sholio | Meme answers: Books

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Meme answers: Books

madripoor_rose asked:

What are the five favorite books you'd recommend everybody read at least once?

Oh man. I'm always so embarrassed answering questions like this, because even though I read a ton of stuff, I think that this sort of question shows up how plebian and genre-focused so much of my reading has been! I'm not ashamed to admit that I loved a book, even one that's quite bad by objective standards, but saying "This is so good everyone SHOULD read it!" is a whole other kettle of fish. So, this is more like my top five books I've read and re-read, and it isn't even really my top five anyhow (because I don't think I can narrow it down that much, and I'm sure that as soon as I hit "post" I'll think of a half-dozen more), but they're at the top, anyway.

1. Roots by Alex Haley. This book made such an impression on me that, 15 or 20 years later, I still vividly remember picking it up from my parents' bookshelves out of curiosity (this was par for the course with me; there wasn't anything I wasn't allowed to read, and the house was full of books, so I worked my way through them like a termite in a log) and how I read the first few pages to see what it was about, and ended up sitting right there on the floor and reading for the rest of the day. It made me think and feel like few books I've read before or since, and I think it probably had a bigger effect on my fantasy/SF writing than most of the fantasy and SF I've read.

2. Any good collection of SF short stories from the 1940s/50s/60s. I couldn't really narrow it down to a specific book, though of the books on my shelves, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. I and Great Science Fiction Tales of All Time between them seem to contain most of the stories I really love, the ones that made an impression on me growing up (e.g. "Cold Equations", "Mimsy Were the Borogoves") -- as well as some that I really hate which are still well-known and influential and brain-bending enough to be required reading for any genre fan or aspiring author (like "Nightfall" by Arthur C. Clarke ... possibly my least favorite SF story of all time, at least among stories which are actually good). The thing about these stories is that even if you aren't really into genre fiction, even if the social standards and technology is terribly dated, the ideas are just so incredible that they reshape the way you look at the world. They worm into your brain and stick, and ten years later you'll wake up in the middle of the night thinking about THAT STORY.

3. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. People's reactions to this book seem to be fairly polarized -- it's an "OMG, I love this book, it's the most brilliant thing ever" or "OMG, this is an overhyped monstrosity, I can't believe people like it" kind of book. I fall into the "OMG brilliant" camp even though it has, admittedly, gigantic gaping narrative flaws -- to wit: half the book is brilliant, screamingly funny and has more ideas per square inch than almost anything I've read, and half of it is deadly dull. And they're all mixed together. No matter how many times I've read the book, there are parts of it that I honestly can't remember, because they were boring as hell. But the rest of it is more than fantastic enough to make up for it. There is no book in the world that makes me yearn for a sequel the way this one does, although with Terry Pratchett ill, it's unlikely there will ever be one.

4. Watership Down by Richard Adams. It's a love song to the natural world, it's one of the most fantastically inventive fantasies I've ever read, and it's gorgeously written and convincing and alive with detail. It manages to paint its protagonists as convincingly non-human in their thoughts and lives, while making them so sympathetic that reading a few pages from any part of the book draws you straight into their world. This is one of those books that makes me want to curl up into a little ball of artistic woe because I'll never ever write this well.

#5 is a tie, because there's a book that resonated with me incredibly as a teen, but as I grew up and matured, and especially the more I found out about the author (who is apparently a raging asshole) the less I liked the book. Which is very sad. But it still blew my mind as a young teen, so it needs to be here. And I've paired it up with another book, or rather set of books, that resonates with me in pretty much the exact same way as an adult. Taken together, I think they actually make a fascinating picture of the transition from childhood to adulthood for me, and the way that my reading tastes shifted while still remaining more or less constant at the core. One of these is a fairy tale, the other a myth, mapped upon late-20th-century America.

5 (old). Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. A hundred years of New York City's history through a magic lens. The images that this book evoked in my teenage brain, of a winter-locked city where its subtle living magic was slowly swallowed by ever-more-complex technology, but still lived on underneath, capable of miracles, still brings tears to my eyes with its remembered beauty. The funny thing about this book, that I never even noticed at the time, is that the characters aren't really characters -- they're more like archetypes and mouthpieces for the themes of the book. That, I think, is the big reason why I slowly fell out of love with the book, because the characters don't really live. But the city lives, in its unreal way, and the language and description is gorgeous, and it overpowered my adolescent brain with a blitz of wonder -- it really hit some kind of deeply-buried button in my brain that I hadn't even known was there.

