Simple Question
March 16, 2010 10:10 PM Subscribe
What is the best book you have ever read. You can just say it, ideally you would say say why too, but please: The Best Book You Have Ever Read.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Sorry, but this is chatfilter -- vacapinta
Fiction: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - it's funny, it's insightful, it's just a perfectly good story.
Non-Fiction: Homicide by David Simons - the book The Wire was based off of, it is incredibly fascinating and touches just about every emotion you can think of. Stunningly well written. (Close second is Charlatan by Pope Brock.)
posted by BradNelson at 10:23 PM on March 16, 2010
Non-Fiction: Homicide by David Simons - the book The Wire was based off of, it is incredibly fascinating and touches just about every emotion you can think of. Stunningly well written. (Close second is Charlatan by Pope Brock.)
posted by BradNelson at 10:23 PM on March 16, 2010
~Age 13-15: Some novel or another by William Sleator
~Age 15-17: Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
~Age 18-20: Ready, Okay!, Adam Cadre
~Age 21-23: Bonanza (Book 4 of the The Baroque Cycle), Neal Stephenson
~Age 23-25: Neuromancer, William Gibson
posted by griphus at 10:23 PM on March 16, 2010
~Age 15-17: Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
~Age 18-20: Ready, Okay!, Adam Cadre
~Age 21-23: Bonanza (Book 4 of the The Baroque Cycle), Neal Stephenson
~Age 23-25: Neuromancer, William Gibson
posted by griphus at 10:23 PM on March 16, 2010
Seconding Huck Finn. Just the greatest thing I ever got my hands on as a kid and I still revisit it as an adult to confirm that yes, in fact, it's still a great, funny story.
posted by smeater44 at 10:27 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by smeater44 at 10:27 PM on March 16, 2010
The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak.
and why. It moved me so much that I crave that feeling again like a drug high.
posted by robotot at 10:28 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
and why. It moved me so much that I crave that feeling again like a drug high.
posted by robotot at 10:28 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Little Prince. I read it once a year to keep me from becoming too old.
posted by Ruki at 10:30 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by Ruki at 10:30 PM on March 16, 2010
Tom's Midnight Garden
I remember as a kid always asking my mom to read "just one more chapter" before bed. One night she finally said yes, and we stayed up to read the whole book. That was the night I fell in love with books.
posted by saradarlin at 10:30 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
I remember as a kid always asking my mom to read "just one more chapter" before bed. One night she finally said yes, and we stayed up to read the whole book. That was the night I fell in love with books.
posted by saradarlin at 10:30 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
My Side of the Mountain
I think it appeals to my love of camping and the outdoors and just surviving in the outdoors. Ive always wanted to try living in a tree. I first read it in 4th grade and I still read it once a year.
posted by lilkeith07 at 10:37 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think it appeals to my love of camping and the outdoors and just surviving in the outdoors. Ive always wanted to try living in a tree. I first read it in 4th grade and I still read it once a year.
posted by lilkeith07 at 10:37 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
kafka on the shore by haruki murakami. anything murakami, actually :)
posted by afterdark at 10:41 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by afterdark at 10:41 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I remember reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory when I was 7 or 8. It was the first book that carried me to another place and made me love the escape of books.
posted by sadtomato at 10:41 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by sadtomato at 10:41 PM on March 16, 2010
The Fountain Overflows, by Rebecca West. If i could live inside a book, it would be that one.
posted by OolooKitty at 10:43 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by OolooKitty at 10:43 PM on March 16, 2010
Lolita.
posted by changeling at 10:46 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by changeling at 10:46 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's impossible to be satisfied with a single answer, but the first one I thought of was:
For Whom the Bell Tolls.
It made me feel some feelings, and I think I read it at about the right time in my life.
From books already mentioned, I would say that the little prince and huck finn would both also qualify as 'my favourite book' on days that aren't today.
posted by Acari at 10:49 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
For Whom the Bell Tolls.
It made me feel some feelings, and I think I read it at about the right time in my life.
