Best Fiction Book Youve Ever Read

[boedicca]

A Prayer for Owen Meany is a novel by American writer John Irving, first published in 1989. It tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New England town during the 1950-60s. Owen is a remarkable boy in many ways; he believes himself to be God's instrument and journeys on a truly extraordinary path.
The novel is also a homage to Günther Grass' most famous novel The Tin Drum. Grass was a great influence for John Irving, as well as a close friend.

The main characters of both novels, Owen Meany and Oskar Matzerath, share the same initials as well as some other characteristics, and the stories show some parallels too.[1] Irving confirmed this explicitly in interviews and articles.[2] "A Prayer for Owen Meany", however, is a completely independent story and in no sense a copy of "The Tin Drum".

I love that book.


Some of my favs:

- Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (arguable the most perfect novel ever written)
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (even better than A Fire Upon the Deep)
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy by Steig Larsson
- His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
- Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin

 

[boedicca]

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - Phillip K. Dick (Blade Runner movie loosely based on it)
"The Frankenstein Papers" - Fred Saberhagen (SHOULD be made into a movie.)
"The Final Reflection" - John M. Ford (Yes, it's a pocket Star Trek novel. Read it.)
"Watership Down" and "The Plague Dogs" - Richard Adams

Among countless others.

Love the Frankenstein Papers!

 

[uscitizen]

i have read the bible several times....but do you believe its fictional there us?

yes except for the genelogical sections and such about who beget who and some of the Jewish history of being conquered and such.

then there is the book of morman, the Torah, etc.
Most popular pieces of fiction ever written.

And yes I have read the bible several times as well.

 

[strollingbones]

i am sorry ...i just dont get the dune thing...at all

 

[strollingbones]

lonesome dove is an excellent book

 

[boedicca]

i am sorry ...i just dont get the dune thing...at all

The first book is wonderful - the rest go down hill quickly.

God Emperor of Dune is the second worst book I've ever endured (the worst being It by Stephen King).

Now, I don't get the Stephen King thing. What a horrible, repetitive writer.

 

[uscitizen]

i am sorry ...i just dont get the dune thing...at all

Yeop I read it and decided it must be a dues paying literary thing to have to read it.
Loved the Scifi movie though.

 

[Immanuel]

For a religious based writer Peretti is pretty good. the stephen king of the bible store, if you will. The Visitation was good too. This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness is probably is greatest though. The Oath kinda sucked.

I agree on The Visitation. I enjoyed The Oath to some degree. There was another one that I thought was pretty boring. I think it was called The Prophet, but am not sure on the title. And I definitely should have added Piercing the Darkness as one of my favorites.

Also, thanks to Tigerbob for reminding me about The DaVinci Code and then add to that Angels and Demons. I have not yet read his next one.

Immie

Did the Visitation get made into a movie? For some reason I keep thinking that it did.


I'd like to see the two Darkness books made into movies.

Yes, it did. And yes, I would love to see the two Darkness books made into movies.

Immie

 

[WillowTree]

A Prayer for Owen Meany is a novel by American writer John Irving, first published in 1989. It tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New England town during the 1950-60s. Owen is a remarkable boy in many ways; he believes himself to be God's instrument and journeys on a truly extraordinary path.
The novel is also a homage to Günther Grass' most famous novel The Tin Drum. Grass was a great influence for John Irving, as well as a close friend.

The main characters of both novels, Owen Meany and Oskar Matzerath, share the same initials as well as some other characteristics, and the stories show some parallels too.[1] Irving confirmed this explicitly in interviews and articles.[2] "A Prayer for Owen Meany", however, is a completely independent story and in no sense a copy of "The Tin Drum".

I love that book.


Some of my favs:

- Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (arguable the most perfect novel ever written)
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (even better than A Fire Upon the Deep)
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy by Steig Larsson
- His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
- Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin

Oh! Yes, The Mists of Avalon. I had forgotten. I loaned that bood to someone and never got it back. It was great.

 

[Shogun]

i am sorry ...i just dont get the dune thing...at all

The first book is wonderful - the rest go down hill quickly.

God Emperor of Dune is the second worst book I've ever endured (the worst being It by Stephen King).

Now, I don't get the Stephen King thing. What a horrible, repetitive writer.

You didn't like IT?

IT was his second best novel!

