"

William Faulkner

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Dune

[thebigidea]

4. Ubik, Naked Lunch, Doctor Sax, any given Vonnegut/Alfred Jarry

[MrSlayer]

5. Dragonlance, LOTR, "IT", The Stand

Most of the fiction I read is Fantasy or horror.

[roscoeroscoe]

6. mars trilogy

by kim stanley robinson, along with antartica. must read.
also, moon is a harsh mistress, heinline.
it can't happen here, sinclair lewis.
too many more...

[SheilaT]

7. Two immediately come to mind.

Time On My Hands by Peter Delacorte and Replay by Ken Grimwood.

The first is about a man who gets a time machine and goes back to try to prevent Ronald Reagan from becoming president. It came out a full ten years ago, and it's weirdly resonant these days. The character who persuades the main character to try to keep Reagan from the presidency, is almost rabid on the subject of Reagan's being the worst president of the 20th century. But now, we have W. Okay, so it's another century, but still . . . .

The second is a bout a man who keeps on getting to relive a part of his life. The opening scene is he dies, and then, unaccountably, finds himself back as a 20 year old in college. So he lives through the years, doing things very differently of course, and then he dies again, and once again is back to the same point of being a 20 year old. After several replays, he realizes he's not going back to exactly the same point in time, but a little later. What eventually happens, how he deals with this, how he finds another "replayer" makes for me a very satisfying read. Done right, it would make a wonderful movie.

I've read both of those books a good half dozen times each.

[Radical Activist]

8. Les Miserables

One of the few novels I've read twice. I love Hugo.

I've read LOTR a couple times too, but that was years ago.

[Tom Kitten]

9. Death Kit

by Susan Sontag

honorable mention

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
A Confederancy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Amerika by Franz Kafka

[tsakshaug]

63. Confederacy of Dunces

Is a great book!
too bad he killed himself before it was published.

have you read Idiots in the Machine?

[Dancing_Dave]

10. The Armies of the Night

By Norman Mailer. It all came out of several days of protesting against the Vietnam War at the Pentagon in '67....and out of a lifetime of deep reflection in writing. The Armies of the Night is The Great American Novel if there is such a thing.

[DieboldMustDie]

11. Catch-22

:toast:

[Richardo]

28. Another one for Catch-22

:toast:

[theoceansnerves]

12. catcher in the rye

[Donkeyboy75]

13. All good books so far, but mine's "Watership Down"

Love it! I really really liked Cancer Ward, too. Solzhenitsyn was an underrated writer, IMHO, even though he is highly thought of.

[Harrumph]

14. "The Talisman"

"The Stand"

"LOTR"

"The Dark Tower" series

[bloodyjack]

15. h'm . . . this is a toughie, yes . . .

"DEATH ON THE INSTALLMENT PLAN" by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, but "JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT" . . . "GUIGNOL'S BAND" too, maybe, just for those aching visions of hell. on the other hand, it doesn't seem right choosing among translations.

Therefore, "MOBY DICK" — seriously

"THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES" by Houellebecq is heartily recommended, I must've read that 'un about 10 times by now. this particular novel deals in genetic/social engineering sci-fi, believable bad ideas and a snapping, crackling wit. his descriptions of sexual intercourse are about as cold and clinical (and, oddly, sort of tender) as they come.

oh crap, no pun intended.

also I used to be nuts for Dostoyevsky in high school (which didn't end all that long ago, though it feels that way) so I'll go ahead and include "THE DEMONS" and "THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV" for good measure.

[Ekova]

16. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

A trilogy in five parts - Douglas Adams

Biko - Donald Woods

The Gunslinger Series - S. King

The Mind of South Africa - Allister Sparks

[huellewig]

17. Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoevsky

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis
1984
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card


These are my faves. and all Kurt Vonnegut and Huxley too. I must stop.

[Pert_UK]

19. 'Foucault's Pendulum' or 'Name of the Rose' - Umberto Eco

Both equally superb.

Having said that, HHGTTG was excellent!

P.

[Dookus]

20. To Kill a Mockingbird

the true Great American Novel.

[Kickin_Donkey]

21. "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad ...

Honorable mention: "To Kill a Mockingbird"; "Lord Jim" by Conrad; "Moby Dick"

[joshdawg]

23. "War and Peace"

and just about anything else by Tolstoy.

[bloodyjack]

24. did you know that upon completing ANNA KARENINA, ol' Dosty proceeded to..

run through the streets of St Petersburg declaring Tolstoy a prophet?

[Servo300]

25. "The Learning Tree" (Gordon Parks)

great book.

[Tom_Foolery]

26. "A Tale of Two Cities"...

A close second is "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving.

[Burma Jones]

27. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

[Whitacre D_WI]

30. Best? "The Great Gatsby."

My favorite? Probably "Still Life with Woodpecker" by Tom Robbins.

[Commendatori]

31. "The Charm School" - Nelson DeMille

[ACK]

32. Top Ten novels - 1. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner ....

1. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
3. The Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
4. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
5. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
6. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
7. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
8. Deliverance by James Dickey
9. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
10. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

[Bossy Monkey]

43. Wow, first Hemingway on here. I'm a fan, too

though I prefer the fishing one and the bullfighting one (Old Man & the Sea, Sun Also Rises, respectively)

[Teddy_Salad]

33. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

[cestmoi]

34. The Se. The Sea. by Iris Murdoch

If you have ever been obseesed with someone read this book.

