Top 3 books you've read....? and the most overated?
Discussion
Best:
1) Charles Dickens - "Dombey and Son". A doorstop of a novel covering the rise and fall of the house of Dombey and Son, with a huge cast of characters. I know that a lot of people regard Dickens as overly sentimental, and Dombey isn't meant to be his best book. But it kept me hooked all the way through, despite its size and the large number of characters, which are IMHO beautifully drawn and utterly memorable. There are loads of plot twists, including (famously) the death of the protagonist a third of the way through. The conclusion was intensely moving. I actually cried at the end
2) Harry Thompson - "This Thing of Darkness". Brilliant historical fiction based on the relationship between Charles Darwin and Robert Fitzroy (captain of the Beagle), concentrating on the latter. Robert Fitzroy is almost forgotten by mainstream history, and yet without this incredible man Darwin would never have achieved what he did. The "thing of darkness" refers to his manic depression (he eventually committed suicide). One of those rare books that educates and entertains in equal measure.
3) W Somerset Maugham - "The Moon and Sixpence". A short novel (maybe 200 pages) about a man (Charles Strickland?) who unexpectedly abandons his humdrum family life in London and heads to Paris to become a painter. The portrayal of Strickland as a tortured genius in the French Impressionist mould - as someone whom the world laughs at, and who achieves no success in his lifetime, but who is posthumously recognised as one of the greatest painters ever - is superb.
It's obviously difficult to narrow it down to just 3, and if you asked me tomorrow you'd probably get a different list. Looking back it at Les Miserables should definitely be on there...
1) Charles Dickens - "Dombey and Son". A doorstop of a novel covering the rise and fall of the house of Dombey and Son, with a huge cast of characters. I know that a lot of people regard Dickens as overly sentimental, and Dombey isn't meant to be his best book. But it kept me hooked all the way through, despite its size and the large number of characters, which are IMHO beautifully drawn and utterly memorable. There are loads of plot twists, including (famously) the death of the protagonist a third of the way through. The conclusion was intensely moving. I actually cried at the end
2) Harry Thompson - "This Thing of Darkness". Brilliant historical fiction based on the relationship between Charles Darwin and Robert Fitzroy (captain of the Beagle), concentrating on the latter. Robert Fitzroy is almost forgotten by mainstream history, and yet without this incredible man Darwin would never have achieved what he did. The "thing of darkness" refers to his manic depression (he eventually committed suicide). One of those rare books that educates and entertains in equal measure.
3) W Somerset Maugham - "The Moon and Sixpence". A short novel (maybe 200 pages) about a man (Charles Strickland?) who unexpectedly abandons his humdrum family life in London and heads to Paris to become a painter. The portrayal of Strickland as a tortured genius in the French Impressionist mould - as someone whom the world laughs at, and who achieves no success in his lifetime, but who is posthumously recognised as one of the greatest painters ever - is superb.
It's obviously difficult to narrow it down to just 3, and if you asked me tomorrow you'd probably get a different list. Looking back it at Les Miserables should definitely be on there...
Best:
Somme Mud - an amazing and graphic account of life in the trenches written by a very lucky to be alive author.
Chickenhawk - a manual of how to fly a helicopter, with hilarious and sobering moments.
Excession - pure space opera on a vast scale, far more than could ever be put to film.
Over rated:
American Pshyco - horrible and nasty just for the sake of it.
Somme Mud - an amazing and graphic account of life in the trenches written by a very lucky to be alive author.
Chickenhawk - a manual of how to fly a helicopter, with hilarious and sobering moments.
Excession - pure space opera on a vast scale, far more than could ever be put to film.
Over rated:
American Pshyco - horrible and nasty just for the sake of it.
