Has anything touched you like TC?

[Worm of Despite]

LF,

I'll try Elantris next. Thanks for the recommendation.

You won't regret it man.

Nausicaä and His Dark Materials.

Ah, Nausicaä. I've read the first three volumes of his manga and am anxious to finish the rest. Wonderfully illustrated, action-packed series, and arguably better than Miyazaki's films.

[tomposer]

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is a fantasy story psychologically rooted and very internally tumultuous in a similar way to TCTC. In it's way, it has a stronger focus on realism which makes it considerably grittier.

I have not seen the movie made of it, but I can vouch for the book being incredible.

[Fire Daughter]

I've read alot of books. Couldn't help it really, the library we have at home is comparable to that of a small town's. There is everything from Shakespeare to Donaldson.

And I love reading Shakespeare. Macbeth is astounding.

I was introduced to fantasy fiction at the age of 8 when I read Narnia. A few years later it was The Hobbit, LOTR, Earthsea and Harry Potter. Then, when I was 14 my mother handed me a copy of Lord Foul's Bane. I know I don't participate in many of the TC discussions (I have alot going on), but the Chrons have moved me in a way that not even Shakespeare has. Maybe it's because the love my mother had for this story. I don't know. Her passion for all things Covenant must have rubbed off on me. I remember after I finished the books for the first time just sitting up with her until the wee hours of the morning talking about them. We cried together over coercri and grumbled incessantly about Linden. We would have discussions about other books as well, but nothing like the ones we would have over the Chrons.

I'm going to miss talking to her about the end of the story when we finally have it.

[SleeplessOne]

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, is a fantasy story psychologically rooted and very internally tumultuous in a similar way to TCTC. In it's way, it has a stronger focus on realism which makes it considerably grittier.

I have not seen the movie made of it, but I can vouch for the book being incredible.

agree tomposer, I found the Road to be incredibly moving, I had a tear in my eye towards the end, the only other times I can recall that happening whilst reading a book was with TCoTC ...
saw the film recently and was somewhat underwhelmed, it was by no means poorly done, and indeed some of the scenes looked exactly as I had imagined them whilst reading the book - but it didnt quite have the emotional resonance of the book, and of course struggled to capture the at-times poetic prose of McCarthy ... worth a look though I s'pose - but I'd recommend the book highly to everyone and anyone ...

[Linna Heartbooger]

LoTR
Mordant's Need, actually!
Modesitt's Recluse saga!!! (but so many end in sheer pain. )
Lilith, by George MacDonald (could NOT put it down)

PS.The Wind in the Willows is soooo beautiful and the Chapter at the end of Winnie the pooh where Christopher Robin has to explain to Pooh et al that he is growing up and won't be coming to play with them any more is the saddest peice of writing I have ever encountered. I mean it! (pps I'm 52 years old - how sad am I?)

Well, thank you. I am glad I am not the only one who wanted to put young Children's lit here. IMO, Hans Christian Andersen is the MASTER! (and I've probably mostly been reading non-original versions)

For me, it's "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Velveteen Rabbit." I usually cry, even if I've been read them to my kiddo repeatedly over the last few weeks!

[Rocksister]

Nope, nothing has come close. Very few books that I have owned, I have read more than once. A couple of Anne Rice books (Blackwood Farm for one, Blood and Gold for another), and a trilogy by Jeanne Kalogridis about the pre-Dracula days and how those later days come to pass. A little cheesy, but still readable more than once. But I have read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, every single book released so far, a multitude of times. No matter how many times I read them, there is something new there each time. There is another thought birthed in my feeble mind that I never considered before. There is another character that I notice that I never paid any attention to in any previous readings. There is more depth, more detail, more emotion, more angst, more beauty, and more honor, courage, and love in the Chronicles than anywhere else. No, nothing has touched me like the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. And I doubt anything ever will.

[Kaydene]

If we're counting children's literature, then I'm voting for "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Whenever I encountered a grow-up who seemed to me at all enlightened, I would experiment on him with my drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I wanted to see if he really understood anything. But he would always answer, "That's a hat." Then I wouldn't talk about boa constrictors or jungles or stars. I would put myself on his level and talk about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And my grown-up was glad to know such a reasonable person.

Ugh....that book hits me in the gut every time I read it. Makes me cry.

[The Troubadour]

When I was a pup, reading was "forced" upon me by my teachers. Thankfully, when I was still young, my mother bought me LOTR from a supermarket. Those books proved to me that reading could be an immersive, joyful experience. Thus, Tolkien will always be numero uno. I've lost count the number of times I have read his books. However, the sense of intensity and grandeur has diminished a tad as I've grown, ahem, older. Covenant captured for me that same sense of awe I had as a child with LOTR. Moreso, considering the wrenching love/hate relationship I have with sir Thomas Covenant. In the awe and grandeur category, only Hyperion by Dan Simmons has joined the ranks of stories that have left me slack jawed. But for characters with staying power, Covenant is the top of the heap for me. Not even the Shrike can match him.

