The Book Thread

[Benny]

Here's the list. Once we've done them all we'll have to find a new challenge....If it's red (pun intended) there's a review.


Title        Author
1. The Lord of the Rings ---------- JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice ---------- Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials ---------- Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ---------- Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ---------- JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird ---------- Lee Harper
7. Winnie the Pooh ---------- AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four ---------- George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ---------- CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre ---------- Charlotte Bronte
11. Catch-22 ---------- Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights ---------- Emily Bronte
13. Birdsong ---------- Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca ---------- Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye ---------- JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows ---------- Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations ---------- Charles Dickens
18. Little Women ---------- Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin ---------- Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace ---------- Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind ---------- Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone ---------- JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets ---------- JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban ---------- JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit ---------- JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles ---------- Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch ---------- George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany ---------- John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath ---------- John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland ---------- Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude ---------- Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth ---------- Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield ---------- Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory ---------- Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island ---------- Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice ---------- Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion ---------- Jane Austen
39. Dune ---------- Frank Herbert
40. Emma ---------- Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables ---------- LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down ---------- Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby ---------- F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo ---------- Alexandra Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited ---------- Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm ---------- George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol ---------- Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd ---------- Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom ---------- Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers ---------- Rosamuande Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden ---------- Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men ---------- John Steinbeck
53. The Stand ---------- Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina ---------- Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy ---------- Vijram Seth
56. The BFG ---------- Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons ---------- Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty ---------- Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl ---------- Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment ---------- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses ---------- Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha ---------- Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities ---------- Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds ---------- Colleen McCollough
65. Mort ---------- Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree ---------- Enid Blyton
67. The Magus ---------- John Fowles
68. Good Omens ---------- Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards! ---------- Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies ---------- William Golding
71. Perfume ---------- Patrick Suskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists ---------- Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch ---------- Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda ---------- Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary ---------- Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History ---------- Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White ---------- Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses ---------- James Joyce
79. Bleak House ---------- Charles Dickens
80. Double Act ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits ---------- Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle ---------- Dodie Smith
83. Holes ---------- Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast ---------- Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things ---------- Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World ---------- Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm ---------- Stella Gibbons
89. Magician ---------- Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road ---------- Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather ---------- Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear ---------- Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic ---------- Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist ---------- Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine ---------- Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel ---------- Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera ---------- Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries ---------- Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children ---------- Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat ---------- Jerome K Jerome
102. Small Gods ---------- Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach ---------- Alex Garland
104. Dracula ---------- Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc ---------- Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers ---------- Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker ---------- Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory ---------- Lain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal ---------- Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure ---------- Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ ---------- Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea ---------- Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Misérables ---------- Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge ---------- Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray ---------- Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun ---------- James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids ---------- John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair ---------- William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga ---------- John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves ---------- Mark Z Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible ---------- Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man ---------- Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging ---------- Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles ---------- Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession ---------- A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita ---------- Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale ---------- Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World ---------- Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden ---------- John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine ---------- Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters ---------- Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple ---------- Alice Walker
137. Hogfather ---------- Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps ---------- John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front ---------- Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum ---------- Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity ---------- Nick Hornby
144. It ---------- Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach ---------- Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile ---------- Stephen King
147. Papillon ---------- Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms ---------- Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander ---------- Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key ---------- Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music ---------- Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time ---------- Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant ---------- Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement ---------- Ian McEwan
155. Secrets ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword ---------- Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest ---------- Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness ---------- Joseph Conrad
159. Kim ---------- Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch ---------- Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby Dick ---------- Herman Melville
162. River God ---------- Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song ---------- Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News ---------- Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp ---------- John Irving
166. Lorna Doone ---------- R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions ---------- M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches ---------- Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web ---------- E. B. White
171. Frankenstein ---------- Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass ---------- Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea ---------- Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose ---------- Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World ---------- Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr Fox ---------- Roald Dahl
178. Lolita ---------- Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull ---------- Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince ---------- Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid ---------- Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist ---------- Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One ---------- Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner ---------- George Eliot
185. American Psycho ---------- Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody ---------- George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting ---------- Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps ---------- R. L. Stine
189. Heidi ---------- Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers ---------- D. H. LawrenceLife of Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being ---------- Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy ---------- Tony Parsons
193. The Truth ---------- Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds ---------- H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer ---------- Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance ---------- Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad ---------- Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King ---------- T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar ---------- Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic ---------- Virginia Andrews
201. The Dice Man, Luke Reinhart ---------- Luke Reinhart
202. Idylls ---------- Theocritus of Syracuse
203. Metamorphoses ---------- Ovid
204. The Monk ---------- Matthew Lewis
205. The Twelve Caesars ---------- Suetonius
206. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court ---------- Mark Twain
207. Don Quixote ---------- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
208. Northanger Abbey ---------- Jane Austen
209. The Importance of Being Earnest ---------- Oscar Wilde
210. The Secret Agent ---------- Joseph Conrad
211. I CLAUDIUS ---------- Robert Graves
212. Tom Jones ---------- Henry Fielding
213. The Hunger Games ---------- Suzanne Collins
214. One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ---------- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
215. Weaveworld ---------- Clive Barker
216. Marathon Man ---------- William Goldman
217. Selected Poems ---------- John Donne
218. Sophie's Choice ---------- William Styron
219. the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ---------- Edward Gibbon
220. The Castle of Otranto ---------- Horace Warpole


