What's the best book?

Question

I'd really like to sit down with a great novel and relax.
I like really "odd" stories that make you think! What do you recommend? (no sci-fi... please)

Answer 1

"A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeline L'Engle, that is one of the best books ever-it's kinda scifi, but not really. The writing is very poetic. Or you could read "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway; or "I Know This Much Is True" by Wally Lamb. Science fiction is still very good, and those novels make you think more than any other ones.

Answer 2

I recently picked up Jimmy Buffett's novel A Salty Piece of Land thinking it would just be a fun little relaxation trip to ease my mind. Not only did it do that for me, this novel took me to new dimension's of my own thinking. It's a very relaxing read, but it also makes you reflect on human nature.

It looks pretty long, but it's so easily understandable that I read it in about two days. It's full of dry humor and clever introspection of our emotions and abilities.

I was surprised that a songwriter could do such a good job of putting together a novel. I think the style that Buffett weaves in this book will become the archetype when analyzing novels of our time.

Try it out and see what you think. I read the first sentence (as I do with every book I buy) and I found myself so entwined with it that I read the first chapter while standing in the bookstore.

Answer 3

House of Thunder by Dean Kuntz

A woman wakes up in a hospital after an auto accident only to find she has amnesia. Soon she recovers physically, but still cannot remember anything. The doctors attempt to help her and things start to go wrong. . . .

A superb book. When I read it I didn't know if Kuntz wrote supernatural stories or not so I was really puzzled trying to figure out what all was happening to her. Since then I have read many of his books. Some are supernatural, others aren't. A nice surprise at the end too.

Answer 4

While I do respect the other answers given in this Q & A, I must declare in the strongest terms possible that Nicholas Sparks will never write anything outside of Commercial Fiction. His literature will not let you think. While it may be highly enjoyed by others, my position on it (and this is a position many other literature buffs tend to agree with) is that these novels are a danger to our culture and to abstract and comprehensive thinking. Again they are nice stories, BUT NOT FOR THINKING.

As for good novels to sit and read, I'm currently immersed in "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. An incredible read, so far. "Don Quixote" is perhaps the greatest book of all time (don't take my word for it: the Nobel Institute rated it as the greatest of all time). Don't be turned off by classics. With the great variety out there, hardly any time should be spent on trash.

* As an opinion, not all science fiction is ruthlessly repetetive and boring, as many see it to be. Take Tolkien, Lewis, Wells, and Verne for example. All are exemplary authors, and some of the greatest minds to come from modern western literature. However, as is a terrible trend I have witnessed in today's day and age, more and more science-fiction is the same re-telling of the age-old plotline (Take ERAGON for example). Don't let some of these down your view of all science fiction, though.*

Answer 5

Breakfast of Champions;Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda, The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo, ... i dont think there is a best anything, but these are very few of the many great

Answer 6

Have you tried Daniel Keys's Flowers for Algernon yet? It's positively thought-provoking, with romantic elements thrown in for good measure. "As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo Award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation Charly (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical." It's published by Bantam Classic. One more hint that it's supposed to be great literature - Sparknotes has a section completely devoted to it. My defining criteria of great books is that "if you can Sparknotes it, it's literary-ly palatable."

Here's a link to Amazon's review of it- http://www.amazon.com/Flowers-Algernon-Bantam-Classic-Daniel/dp/0553274503

Sparknotes proof of literary greatness
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/algernon/

tmoney: Too bad 'bout the list. I did want to see it so. Oh, well.

Cheers!

Answer 7

"Cadillac Beach" by Tim Dorsey is about as odd as it gets. It is a laugh-riot of sheer craziness.

Answer 8

i liked a "Hundred Years of Solitude."

Answer 9

a walk to remeber by nicholas sparks