Favourite novel / September 19 2006
OK guys, what’s your favourite novel ?
Let’s have a list of say, 5, and tell us why you love them so much - especially your #1 top book of all time. I think it best to keep this restricted to works of fiction at present, I don’t think it would be wise to enter into long discussions on the merits of the Oxford English Dictionary or the AA Guide to Eastern Europe.
I’ll post my favourites when we’ve got going a little.
Oh, I’m such a tease, me.
Filed under Favourite novel / Napoleon Fantastic's Big Mouth
Comments
11 comments on “Favourite novel”
Graham Boffey / October 7th, 2006 at 11:13 am
My favourite novel of all time, the one that I currently think is no. 1 that is would have to be Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. This book reminds me of lost youth, with its innocent and bucolic charm, it reminds of my youth spent frog hunting in Bolivia.
Course. it’s very difficult to limit one’s choice of favourite novel when there are so many fantastic one’s. I know that one of Davy’s favourites is Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne. Other favourites of mine are, in no particular order: All Quiet on the Western Front-Erich Maria Remarque, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning & Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner-Alan Sillitoe, Virgin Soldiers-Leslie Thomas, Billy Liar-Keith Waterhouse, Great Expectations, Hard Times & Oliver Twist-Charles Dickens and Wilt-Tom Sharpe.
I’m positive that I’ve got very many more favourite novels, which I can’t think of at the moment. Keep you posted
Graham
Napoleon Fantastic / October 7th, 2006 at 11:48 am
What about Catch 22 by Joseph Heller - why has that disappeared from your favourites list?
qweenminx / October 9th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
Hmmm…. favourite novels restricted to five … Jesus H. Christ on a bike (no that’s not one of them, I just like blaspheming!) …
If I can cheat, which I am going to, Great Expecations is one of mine too … firstly because the main character is called ‘Pip’, which just makes me laugh, secondly because of the very rich, bitter old biddy, who has allowed madness to make her a dastardly eccentric but is also such a sad, lonely person with a very small perspective on her life until the very end, she is tragic and true! Dickens reminds me a little of Agatha Christie novels, all the clues are there but you just keep guessing right until the end. Dickens makes it easier but then he was writing about different criminals.
And I will cheat again as, I haven’t read ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ but I do like the film … oooooo … I am taking left turns, but come on, this is hard!!
As I am on a cheating roll, the first fave book is actually a series:-
1. ‘Narnia’ - Oh! the many, many times I jumped in wardrobes as a child, wishing to find Narnia hidden in the back of them! Considering that the majority of wardrobes I dived into were from MFI and consisted of plywood backs, they just didn’t stand up to my earnest imagination. My parents got pretty pissed off the in end, more because my Dad had to fix the backs up with masking tape and me mum moaned about me ruining her clothes! I do find myself contemplating spending days in Antique Markets, exploring backs of very old and sturdy wardrobes … I think Narnia will be a lifetime expedition! Maybe I can’t find Narnia because of the absence of the fur coats, and as real fur is just so not done these days, I am missing a vital element! It’s just physics don’t ya know!
2: ‘Watchers’ Dean Koontz - I think this was the first novel I read by this author and it stays with me. I do like a good horror story but this is more than that … it doesn’t rely on gore and the hero, in the end, is a dog. A golden labrador. Maybe I liked it so much because we had a black lab called Jasper, who was a hero, especially when it came to junk mail. I also have a soft spot for baddies, in this case, the ‘outsider’ who saught to destroy the thing it cannot and was not made to be. I am not going to elaborate on that as, if you don’t like Dean Koontz you will never read this book and if you have read this story, you have made your own mind up.