If you post below, one of your loving admins will edit this post to reflect there being a review. Any comments on existing reviews we can edit and paste into the review posts if that makes sense. So this thread should stay clean of all but thoughts on the books..I'm definitely getting old.

Updated,
RED=Read and not worthy (may be good but not an all timer)
AMBER=Woah, hold on there, there's a disagreement here, someone make a choice dammit!
GREEN=A keeper and no mistake, read this bad boy at once.

[Benny]

May contain spoilers.

43. The Great Gatsby
Benny - I'd considered a short and punchy review along the lines of 'It's alright' but figured I should make an effort. It's not that it's a bad story, it's just that it really didn't feel like it got going to me. Admirably short at 150 or so pages, depending on your reader of choice, I found that I was reading more and more to get to something exciting. The initial 'party' outlook as we're introduced to the man in question could have been explored more but the love story within is the underlying plot. The voice of the story telling is well written but I found it somewhat pedestrian at times. Both murders were brushed away and the story of Daisy is just left hanging at the end.
I can't write a lot as there isn't much to write about, love story, jealousy, murder, revenge, it's all there, but it's all so anaemic you don't develop any feeling for the characters. There's no real physical descriptions of people so it's all about the smokey laid back feel of the 20's.

Gortex - I am finding this a difficult one to review as I can not decide if I like it or not. Similar to what Benny mentioned, at 150 pages! it does take forever to get going and felt like I was halfway through before the plot of the love circle and the underlying story of Gatsby’s rags to riches really comes to life. By which time because it is a short novel, it feels like it rushes through some of the major scenes as if it is in a hurry to finish. However I also feel this is quite cleverly written as it keeps the readers attention on the main plots and not getting too dragged into the sub plots. Which in some books I have read, it takes the writer several chapters to get back on course.
It also in my opinion gives you just a taster into the characters lives and leave the reader to use their imagination to fill in the gaps of what might have happened if…. Or what will happen after… a good way to keep people discussing a book after it is read. When reading it, it makes me think it is written in the form of some feller down the pub telling a story to his mates but taking forever to get to the end of the punch line and you end up wondering how much of it is true and exaggerated.
Once you get past the confusing and boring start it does start to come alive and I really did enjoy it but just wish it had been a bit longer. Again as Benny says it’s all there and gives you a nice taster of each but at the same time can’t decide what it wants to be. I am looking forward to see what the film will be like when it comes out.

Should you read it?
Benny - If you have a spare couple of afternoons, yes, it's an ok book.
Gortex - Yes it is worth the read, short and if you can get past the start worth it


Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
Benny - No.
Gortex - Not as high as 43 but in the later part after 150 yes.

[Benny]

May contain spoilers.

Additional #13. The Hunger Games
You remember that rumour that did the rounds about the drinking water, where it's laced with oestrogen and we are all becoming large breasted infertile man-girls? Either it's true or I've started liking girls books. This isn't half bad. So it's blatantly a star crossed lover version of 'The Running Man' by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King if I totally recall*) but it's well written and as you hit the games piece it accelerates. The ending is a bit weak and washed out, but there was no ending to be had after the frenetic pace of the death match itself.

Without rehashing the plot** there were a couple of pieces that disappointed. The final days of the battling were a little empty, specifically between Cato and the other big lad whose name I forget. Also the wolf pieces reminded me of the Mulefa***. An empty description and no real substance behind the reasoning. Outside that if you liked this little number, I'd highly recommend the Running Man, it's nothing like the film and a much better read.
I don't want to give the impression I didn't enjoy it, I really did, but I won't be pulling it off the (virtual) shelf in 10 years to remind myself of it. I felt no tense excitement, the nudity was boring, the love piece between Gale, Dolly bird and the stay puff man was ok, but toward the end relatively predictable. I'll read the others in the series as it was a good yarn....

Should you read it?
Yes, it's not a bad story, if you like pulp you can charge through and feel no dirtier afterward, go for it.
Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
No, too many others have done this story (and better)






*And without google....I'm good.
**Use google if you want that.
***If you don't know what this means, read my blog posts, it makes me sick to self publicise, but the mulefa make me want to eat my own face with a wooden spoon.