Top 3: (though it often changes as I read more)
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson
3 most overrated. I am not sure about overrated but I have listed my worst 3 books/authors
1. Shardik - Richard Adams (Should only have written Watership Down)
2. Any David Eddings - just not to my taste
3. Fifty Shades of grey - Not well written and it was like Mills & Boon with slapping
Maybe some controversial stuff in there, but reading should be a very personal choice. Most reading is good
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson
3 most overrated. I am not sure about overrated but I have listed my worst 3 books/authors
1. Shardik - Richard Adams (Should only have written Watership Down)
2. Any David Eddings - just not to my taste
3. Fifty Shades of grey - Not well written and it was like Mills & Boon with slapping
Maybe some controversial stuff in there, but reading should be a very personal choice. Most reading is good
1). To kill a mocking bird. - I found it moving and disturbing in equal measure.
2). A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - A simple but effective concept about life in Stalin's gulag - describes a typical day! Soltzenitsyn having experienced it of course. - Something I read when I am feeling down and need to get a grip!
3). I don't know about a third book - hard to choose. 1984 is up there, the on the other side of the coin, so is anything by Bill Bryson (he can be a bit of an old woman at times, but is tremendously funny and perceptive). Honestly cannot pick a definitive winner from what is left - it depends on what mood I am in.
Over-rated: I don't get the hate for Animal Farm - as an allagory it follows the process of revolutionary Russia brilliantly, with the various players on the international scene at the time all identifiable in the characters. As a direct critique of Stalinism it perfectly sums up the movement of the people from slaves, to revolution and how the new power-structure of a new order establishes itself, and merely makes the people slaves again - just under the pretences of equality.
Someone said it was like a children's book...holy hell did you read some dark s
t as a child!
Catch 22 - on the other hand - bunk of the first water. I was told it was funny. It is not. The concept of Major Major Major Major is the least funny thing since the hurts donut. I thought the book meandered uneccessarily without really getting to the point and I found it impossible to like let alone sympathise with any of the characters.
2). A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - A simple but effective concept about life in Stalin's gulag - describes a typical day! Soltzenitsyn having experienced it of course. - Something I read when I am feeling down and need to get a grip!
3). I don't know about a third book - hard to choose. 1984 is up there, the on the other side of the coin, so is anything by Bill Bryson (he can be a bit of an old woman at times, but is tremendously funny and perceptive). Honestly cannot pick a definitive winner from what is left - it depends on what mood I am in.
Over-rated: I don't get the hate for Animal Farm - as an allagory it follows the process of revolutionary Russia brilliantly, with the various players on the international scene at the time all identifiable in the characters. As a direct critique of Stalinism it perfectly sums up the movement of the people from slaves, to revolution and how the new power-structure of a new order establishes itself, and merely makes the people slaves again - just under the pretences of equality.
Someone said it was like a children's book...holy hell did you read some dark s
t as a child! Catch 22 - on the other hand - bunk of the first water. I was told it was funny. It is not. The concept of Major Major Major Major is the least funny thing since the hurts donut. I thought the book meandered uneccessarily without really getting to the point and I found it impossible to like let alone sympathise with any of the characters.
I think certain novels have to be seen in the context of the time they were written.
The significance of Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye is that there were the first novels in the genre. How many funny, anti-war novels have been written since Catch 22?
Anyway:
1. Vanity Fair
2. Moby-Dick
3. Lucky Jim
Overrated:
1. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Yeah, I can't deal with a complex history if all the characters have the same name.
2. Ulysses - anyone really read this because they enjoyed it rather than being forced to as part of a course?
The significance of Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye is that there were the first novels in the genre. How many funny, anti-war novels have been written since Catch 22?
Anyway:
1. Vanity Fair
2. Moby-Dick
3. Lucky Jim
Overrated:
1. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Yeah, I can't deal with a complex history if all the characters have the same name.
2. Ulysses - anyone really read this because they enjoyed it rather than being forced to as part of a course?
Edited by Fittster on Wednesday 19th June 09:08
the wifes are
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, robert m pirsig
the third policeman, flan o'brien
glass bead game, herman hesse
also sophies world, and history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters
worst
wouldn't even open fifty shades of grey
a spot of bother (by the same author as the curious incident of the dog in the night time), which is about mental health issues but is way off the mark about the nhs's response.
the secret agent by joesph conrad which I hadto study for a levels.
Mine are the same 'Best' but I'd also put any of the Herman Hesse novels as they are all brilliant.
