What's the best book you've ever read?

Post by **Revan** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 12:34 pm

What is it. This has probably been done before, but I can't be bothered to check, I've gotta go to a lesson. heh.

Post by **birdandbear** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 2:40 pm

I have to pick just one????

How about if I limit it to stand-alone novels and leave out the series, thus not having to pick a favorite Covenant book?

At this moment that would probably be either Catch-22 or The Neverending Story

Post by **Furls Fire** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 2:54 pm

Dear Gods, this is NOT an easy question. I would have to say that my favorite of all time would be The Lord of the Rings, in it's entirety. Second, would of course be the entire Chrons of TC. After those two, it just gets really murky...

Post by **Ylva Kresh** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 5:14 pm

I sometimes cannot decide if I like TIW or TPTP most. Is it a bad sign that I could never find something I liked more after reading those? I was thinking of becoming a writer when I was younger but I completely gave up that idea when I read TCTC - the perfect books were allready written! Perhaps this a sad thing - what if I had a lot of nice stories to tell (not likely...

)?

Post by **hierachy** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 5:15 pm

one abreviation-TIW

Post by **Ryzel** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 5:51 pm

I think my personal favorite at least of the TC books is WGW. I do not know why.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 4:53 am

Stand alone books, or the first book of a series if it can stand alone:
-Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
-Bhagavad Gita translated by Eknath Easwaran
-Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch
-Dune by Frank Herbert
-Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
-Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter (though I've never even finished it!)
-Illusions by Richard Bach
-Magister Ludi by Hermann Hesse
-Neverness by David Zindell
-The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader
-Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
-Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
-Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

Serieseses:
-Earthsea
-LOTR
-TCTC

God knows what I'm forgetting. There's always something...

Post by **Vain** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 11:14 am

Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake

Post by **aTOMiC** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 4:07 pm

H.G. Wells - War of the Worlds. This book got me started on the whole reading trip. (That and Herbie the Love Bug.)

Original influences not withstanding it would be The Illearth War. No question.

Post by **dANdeLION** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 6:47 pm

"The Complete Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Post by **danlo** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 7:28 pm

The Inverted World by Christopher Priest introduced my to high quality Sci-Fi. In that genre Neverness and Dune would be the best 2 stand alones. I would rank Neverness and the trilogy that follows it, A Requiem for Homo Sapiens as the best Sci-Fi series I've ever read.

Even tho he's known for horror, H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamquest of the Unknown Kadath and E. R. Eddison's The Worm Oroborus got me hooked on Fantasy. If there actually is a stand alone it would prob be Worm or The Silmarillion. Best series would be; TCTC, LOTR, the Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea and the 1st 3 books (so far) of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

One of my favorite novels is All the Pretty Horses by Cormack McCarthy. I also like Godel, Escher & Bach, Siddartha, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maint. and silly stuff like Vonegut, Hitchiker's Guide and Tom Robbins (especially Still Life with a Woodpecker

).

Post by **Dromond** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 7:47 pm

'Still Life With Woodpecker' is a great story, danlo! I haven't thought about it for years! (And as I was dating a redhead at the time...

)

Hawaii - by James Michener-
What a fantastic tale he tells!

Post by **danlo** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 8:46 pm

oooo Baby! Still massively in love w/Princess Liegh Cherie!

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 9:00 pm

My favorite book? The Catcher in the Rye! It's the only book where I totally agreed with the narrator and then disagreed with him years later.

Post by **birdandbear** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 10:11 pm

Ugh....That must be a guy book. Or maybe I was just too young. I hated it.

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 11:19 pm

Now, I've heard of "chick flicks", but never a "guy book"!

Well, I first read it in 9th grade, and I related with Holden Caulfield deeply, feeling his uncertainty about having to grow up and not wanting to. It's a book that, when you're, say, fifteen, you agree when Holden talks about "phonies", but then when you're older your point of view has changed and you being to feel sorry for Holden instead of commiserate with him. No book has ever really done that to me--made me see it from and enjoy it from two completely different angles. It's like Holden is his own protagonist and antagonist, and the first time you read it you think the antagonist in him is the good guy because you relate to that uncertainty, and then when you're older, you feel sorry for the protagonist in him that wishes to come out.

Post by **birdandbear** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 12:19 am

Ahh. That must be it. I was far too old. I read it when I was 23. I couldn't help but think he was a pathetic little whiner. I really didn't get what was the big deal. Oh well...

Post by **Reisheiruhime** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 12:39 am

Freedom's Landing, by Anne McCaffrey. I love those books.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 2:41 am

Things I forgot that I remembered.

-Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power by Thomas E. Mails
-Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson
-A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Of everything I've listed in my two posts, my current favorite of all is possibly Atlas Shrugged. But it changes from time to time.

Post by **Infelice** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 9:37 am

The Lord Of The Rings. Not saying any more

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

What's the best book you've ever read?

What's the best book you've ever read?