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Top 5 books you have read


Total Longo
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Tough to whittle it down to five, but the following probably left the biggest impression on me:

 

Ubik - Phillip K. Dick

Noir and sci-fi, what's not to like?

 

The Name Of The Rose - Umberto Eco

Probably as close to a perfect thoughtful mystery as you'll ever get, like a history and philosophy lesson that you actually enjoy without realising it.

 

Pop. 1280 - Jim Thompson

My introduction to pulpier fare, Thompson's first person writing flows easily. Some people don't like the ending, but that was probably the highlight for me.

 

The Autobiography of Michel De Montaigne - Marvin Lowenthal

Not strictly speaking an autobiography, more a collection of writings, but as interesting as the subject matter is I like it equally for its physical design. One of the reasons I can't switch to an e-reader is because I still love the feel of books, and this one (Nonpareil book - David Goldine) is printed on thickish paper, with a lightly embossed cover, using good ink and is just designed beautifully for a paperback.

 

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

Still unnervingly relevant these days. Plus it's short, so it's a great toilet read.

 

Honourable mention goes to The Milligan Book of Records (Spike Milligan) and Captain Pugwash, which were the only books I voluntarily read as a kid. No idea why they ever bothered to stick Lord Of The Rings on a primary school book shelf when there were loads of Where's Wally? and Asterix comics as an alternative.

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Great shout on The Name of the Rose. My mum bought it for me as a pressie to mark my move up to secondary school and I absolutely battered it. What's more I ended up teaching Eco's work as a professor of semiotics to my A Level Media class last year.

 

I really like the film too even though it got ripped for its casting.

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  • 1 month later...

The five (well, seven) of the books among titles I still revisit regularly

 

Jaroslav Hašek:  The Good Soldier Švejk

Ilf and Petrov: The Tvelve Chairs / The Little Golden Calf

Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises

Henry Miller: The Tropic of Cancer

Flannery O'Connor: A Good Man Is Hard to Find / Everything That Rises Must Converge

 

Since we seem to be doing comic books as well, five collections I go through every couple of years as soon as I have forgotten enough so I can start again

 

Morris/Goscinny: Lucky Luke

Uderzo/Goscinny: Asterix

Giraud/Charlier: Blueberry

Hermann/Greg: Bernard Prince

Hermann: Jeremiah

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  • 3 years later...
On 06/05/2017 at 22:22, KMD7 said:

Has anybody read Ulysses?  I couldn't even make it through the introduction to it never mind read the book when I tried it years ago.  Is it worth another stab at it? 

I'm going to read it this November, should work out around 30 pages a day. Bought it last year with the intention of doing so but didn't get around to it. 

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Probably not massively high brow but who cares...

 

In no particular order:

 

1. From Here to Eternity.

2. Catch 22.

3. The Book Thief.

4. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and 3/4.

5. The Godfather. 
 

There’s probably a dozen others that could have made this list and I’ll probably be filled with regret for the list I have published for the rest of the day. 
 

Fuck it, I’m adding an autobiography just because.

 

6. The Moon’s A Balloon (David Niven).

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A list of best books before 18 years, and one for after. 

After 18:

 

Cormac McCarthy: Blood Meridian.

James Jones: The Thin Red Line.

Flannery O’ Connor: Wise Blood.

Kazuo Ishiguro: Remains of the Day.

Johns Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath.

 

Before 18:

 

Tolkien: Lord of the Rings.

Bram Stoker: Dracula.

John Fowles: The Magus.

Alan Moore: Watchmen.

Alistair Maclean: Take your pick, probably Where Eagles Dare.

 

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3 hours ago, Tarwater said:

A list of best books before 18 years, and one for after. 

After 18:

 

Cormac McCarthy: Blood Meridian.

James Jones: The Thin Red Line.

Flannery O’ Connor: Wise Blood.

Kazuo Ishiguro: Remains of the Day.

Johns Steinbeck: Grapes of Wrath.

 

Before 18:

 

Tolkien: Lord of the Rings.

Bram Stoker: Dracula.

John Fowles: The Magus.

Alan Moore: Watchmen.

Alistair Maclean: Take your pick, probably Where Eagles Dare.

 

 

Ironically, Flannery O'Connor despised James Jones.

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2 hours ago, YorkshireRed said:

I selected From Here To Eternity but it could easily have been this. Whistle, the other book in the trilogy, is also good. 

I agree. I absolutely devoured the trilogy. Reminded me why I love reading. Entertaining AND quality! Not always the case... Whistle, while not bad, doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first two novels, I thought. Still, a pity that Jones seems pretty much forgotten these days.

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15 minutes ago, Tarwater said:

I agree. I absolutely devoured the trilogy. Reminded me why I love reading. Entertaining AND quality! Not always the case... Whistle, while not bad, doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first two novels, I thought. Still, a pity that Jones seems pretty much forgotten these days.

Apparently Whistle was actually completed after James Jones died, which may explain the slight drop in quality. Another writer finished it on his behalf using notes he’d left behind as he knew he would be able to get it over the line himself.

 

Two great books and one very good one for me. I probably read them all thirty years ago but they’re still the ones I list when discussing favourite reads. A wonderful trilogy. 

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1 hour ago, Tarwater said:

Yeah, after having read the letters of both of them, I’ll certainly believe that. They were not easy-going.

Did they correspond, or does he mention her? I remember from the Habit of Being she thought he was an example of the sorry state of contemporary American literature. Jones has some interesting paragraphs on stereotyping of Southerners in the US, in Some Came Running.  

 

Is Whistle the one where he goes on and on how they discovered oral sex in the hospital?

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 Covenant with Death - John Harris. The story of a Kitcheners Pals unit from forming to July 1st 1916.

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller. Unforgettable.

Just about any of P G Wodehouses Jeeves books

A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil - Chris Brookmyre (or just about any of his earlier works. The last few have been dire)

The Broken Shore - Peter Temple. One of the best books ever to come out of Australia. He also wrote the Jack Irish series which are worth a read as well.

 

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I am dreadful at reading books, but have actually gone through a few during lockdown, but still I’m able to better point to books I’d recommend you read with your kids.

 

basically anything by Roald Dahl, but Witches without a shadow of a doubt and probably after that the BFG because the creative use of words is wonderful.

 

But without doubt the one I would recommend and could read with my girl a million times and not get bored is Winnie the Pooh. It’s just fabulous.

 

if you’ve got a kid aged anywhere around 5-8 and haven’t read Winnie the Pooh, get it and get started.

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