From books already mentioned, I would say that the little prince and huck finn would both also qualify as 'my favourite book' on days that aren't today.
posted by Acari at 10:49 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Good Omens
posted by smallerdemon at 10:49 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by smallerdemon at 10:49 PM on March 16, 2010
Pattern Recognition, William Gibson. A book about apophenia and filmmaking, two of my favorite things.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:50 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:50 PM on March 16, 2010
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
It's strange, funny, complex, erudite, serious and self-aware. It isn't for everyone, but if I had to pick a single book that is the first one that jumps to mind. In so many ways it is an impossible question to answer for someone who reads a lot, just like asking any music junkie what their favorite album is. I have particular favorites in many genres, and there are different contexts in which I would prefer to advocate different books. For me the criteria for any truly great book would be that it must stand up to repeated exposure, and one should find that it reveals more of itself the deeper you dig into it. Revisiting a great book you read at a younger age should yield insights and provoke new contemplations, just as discussing it with someone of a different perspective would yield new discussion. Any of the classics will stand up to this challenge, but out of modern authors who speak to the age we live in they are few and far between.
posted by sophist at 10:52 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's strange, funny, complex, erudite, serious and self-aware. It isn't for everyone, but if I had to pick a single book that is the first one that jumps to mind. In so many ways it is an impossible question to answer for someone who reads a lot, just like asking any music junkie what their favorite album is. I have particular favorites in many genres, and there are different contexts in which I would prefer to advocate different books. For me the criteria for any truly great book would be that it must stand up to repeated exposure, and one should find that it reveals more of itself the deeper you dig into it. Revisiting a great book you read at a younger age should yield insights and provoke new contemplations, just as discussing it with someone of a different perspective would yield new discussion. Any of the classics will stand up to this challenge, but out of modern authors who speak to the age we live in they are few and far between.
posted by sophist at 10:52 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Maus. I don't think it's cheating to count parts I and II as one. I can get as verklempt as the next guy watching Requiem For a Dream or Band of Brothers or something about a man and his dog, but nothing, and certainly nothing on a page had made me weep before. And I mean Vladek's experience during the holocaust is bad enough, but Art's relationship with his father... I felt like these people were my family.
Oh, book books? Sexual Personae. Camille Paglia is blindingly brilliant. I still can't grasp about 90% of what she's talking about, but my first reading helped bring about my understanding of, well, a lot. Postmodernism, feminism, the role of the unconscious in art, aspects of my own sexuality, and the limits of reason to pin it down a little.
posted by cmoj at 10:54 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, book books? Sexual Personae. Camille Paglia is blindingly brilliant. I still can't grasp about 90% of what she's talking about, but my first reading helped bring about my understanding of, well, a lot. Postmodernism, feminism, the role of the unconscious in art, aspects of my own sexuality, and the limits of reason to pin it down a little.
posted by cmoj at 10:54 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
A Prayer for Owen Meany.
I'm no person of faith, but that book taught me things about myself and about how I view the world.
posted by makethemost at 10:56 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'm no person of faith, but that book taught me things about myself and about how I view the world.
posted by makethemost at 10:56 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Oh jesus. The mention of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reminds me of being a kid reading Journey to the Center of the Earth. I've read that book at least a dozen times. Mostly in all night marathons as a grade-schooler. It seemed possible. It appealed to the scientific, the fantasy-loving, and the self-reliant straks in me. Or it created them... I'm not so sire which.
Alright, I'm done. Wonderful question.
posted by cmoj at 11:00 PM on March 16, 2010
Alright, I'm done. Wonderful question.
posted by cmoj at 11:00 PM on March 16, 2010
I read the internet, and I write to people who mostly are not websurfers. I review Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice now and then to refurbish my English. Btw, Ymmv, innit?
posted by Cranberry at 11:02 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by Cranberry at 11:02 PM on March 16, 2010
Anything by David Foster Wallace.
White Noise by Don DeLillo. I think it was my first exposure to post-modern (whatever that means) lit, but I loved all it's cold war hysteria madness.
