"Must Read" Novels

[JJPeachum]

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh is my favorite book and it’s positively brimming with gorgeous prose, and heavily laden with Catholic themes and imagery. I read it once a year, usually.

As a slightly controversial entry, I would submit Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. If you are easily scandalized or humorless, it probably isn’t for you, but if you’re willing to overlook some blasphemy in exchange for an excellently written tale that is laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly moving, you may like it.

Also, if you’ve never read The Princess Bride, it’s a must!

 

[PaulGH]

My favorite book of all time is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. I know this is a classic and you are probably looking for something new that you never heard of but this book is great just incase you haven’t read it. Like you said about your pick it’s a classic and much has already been written about why its great so I wont go on about why I like it so much but I will say Don Quixote is a man who does what he thinks is right in all situations no matter what the cost is to him and its hilarious. Out of all the stuff in this book I don’t get why everybody always focuses on the windmills though? For me that was nowhere near the best or most memorable part of the book.

Is there a particular English translation of Don Quixote that you would recommend? I haven’t checked, but I would guess that there are probably several different translations available.

 

[wavejim]

A newer book to consider reading:

“Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

 

[PaulGH]

A newer book to consider reading:

“Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

Thanks for the recommendation. What kind of book is it? What did you like about it?

 

[Mumbles140]

A newer book to consider reading:

“Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

I listened to the book on tape while driving semi-cross-country to Kansas from the East Coast. It kept me awake and on the edge of my seat the entire time!

 

[wavejim]

Thanks for the recommendation. What kind of book is it? What did you like about it?

The book is the life story of Louis Zamperini. The life this man led was remarkable in more ways than you could imagine. Poor immigrant roots to Olympic track athlete followed by long stays in Japanese POW camps and his struggles after the war. This book is a great character map, I mean that I hope my children will read it and enrich their characters.

 

[hamandcheese]

Is there a particular English translation of Don Quixote that you would recommend? I haven’t checked, but I would guess that there are probably several different translations available.

There is a version that I like better then some others but I don’t know the name of the translator. I could be that it was the first version I read but I remember it being a little more coarse with some of the insults Don Quixote throws around at people and other dialogue between the characters. I gave that book to someone and it never occurred to me to think about the translation when I bought another. Even though its my favorite I am far from being an expert on the book. I would love to be fluent in Spanish to read it in its original language.

A newer book to consider reading:

“Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

I cant believe how that poor guy had to jump out of his raft into the ocean to avoid being strafed by Japanese planes only to have to jump back into the raft to avoid being eaten by sharks and then having to do it over and over again timing it just right! Great book.

 

[LisaA]

Novels I liked enough to read multiple times::

Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
The Shack (ok shoot me but I thought it was outstanding)
Gone With the Wind (read it so many times I could practically recite the lines)
Anything by Leon Uris QBVII, is my favorite
Winds of War and War and Remembrance (great portrayal of WWII from many perspectives)
Lord of the Rings
Shogun

For nonfiction but “story” versus just a bunch of facts:
Undaunted Courage
The Perfect Storm
Flyboys and Flags of Our Fathers

wow seems I have a war theme going here.

Lisa

 

[Mumbles140]

I cant believe how that poor guy had to jump out of his raft into the ocean to avoid being strafed by Japanese planes only to have to jump back into the raft to avoid being eaten by sharks and then having to do it over and over again timing it just right! Great book.

Not to mention the guys who finally can’t expend the energy to jump out of the raft…

 

[empther]

A newer book to consider reading:

“Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

I cant believe how that poor guy had to jump out of his raft into the ocean to avoid being strafed by Japanese planes only to have to jump back into the raft to avoid being eaten by sharks and then having to do it over and over again timing it just right! Great book.

I checked the Amazon listing for this book and read the first two pages of the INSIDE LOOK! and decided the author committed the crime of overwriting. The Lieutenant looks like a composite of several people. More realistic would be to make him an average guy thrown into unusual circumstances. That happens all the time.

THEN, :bigyikes:
I read the following Amazon Customer Review:

A very interesting read, but …, May 29, 2011
By Victorio
Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (Hardcover)
Like virtually every reviewer, I agree that this is a terrific rendering of the exploits of a true American patriot so deserving of admiration and acclaim. But unlike virtually every reviewer, I cannot give it five stars.

The reason?

