Which book should I read next?

Question

Hooray for advice from strangers! Heh. I just finished "Anansi Boys," and, while pleasant, it was not exactly brain food. As Charlie says, "after all, it was only a lime. It was doing the best it could." Am currently reading "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and am taking a little break from the Nabokovian canon... So, these have been moulding on my book shelf:

1.) Tender is the Night
2.) For Whom the Bell Tolls
3.) Moby Dick unabridged
4.) Artist of the Floating World
5.) Passage to India
6.) Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
7.) Vanity Fair
8.) Emma
9.) Dead Souls
10.) Anna Karenina

I am thinking Anna Karenina right now, but if you would please champion another one, I'd appreciate it. My patience level has sadly dwindled to that of a gnat, so I'm hoping for a real gripper.

Answer 1

First, Snickles, thank you for getting me into the Paul Graham essay called, "Age of the Essay." That's a winner. I've been an English teacher for years, trying to make the same points about teaching writing in high school, but he says it sooo much better than I've been able to.

Now, for a "real gripper" for you: I've read all the books on your list but one. I'm not sure there's a real gripper among them. They are all thoughtful and interesting, but not exactly page-turners. I think you really ought to go for Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. That's a gripper and a puzzler -- and downright fun.

But from your list I recommend Passage to India. It's E. M. Forster at his best, and though it's set in the 1920s, it's unfortunately still contemporary in the tensions it depicts among the races and ethnic groups, esp. Muslim, Hindu, British . . . .

Here's the site for the Guardian review from 1924:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/classics/0,6121,99926,00.html

If you're determined to stick to your list of ten and not go for Midnight's Children, then Passage is your best bet. (Of course, my wife would put Anna at the top of any list -- but for me, well, it is not a "real gripper." And, though I read the unabridged Moby Dick, I always end up doing my own abridgement because of the parts I fall asleep reading.)

Choose well. You probably can't go wrong with your list. All of them are "thinkers" but not all of them are "page-turners." And rest assured: they cry out for "essays," but not "theses"! Responding, not "concluding."

Enjoy!

Answer 2

You r currently reading one of the best available books of the cotamporary literature. Kandera is really a great writer. In my opinion you shoud read the books in this order; 1-The Zahir, 2-Anna Karenina, 3-Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 4-A Passage To India, 6-For Whom the Bell Tolls; but if you are looking for a real gripper, that is no other but Coehlo's " The Zahir"

Answer 3

If you're looking to avoid snoozefests (I know this can happen even when reading the so called 'great books' you should move on to Anna Karenina. Avoid Moby Dick and Vanity Fair for the time being.

Personally "Portrait of the Artist" is my favorite from the selection you have here but it is a difficult book to get into. For a quick and easy read, you could try 'Emma' and balance it off by renting 'Clueless'.

Answer 4

Anna Karenina or Tender is the Night

Answer 5

Vanity Fair is the best on that list. The last few lines are some of the most profound in English literature (don't peek). Also recommend Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

Answer 6

Potrait of the Artist is perhaps, in my opinion, the greatest and most beautiful book I've ever read. It's a little rough to read, and gets odd near the end, but the beginning--Stephen's childhood in Dublin--is so beautiful and real...

(And by the way, Neil's got a new short story collection coming out in about three weeks--Fragile Things--and if it follows the rest of his short stories, it will most likely be excellent brain food...)

Answer 7

i'd recommend the starvation video games sequence through Susan Collins. i'm keen about those books at recent and they have similar form/concern concerns to the books you've pronounced above. Its also being made right into a movie it really is due for launch this March!

Answer 8

Go for Tender is the Night. Possibly the most lush sentences ever crafted in English. The characters are gripping and the ocassional change in scene is quite delicious (again, characters!). And then there's the story of multiple failed loves. . .

Answer 9

'Emma' might be good. I haven't read it myself, but from what Ii've gathered from people who have, it is a good book.

Unabridged versions of 'Moby Dick' are difficult to read. I haven't met anyone (including myself) who's been able to go completely through that book without doubting that they'll be able to finish it (one person I know is eternally stuck in the middle). But don't let that deter you. It's well written.

'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is a good book, I'd reccomend it as well.

Answer 10

anna karenina is best, next to it Passage to India