5 (new). The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands by Stephen King. I know this is book 2 & 3 of a 7-book series. I wish the whole series was good enough that I could recommend it. But screw it, I can't. This is the core of the series, though, and it soars -- dark, gorgeous, post-apocalyptic fantasy about four terribly broken people coming together to form a tiny family in a wilderness made up of twisted magic and shattered technology. I wish that the entire series consisted of books 2 and 3 and the first half of book 4. In my mind, that is the series. And I hadn't realized until making this list, and going down my mental list of favorite books, that this series hits me in pretty much the exact same way as Winter's Tale -- it's like a list of everything I love in fiction, only while Winter's Tale was everything I loved as a 13-year-old (horses, magic, fantastic cities that aren't what they seem, tragic doomed love, redemption, sacrifice, rebirth, snow and ice and the cold, sparkling beauty of winter), this is everything I love as an adult: the shattering and rebuilding of the human soul, friendship against all odds, complex and flawed characters, magic hidden in technology and vice versa, quests and journeys of the body and soul, learning to live on after you've lost everything. Both are about seeing the fantastic in the everyday -- in Winter's Tale it's wondrous, fantastic, fairy-tale magic that hides in everyday objects, magic capable of bringing the dead back to life; in Dark Tower it's more like the magic of old mythology, amoral and powerful and beyond the ability of humans to control.

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I agree entirely on the Stephen King front - most of the books in the series are pristine, but those two are battered as anything, almost falling apart. There's also a definite demarcation in Wizard and Glass, too, because Eddie is just so awesome at the beginning of that book.

Also obligatory quiet cheer for Good Omens. :D

Oh, Eddie ...! His arc is so fantastic through that part of the series.

It's not very often that I feel this way about a series, but I really wish that one had been a trilogy instead. I want to recommend that middle part to everybody, but it's tough to do that when I have to add the caveat, "But it starts out pretty slow, and most people who read it hated the last three books ..." (I don't think I disliked the end of the series as much as most people seemed to, but it's certainly disappointing compared to the rest of it.)

2, 3, 4 are all ones that I've already read. And I've seen the Roots miniseries, making a note of that and the Stephen King.

I love Classic SF...and note you mention Mimsy Were The Borogroves...did you see the movie The Last Mimzy and what do you think of movie adaptions of favorite works?

did you see the movie The Last Mimzy and what do you think of movie adaptions of favorite works?

Oh man ... I saw the ad for The Last Mimzy and I couldn't imagine HOW they could make a movie out of that story! (Not "how dare they" but ... how is it even possible?) I haven't seen it -- haven't seen the Roots miniseries either (though in that last case, I've heard it's fantastic). I've been so often disappointed in movie adaptations of books I loved that I'm really, really leery of them. The last adaptation I've gotten really excited about was when "Howl's Moving Castle" got adapted by Studio Ghibli, because I've loved most of their other movies, and then I really disliked the way they reworked the plot ...! There have been a few adaptations I've loved (in recent movies, the "Master & Commander" and LotR ones have been awesome, and I saw a surprisingly good low-budget film adaptation of "Cold Equations" last year), but in general I nearly always prefer the book, and especially when it's a book I really loved, I'm afraid to see the movie for fear it'll spoil the way I visualize the book.

Nods. I've recently reread Jumper by Steven Gould because of the movie version...have no interest in seeing the movie from what I've heard of the plot. I usually prefer the book to the movie remake, also. Either it's totally butchered and has only the vaguest relation to the book...or it's not horrible but manages to leave my favorite parts out.

Ha. My dad went and saw the Jumper movie and reported back to me on all the changes. He hated it; from the sound of things, it kinda ended up like a weird hybrid of Highlander and Da Vinci Code. Another one I'm glad I haven't seen.

(Have you seen Last Mimzy, by the way? I'm really curious what they did with the movie, though I strongly suspect it's going to be quite bad.)

They took out most of the growing sense of horror as the kids evolved past the point of their parents understanding them, and made an odd 'time-travel/utopian' plot out of it. The toys are sent back from a bleak future to start changing the way people think. It wasn't bad, but very different from the original.