On Preview: 2nding The Book Thief, Maus, and anything murakami
posted by thankyouforyourconsideration at 11:12 PM on March 16, 2010
White Noise by Don DeLillo. I think it was my first exposure to post-modern (whatever that means) lit, but I loved all it's cold war hysteria madness.
On Preview: 2nding The Book Thief, Maus, and anything murakami
posted by thankyouforyourconsideration at 11:12 PM on March 16, 2010
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:14 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:14 PM on March 16, 2010
I first read it while on a train from Sacramento to Seattle, a paperback copy, sometimes closing the covers to look for a while out on the evergreen woods, or close my eyes and feel the sunlight through the window on my face. Then I'd flip it open again and smell the pages and take the words in deep. The book felt solid and light in my hands. The book was a friend. It is my favorite kind of book: wise, slow, and beautiful. And sad, but only as sad as life is itself.
posted by cirripede at 11:21 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
In New Mexico he always awoke a young man; not until he rose andWilla Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop.
began to shave did he realize that he was growing older.
posted by cirripede at 11:21 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Lolita. Just a perfect masterpiece on so many levels.
posted by crabintheocean at 11:27 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by crabintheocean at 11:27 PM on March 16, 2010
When I got done reading Niven and Pournelle's "Dream Park" I immediately read it two more times. I've never had that experience with any other book.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:27 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:27 PM on March 16, 2010
Still Life With Woodpecker, by Tom Robbins.
posted by chookibing at 11:29 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by chookibing at 11:29 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
The best books that made me want to read more books were Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe and Tolkien's The Hobbit. The best book I've ever studied and marveled at its construction and artistry is Nabokov's Pale Fire. The best book that nobody (well, too few) reads anymore is Mann's The Magic Mountain. The best graphic novels are Spiegelman's Maus and Eisner's A Contract With God. The best book of short stories is The Collected Stories of Flannery O'Connor. The best modern American novel is either Wallace's Infinite Jest or Powers's Three Farmers On Their Way To A Dance.
None of this is opinion, of course. This is all objectively, factually true.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:31 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
None of this is opinion, of course. This is all objectively, factually true.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:31 PM on March 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
A few months ago it was The World to Come.
A few years prior it was A Widow for One Year.
In college it was Song of Solomon.
This list very happily changes every few months for me though. And if the lights were on in my living room right now it would certainly be more than 3.
Oh wait! Just remembered The Gravedigger's Daughter and my childhood favorite, the novel that turned me into a reader: Anne of Green Gables.
posted by ohyouknow at 11:34 PM on March 16, 2010
A few years prior it was A Widow for One Year.
In college it was Song of Solomon.
This list very happily changes every few months for me though. And if the lights were on in my living room right now it would certainly be more than 3.
Oh wait! Just remembered The Gravedigger's Daughter and my childhood favorite, the novel that turned me into a reader: Anne of Green Gables.
posted by ohyouknow at 11:34 PM on March 16, 2010
Best well, that would have to be the Niccolo books (Really just one book split up, but if I had to pick one, it would be Scales of Gold) by Dorothy Dunnett. Literate, great prose, and heart-breaking characterisation. Plunging into those books was so intense. Put to shame every cliche I had ever held about historical fiction.
posted by smoke at 11:34 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by smoke at 11:34 PM on March 16, 2010
Also, crabintheocean and other folks upthread, can you explain why you loved Lolita? I had to force myself through it and just decided to give up on principle with 3 pages left to go (so unlike me). Perhaps it's because I prefer protagonists who don't freak me out? I read it about 10 years ago, so maybe I wasn't able to see something I might see now? (Sorry if this counts as a derail, feel free to delete, I've just been curious about its popularity for a while.)
posted by ohyouknow at 11:41 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by ohyouknow at 11:41 PM on March 16, 2010
A Fine Balance: Rohinton Mistry.