[littledaniele]

I was introduced to the Chronicles 12 years ago while pregnant with my thrid child. Everything changed for me. I looked at things differently. I really cannot express it in words except to say I "woke up". I have re-read them too many times to count and was beyond thrilled when I found the Last Chronicles! (and when I re-read them, I start from the beginning lol)

Two years ago I battled with my won Despiser while going through cancer treatment. Reading the Chronicles kept me sane and strong. I recommend them to everyone I know, but alas only one friends has. so, I am glad I found this site with people who feel the way I do that I can share with!

[matrixman]

Your story has special resonance, as the Watch very recently lost a beloved member, Furls Fire, due to cancer.
(The blue flame in our avatars and signatures is a tribute to her, in case you were wondering.)

I'm glad you made it through your treatment!
Yes, it's rare for most of us here to find another person in "real life" who also shares our passion for the Chronicles.

[littledaniele]

Your story has special resonance, as the Watch very recently lost a beloved member, Furls Fire, due to cancer.
(The blue flame in our avatars and signatures is a tribute to her, in case you were wondering.)

I'm glad you made it through your treatment!
Yes, it's rare for most of us here to find another person in "real life" who also shares our passion for the Chronicles.

I am very sorry to hear that. We are losing way too many people to this horrible disease!

[Fire Daughter]

Furls Fire (Tracie) was/is my mother. I mentioned in the post above how much she loved the Chrons. Not sure if you've been to the Dissecting the Land forum yet, littledaniele, but I thought I would post the link to her Dissection of coercri. Not much touched her the way that chapter did.

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2957

Mom passed Jan. 2, 2010 of Lymphoma. It was diagnosed in Sept 2009. She had a very aggressive type. She joined the Watch in 2003 and loved it here. I hope you remain cancer free. And I hope you remain here on the Watch for a long time.

Come! This is the caamora! Come and be healed!

[littledaniele]

Thank you Fire Daughter! Upon seeing you rmessage and link I opened up her dissection of Coercri and she declared you need a box of tissues handy and she wasn't kidding!

I will definitely be reading this dissection! She seems like an amazing woman and mother!

[Menolly]

She seems like an amazing woman and mother!

Until you read the memorial thread she started in memory of her brother in the Hall of Gifts, the Stephen C. McKinney Memorial Thread, you'll have no true idea of how amazing Furls Fire was. But, not only is that thread long, it is intense. SRD himself was asked about it in the Gradual Interview and heartily endorsed its being here on the Watch.

If you read it, I strongly suggest you take it slow and in segments...

If you are interested in reading of Furls final storm, she and her family members who are also members of the Watch shared what they could with us as it happened in that thread, starting here with this fairly innocuous request of Fire Daughter's and continuing even after she passed at the turn of the year. Should you read through it, I guarantee you...

...you will be amazed.

Her strength, determination and Love for all earned her this year's Watcher of the Year award.

As far as the Furls Fire icon in our signature goes...
Many of us have turned that in to a link.
Furls left a letter for the members of the Watch which was found after her passing. If you click on the icon you will be taken to a memorial thread Fist and Faith started for her. The closing post of that thread is her letter.

She is greatly missed by many, if not all, of us here...

[Fire Daughter]

Thank you, Pam

[peter]

so, I am glad I found this site with people who feel the way I do that I can share with!

You got that right!

[peter]

Your story has special resonance, as the Watch very recently lost a beloved member, Furls Fire, due to cancer.

Didn't Know that. Gods speed Furls Fire.

[High Lord Prothall]

A. A. Attanasio: Radix tetrad.

Particularly the first book (Radix) and last book (The Last Legends of Earth)

Radix is out of print now, but as books 2, 3, & 4 have been reprinted recently, hopefully Radix will be back in print soon. I originally read library copy of Radix, then spent ~$30 for a used paperback.

[wayfriend]

OMG.

I am in the middle of a RADIX re-read right now. I had been thinking of posting something about it, because it is so gosh darn good.

I had no idea there were more in the series. Imagine how foolish and flabbergasted I feel right now.

I would not say, however, that it touches me as the Chronicles does. I enjoy it for the brilliant writing, the effortless way Attanasio can describe states of higher consciousness, the vocabulary/worldbuilding (timeloose distort, trance port, selfscan, psynergy, et al), and the story ain't bad either.

[peter]

This Radix series sounds interesting. Is it Sci-Fi or Fantasy?