3. ‘The Stand’ Stephen King - really difficult this, as I would have to say he is my favourite author. His books are almost always about an ‘ordinary hero’, who either does or has ‘extraordinary’ things happen to him. (King is a bit of a t**t coz the heros are always men but I don’t hold it against him!) … I love the idea of being thrown into a bizarre and utterly fantastic situation, where a person discovers their humanity. Some of the films that have been made of King’s stories are a pile of s***e … ‘Lawnmower Man’ (I scream!!!) and ‘It’ (’nuff said) … but there are others, that are not. For me, these are ‘Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Green Mile’ and ‘Salems Lot’…. which in it’s day, was quite a shocker and James Mason and ‘Hutch’ are both in it!!!! I suppose I choose The Stand (the t.v. series was particularly offensive) … as it is a battle of humanity, good versus evil and which side do you/would you come down on, there are arguments for both and although this story doesn’t lose itself with examples of how horrific humanity can be, it is about hope. Humanity is never that simple, it isn’t in this book, tho’ eventually … well, eventually hasn’t happened yet, but I do like hope.
So … number 4. ‘The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western’: Richard Brautigan - I was given this book by a very good friend when I needed some kick up the ass self-confidence and I haven’t looked back. I have read other books of his since but this remains my favourite. I can’t quite explain Richard Brautigan … I can only say that there is always more going on in his stories than the book initially lets on. On the surface they appear quite simple and almost superficial but this writer always hints at something deeper, you just have to ‘look’ between the lines. For me, when I read this book, I kinda had an epiphany … I had always thought that to be a writer you had to have more words. For instance, I cannot, do not and don’t want to write ‘like’ Stephen King’ .. I love his stories but there are too many words. I am an impatient person, so to write a whole paragraph about how blue the sky is and how it reminds you of a washed-out whatever and how who discussed the blue sky with whom and so on … I just can’t do it! The sky was blue, it was there, it hung over heads shoobey doo … I am more interested in what is going on underneath the washed out sky … kind of thing … what I am taking the high road over is that … with Brautigan … I realised that there was a different way of telling stories and you don’t have to describe every single for the reader, to enable the reader to understand what is going on in the story or indeed, what the author is writing about. I guess it’s a bit more like taking a photograph with words and the possibilities of what might be going on rather than having everything explained … more questions than answers!
Number five …. number five …. !!! mmmm……
This is so difficult and please bear in mind that these fave five (tempted to do an Enid Blyton number but won’t!) … have no particular order in favouritism …
I think number five should be open to change …. the above four (with maybe the exception of the Dean Koontz novel) probably will remain favourites … but I am deciding that the last one … which is a recent favourite … might remain a fave …
I am assuming that these ‘five’ are allowed to be replaced and the blog isn’t about ‘desert island books’ as, if placed in that situation …. I think the books would be more useful in building fires for warmth and cooking fish and/or cocunuts! …..
so …
5. The Lovely/Lonely Bones - Alice Sebold … if I have got the authors name/title wrong it’s because my memory for some details is quite neglectful and I am not going to search my bookshelves for the novel to correct myself … I can only apologise! This book made me cry and laugh … a rare occurence these days for a story to affect me in such a way … but as a person who is constantly interested in the ghosties and beasties of human nature, alive or dead … this book gave a perspective on that, for me. If you wonder what it might be like to be dead, and still not be able to move on, for whatever reason … this story gives one insight on what that might be like …. the author kinda cheats on the heaven myth/reality … but it doesn’t distract from the main story as … I think she leaves it open … more .. relies on ‘one man’s hell is another man’s heaven’ kinda thingy!!!
I am quite positive that after posting this … later on tonight or tomorrow (is tommorrow two m’s and one r …??) … I will suddenly go ‘S**t … I should’ve included this or that book …. there are books that I wish I would include … say ya fave 100 … but then the blog would be rather tiresome and after the first five, whose interested in the next 95 …
So … am looking forward to the ‘Fave Five Things You Should Never Do In Public’
xxxx
Graham Boffey / October 14th, 2006 at 5:21 pm
yeeeesss, (he typed pensively) I completely forgot that one Dave. I also forgot any by Kurt Vonnegut, especially SLaughterhouse 5 or Deadeye Dick. I also forgot Blade Runner-Philip K Dick, Dracula-Bram Stoker, Frankenstein-Mary Shelley, A Clockwork Orange-Anthony Burgess. There’s just so many to remember.