Why? I have never been quite as moved by any other book.
posted by WayOutWest at 11:47 PM on March 16, 2010
Why? I have never been quite as moved by any other book.
posted by WayOutWest at 11:47 PM on March 16, 2010
Oh, and pace smoke, though I have not read Dunnett, the best historical novels (and arguably one of the greatest feats of sustained narrative in English) that I have ever read are Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:49 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:49 PM on March 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm gonna come off like an incredible lightweight, but that's okay: John M. Ford's The Final Reflection is the only book I take off the shelf four or five times a year to reread. I can open it anywhere and it's like visiting old friends. It's a "Star Trek" novel about Klingons.
I can pretty well do that with Elliot S. Maggin's Superman: Last Son of Krypton, too. That book and Arthur C. Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth contain the most lyrical prose I've ever read. In addition to wonderful characters well-written, the words flow so beautifully that I hate coming to the last page.
For nonfiction, Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers gave me the clearest understanding yet of what my grandfather experienced in Europe during World War II.
posted by bryon at 11:51 PM on March 16, 2010
I can pretty well do that with Elliot S. Maggin's Superman: Last Son of Krypton, too. That book and Arthur C. Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth contain the most lyrical prose I've ever read. In addition to wonderful characters well-written, the words flow so beautifully that I hate coming to the last page.
For nonfiction, Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers gave me the clearest understanding yet of what my grandfather experienced in Europe during World War II.
posted by bryon at 11:51 PM on March 16, 2010
I loved Baltimore's Mansion by Wayne Johnston. (It's a memoir about the author's family and about growing up in Newfoundland.) I grew up in Alberta and never learned much about Atlantic Canada in school, then moved to Halifax and met a bunch of people from St. John's. One of them suggested this book not as a learning experience but as a beautiful thing to read, and I was blown away by the story of Confederation in Newfoundland that I had had no idea about. It occupies a special place in my heart because no other book about political history had ever made me cry before (or since).
posted by bewilderbeast at 11:51 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by bewilderbeast at 11:51 PM on March 16, 2010
Crime and Punishment. It's great because it inverts the standard morality tale, where the sinner is consumed with guilt and self-loathing--instead, Raskolnikov is sullen and nihilistic at first, but is consumed with warmth and good feelings. He starts out isolated from society, and his punishment is to rejoin it. By the end of the book, the cold-blooded murderer is setting up his sister with his best friend. Of course, all of this happens after he's sealed his own doom, tragically.
Dostoevsky uses this theme a lot--showing amorality to be not liberating, but alienating--but it works best in C&P, because Raskolnikov has a true tragic arc, unlike the Underground Man, or the folks in The Possessed. Also, he's contrasted with Svidrigailov, who's following the opposite trajectory. Also also, the initially bleak tone starts letting up a bit as all the supporting characters come in, so Raskolnikov's growing interest in these people parallels our own.
posted by equalpants at 11:59 PM on March 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
Dostoevsky uses this theme a lot--showing amorality to be not liberating, but alienating--but it works best in C&P, because Raskolnikov has a true tragic arc, unlike the Underground Man, or the folks in The Possessed. Also, he's contrasted with Svidrigailov, who's following the opposite trajectory. Also also, the initially bleak tone starts letting up a bit as all the supporting characters come in, so Raskolnikov's growing interest in these people parallels our own.
posted by equalpants at 11:59 PM on March 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
At various times in my life, there have been different books that I went back to over and over again because they speak to something that was important to me at that moment. So, the favorite-book question has a sequence of answers.
age 12: The World According to Garp - John Irving. This was one of the first "adult" books I was given, and that may have been part of its appeal. I still love the characters, and still remember Dad's cautious preface to it: "You should not consider these characters to be role models. I hope you'll talk to me if you have any questions".
teens: Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card. Among my friends, those who identified with Ender loved the book, while the others responded with a "meh". I always read it as an exploration of how much it was possible to excel given the right pressures, and the price of this excellence.
college: Memory - Lois McMaster Bujold. Unfortunately, you need to have read the previous books in the series for this one to have the proper effect. The protagonist has destroyed everything on which he bases his identity, and the book follows him as he explores the meaning of identity and finds his way into a new one. For a more lighthearted variant of Miles-climbs-out-of-hole-of-his-own-digging, read A Civil Campaign.
current/grad school: still looking...