[Benny]

May contain spoilers.

3. His Dark Materials
The above post reminded me.
http://www.deadmen.co.uk/forum/entry.php?28-His-Dark-Deposit

Should you read it?
No. Avoid this tripe.
Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
It's about as classic as an oversized swan that uses it's wings as a mainsail and looks like a ship. Yes, that's in there too. What a load of mulefa.

[smilodon]

106. The Pickwick Papers.

This is Dickens first novel and very much a comedy. It contains all the elements we've come to associate with Dickens, a large cast of bizarre characters with equally bizarre names, a couple of juicy villains and a real insight into the early Victorian period. It's basically a road movie/book in that a group of likeable fiends known as the Pickwick Club travel the length and breadth of the country observing life and the people they meet. They then return to the Pickwick Club and recount their tales to each other.

It's a light, funny book without the heavy drama and conflict found in some of his other work. what makes it shine is the way Dickens draws his characters. Each of them is a treat to meet and learn about. There are some great illustrations throughout the book and it's a surprisingly light easy read. If you're new to Dickens it's a good one to start with.

Should you read it?
Yes. It's a very humorous book and a great introduction to the world of Charles Dickens
Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
Absolutely. It's pure Dickens but without the melodrama and with some of his most enjoyable characters.

[Gortex]

79. Bleak House.

This is classed as one of the best works Charles Dickens ever wrote and Bleak House was published in 20 monthly instalments over 67 chapters. It includes a vast amount of small part characters and sub plots with some excellent main characters like the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn and mad but ever cheerful Miss Flite. At the novel's core is long-running litigation in England's Court of Chancery and the shambolic and disgraceful legal system in use at the time which was reformed in 1870. It is written from two main points of view, the third person narrator and main character and narrator Esther Summerson which gives it an interesting masculine and feminine point of view.

I personally think the novel is far too long and suffers from the same issues that The Lord or the Rings or such like novels that were written and published over an extended period of time. It chops and changes too much from one set of characters to the next which at many times has me confused as to who he is actually writing about until several pages into the chapters. Some of the chapters were, to be quite frank, dull and dragged on far more than they needed to, with the end of the novel being wrapped up in what felt like 2 very rushed chapters.

This having been said, there are some truly amazing chapters and gripping scenes which had me glued to the book and not wanting to stop reading. At one point I was almost in tears due to how graphic and sad the story had become and how in pure Dickens class he makes everything come alive. But unfortunately for me these patches of total literature class were too spaced out and not as frequent as I would expect from the master himself.

Should you read it?
Yes. But only if you’re a big Dickens fan and wish to read his entire works. There are better novels he has written.

Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
No. Even though it is Dickens I feel there are far better works by him that should and are on the list.

[Gortex]

8. Nineteen Eighty Four.

This book recommended by several people and very highly rated in both the BBC big read along with other listings of best reads and quite rightly so. It is a dystopian and satirical novel set in Oceania, where society is tyrannized by The Party (Big Brother) and its totalitarian ideology. It takes no time at all in diving head first into the main character Winston Smith and describing the world and political state of London (air strip 1) in spring 1984. About 75% of the novel is from a narrator point of view, and very heavily written in a psychological, sociology and political way. Not something that you can lightly just pick up, read, and not have to pay attention to what is being digested.

I did find after getting through the first few chapters of this style of writing in becoming a bit tedious, and felt it made the story stand still and not really get going. But sticking with it and only reading when my mind was not distracted by other things to much, I really got into it and started to eagerly turn page after page in wanting to find out what happens. The ending in particular is truly excellent and can guarantee you spend time after and during the read thinking about society as a whole and how things in some way in our reality have not much changed and have striking similarities.

Should you read it?
Yes. This is a must read.
Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
Yes, And deservedly so and in the top 10 in my opinion.

[Gortex]

2. Pride and Prejudice.

So this novel which is so popular and rated so highly in the BBC Great Read and by very many people around the world. Question is, is it any good, and in a nut shell probably only if you’re female as I am going to struggle to write many good things about it.

It is a story about a love affair, focusing around the main character of Elizabeth Bennet and as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of the early 1800s, and her love for the other main character Mr Darcy. The writing description and use of English is really excellent and for any scholar an absolute gem of written literature.

