Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: expect this maybe on a few reader's top books, but if you haven't read this novel for sometime then do endulge yourself. I re-read in 2012 and the modern structure really surprised me, as the novel is large chunks of dialogue and little narrative description. Jane's wit never fails to make me smile.
P&P also contains my favourite literary quote of all time. Here Jane has summed up the meaning of life...
Mr Bennett to daughter Elizabeth: "For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?"
The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: I discovered Douglas Adams during my teen years (radio show first then the books) and this book got me through some tough times at uni and later in life. It is the original laugh-out-loud comedy novel and I never tire of reading it (or the subsequent books in the series).
Favourite quote: "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that ships don't."
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: I thought again of this wonderful children's novel after reading Michael Murpogo's War Horse. Mainly because I cried constantly throughout both. The scene where Black Beauty finds his beloved friend Ginger in the cart breaks my heart every time I read it. You don't have to be a horse lover, but Sewell captured the pitifully sad and tragic lives of horses at that period so poignantly. Would like to re-read this again but don't think I have the emotional stamina nor the stockpile of hankies...
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell: I had to read this for English Lit O'level and must have read it 5 times or more for revision. Thankfully I'd already read it 5 times before that as it was one of my favourite early teen reads. Borrowed anything by Durrell from local library as I loved his wonderful descriptions of animals, landscapes and people. Again full of laugh-out-loud prose as he describes moving to the idyllic Greek island of Corfu with his eccentric family. Another comfort read and got me through some difficult, dark days.
Then it got tough. Trawling the bookshelves I struggled to pick the final favourite. I have many favourite authors and collections of their works. Such as: Lindsey Davis, Terry Pratchett, Peter James, Bernard Cornwell, Kate Atkinson, Hilary Mantel and too many to list. But it was hard to pick out just ONE book from a particular author. I considered recent books which had lingered long after reading - those which made me sit up and go WOW this is good!!! And decided David Mitchell had to be on my list. Both Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas had awoken my literary taste buds, prompting me to seek out all of his other books. But I had to choose one...
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: Like Ghostwritten this is more a collection of interconnected short stories and yet it is so much more. I didn't want any of the stories to end and devoured this book in a couple of days. His imagination is inspiring and his narration sublime. (You can tell I'm a devotee can't you.) A film of the novel was released a few months ago, but I've not heard a good enough review to tempt me to see it - and worried I will be woefully disappointed. Anyone out there seen the film?
Phew. Glad I've got those books off my chest, now I can sunbathe in peace.
What would go on your list of five favourite books?
Excellent choices. I'd forgotten all about Gerald Durrell. Must dig it out and have another look. My guilty pleasure is Wuthering Heights. I'm just about to read Cloud Atlas, which my son bought me for Christmas and has finally reached the top of my 'waiting to be read' pile.
ReplyDeleteWuthering Heights almost made it onto the list as I've read it several times, but I didn't find it the easiest of novels to read. Hope you enjoy Cloud Atlas.
DeleteOh what a great selection of novels Tracy! I love your self-imposed stipulation that you must have read the novel in question more than once - definitely a marker of greatness or, at the very least, readability! :)
ReplyDeleteI too adore Pride and Prejudice, and if this sounds a little over the top, consider that I re-read it regularly and still enjoy it as if for the very first time!
Thank you too for reminding me of Gerald Durrell's book which opened up a whole world of naturalism to me at a time when I was terrified of spiders, which only goes to prove the inherent power of words! [Maybe I should re-read it instead of hoovering the poor little unfortunates up each time one of my daughters discovers one on her bedroom wall!!]
Great post! Edith xxx
P.S. Thanks for the link back. BTW your post proves the delights of delayed gratification!! :)
Thanks Edith. I had sort of forgotten poor Gerald as he was an author I read mainly in my teens. Hubby bought me a complete collection of his Corfu tales and I may take that out into the garden shortly. :)
DeleteOut of those 5 I'm ashamed to say I've only read Black Beauty, and that was MANY years ago lol
ReplyDeleteGreat list honey!
xx
Shows how we all have different tastes Vikki :) Also I think a lot of favourites come from childhood reads and now I don't have enough time to read a book once let alone over and over again (sigh)...