posted by Metasyntactic at 12:09 AM on March 17, 2010
age 12: The World According to Garp - John Irving. This was one of the first "adult" books I was given, and that may have been part of its appeal. I still love the characters, and still remember Dad's cautious preface to it: "You should not consider these characters to be role models. I hope you'll talk to me if you have any questions".
teens: Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card. Among my friends, those who identified with Ender loved the book, while the others responded with a "meh". I always read it as an exploration of how much it was possible to excel given the right pressures, and the price of this excellence.
college: Memory - Lois McMaster Bujold. Unfortunately, you need to have read the previous books in the series for this one to have the proper effect. The protagonist has destroyed everything on which he bases his identity, and the book follows him as he explores the meaning of identity and finds his way into a new one. For a more lighthearted variant of Miles-climbs-out-of-hole-of-his-own-digging, read A Civil Campaign.
current/grad school: still looking...
posted by Metasyntactic at 12:09 AM on March 17, 2010
Charlotte's Web
Because Charlotte is a marvelous writer, of course!
Because I remember trying to cover my eyes with my hair so that my sister would not see me crying when I read that Charlotte had died. Because to this day, I capture spiders and set them free. I believe the story helped me learn compassion for creatures that may seem scary (spiders), ugly (Templeton!) or normally regarded as food (Wilbur).
posted by ainsley at 12:10 AM on March 17, 2010
Because Charlotte is a marvelous writer, of course!
Because I remember trying to cover my eyes with my hair so that my sister would not see me crying when I read that Charlotte had died. Because to this day, I capture spiders and set them free. I believe the story helped me learn compassion for creatures that may seem scary (spiders), ugly (Templeton!) or normally regarded as food (Wilbur).
posted by ainsley at 12:10 AM on March 17, 2010
Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy
posted by elroyel1327 at 12:12 AM on March 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by elroyel1327 at 12:12 AM on March 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
Perhaps it sounds trite now after the inexplicable popularity of the bastardized movie adaptation, but the best book I've ever read was The Lord of the Rings (which includes The Hobbit, naturally).
posted by fairmettle at 12:28 AM on March 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by fairmettle at 12:28 AM on March 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think that there is a distinction, however fine, between picking one's favorite book, and picking the 'best book' one has ever read.
Annals of the Former World NF
and Ulysses are the best books I've ever read.
I have many, many favorite books.
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:38 AM on March 17, 2010
Annals of the Former World NF
and Ulysses are the best books I've ever read.
I have many, many favorite books.
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:38 AM on March 17, 2010
To Kill a Mockingbird
I make sure to read this at least once a year, and I have always maintained that Harper Lee never needed to write another novel since she got it right the first time.
posted by ymendel at 12:39 AM on March 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
I make sure to read this at least once a year, and I have always maintained that Harper Lee never needed to write another novel since she got it right the first time.
posted by ymendel at 12:39 AM on March 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
In high school, I was pretty enamored with Chaucer, and I still think The Canterbury Tales is deeply instructive on issues of human character. I, too, love Twain's Adventures of Hucklebery Finn, for its dialog and the ear Twain had for speech, and for his ability to twist my heart, by twisting Huck's. As a young adult, with 2 young boys of my own, I read Desmond Morris' The Naked Ape, when its contributions to popular views of anthropology ("pair bonding" and the evolutionary reasons for the extreme immaturity of human infants) were fresh. In my late 20s, I read Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain between a bad ending of a first marriage, and an awful beginning of a second; that led me, indirectly, to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship, from which I took his explanation of "cheap grace" as a foundation for re-thinking my own views of religion. That got me reading Martin Luther, and Luther, in a strange way, brought me back around to Voltaire, particularly Candide, and to Jonathan Swift's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships, both of which stand still, as excellent examples of satire, at a novel's length.
In my early 30s, I got on a classic bent, and read good translations of various Roman and Greek texts, including Plutarch's Parallel Lives, Caesar's Commentaries, most of Plato, and much of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. In my late 30s, I got personally interested in business and economics, and started grinding through a lot of business books. I did like Benjamin Graham's Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor, and Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, which may seem to others not an economics tract, but certainly was, to me.
