Lists are subjective, when you look at a list of the greatest books, songs or poodles I can bet that you will look at it and consider it to be mainly a pile of crap. "Where's X and Y, and for that matter who could omit Q,P, W and J?" is a usual response!
The only way to get a list that you approve of absolutely is to write it yourself. For no other reason than to give both my readers an indication of some of the things I like (as if they don't already damned well know!) here are a few books that I consider to be among my very favourites. It may even give you a small insight into the mind of Shaun P Downey, but probably not... I don't pretend that all of these books are great literature but I enjoyed them all!
In no order whatsoever here goes:
The Third Policeman
At Swim Two Birds
The Poor Mouth - All by Flann O'Brien
The Tailor and Ansty - Eric Cross
Malone Dies
Murphy
Molly - All by Samuel Beckett
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Borstal Boy - Brendan Behan
The Collected stories of Frank O'Connor (okay this is an anthology but who really cares!)
The Collected Stories of William Trevor
Dubliners - James Joyce
Amongst Women - John McGahern
The Magic Toyshop
The Passion of New Eve
The Ingfernal Desire Machine of Doctor Hoffman
The Bloody Chamber
Nights at the Circus - All by Angela Carter
First Loves, Last Rites
The Cement Garden
The Comfort of Strangers - All by Ian McEwen
The Aubrey/Maturin cycle of 20 books - Patrick O' Brian. A couple of the books are sub par (such as the Hundred Days) but overall the series is a masterpiece. Forget C S Forrester and the priggish Hornblower, Jack Aubrey is the finest Sea Captain in fiction!
The Golden Ocean/The Unknown Shore Patrick O Brian. His first foray ito naval fiction. They are still well worth reading
Young Adam - Alexander Trocchi
The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills
Lanark
1982 Janine
Something Leather
Poor Things - Alasdair Gray
The Wasp Factory
Espedair Street
The Crow Road
Whit
Consider Phlebas
Transition
The Player of Games - Iain Banks or his Iain M Banks Sci Fi alter ego
Th Death of Grass - John Christopher
The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham
The Star Fraction - ken Macleod (I must read more of his works)
Hothouse (if just for the Lovely Tummybelly Men!)
The Helliconia books - Brian Aldiss
Each and every Jeeves and Wooster book! P G Wodehouse
1984
Animal Farm
Coming Up for Air - George Orwell
Brave New World
The Island - Aldous Huxley
Under the Volcano
Ultramarine
Everything else you can find by Malcolm Lowry
Crash
The Drowned World
High Rise - J G Ballard
A Clockwork Orange
Earthly Powers - Anthony Burgess
Childhood's End
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C Clarke
Memoirs of a Survivor
The Canopus in Argos series - Doris Lessing
Lots of Michael Moorcock!
Halo Jones
Watchmen
The Lost Girls (Most definitely and utterly NSFW!)
From Hell Alan Moore Graphic Novels
An artist of the Floating World
Remains of the Day
A Pale view of the Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro
Last and First Men - Olaf Stapledon
The City Watch series
The Truth
Small Gods
Going Postal/Making Money
Monstrous Regiment
Thief of Time
Making Movies
Maskerade
Bugger it, most every Terry Pratchett book for adults from Pyramids onwards!
The Woman in Black
The Mist in the Mirror - Susan Hill
Lord of the Flies
Pincher Martin
To the Ends of the Earth Trilogy - William Golding
Spanky
The Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler
A good Anthology of M R James stories
Uncle Silas
A selection of short story anthologies Sheridan Le Fanu
The Hill of Dreams
The Great God Pan (best if you can find the version with an intro by my old friend Iain Smith)
As many short stories as you can get in print - Arthur Machen
Anything by the Bronte sisters.
Erewhon - Samuel Butler
The poems of Margaret Cavendish!
The poems of William McGonagall!
The Last King of Scotland - Giles Foden
The Heart of Darkness
Nostromo
Under Western Eyes
The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad
Under the Frog
The Collector, collector - Tibor Fischer
The War of Don Emmanuel Nether Parts
Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord
The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman - Louis De Bernieres
The Magus
The Collector - John Fowles
\
I will probably add more as I remember them....
The only way to get a list that you approve of absolutely is to write it yourself. For no other reason than to give both my readers an indication of some of the things I like (as if they don't already damned well know!) here are a few books that I consider to be among my very favourites. It may even give you a small insight into the mind of Shaun P Downey, but probably not... I don't pretend that all of these books are great literature but I enjoyed them all!
In no order whatsoever here goes:
The Third Policeman
At Swim Two Birds
The Poor Mouth - All by Flann O'Brien
The Tailor and Ansty - Eric Cross
Malone Dies
Murphy
Molly - All by Samuel Beckett
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Borstal Boy - Brendan Behan
The Collected stories of Frank O'Connor (okay this is an anthology but who really cares!)