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, robert m pirsig
the third policeman, flan o'brien
glass bead game, herman hesse
also sophies world, and history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters
worst
wouldn't even open fifty shades of grey
a spot of bother (by the same author as the curious incident of the dog in the night time), which is about mental health issues but is way off the mark about the nhs's response.
the secret agent by joesph conrad which I hadto study for a levels.
Mine are the same 'Best' but I'd also put any of the Herman Hesse novels as they are all brilliant.
Xtriple129 said:
the wifes are
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, robert m pirsig.....
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance is top of my list too.zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, robert m pirsig.....
Also up there is Great Expectations, Dickins
The Silmarillion, Tolkein.
However if you ask me again another day and the second and third would change often.
I never understood the hate around American Psycho. I first read it at 14 and loved the stream-of-consiousness approach and laughed my tits off in certain places. For sure, it's heavily moderated by all the misogyny and Bateman biting tits off, but it's brilliant all the same.
Best.
1. American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
2. Somewhere down the crazy river - Paul Boote & Jeremy Wade. Great stories of derring-do chasing Goliath Tigerfish in the Congo and Masheer in India. Essential reading for all fishermen I would suggest.
3. The Pity of War - Niall Ferguson. It reads as if it's almost revisionist theory regarding WW1 - I'd never read an economic overview of the conflict before - really enlightening for me.
Worst.
1. Nausea - John-Paul Satre. Considering how much I enjoyed American Psycho, it's amazing that this small existential read has sat on my bookshelf for years and years - despite continued attemps to crack it.
2. The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy. GCSE English has a lot to answer for here.
3. All "holy" books - the worst invention ever - bar none.
Best.
1. American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
2. Somewhere down the crazy river - Paul Boote & Jeremy Wade. Great stories of derring-do chasing Goliath Tigerfish in the Congo and Masheer in India. Essential reading for all fishermen I would suggest.
3. The Pity of War - Niall Ferguson. It reads as if it's almost revisionist theory regarding WW1 - I'd never read an economic overview of the conflict before - really enlightening for me.
Worst.
1. Nausea - John-Paul Satre. Considering how much I enjoyed American Psycho, it's amazing that this small existential read has sat on my bookshelf for years and years - despite continued attemps to crack it.
2. The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy. GCSE English has a lot to answer for here.
3. All "holy" books - the worst invention ever - bar none.
Goughie said:
I never understood the hate around American Psycho. I first read it at 14 and loved the stream-of-consiousness approach and laughed my tits off in certain places. For sure, it's heavily moderated by all the misogyny and Bateman biting tits off, but it's brilliant all the same.
People do seem pretty polarised by it. Everyone I know either loves it or loathes it. The Love It camp generally try and claim the Loathe It camp 'just don't understand it'. I read it, I got it, I still loathed it. One of my friends is in the Love camp and she shakes her head despairingly at me if the subject ever comes up.What about his other books though? I've only read Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction and Glamorama and didn't really like any of them. I kind of feel the same about some of JG Ballard. Just all a bit formulaic.
Personally I don't have a top or bottom three. When I was younger I read a lot of science fiction. These days it is mainly crime/thriller with a lot of Nordic Noir. If I enjoy a book by an author I do tend to read more by them.
As an author at the bottom of the heap I would say Jeffrey Archer. I enjoyed "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less", "Kane and Abel" was OK but "The Prodigal Daughter" was 50% K&A so I have not read any more by him since.
As an author at the bottom of the heap I would say Jeffrey Archer. I enjoyed "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less", "Kane and Abel" was OK but "The Prodigal Daughter" was 50% K&A so I have not read any more by him since.
Goughie said:
...Worst...All "holy" books - the worst invention ever - bar none.
Give us a clue, which of the "holy" books have you read.FlossyThePig said:
Personally I don't have a top or bottom three. When I was younger I read a lot of science fiction. These days it is mainly crime/thriller with a lot of Nordic Noir. If I enjoy a book by an author I do tend to read more by them.
Good point. Even though I picked out a few, isn't the point of being a bookworm that the next pleasant surprise is somewhere on the road ahead? 
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