By my 40s, I was again reading mainly for pleasure, and went through everything Kurt Vonnegut wrote, because it was fun and mostly easy reading, if all a little dark. I liked Robert Parker's Spenser novels, for the same reason. But I also read the often very under-rated Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, a truly readable and instructive work, praised highly by no less an authority than Mark Twain. Following that, I read a number of Barbara Tuchman's works, including The Guns of August, The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, and A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. In my late 40s, Issac Asimov passed away, and I got back to science fiction, as recreational reading. Asimov's Foundation Series, and his I,Robot stories, led to RAH, and that led back out of science fiction, to some hard science reading. I was fully 50 when I tackled Darwin for myself, and then went came back, pretty slowly, through the 19th century, via the writings of Faraday, and then Maxwell, both of whom manage to convey an experimenter's curiosity and discipline, as no third party, for me, ever has.
But the best book I ever read, in terms of daily utility, was the 1975 edition of The Joy of Cooking, which I still consult, several times a week, for its simple wisdom.
posted by paulsc at 1:13 AM on March 17, 2010
In my early 30s, I got on a classic bent, and read good translations of various Roman and Greek texts, including Plutarch's Parallel Lives, Caesar's Commentaries, most of Plato, and much of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. In my late 30s, I got personally interested in business and economics, and started grinding through a lot of business books. I did like Benjamin Graham's Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor, and Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, which may seem to others not an economics tract, but certainly was, to me.
By my 40s, I was again reading mainly for pleasure, and went through everything Kurt Vonnegut wrote, because it was fun and mostly easy reading, if all a little dark. I liked Robert Parker's Spenser novels, for the same reason. But I also read the often very under-rated Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, a truly readable and instructive work, praised highly by no less an authority than Mark Twain. Following that, I read a number of Barbara Tuchman's works, including The Guns of August, The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, and A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. In my late 40s, Issac Asimov passed away, and I got back to science fiction, as recreational reading. Asimov's Foundation Series, and his I,Robot stories, led to RAH, and that led back out of science fiction, to some hard science reading. I was fully 50 when I tackled Darwin for myself, and then went came back, pretty slowly, through the 19th century, via the writings of Faraday, and then Maxwell, both of whom manage to convey an experimenter's curiosity and discipline, as no third party, for me, ever has.
But the best book I ever read, in terms of daily utility, was the 1975 edition of The Joy of Cooking, which I still consult, several times a week, for its simple wisdom.
posted by paulsc at 1:13 AM on March 17, 2010
I see I'm not the only one throwing out a Robert Heinlin plug. Stranger In A Strange Land rocked my young mind the first time I read it when my dad, an ex-hippie, passed it on to me in high school. I've re-read that book at least 6 times now, and every time I find it just as fun, smart, mind-expanding, tittelating, fascinating, educational, religious, and uplifting as I did the first time.
posted by raygan at 1:22 AM on March 17, 2010
posted by raygan at 1:22 AM on March 17, 2010
Infinite Jest for me as well, yes. I seem to be perpetually reading it in pieces - every time I finish, I start back around again, which is rather appropriate.
posted by clipperton at 1:25 AM on March 17, 2010
posted by clipperton at 1:25 AM on March 17, 2010
Of Human Bondage.
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 1:41 AM on March 17, 2010
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 1:41 AM on March 17, 2010
I've mentioned this before elsewhere, but The Namesake by Jhumpra Lahiri. For the time that I was reading it, I honestly and truly felt like I was a part of their family. When the main character's [spoiler] died, I wept as though my own [spoiler] had died. Mainly, I've never had another book that I would FORCE myself to put down so I could prolong my time in their universe. I wanted to devour it, but I also never wanted to leave.
posted by sarahsynonymous at 1:44 AM on March 17, 2010
posted by sarahsynonymous at 1:44 AM on March 17, 2010
Interesting question: Is it simply what's on the pages or not? To me, it's not.
In itself, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would be a serious contender, but I got to meet Douglas Adams and ask a question about the book. He couldn't have been nicer and in answering my question, told me a great little story.