The Collected Stories of William Trevor
Dubliners - James Joyce
Amongst Women - John McGahern
The Magic Toyshop
The Passion of New Eve
The Ingfernal Desire Machine of Doctor Hoffman
The Bloody Chamber
Nights at the Circus - All by Angela Carter
First Loves, Last Rites
The Cement Garden
The Comfort of Strangers - All by Ian McEwen
The Aubrey/Maturin cycle of 20 books - Patrick O' Brian. A couple of the books are sub par (such as the Hundred Days) but overall the series is a masterpiece. Forget C S Forrester and the priggish Hornblower, Jack Aubrey is the finest Sea Captain in fiction!
The Golden Ocean/The Unknown Shore Patrick O Brian. His first foray ito naval fiction. They are still well worth reading
Young Adam - Alexander Trocchi
The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills
Lanark
1982 Janine
Something Leather
Poor Things - Alasdair Gray
The Wasp Factory
Espedair Street
The Crow Road
Whit
Consider Phlebas
Transition
The Player of Games - Iain Banks or his Iain M Banks Sci Fi alter ego
Th Death of Grass - John Christopher
The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham
The Star Fraction - ken Macleod (I must read more of his works)
Hothouse (if just for the Lovely Tummybelly Men!)
The Helliconia books - Brian Aldiss
Each and every Jeeves and Wooster book! P G Wodehouse
1984
Animal Farm
Coming Up for Air - George Orwell
Brave New World
The Island - Aldous Huxley
Under the Volcano
Ultramarine
Everything else you can find by Malcolm Lowry
Crash
The Drowned World
High Rise - J G Ballard
A Clockwork Orange
Earthly Powers - Anthony Burgess
Childhood's End
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C Clarke
Memoirs of a Survivor
The Canopus in Argos series - Doris Lessing
Lots of Michael Moorcock!
Halo Jones
Watchmen
The Lost Girls (Most definitely and utterly NSFW!)
From Hell Alan Moore Graphic Novels
An artist of the Floating World
Remains of the Day
A Pale view of the Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro
Last and First Men - Olaf Stapledon
The City Watch series
The Truth
Small Gods
Going Postal/Making Money
Monstrous Regiment
Thief of Time
Making Movies
Maskerade
Bugger it, most every Terry Pratchett book for adults from Pyramids onwards!
The Woman in Black
The Mist in the Mirror - Susan Hill
Lord of the Flies
Pincher Martin
To the Ends of the Earth Trilogy - William Golding
Spanky
The Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler
A good Anthology of M R James stories
Uncle Silas
A selection of short story anthologies Sheridan Le Fanu
The Hill of Dreams
The Great God Pan (best if you can find the version with an intro by my old friend Iain Smith)
As many short stories as you can get in print - Arthur Machen
Anything by the Bronte sisters.
Erewhon - Samuel Butler
The poems of Margaret Cavendish!
The poems of William McGonagall!
The Last King of Scotland - Giles Foden
The Heart of Darkness
Nostromo
Under Western Eyes
The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad
Under the Frog
The Collector, collector - Tibor Fischer
The War of Don Emmanuel Nether Parts
Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord
The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman - Louis De Bernieres
The Magus
The Collector - John Fowles
\
I will probably add more as I remember them....
9 comments:
May I remind you of 'The Master and Margarita'? You mentioned it several times.
Interesting list, Jams.
Some great books there. nothing by Colm Toibin?
Ah Sean that will be in the next one!
Actually I have never read any of his books Nursie.. I will have to have a look sometime.
"who could omit Q,PW and J"
Now THAT is a fine typo. I've got absolutely no idea what you mean this time.
Have clarified!
May I recommend Ballard's 'Concrete Island'?
I'm pleased to see Angela Carter here . And I notice you have only included early McEwan - do you find an overloading of things middle class in his later work as I do?
I could go on and on about books but that will have to do just now...
Ah Syncy I have yet to read that Ballard. It will be read in due course!
McEwen disappeared up his own arse I feel. I tried the child in time and a couple of more books but they didn't catch my imagination
Hooray! You're the first person I've come across who knows what I'm talking about! I bought and read his first books as they came out and loved them but from The Comfort of Strangers onward less and less. I was amazed when Amsterdam won the Booker. Enduring Love I did like, though, not least for its ambiguous title, On Chesil Beach wasn't bad either.
Ooh, word verification: cardy. I love a good cardy. :)
Great minds think alike or is it that fools seldom differ!I may have another go at him but there is plenty of other stuff I want to read before I do.
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