*blinks* Oookay. And of course, that sense of horror and alienation (along with the whole idea of toys that change the way people think, which is at the same time fantastically cool and incredibly terrifying, and the utter casualness of it) is the main thing about the story that stuck in my head over the years.

Way to miss the point, Hollywood!

Yep. It was more they wanted to make a 'kids with superpowers' movie out of it. The mother did worry about it, but they wanted an upbeat ending. I did like the new ending...the green utopian future with people flying by telekinesis. And of course they had to pad the plot out a little. I can't remember right now if the short story had the bit with Alice Liddle finding a Mimzy-bunny.

The short story as it was would make one hell of a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits episode.

i adored the book jumpers i have a really old copy i've had for years

and i still liked the movie.. i was just so excited to see it

i really loved the new book to! Griffin's Story

I even bought the video game lol... i'm a pathetic fan girl lol

'Watership Down' is the only one I've read (others dually noticed, though not Stephen King, not my genre). I agree that there is something special about 'Watership Down' - I've read other great animal fantasies, but no matter how good they are they never truly compare to this one.

Did you know that Richard Adams based the rabbit behaviour on a non-fiction book about rabbits, 'The Private Life of the Rabbit' by R M Lockley? I've got it but never got around the reading it .. maybe one day. Nice to know that Adams wanted to make the rabbits in his story as convincing in their behaviour as he could ... probably why the book works so well.

Ah, memories ... when I was eight we got a rabbit (a California giant, apparently rare these days. Not huge, but bigger than normal, white body, grey paws, ears and nose and an irrascible character) and of course I called him Brighteyes. Was devasted when he died eight years later ... A certain song from a certain film still brings tears to my eyes to this day; not because of the movie, but because of my Brighteyes. /end ramble

I knew the book was well-researched -- and I was fantastically excited to find out that all the places in the book are real! There's a website I found one time that has a walk-through tour of all the places in the book, with photos -- I was absolutely thrilled to see pictures of the "iron road" and the hills and other parts that had existed only in my imagination for decades; it was like seeing actual photos of a real-life Oz or something!

There are times I wished I stopped reading the Dark Tower series after the Wastelands because up until then it was epic and awesome and felt vast in a way not many books can pull off. And well that was a nice feeling. The later books did nothing for me.

I also loved Watership Down.

There are times I wished I stopped reading the Dark Tower series after the Wastelands because up until then it was epic and awesome and felt vast in a way not many books can pull off.

Oh man. I know. I didn't dislike the ending as much as many readers did, but the good part of the series was so good, and the bad parts were such a letdown. I originally started reading it right after "Wizard & Glass" came out, so for a long time (several years, at least) that's all there was, and in my mind, it still kinda ends there.

I haven't read ANY of them but I saw The Goodies version of Watership Down.

1. The Dresden Files (all of them) by Jim Butcher
http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Jim+Butcher&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go

2. Burndive by Karin Lowachee (read the series as well)
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Burndive-Karin-Lowachee/9780446613187-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527Burndive+by+Karin+Lowachee%2527

3. Assassin's Apprentice: Farseer by Robin Hobb
(read the 2 series)
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Robin-Hobb/9780553573398-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527robin+hobb%2527

4. Memory Sorrow And Thorn Series 01 Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Memory-Sorrow-Thorn-Series-Dragonbone-Tad-Williams/9780886773847-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527tad+williams%2527

5. A Story Like The Wind and a Far Off Place by Laurens Van Der Post
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/A-Far-Off-Place-Laurens-Vanderpost-Van-Der-Post-Laurens/9780156301985-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527Laurens+Van+Der+Post%2527
and
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/A-Story-Like-the-Wind-Laurens-Van-Der-Post/9780156852616-item.html?ref=Search+Books%3a+%2527Laurens+Van+Der+Post%2527

@Parsindy: I loved The Farseer, but I really hated the direction the series took in The Tawney Man v.v

@Friendshipper: Just wondering, where does Death Gate Cycle rank on your list of faves? I was curious since your piccy is from the cover of Fire Sea, and not from one of the books from your list. ^_^

Oh, I love Death Gate! It's definitely one of my all-time favorite book series. It's not something that I would recommend as an "everyone must read!" kind of thing, which was the question I was trying to answer here -- I think it's pretty specifically a genre series, not really one that would appeal to anyone other than a fairly narrow subset of fantasy fans, I think, but I really do adore it.