DeleteI've read all but Hitchhiker. I always find it difficult to think of my favourites because there are loads and I like them in different ways. However, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is probably my number 1. by Followed Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne,Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and about a hundred others!I know that's cheating.
ReplyDeleteI've only read Far from the madding crowd and Rebecca. Actually Rebecca could have made the list as I've re-read it several times and always takes me back to the West Country. Will have to check out 'A fine balance'.
DeleteI definitely agree with Pride and Prejudice and as we stayed in Kalami Bay on Corfu (where Gerald Durrel wrote My Family and Other Amimals...) last year, I meant to re-read it but didn't. I would add Edgleby by Sebastian Faulks - although it's not to everyone's taste.
ReplyDeleteI've read the Faulks trilogy which includes Birdsong, but not read the one you mentioned so another for my to-read list. Thanks Wendy :)
DeleteLove all your choices Tracy, and have read all of them more than once - except Cloud Atlas. Jane Eyre and The Little Prince would be in my top 5.
ReplyDeleteThis is my piece that was published in The Guardian about My Family, in a feature that showcased readers' favourite travel books:
"I have been inspired by many wonderful travel books, but there is a very special one that I return to time after time. At the tender age of twelve I read My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, and it made me yearn to travel to Corfu. I could smell the heady scent of the flowers, hear the relentless chatter of the cicadas, and see the fireflies lighting up the pine-scented night. I wanted to walk through shady olive groves, see shiny black beetles as fat as thumbs, and swim alongside sea cucumbers in clear turquoise waters. Durrell’s childhood, his eccentric family, and their strawberry-coloured villa, completely captivated me. Two years later I travelled to Corfu with my parents and it was everything I’d hoped it would be."
Well done on the Guardian piece. This really takes me back to the book and all the wonderful memories it evokes. I always wanted to visit the Strawberry villa. And so longed to have met Achilles the tortoise and fed him his beloved strawberries.
DeleteHave thought of visiting Corfu but always worried the modern island would be nothing like Durrell's paradise of the 1940s.
Good choices Tracy, mine would be.....
ReplyDeleteWind in the Willows. Kenneth Graham
To kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee.
Tom Sawyer. Mark Twain.
Rebecca. Daphne du Maurier.
Middlemarch. George Eliot.
There are so many more books I love like all the P.G. Wodehouse, and tons and tons more. Those on the list are favorites.
Talked about this topic last night with hubby and he reminded about To Kill a Mockingbird and Rebecca, both of which could have been on my list. Have yet to try George Eliot. Agree Susan there are too many to list!
DeleteI don't have favourite books - it would be a bit like trying to list my favourite cakes (All except Battenburg and banana )
ReplyDeleteThe local bookshop had a late opening with nibbles for WBN and their 80th anniversary so I went along. Hubby and I each got a different free book.
Hmm you've given LitPig an idea for a future post with your favourite cakes...
DeleteWell done Patsy for getting out and supporting WBN. Sadly, I didn't make it out this year.
Hi Tracy - great post. I love Pride and Prejudice and Could Atlas too :-) (haven't seen the film either). It's hard but I think my top five are:
ReplyDelete1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
3. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
4. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
5. The Harry Potter books by JK Rowling (bit embarassed about this one and don't know if I'm even allowed a whole series, but I've read them heaps of times, love the films and have been on the studio tour so I guess they should be on my list!)
Thanks for dropping by Alice and what excellent taste you have! I'd completely forgotten about The Color Purple (read this back in uni). And I've just borrowed Never Let Me Go from local library (film made me cry buckets). Love Margaret Atwood but not yet read Alias Grace. Sounds like you are a true HP fan - I read the first book several times but felt some of the initial magic (sorry about that) disappeared in the later, much longer, books.
DeleteThanks, Tracy! Yes, I know what you mean about the longer HP books - they could have done with a good edit! Still love 'em though...
DeleteLove 'My Family and Other Animals'. I don't know if I could pick 5 favourites... The Color Purple, Angela's Ashes, The Secret Life of Bees, all things Pooh and Dahl... when people ask if I have a favourite book, I never know which level to pitch at, because I read many different genres.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Tracey. Funny but these comments keep reminding me of books I'd loved but not thought of for the post. Your mention of Dahl instantly made me think of My Uncle Oswald - a ridiculously funny and naughty book. May have to dig that one out for a read again :) And who can top the wisom of Pooh?
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