I started this book once before, but gave up after the first few chapters as found it so dull a read that my mind would wonder off on something else. For the Great Read challenge I thought, give it another go and just stick at it as who knows it might get better. In a short answer NO it does not, and don’t waste your time reading this book as it is as dull as dirty dish water and in my opinion only had about 2 or 3 short parts in it which I found enjoyable. I don’t mind reading a love story as sometimes they can be a joy to read, Wuthering Heights for example in my opinion is truly excellent and much more interesting with gripping characters and scenes in the book which has you captivated.

Pride and Prejudice though just takes for ever to get to the main points and spends 80% of the book talking about marriage and how the ladies feel about it all, while building up to the main point which ends up to be a letter about who said something bad about someone else and then starting the same cycle again. These are topics which I would expect women to love and men to roll their eyes at, which is the only conclusion I can come to why it is so popular.

Should you read it?
No. There are better love stories out there, don’t follow the crowd.
Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
Yes, because lots of women prob voted it in.

[Gortex]

22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

This book probably does not need much introduction as I am pretty sure everyone in DMW and probably the world now know of the character Harry Potter. If not then either you must live in a third world country or never watch telly, browse interweb, or chat to people in public. It is the first novel in the series written by JK Rowling and sets the scene for the early life of an orphaned child about to find out he is a wizard, and goes off to school to learn how, with lots of adventures and characters helping and hindering him.

I personally think the book is absolutely charming, fun and a pleasure to read. The film in my opinion was very good and sticks pretty close to the story but the book is just better, as is often the case. The extra scenes, descriptions and a few characters just send it into another level and I enjoyed it so much I could just not stop reading. It has the ability of really letting your imagination run wild as you read about wired and wonderful magic, items and creatures. In a strange way the story and style reminded me of CS Lewis and his wonderful novels about Narnia, and the other magical worlds which work around ours and can be got at if you are young and innocent enough.

The only thing that worries me a bit is, due to how good I found this first book are the rest in the series able to hit as high a standard as this one has set or will it (like the films) lose the charm of it because it all becomes just a bit too serious.

Should you read it?
Yes. This is an excellent read.
Is it a classic and does it deserves to be on the list?
Yes, and would recommend it.

[smilodon]

36. Treasure Island ---------- Robert Louis Stevenson

This is a story told from the perspective of a young boy (Jim Hawkins) and details his 'coming of age' as he sets off on an adventure, for me this is the story of Long John Silver. Silver is the archetypal pirate and I'm amazed as to how much both he and the book have influenced the image of pirates generally. Eye patches, parrots,  treasure maps etc. And Silver seems to be the blueprint for every pirate character since. His moral ambiguity is most interesting and I can't work out of he's a completely evil character or more of a Pirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow. I suspect the latter. Either way the book is the story of Silver as told through the eyes of Jim Hawkins. Silver is such an iconic and interesting character that much like he does in movie adaptations he carries there whole story along and it's his adventure that kept me interested throughout.

Treasure Island is a summer blockbuster movie in book form. Think Indiana Jones, Star Wars etc

Should you read it?
If you're a fan of high adventure and especially pirates and high jinx on the high seas then this ones for you.

Is it a classic and does it deserves to be on the list
Absolutely. It defined the pirate genre and is a classic adventure story

top post updated - marker

[Benny]

53. The Stand ---------- Stephen King

This will be tough to review without giving too much plot away but here we go. You've probably read my other thread on the mass outbreak of a virus wiping out the vast majority of the worlds population. This is that book, focusing on a subset of characters who are drawn into to groups, good and bad. Think of people with good morals and hearts against those without. It really is a fantastic book and covers so many things without boring you. You will end up thinking about the what-if's. There's a strong set of references to good and bad, God and the Devil etc, but it's done remarkably well with no preaching or judging. Think about Pullmans books and then write them in such a way that they aren't shite.

It's a huge book, around 1200 pages and is probably the biggest I've read without giving up. The last couple of chapters are a little boring as the plot is played out and it's back to normal'ish life, but necessary to close the plot. If you like post apocolytic studies of human nature and the various things that can impact that then get this. There are some decent twists in there, the end game can feel a little short in hindsight, but fits nicely with the story. It's so close to being far fetched, but remains completely plausible, and all the what-if's hang well.

Should you read it?
Absolutely, it's a superb book and fires the imagination.

Is it a classic and does it deserves to be on the list
Yes, without a doubt, it's one of the best pieces of fiction I've read.

top post updated - marker

[ArithonUK]

89. Magician ---------- Raymond E Feist

Since several of the books I know are on list I thought I'd contribute.

