Ok, being a sucker for punishment, I am putting up my top 10 books list of all time. Note that these are the books I can think of, off the top of my head right now - I might remember something better later on. So here goes the list in no particular order -
1. Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott. I love the swashbuckling tale of the hero-in-exile returning to gain his father’s favor. Honorable mentions to Ben-Hur and The Count of Monte Cristo, both with surprisingly similar storylines of wrongful conviction, escape, return as wealthy and powerful and ultimately revenge.
2. Kane & Abel - Jeffrey Archer. Superbly crafted story of the clash between a Polish immigrant and a Boston-born-with-silver-spoon-in-mouth man - wonderfully inspiring and not in the least bit boring. Honorable mention to “Prodigal Daughter” and “Not a Penny More - Not a Penny Less”.
3. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell. Charges of racism aside, what is not there to love about Scarlett O’Hara? She is completely self-absorbed, oblivious to surroundings, childish and incredibly spunky! Oh, and Rhett is the perfect foil for her character - one of those huge, big books you cannot put down till you are done.
4. Harry Potters - J K Rowling. With special mention to the first and the fourth books, I think it is pretty obvious to regular readers why I love these books :)
5. Lord of the Rings - Tolkien. By now, you can see that I like epic stories with grand battles and strange destinies. One of the best in the genre.
6. Ghost Story - Stephen King & Peter Straub. The one book that kept me awake in the nights long after I finished it. Scared me like nothing else.
7. Murder on Orient Express - Agatha Christie. Of course, considering I like pretty much most Agatha Christies - including but not limited to “10 Little Indians” (it was niggers in the Indian version I read originally), “Murder of Roger Ackroyd” and pretty much all of the Poirot mysteries - it was hard for me to settle on one to point out.
8. Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain. Funny stories of childhood innocence and crazy antics.
9. Contact - Carl Sagan. You don’t have to believe in aliens to be sucked into this drama about what lies beyond - beautifully written.
10. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer. A chilling true story of a doomed expedition to the top of Mt. Everest that ended in the deaths of eight people. One of those things that make you feel as if you were right there on the summit, helplessly looking on while people are dying around you. Honorable mention of course, goes to the Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger - for something very similar.
Other good books: Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - the struggle of a a wife and three daughters of a religiously fanatic and culturally insensitive Preacher in Africa.
Posted by shanti at October 24, 2003 3:10 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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Gotta love LotR. I read it 3-4 times in high school. Just re-read it again after seeing the first 2 movies with my kids.
Posted by: The Commissar at October 24, 2003 7:37 PM
Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh
Posted by: Yazad at October 25, 2003 8:26 AM
I haven’t read many of those. Maybe I should, now that you’ve recommended them. Most of them are classics, may be thats the reason I haven’t read them. I feel like a baddd literature students.:(
Posted by: Sampada at October 25, 2003 9:35 AM
I think “Thirteen at Dinner” is Agatha Christie’s best book, it short but the story is really amazing.
Posted by: kamal at October 27, 2003 12:03 AM
Lord of the Rings? Here’s a review that I completely agree with…
http://www.powells.com/review/2002_02_07.html
Let the fighting begin :-)
Posted by: Sunil at October 27, 2003 10:37 AM
Sunil,
I think the author of the review you cited and you (since you agree with it) are confusing good books with books that are good literature. A book can essentially have all the ingredients of great literature - great story, moral dilemmas and the greates prose - while being completely unreadable. On the other hand, you can have a simple book like the Harry Potters, which no one can claim to be great literature, but will hold your attention and make you read the book cover-to-cover.
There is nothing in wrong in appreciating great literature. Personally, I’d rather spend my money buying something I will read over and over than something that will just look good in my bookshelf ;)
Posted by: Shanti at October 27, 2003 12:12 PM
Shanti,
The review was for a book that claimed that LOTR was great literature which the reviewer ( and I agree with him) says is bunk.
I guess I am also saying that I found LOTR incredibly tedious and unreadable as opposed to the Harry Potter series which are page turners that I love. Heck, I even stood in line at midnight to get the latest one….:-)
Sunil
Posted by: Sunil at October 27, 2003 12:47 PM
Actually, I do agree with you that in the beginning, LOTR can put you to sleep real fast. I had to watch the first movie before I could get through the first few pages of the book. Once that happened though, the tale was pretty engrossing and I couldn’t put the book down anymore.
I didn’t stand in line for my HP, but got it delivered first thing in the morning from Amazon :)
Posted by: Shanti at October 27, 2003 1:04 PM
Maybe I need to get past the first 120 pages which is the point at which I gave up, and give it another chance…
As for HP: when the book came out my second daughter was 3 months old and the in-laws were in town from India to help out. My father-in-law hasn’t looked at me in quite the same way ever since I insisted in going out at midnight and waiting in line for 1 hour to get the book.
I wonder why….:-)
Sunil
Posted by: Sunil at October 27, 2003 1:17 PM
Sunil, I know the looks you are talking about, since I get tham all the time from my husband’s side of the family. They think I am some kind of a book-fanatic :mad:
Posted by: Shanti at October 27, 2003 2:30 PM
i love you:shocked:
Posted by: sunil at December 3, 2004 2:12 PM
:blush:i love u :blush::blush::blush::nice::nice::nice::nice::nice::blush::blush::nice::nice:
Posted by: sunil at December 3, 2004 2:14 PM