 

[Phoenix]

By far my favorite would be:

This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti

There was a second one as well - Piercing the Darkness, maybe? Can't remember but they were good. *edit* NVM - that got covered later.

One that I really liked was The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Loosely based on Dante's Inferno - very hard for me to put down.

Ummmm ... I finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series and have both Gone With the Wind and Jane Eyre on hand. Not sure when I'll get to them though.

Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is good but his Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah is better. Thought-provoking as well.

 

[boedicca]

i am sorry ...i just dont get the dune thing...at all

The first book is wonderful - the rest go down hill quickly.

God Emperor of Dune is the second worst book I've ever endured (the worst being It by Stephen King).

Now, I don't get the Stephen King thing. What a horrible, repetitive writer.

You didn't like IT?

IT was his second best novel!

I would rather be forced to watch Kenneth Anger's "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" than to reread it.

Awful awful awful trite trite trite repetitive repetitive repetitive writing complete with creepy clowns, big spiders, and adolescent get in line sex.

BLEAH!!!!!!

 

[Midnight Marauder]

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - Phillip K. Dick (Blade Runner movie loosely based on it)
"The Frankenstein Papers" - Fred Saberhagen (SHOULD be made into a movie.)
"The Final Reflection" - John M. Ford (Yes, it's a pocket Star Trek novel. Read it.)
"Watership Down" and "The Plague Dogs" - Richard Adams

Among countless others.

Love the Frankenstein Papers!

Yeah, nobody knows about it. What an ending, huh? Osak Larkas!

 

[Midnight Marauder]

I forgot "The Gap Cycle" a series of five books by Stephen R. Donaldson.

Angus Thermopyle, anyone? (Pronounced 'therm-op-a-lee')

The Gap Series

 

[Zander]

The War Against the Chtorr series by David Gerrold. There are 4 books written out of 7 planned.

Terrible plagues have devastated the Earth. The first wave of the infestation has arrived, wiping out billions. The desperate survivors discover that terrible strange creatures are now hatching, growing, and breeding. The crimson-colored ecology creeps relentlessly across the unprotected countryside.

Young James Edward McCarthy, barely out of high school, is drafted into the Special Forces Warrant Agency, an elite group whose sole mission is to target and destroy the most voracious of all the Chtorran creatures -- the gigantic carnivorous worms.

McCarthy will quickly discover that the horror of the Chtorr is surpassed only by the horrors of what human beings must become to fight the invasion.

Impossible to put down.

 

[Zander]

The Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. She just knows how to write great stories with exceptional characters.

 

[boedicca]

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - Phillip K. Dick (Blade Runner movie loosely based on it)
"The Frankenstein Papers" - Fred Saberhagen (SHOULD be made into a movie.)
"The Final Reflection" - John M. Ford (Yes, it's a pocket Star Trek novel. Read it.)
"Watership Down" and "The Plague Dogs" - Richard Adams

Among countless others.

Love the Frankenstein Papers!

Yeah, nobody knows about it. What an ending, huh? Osak Larkas!

Hey! I know about...and I'm Somebody!

 

[Two Thumbs]

Stand alone was; Of mice and men

series was; The Dark company. A series in which there were no good guys, just people that were not as bad as the other people.

 

[del]

When I was at middle school (as you call it in America), I was never far from an Asterix or Tintin book. Such fun.

When I was in my teens I liked books by Wlbur Smith. His vivid descriptions of Africa were great to read.

In my 20s, I remember enjoying all the novels (well, most of them) by Jeffrey Archer.

In my 30s I started to enjoy works by authors whose original language was not English. Of these, Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan remains my favorite.

Now in my 40s, my reading is very eclectic. I thoroughly enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, was mesmerised by The Remains of the Day (it still astonishes me that it was written by a man whose first language was not English) and am currently re-reading Hemingway's short stories, which I'm enjoying far, far more than when I was forced to read them at school.

I also started reading one of my Dad's favorite authors, C.S. Forester, a few years ago. Got through all the Hornblower series in about 6 months and enjoyed them so much that I now own most of them as first editions.

don't miss payment deferred- one of forester's best

my dad turned me on to hornblower as well

 

[Midnight Marauder]

Love the Frankenstein Papers!

Yeah, nobody knows about it. What an ending, huh? Osak Larkas!

Hey! I know about...and I'm Somebody!

Yes you are.

Did you choke up a little while reading Osak's "preliminary report" at the end?