[SCDem]

35. Les Miserables and The Story of B

Les Miserables.... I can read it, watch it on film, or watch it on stage. I love the story behind it. I've only read it 3 times so far but my favorite way to see the story interrpeted is through the film version in French starring Gerard Depardieu as Jean Valjean.

The Story of B was my introduction to author Daniel Quinn and his other books (Ishmael and My Ishmael and After Dachau etc). I loved this book.... but I am so careful to talk about it to other people. I guage real carefully if it is safe enough to recommend it to someone. Because some might take it as athiesm and it grinds at the core tenets that they grew up with they don't like it..... but that is the exact reason why I did like it.

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

36. Sophie's Choice by William Styron (eom)

[MissMillie]

37. The World According to Garp

as well as A Prayer for Oweny Meany--both by John Irving.

But I also liked Interview w/ the Vampire and Slaughterhouse Five.

[Insider]

38. The Hunt for Red October

by what's-his-name. original, spellbinding, educational. IMO

[One Taste]

50. Clancy

[Insider]

39. dupe

[Lautremont]

40. Under the Volcano

by Malcolm Lowry. It's an amazing book.

[Kazak]

41. The Sirens of Titan

KV

[bikebloke]

42. The Magus

By John Fowles

[tjwash]

44. Catch-22

Best. Book. Ever.

[bif]

45. Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

[Bossy Monkey]

46. kick for anybody who hasn't answered yet :) n/t

[Pale Blue Dot]

47. A Prayer For Owen Meany

To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye...

[flamingyouth]

55. I love A Prayer for Owen Meany too

A lot of people don't like that book, but I loved it the first time I read it. You should read Carson McCullers if you like that - you would really appreciate her writing style. :hi:

[Pale Blue Dot]

56. Penguins!

...the strangest word that ever made me burst out into tears.

[flamingyouth]

57. Now you've got me wanting to reread that

It's been a few years, but I just loved it. Thanks, Finn! :hi:

[mitchum]

48. Favorite: "Madame Bovary" Read most often: "Ladies Man"...

I've only spent a dozen or so times with Emma (as opposed to the forty with Kenny Becker)

[MontecitoDem]

53. What's this "Ladies Man"?

I found 44 with that title on Amazon! Tell me a bit about it if your don't mind (I'm intrigued but my bedside table is already sagging with books to read so it's got to be good!)

[mitchum]

59. It's a fantastic 1978 novel by Richard Price...

that deals with a week in the life of 30 year old Kenny Becker.
A very dark comedy.

I would recommend all of the novels of Price ("The Wanderers", "Bloodbrothers", "Ladies Man", "Clockers", "Freedomland", "Samaritan") with the exception of "The Breaks" It is truly awful. Price himself said that "The Breaks" is so bad that he realized he had temporarily lost his ability as a novelist (so he became a screenwriter for awhile)

[MontecitoDem]

71. Thanks Mitchum!

I'll pick it up at my next library visit.

[solinvictus]

49. On the Road

with The Great Gatsby as a close second.

[MontecitoDem]

51. House of Mirth

and the Buccaneers by Edith Wharton

[lpbk2713]

52. "The Old Man and the Sea" ......... beautiful simplicity.

And a few other Hemingway works.

[Lauren2882]

54. Franny and Zooey

JD Salinger

[Habibi]

58. Mickelsson's Ghosts

by John Gardner. The most engaging "ghost" story ever.

Here's the first line:

"Sometimes the sordidness of his present existence, not to mention the stifling, clammy heat of the apartment his finances had forced him to take, on the third floor of an ugly old house on Binghamton's West Side—"the nice part of town," everybody said (God have mercy on those who had to live in the bad parts)—made Peter Mickelsson clench his square yellow teeth in anger and once, in a moment of rage and frustration greater than usual, bring down the heel of his fist on the heavy old Goodwill oak table where his typewriter, papers, and books were laid out, or rather strewn."

(edited for typo)

[pagerbear]

60. "The Warden"

Anthony Trollope rules!

[SarahB]

61. 1984- The choice for all us thought criminals.

I think all is just double plus great now that the thought police is there to protect me.

[southpaw]

62. Tie: "The Great Gatsby" and "A Confederacy of Dunces"

[tsakshaug]

64. A short history of a small place

TR Pearson

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

65. "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. ... all American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." -- Ernest Hemingway

Yeah, it's that good.

[NuckinFutz]

66. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner, is probably the best

for me.

Some other favorites are The Stand, and The Green Mile, by Stephen King, The Catcher in the Rye, Jane Eyre, and Lonesome Dove.

[tsakshaug]

68. Read the lonesome dove series

Didn't realize there were so many books in it.
The first one was the best of the bunch

[geniph]

67. I'd almost have to do it by genres...

but I think my all-time favorite would have to be The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein.

[midnight armadillo]

69. Moby Dick

Call me Ishmael...

Here's the FULL TEXT: http://www.gutenberg.net/etext91/moby.zip

[tishaLA]

70. I'll second that

and then "The Golden Bowl"