In too many instances, I would deem Unbroken to be “unbelievable.” I know the author has done extensive research, but no matter the research, the narrative and the history do provide room for personal coloring. And this, in my opinion, has led to some exaggeration and distortion – shadows that darken the story with aspects of disbelief.

I’ll give some examples:

1. There is no way an individual – especially a frail, sick, malnourished, fever-ridden individual – can absorb 220 successive hard blows to the head and not end up with severe brain damage, if not death.

1. Describing the same individual – frail, totally malnourished, and now suffering from crippling dysentery – holding a heavy six-foot beam directly over his head in the broiling sun for THIRTY-SEVEN MINUTES is … simply “unbelievable.”

1. The way the author describes the ordeal of the POWs – 12-14 hours of non-stop hard labor, near-starvation food rations, constant physical beatings, unending dysentery – one would expect the survivors to resemble concentration camp victims. But on page 310 of my hardcover edition, this is a photo of the POWs at war’s end. And to match the physical appearance of these healthy-looking men with the description of POW camp conditions as portrayed in the book is an unbelievable stretch. (I’m not questioning the ordeal the POWs endured. But does the photo show this at all?)

I can cite many more examples, but anyone who has carefully read the book should get the picture.

I’ve heard that if a person, testifying in court, is caught being untruthful, all that person’s testimony is disregarded. In the case of this book, examples like the above (and others) make me question the honesty of the entire narrative.

In no way should my review diminish the exploits of a great American hero. Just the opposite. Zamperini’s feats were so extraordinary, they need neither exaggeration nor distortion to be powerfully presented.

You got to be kidding me!
Sounds like a Homeric legendary hero epic like the Odyssey or the Iliad, but not a realistic story of what a person would go through in the modern world.

I would probably put this book down after a hundred pages. Should have gone straight to the raft situation, skipping the POW business and everything else.

The author claims it’s a true story. Oh really? Where is this Louie?
Supposedly the author met him around 2000 when he would have been 80 and he told her this story. Hmmm!

There were also some damning one star reviews:
amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/product-reviews/1400064163/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

 

[wavejim]

I checked the Amazon listing for this book and read the first two pages of the INSIDE LOOK! and decided the author committed the crime of overwriting. The Lieutenant looks like a composite of several people. More realistic would be to make him an average guy thrown into unusual circumstances. That happens all the time.

THEN, :bigyikes:
I read the following Amazon Customer Review:

You got to be kidding me!
Sounds like a Homeric legendary hero epic like the Odyssey or the Iliad, but not a realistic story of what a person would go through in the modern world.

I would probably put this book down after a hundred pages. Should have gone straight to the raft situation, skipping the POW business and everything else.

The author claims it’s a true story. Oh really? Where is this Louie?
Supposedly the author met him around 2000 when he would have been 80 and he told her this story. Hmmm!

There were also some damning one star reviews:
amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/product-reviews/1400064163/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Slow down…I dumped my Amazon account when Bezos funded the redefinition of marriage in my state, Washington. I never look at their book reviews or buy any thing from them.

“Unbroken” is not the first book about this man though I have not read the 2 others you can find from an internet search. The first book was written in 1950. Overwriting or stretching the truth, possible. This guy is still a hero in my eyes and well worth reading about.

 

[hamandcheese]

u got to be kidding me! 
Sounds like a Homeric legendary hero epic like the Odyssey or the Iliad, but not a realistic story of what a person would go through in the modern world.

I would probably put this book down after a hundred pages. Should have gone straight to the raft situation, skipping the POW business and everything else.

The author claims it’s a true story. Oh really? Where is this Louie?
Supposedly the author met him around 2000 when he would have been 80 and he told her this story. Hmmm!

What you say makes a lot of sense and she could have totally exaggerated however this guy was an Olympic athlete in great physical shape and life in a Japanese pow camp was brutal. I don’t think she had to embellish to much on the suffering he endured there. One of the most unbelievable things to me though was years after the war he goes back to Japan and forgives the guy responsible for torturing him, ruining his knee and his athletic career. That is documented and true.

I have to say though that I am shocked to see this level of skepticism coming out of Biddeford Maine. We are much less cynical in Hollis.

 

[Falco]

The Sparrow - by Mary Doria Russell

The Sparrow is a novel about a remarkable man, a living saint, a life-long celibate and Jesuit priest, who undergoes an experience so harrowing and profound that it makes him question the existence of God. This experience–the first contact between human beings and intelligent extraterrestrial life–begins with a small mistake and ends in a horrible catastrophe.