To me, that memory being part of the experience of reading it makes it my choice.
posted by ambient2 at 1:48 AM on March 17, 2010
In itself, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would be a serious contender, but I got to meet Douglas Adams and ask a question about the book. He couldn't have been nicer and in answering my question, told me a great little story.
To me, that memory being part of the experience of reading it makes it my choice.
posted by ambient2 at 1:48 AM on March 17, 2010
Two favourites for two different reasons.
First would be Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. Breathless, human, barbaric, lovely. It took me about 2 hours to get through the first page because I'd never read anything like his stream-of-consciousness style before.
Second would be 1001 Arabian Nights. Before my Grandfather died he gave me a turn of the century hardback copy that had been loved deeply. It's the book I read to others and that I recommend to friends to read to their partners. The wife of a friend of mine, after the recommendation, went to bed early just so that he would have enough time before lights out to continue the story.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 2:17 AM on March 17, 2010
First would be Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. Breathless, human, barbaric, lovely. It took me about 2 hours to get through the first page because I'd never read anything like his stream-of-consciousness style before.
Second would be 1001 Arabian Nights. Before my Grandfather died he gave me a turn of the century hardback copy that had been loved deeply. It's the book I read to others and that I recommend to friends to read to their partners. The wife of a friend of mine, after the recommendation, went to bed early just so that he would have enough time before lights out to continue the story.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 2:17 AM on March 17, 2010
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I had to read it for an English class at university and it and the course changed my life. I read books differently now and I read different books. The Handmaid's Tale made me question my question my willingness to buy into anything that leaders of Christian society advocated. I'm still very much a Christian and the book did not offend me because the religion portrayed is not Christianity. I now think it's very important to stand up for women's rights and not take them for granted. This has extended to not taking any human rights for granted.
Anne of Green Gables also turned me into a reader.
posted by CdnMathTeacher at 2:23 AM on March 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Anne of Green Gables also turned me into a reader.
posted by CdnMathTeacher at 2:23 AM on March 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Perfume: The story of a murderer, by Patrick Suskind. The language (even in translation) is beautiful, and he makes the olfactory world come alive. Plus the story is just great. I read it at least once a year, and pick it up from time to time to read a few random pages.
posted by snoogles at 2:33 AM on March 17, 2010
posted by snoogles at 2:33 AM on March 17, 2010
Gosh, can't believe I'm first with John Kennedy Toole's Confederacy of Dunces.
1981 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, from Wikipedia: "The title derives from the epigraph by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." (Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting)
The story is set in New Orleans in the early 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. Reilly, an educated but slothful 30-year-old man still living with his mother in the city's Uptown neighborhood, who, due to an incident early in the book, must set out to get a job. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters."
The most insane simultaneously laughing and crying book I've ever read.
posted by dzaz at 2:34 AM on March 17, 2010
1981 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, from Wikipedia: "The title derives from the epigraph by Jonathan Swift: "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." (Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting)
The story is set in New Orleans in the early 1960s. The central character is Ignatius J. Reilly, an educated but slothful 30-year-old man still living with his mother in the city's Uptown neighborhood, who, due to an incident early in the book, must set out to get a job. In his quest for employment he has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters."
The most insane simultaneously laughing and crying book I've ever read.
posted by dzaz at 2:34 AM on March 17, 2010
Nabokov's Lolita (which has been mentioned by others) and Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath.
posted by Houstonian at 3:04 AM on March 17, 2010
posted by Houstonian at 3:04 AM on March 17, 2010
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. A cracking good read, and a wake-up call for those who would apathetically allow the government to deprive the citizenry of its liberties. I'm sure that almost everyone can identify with Winston Smith!
posted by humpy at 3:22 AM on March 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by humpy at 3:22 AM on March 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
This book was my bible as a kid... still is, really. Adams' writing style is wonderful, and it's a cracking good story. Every couple of years I bust out my fancy illustrated slipcase edition and just wallow in it.
posted by vorfeed at 10:19 PM on March 16, 2010 [3 favorites]