What's your favorite work of fiction?

[cali]

Mine has to be Howard's End by the amazing and prescient EM Forster. It encapsulates his humanist philosophy in a beautiful story with strong characters. His descriptions of a vanishing countryside, the radical change in the pace of life, the value of the arts and the near mystical importance of agrarian values, are amazing.

"Only Connect...."

[nuxvomica]

1. Forster is one of the greats

If you liked Howard's End you should read Passage to India. I would guess Passage is my second favorite work of fiction and Confederacy of Dunces is number one.

[cali]

2. I've read everything- and I do mean everything- he ever wrote

including "Two Cheers For Democracy" which is belles lettres and political essays and his short sf stories.

I like CoD a great deal too.

[tekisui]

3. One Hundred Years of Solitude.

A beautifully tragic book. One of the few books I've read more than once.

[ananda]

4. The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck

[HelenWheels]

5. The Jungle

by Sinclair Lewis. It educated the country on the brutal working conditions in the meat packing industry and had a hand in formation of unions.

[riverwalker]

6. Lost Horizon

by James Hilton.

[cali]

7. That's a sentimental favorite of mine

I read it when I was 12 spending the summer on Cape Cod. I still remember the musty seashore smell of the book.

[Glorfindel]

8. "A Tale of Two Cities," by Charles Dickens

n/t

[stlove1000]

11. Memories of 7th grade.

I remember having to read that during 7th grade. We also had to read "Les Miserables" that year. Both were good books. I also remember reading "Chances" (on my own, not part of the school curriculum) because it contained sex. Jackie Collins helped me through puberty.

[JitterbugPerfume]

9. A Canticle for Leibowitz

Miller

I never get tired of re-reading it yearly

[Rowdyboy]

19. You never cease to amaze me my dear friend. We have very similar tastes....

"Canticle" is a very sweet memory from my childhood. I am so very happy tonight and hope you are the same.

:toast:

To our new beginning....

[Richardo]

10. Catch-22

It's a different book every time I read it.

[geardaddy]

28. I'm reading it for the first time now.

:D

[LWolf]

12. I love so many I don't have a favorite.

And, to be honest, if I were to list a top ten, they'd change day to day with my mood.

Forster's on my shelf.

Today the first that pop into my head include:

Always Coming HomeThe Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, Erdrich
Site Hound, Houston
Prodigal Summer , Kingsolver

and any poetry by William Stafford.

[YankeyMCC]

13. You've got to be kidding

:)

Pick one favorite!

I love the Robot/Empire/Foundation series by Asimov

The Hobbit and LoTR books by JRRT

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

"East of Eden" and "Grapes of Wrath" by Steinbeck (although it's hard to even just name those two above most of the other Steinbeck I've read)

"The Secret Agent" by Conrad

Mark Twain's short works, I love Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn but I can say I love Twain's short work even more.

[Are_grits_groceries]

14. To Kill a Mockingbird

It's one of the few books I will reread.
I also love "Confederacy of Dunces."

[cletustakethewheel]

15. I can't say one to the exclusion of all, but two of them are

"The Razor's Edge" by Maugham and "Endless Love" by Scott Spencer.

[Captain Hilts]

16. To Kill a Mockingbird, Confederacy of Dunces, I'll have to keep thinking...nt

[peaches2003]

17. Would have to be a Jane Austen

Ok, call me sappy, but if I could only have one book it would have to be Pride&Prejudice. If 3, P&P, Emma, and Sense&Sensibility. After that I have a long list of mystery series.

[Onceuponalife]

18. can't pick just one

LOTR
The Silmarillion (kind of like the Bible, but better)
Catcher in the Rye
The Monkey Wrench Gang
Another Roadside Attraction (Tom Robbins)
The Rama series
just about anything by John Irving and Kurt Vonnegut
1984
Lord of the Flies
A Song of Ice and Fire
The Lathe of Heaven (LeGuin)
Dandelion Wine (Bradbury)
The Executioner's Song
Speaker For the Dead (Orson Scott Card)
Battlefield Earth

and so it goes

[cwydro]

20. To Kill A Mockingbird

probably is my alltime fave, but it's hard to pick one.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. Count of Monte Cristo and Painted Bird.

Favorite, all around, would be the first. The second, maybe not so much a favorite, but the one that had the most lasting effect. It was the first to open my eyes and I realized that Hitler tapped into prejudices that were always there, lurking under the surface in common society. It, sort of, prepared me to understand the right-wing era. I probably wouldn't even have remembered the book, except for the parallels.

[silverweb]

22. "The Fifth Sacred Thing"

A simultaneously dystopian/utopian story by Starhawk.

That's one, anyway.

[titanic1]

23. ken kensey

everyone loves- one flew over the cuckoo,s nest, but read-
sometimes a great notion. the movie stars paul newman and
henry fonda

[Onceuponalife]

25. Have you read Sailor Song yet?

Is it worth my time? I purchased it when it came out so many years ago after I saw Kesey speak at a university in San Jose, CA. He had a replica Further bus there which was awesome. I wish I had a digital camera back then.

[Mz Pip]

24. Forsyte Saga

by John Galsworthy. I think I've read the books 3 times and will probably read them again this summer. Amazing books that captured the changes to culture, society family structure during the industrial revolution.

Women as property.
Love vs. societal norms.
The power of comtempt and its effect on future generations.

Amazing work.

[closeupready]

26. Wow, Tough one. Um.... Shees, this is hard. Okay, if we are looking for epic types, Palace Walk

by Naguib Mahfouz, the first in his three Cairo books. Exotic setting, many interesting subplots, drama, superb character development, just a wonderfully written novel. One that could never make the transition to screen without losing the whole point and brilliance of Mahfouz' writing. And the interesting thing is that I don't read arabic, I read the English translation, so I presume it's even better in its original language.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

27. Old: Anna Karenina.

Also Old: Madame Bovary.

New: The Cider House Rules by John Irving. Best damn novel I've read in ages, and I read very little fiction. Much better than Garp.

Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus.

[raccoon]

29. To Kill a Mockingbird. Alas, Babylon is right there behind it. nt

[azmouse]

30. Jane Eyre has always been a favorite of mine.

[Blandocyte]

31. Heart Of Darkness

A little humor in the book-- Marlow was witness to Kurtz's last words: "The horror! The horror!" Later, Kurtz's fiancee instists that Marlow tell her what Kurtz's last words were, he replied, "The last word he pronounced was your name."