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Post by beth on May 19, 2009 4:14:39 GMT
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on May 19, 2009 23:19:50 GMT
That's not a very good list. There are several books on that list that I've tried to read but have put down after just a few chapters. The measure of a good book is that it absorbs you. You can't put it down. It is riveting.
The one book on that list which I do think belongs there would be Animal Farm. That is a truly riveting book.
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Post by chefmate on May 20, 2009 1:16:13 GMT
I have not read one book on the list; I read biographies and real life events
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Post by beth on May 20, 2009 4:27:55 GMT
That's not a very good list. There are several books on that list that I've tried to read but have put down after just a few chapters. The measure of a good book is that it absorbs you. You can't put it down. It is riveting. The one book on that list which I do think belongs there would be Animal Farm. That is a truly riveting book. I must agree. I've read several of these. The only 2 I wouldn't mind re-reading are Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird. No doubt the list is meant to be critically objective - whether or not we like a novel is certain to be subjective. My top ten (unless I change my mind ). Time and Again - Jack Finney Beach Music - Pat Conroy Good Omens - Pratchett and Gaiman The Lions Game - Nelson DeMille Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman SnowFall - Mitchell Smith Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand Ghost Story - Peter Straub Julian - Gore Vidal The Peaceable Kingdom - Jan de Hartog modified to make this twelve - can't leave out these two. A Painted House - John Grisham The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
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Post by beth on May 20, 2009 4:29:51 GMT
I have not read one book on the list; I read biographies and real life events I like non-fiction, too, Chris. Getting ready to read Christopher Buckley's Losing Mum and Pup.
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Post by Big Lin on May 20, 2009 9:15:59 GMT
Out of the '100 best novels' I found only 5 that I genuinely felt WERE deserving of that nomination.
About 30 of them I hadn't read, to be fair.
What about these as alternative nominations?
(These are not listed in any particular order either of merit or alphabetically by the way!)
Maxine Kumin, A Daughter and Her Loves Compton Mackenzie, The Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett Mikhail Sholokhov, Virgin Soil Upturned Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front Caroline Glyn, The Tower and the Rising Tide Helen Griffiths, The Wild Heart Brian Glanville, The Thing He Loves Colin McInnes, Absolute Beginners Samuel Selvon, The Lonely Londoners Giovanni Guareschi, The Little World of Don Camillo Ramon Sender, Before Dawn Maureen Duffy, The Paradox Players Edmund Cooper, Who Needs Men? J T Edson, Blonde Genius
I'll try and think of some more but I overwhelmingly tend to read non-fiction rather than fiction.
Each of the books I've listed, in its own way, is a masterpiece.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 22:00:51 GMT
I haven't looked at the full list but have read - and enjoyed - a few of the ones they have selected on the first page.
Of those, I found "Never let me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Attwood's "The Blind Assassin" particularly gripping. But I know a lot of people who disliked both novels. Wouldn't life be dull if we all had the same taste?
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