TTFN
Graham
Nelson Galaxy / October 27th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Gray,
It’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’ not Blade Runner.
GET IT RIGHT - Gotta be careful getting your Dicks confused.
Kit Satler / November 3rd, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Well now – I guess it’s my turn to list 5 novels that I like and hopefully everyone else hates. Nap – brave choice on the Winnie the Poo book. Grey – you always said Catch 22 was your fave, where’s Wind in the Willows come from?
Here we go…..hooray!!!
Descending order:
5. ‘Day of the Triffids’ John Wyndham
I’m a big fan of the post-apocalyptic themed novel. How will society survive an earth shattering event? Total breakdown or order in the face of adversity? This novel explores the dangers of bioengineering. A meteor storm renders society blind, leaving a bio engineered plant, with rudimentary animal-like behaviour, to take full Darwinian advantage of their new edge over humankind. There’s some brilliant imagery in here – Mason awaking in a deserted hospital, chaos and breakdown in central London, rogue paramilitary organisations trying to manage the threat (Watch ’28 Days Later’ it borrowed excessively from Triffids but isn’t nearly as powerful).
Read also: ‘The Death of Grass’ John Christopher, loads of J. G. Ballard including ‘The Drowned World’ & ‘The Crystal World’, ‘Cat’s Cradle’ Kurt Vonnegut, ‘War of the Worlds’ HG Wells, etc etc.
4. ‘Lord of the Rings’ JRR Tolkien
I know, I know. Silly fantasy novel for pre-pubescent boys. The writing ain’t too great and it is bogged down by its own mythology. Some of the prose is almost impossible to read and do you really give a shit about its massive back-story? Sorry but I love this book, grew up with it and love to re-read it. Tolkien invented a whole new mythology for England. He was upset that the English didn’t have anything like ‘Beowulf’ so he invented a myth of his own. He even taught himself Old Finnish so he could read ‘Kalevala’ in the original. I’ve attempted to learn Finnish and gave up almost immediately – never mind Old Finnish (but then I’m not a cunning linguist).
Read also: Gene Wolfe ‘The Book of the New Sun’
3. ‘Spares’ Michael Marshall Smith
I was given this by my ex. I hadn’t heard of him and she just picked something at random from the SF section at Waterstone’s. But what a find. I adore the way this guy writes, very British, funny, clever concise prose. I met him once in a pub near Oxford St and he bought me a pint, what a nice guy. The rights to this novel were purchased by DreamWorks; unfortunately they stole the idea and made the risible ‘The Island’. The novel is about ‘growing’ clones to use as spare parts, but its imaginative impact is astounding. It’s about redemption and humanity (oh and cats). Amazingly Smith has now written as many crime novels as SF ones – also brilliant. “Widescreen”.
Read also: Michael Marshall Smith ‘Only Forward’, ‘Under the Skin’ Michel Faber, Jeff Noon ‘Vurt’
2. ‘Time Out of Joint’ Philip K Dick
I had to get a bit of Dick in here. What a writer! Our Dave introduced me to Dick (he he) at a very young age (oo er) and I just can’t get enough (oh my God!!). Stop!!! OK, Dick is well know for writing a ridiculous amount of novels in a stupidly short time whilst being off his head on speed. I understand. The creative instinct which poured out of this man is amazing – especially considering he was a paranoid, drug-addled, opera-loving, God-seeing misogynist fuck up. His influence has become all encompassing – read any modern SF novel or watch any recent SF film and there’ll be some Dick in there. This novel contains all of Dick’s major themes; nature of reality, ordinary people having their lives unravel, confusion, sanity. I love the scene where Ragle Gumm is in a park and suddenly objects turn into pieces of paper with a noun written on them, his reality has collapsed in front of his eyes. Dick’s writing can often be sketchy but he excels here. For the best of Dick also read ‘Eye in the Sky’, ‘A Scanner Darkly’, ‘Confessions of a Crap Artist’, ‘Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said’ & the short story ‘We Can Remember it for You Wholesale’.