I loved farseer and the Tawney man... but not really a fan of her new series or of the mad ship series at all

Ooh, yes, Roots. I read it as teenager. I still remember sitting in study hall at school with the book (a friend had loaned me her copy), and starting to read.
And every time I re-read it, the part where Kunte Kinte's descendants realize that while he seems alive to them, he must be dead by now, hits me like a punch to the gut.
And I still cry at the ending...
(Have you read Queen (http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Haleys-Queen-Haley/dp/0330333070/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205598788&sr=1-8), btw?)

As for the Dark Tower books... I'll admit, I *liked* the ending; it was painful for the reader, but also very fitting, IMHO.
My favorites, though, are books 2 and 3. It's not that I mind the rest, it's just that they're better.
And of course, SK committed the crime of self-insertion in books 6 and 7, for which there can be no forgiveness (or am I being a snob? Hm, I may be a snob when it comes to that...)

I haven't read Queen; I didn't even know it existed. Must add to wish list! (So many books ... so little time ...)

Interesting choices. I completely agree with "Good Omens", although I love the entire book. None of it is boring to me. And my dad had a bunch of SF classic short stories and novellas collected in book form, and some of those stories have stayed with me to this day (the frikking giant bees...argh). But your other choices are all books that felt flat to me - just didn't capture my interest and attention at all. "Watership Down" in particular gave me an odd sense of uneasiness that I can't quite articulate, and "Winter's Tale" seemed very disorganized to me.

I agree with you that picking out only five books is nearly impossible, but personally I'd have to put Douglas Adams' "Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series on any such list. And maybe any collection of Algernon Blackwood's short stories, for the sheer compelling beauty of his both his prose and his understanding of how gorgeous and awful nature can be. I also think everybody should read at least one Jane Austen novel.

And..hmmm...Harry Potter. Despite the fuss from people who let themselves get sucked in by hype perpetrated by people who didn't even bother to read the books, despite the sheer mainstream-iness of recommending them, they are excellent books with something to offer just about anyone. They are books that got people to read who didn't read, and that's a pretty powerful and special thing.

This is an especially interesting meme. I think a person's choice of favorite or important books is very revealing of themselves.

This is an especially interesting meme. I think a person's choice of favorite or important books is very revealing of themselves.

Oh, absolutely! And in the case of your selections ... Austen is SO not my thing; I've never been able to slog through her books! And Harry Potter, though I enjoy them, is not something that would ever have made any of my "best of" lists. Which is not meant as a bash of your tastes ... but, yeah, everyone's "best of" list is so very individual! I took this to mean "books I would recommend to other people because I loved them and thought others would love them", which is kind of a different thing from "books I loved in the uncritical privacy of my own head" ... if that makes any sense. But, of course, even THAT is a fairly individual distinction.

I think Austen is like Dickens - it either works for you or it doesn't. For all I love Austen, I can't stand Dickens.

Yeah, everyone's interpretation of this meme is going to be slightly different. In choosing five books/authors, I was trying for a selection in which I thought everyone should be able to find at least one books they could connect with.

Now, as for "books I loved in the uncritical privacy of my own head"...there's some stuff on that list that I'd be reluctant to admit to!

Whereas I've generally enjoyed Dickens, though I'd put it more under the heading of "really weird shit" than "good". (Seriously ... the man wrote total crack!)

At least on this journal it's less embarrassing than usual to admit just how genre-focused and fannish my favorite books tend to be! I usually feel like I ought to dredge up something in the literature-class mold to answer this sort of question, and while I *have* very much enjoyed some books like that, they don't tend to be books I *love*.

My mother borrowed some fascinating lecture tapes from a friend last year. The lectures were all about Dickens, who basically wrote pulp fiction designed to be read by the mass public. He did, somewhat inadvertantly, write social commentary - but he was really only interested in making money. Dickens invented the 'collector's edition' of novels - solely for the purpose of making money. His books were sold in serial fashion, and they were deliberately plotted so as to make sure readers would be clamoring (and emptying their purses) for the next chapter.

*end lecture mode*

It's learning stuff like this that makes me want to redefine the term "classics" when it comes to literature.

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Meme answers: Books

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