Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Top 10 works of fiction
I am asked every now and again what my favourite books are, so I think it's time to start making some lists. All of them are probably incomplete - I limit myself to 10, and it's hard to say exactly what should go in there - but all are worthy inclusions.
This is my fiction list, and I think everyone should read all the books on this. (I cheat a little by naming more than one book for some authors.) Each one of them moved me and aroused my sense of wonder. I also couldn't stop reading them once I started, as opposes to Moby Dick, which took me 18 months (though to be fair, it took me 2 years to finish Life, the Universe and Everything, but that's because I lost it 3 times). The links are either to Amazon, Wikipedia or something more interesting:
1. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (the first 3 books) – Douglas Adams (also cool)
2. Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkein (also cool)
3. Tender is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
5. The Tin Drum – Gunter Grass
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez (check out Kennedy's review)
7. The End of the Affair/The Power and the Glory/virtually everything else – Graham Greene
8. The Music of Chance/New York Trilogy/virtually everything else – Paul Auster
9. American Tabloid/LA Confidential/virtually everything else – James Ellroy
10. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon
More lists will follow. Now get reading!
This is my fiction list, and I think everyone should read all the books on this. (I cheat a little by naming more than one book for some authors.) Each one of them moved me and aroused my sense of wonder. I also couldn't stop reading them once I started, as opposes to Moby Dick, which took me 18 months (though to be fair, it took me 2 years to finish Life, the Universe and Everything, but that's because I lost it 3 times). The links are either to Amazon, Wikipedia or something more interesting:
1. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (the first 3 books) – Douglas Adams (also cool)
2. Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkein (also cool)
3. Tender is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
5. The Tin Drum – Gunter Grass
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez (check out Kennedy's review)
7. The End of the Affair/The Power and the Glory/virtually everything else – Graham Greene
8. The Music of Chance/New York Trilogy/virtually everything else – Paul Auster
9. American Tabloid/LA Confidential/virtually everything else – James Ellroy
10. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon
More lists will follow. Now get reading!
