all time best book

[Cathryn]

East of Eden by steinbeck is a favourite..... As is Forest of Hours, by Kerstin Eckman.

I liked the Forest of Hours too! Try 'Troll: a lovely story' by Johanna Sinisalo. Barking but fabulous.

 

[User482]

A Prayer for Owen Meany , John Irving - most days

My Mrs would agree with you, but I think it's a terrible book! Turgid prose, dull narrator, and an utterly predictable conclusion.

 

[PaulB]

My Mrs would agree with you, but I think it's a terrible book! Turgid prose, dull narrator, and an utterly predictable conclusion.

I thought it was a terrific book and the ending was superb. Each to his own I suppose.

 

[palinurus]

Only one? Fair enough. I'll go with Isaac Babel's collected stories, the Walter Morrison translation.

 

[goo_mason]

I thought it was a terrific book and the ending was superb. Each to his own I suppose.

+1

Today I would tell you that my faves are:

A Prayer For Owen Meany - John Irving
I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb

(I just have too many faves to name just two - got to throw in Haruki Murakami's work, or Spike Milligan's war diaries, or Paul Auster's 'Mr Vertigo' on another day !!)

 

[gary r]

Kes,the catcher in the rye,Birdsong,The diving bell & the butterfly,and on a cycling note Major Taylor was a great read

 

[papercorn2000]

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists for politically awakening me whilst a teenager. (That and listening to The Clash)

 

[Bromptonaut]

(1) Requiem for a Wren by Nevil Shute
(2) The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams

If I had a third I'd add another of Shute's - The Rainbow and the Rose.

 

[montage]

Sharpe

 

[accountantpete]

We - by Yevgeny Zamyatin.

 

[User482]

I thought it was a terrific book and the ending was superb. Each to his own I suppose.

It's certainly a book that divides opinion! I thought you could see the ending a mile off, and the religious/ allegorical aspect was flimsy and poorly examined.

 

[Nadeen]

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists for politically awakening me whilst a teenager. (That and listening to The Clash)

A brilliant book

The first book I remember reading was called I AM DAVID
Its a great read

 

[PaulB]

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists for politically awakening me whilst a teenager. (That and listening to The Clash)

X 2 to both!

 

[phaedrus]

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists for politically awakening me whilst a teenager. (That and listening to The Clash)

As I understand it, the original title was The Ragged Arsed Philanthropists, but it was bowdlerised by the publisher.

 

[papercorn2000]

Really? Have to remember that for the pub quiz. If I did a regular pub quiz.