There is a sequel that is even better.

 

[empther]

he could have totally exaggerated however this guy was an Olympic athlete in great physical shape and life in a Japanese pow camp was brutal.

In her Amazon commentary, the author says Louie was born in 1920. There was a 1936 Berlin Olympics but no 1940 Games. Louie would have been only 16 at the :Berlin Olympics.
Hmmm!

So apparently Louie was a Norwegian, but somehow he ended up being a Lieutenant flying a bomber in the Pacific!

I have to say though that I am shocked to see this level of skepticism coming out of Biddeford Maine. We are much less cynical in Hollis.

We sophisticated citizens of the big city of Biddeford have a more carefully considered assessment of this #&()_):banghead: %^%$^@ :slapfight: @% world.
When one lives in the woods and watches our little feathery and furry friends all day, it easy to believe in a world of love. :extrahappy:

 

[wavejim]

Here is the link to Zamperini on Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zamperini

His only fault was he never reverted to Catholicism

 

[styrgwillidar]

In high school I had to read all the Russian authors, Dickens, Shakespeare, etc.-- all the typical classics. So, I’ll stick to the oddball stuff

Most thought provoking? Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.

I wouldn’t say it’s a great read, and not something I go back to but I am glad to have read it as it gives a very unique perspective. Probably the most thought provoking book I have read.

sci-fi/fantasy
Interesting: Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy. Takes an interesting concept and build’s an intriguing story. I didn’t like the follow-on books, they seemed obvious tag-ons.

Enjoyable, and I have re-read: Zelazny’s “Amber Series” 10 short books, but you can find the 'Great Book of Amber" which includes them all.

I also like and have re-read Zelazny’s “Lord of Light”, as well as a lot of his short stories.

Light reading, and I have re-read: Robert Asprin’s “Myth” series.

Crime/thriller-
I went through a phase of reading a lot of Patterson’s stuff. “Along Came A Spider” etc. never re-read any of it though.

As a kid I read virtually all of the Louis Lamour and Zane Grey westerns and enjoyed them at the time. I don’t know what I would think of them now.

 

[LisaA]

I

Most thought provoking? Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.

I wouldn’t say it’s a great read, and not something I go back to but I am glad to have read it as it gives a very unique perspective. Probably the most thought provoking book I have read.

Ah yes, I forgot to mention my favorite Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, which I appreciated far more than Atlas Shrugged. It’s a funny thing, on this forum if you mention reading and appreciating Ayn Rand’s FICTION, you are branded as a heretic. Haven’t quite figured that out. I agree Rand’s books are somewhat odd and contrived but they are extremely thought provoking and made me flip about 180 degrees on my outlook and understanding of society.

I

Crime/thriller-
I went through a phase of reading a lot of Patterson’s stuff. “Along Came A Spider” etc. never re-read any of it though.

For fun reads I like some of the crime/thrillers. Really like anything by Nelson DeMille, particularly Plum Island.

Some of the female crime novelists have a good thing going, until they start to get totally forumlaic and predictable. I liked the Kinsey Milhone series…A is for Alibi etc but recent books are not nearly as good.

Dennis Lehane is good as well in this genre.

Lisa

 

[hamandcheese]

In her Amazon commentary, the author says Louie was born in 1920. There was a 1936 Berlin Olympics but no 1940 Games. Louie would have been only 16 at the :Berlin Olympics.
Hmmm!

So apparently Louie was a Norwegian, but somehow he ended up being a Lieutenant flying a bomber in the Pacific!

Well, if its not true it should have been!

We sophisticated citizens of the big city of Biddeford have a more carefully considered assessment of this #&()_) world.

When one lives in the woods and watches our little feathery and furry friends all day, it easy to believe in a world of love.

Our women out here may be feathery and a little furry but at least they can cook!

 

[bluerose]

Crime/thriller-
I went through a phase of reading a lot of Patterson’s stuff. “Along Came A Spider” etc. never re-read any of it though.
.

Personally, I’m a big fan of Patterson’s “Detective Michael Bennett” series, co-written with Michael Ledwidge. There’s something about an NYPD cop with 10 kids and a grandfather who’s a monsignor…

 

[Falco]

Thanks so much for referring me to Canticle for Leibowitz - I have downloaded it from eBookMall.com for $3.95.