Read also: Ender Scott Card ‘Ender’s Game’, Ursula K. Le Guin ‘The Lathe of Heaven’, Norman Spinrad ‘Bug Jack Barron’
1. ‘Slaughterhouse 5’ Kurt Vonnegut
Yeah – I know – it’s a bit of a cliché me selecting this as my number 1 but there’s a reason the band called themselves after this novel, it’s fricking brilliant. So much in one small novel, its SF, anti-war, soap opera, comedy, drama etc etc. This is now a set text in schools and rightly so. Not only can one learn a lot about historical incidents (the bombing of Dresden – the allies aerial bombing activities were little known about at time of publication) there’s also so much to learn about the act of writing. As a young lad I was blown away by Vonnegut’s narrative structure and his prosaic tricks and games. His use of a chorus ‘So it goes’ to deal with death, mortality and as comic relief and analogies which connect supposedly random events. Also, he uses a metafiction device to play with the ideas of fiction and reality – read the first chapter to see what I mean. Vonnegut explores themes of fate, free will and the illogical nature of humanity with a backdrop of the true horrors of combat. “So it goes”.
Read also: Vonnegut’s ‘Cat’s Cradle’, ‘Siren’s of Titan’, ‘Mother Night’ and ‘Deadeye Dick’
I’m sure it’s quite obvious that I’ve picked predominantly SF novels. I like SF and I ain’t gonna apologise for that. But to show that I’m not all geek here are some of my favourite non-SF novels – in no particular order:
Raymond Chandler ‘The Big Sleep’
Italo Calvino ‘If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller’
Joseph Conrad ‘Heart of Darkness’
Franz Kafka ‘The Trial’
Gunter Grass ‘The Tin Drum’
James M Cain ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’
Martin Amis ‘Time’s Arrow’
Derek Raymond ‘I Was Dora Suarez’
Graham Greene ‘The Heart of the Matter’
Martin Cruz Smith ‘Gorky Park’
Oh and loads of others, but I have to stop and go read a book.
Nelson Galaxy / December 8th, 2006 at 11:03 am
RE: Boffey’s Dick confusion.
Interestingly Phil K rarely chose the title of any of his novels - they were usually decided on by his publisher, which explains why there are so many bad Dick titles (along with the embarrassing sci-fi covers). ‘Eye in the Sky’, ‘The Zap Gun’ , ‘A Maze of Death’ - Rubbish.
But let’s not forget there are some wonderfully titled Dick novels: ‘Confessions of a Crap Artist’, ‘Flow My Tears the Policeman Said’, ‘The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike’.
‘Blade Runner’ was never a working title for ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ These were:
‘Do Androids Dream?’
‘The Electric Sheep’
‘The Electric Toad’
This one is my personal favourite:
‘The Killers Are Among Us! Cried Rick Deckard To The Special Man’ - Brilliant!!
NG
Napoleon Fantastic / December 8th, 2006 at 11:51 am
Hey, Nel.
Didn’t William Burroughs come up with Blade Runner as a title?
Nelson Galaxy / December 8th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Well done Nap.
I didn’t know this so slap me up dude.
‘Blade runner: A movie’ is a William S Burroughs novel-cum-screenplay written in 1979. It bears no relation at all to Dick’s novel and was felched by Runner’s development team.
Napoleon Fantastic / December 8th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Ha ha! (sings) Nelson is a thicky, Nelson is a thicky!
Nelson Galaxy / December 8th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
Me is a thicky
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