Magician was originally released in two parts ("Apprentice" and "Master") in the US, but has always been a single volume here in the UK.

The story follows the life of Pug, an orphan living in the remote coastal town of Crydee. After a storm he finds artefacts from a ship washed ashore, however the ship is no ordinary wreck, but is the first incursion into Midkemia of the warlike Tsurani and heralds invasion from another world. Through the eyes of Pug, his adopted brother Tomas and the ruling family of Castle Crydee you are immersed in the lives of a generation and the fate of two worlds. From the politics of the Palace at Rillianon, the abject misery of a slave's life in the swamps of Tsurania to the lands of the elves and the eerie history of the Valheru, Magician is a book of enormous scope.

The narrative starts off with a linear tale following Pug's life, but as the war begins and Pug is captured, the book beings to follow divergent paths as events unfold for the main characters. The pace of the story is measured, but doesn't let up. It's hard going at first because the characters, places and races are all unfamiliar, but by the time Tomas has taken up the Valheru armour and Pug is on Tsurania, you can't put the book down. This book can only be described as an epic.

If Peter Jackson were to make this into a film, it would have at least eight parts and none of them padded (Hobbit, I'm looking at you!).

I re-read this book every couple of years followed by it's enjoyable, but less impressive, sequels. More serious than David Eddings, more precise than Robert Jordan, this book is top of the genre.

Should you read it?
If you have any love of fantasy fiction YES! - It is an amazing epic and probably the best book in the fantasy fiction genre.

Is it a classic and does it deserve to be on the list?
Definitely - If you enjoy this, you'll also love the "Empire" trilogy Feist co-wrote with fellow author Janny Wurts. The story runs parallel to the events of "Magician", but follows the life of a woman in one of the ruling houses on the Tsurani homeworld.

Top post updated - checkpoint

[smilodon]

208. Northangar Abbey...........................................  jane Austin

It seems to me that Jane Austin is a bit of a one trick pony when it comes to writing. Again we have a thoroughly decent young heroine, a dashing but initially disliked hero, a misunderstanding, despair, revelation and finally a reunion and confirmation of love. Different names, different location, same story. I didn't find Northanger Abbey particularly bad and the characters are interesting and well written but it was obvious what was going to happen from the start. So it was a light comfortable read that never really came to life but also never left me bored. It sailed a safe middle ground of being fine but not great.

Should you read it?
Not unless you're really into period romantic stories

Is it a classic and does it deserves to be on the list
It is supposed to be a classic and in it's day it may well have been, but today it's really just a glorified Mills and Boon.


Comment

I guess its literary success stems more from its parody of Gothic novels (all the rage in the late 18th early 19th Centuries) rather than the story itself. From Walpole's Castle of Otranto to Lewis's The Monk, the genre went mad. Some it it - Allen Poe, Mary Shelley etc is great but there was a lot of dross.

But I do agree it's not a patch on Emma or P&P.

It was her first so I guess that's fair. Her later works definitely had stronger stories and a wider group of characters that help drive the stories along. I still feel they are all a little too similar and predictable. While there is often a secondary character who surprises us in some way, we're never in any doubt about who will end up happily in love and married at the end. Her writing is very good but her stories less so, if that makes any sense

[Tutonic]

108. The Wasp Factory ---------- Iain Banks

I first read this a few years ago, but since I noticed it was on The Listâ,,¢ I figured it was worth sharing my thoughts. It's a book written from the perspective of Frank, who lives with his father on an otherwise uninhabited island. Frank passes the time by inventing bizarre and often violent daily rituals, with the first half of the book establishing his eccentric life on the island and his... unusual, relationship with his father.

Then Frank's brother escapes from a psychiatric hospital, arrives on the island and.. well, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you

Should you read it?
It's (very) darkly comic, well-paced and I found it utterly absorbing when I first read it. Possibly the best plot twist I've ever read.

Is it a classic and does it deserves to be on the list
In my opinion, yes. I've never read anything that stayed with me like this book did, it's brilliantly written but certainly not for the faint of heart.


Comment

Goes to show, I hated it, I thought the twist was purile. I enjoyed the build up but the end was flat, the sheep were interesting and there was some tension in there, but I'd never rate it on this list....Ah well, viva las vegas or la difference or whatever it is..

[Benny]

36. All Quiet On The Western Front ---------- Erich Maria Remarque

This is a stunning book. I had little hope to be honest and was expecting some dated war prose and possible whimsical meanderings. I haven't read any other reviews anywhere and I'm glad I didn't. It's a short book, readable in a week relatively easily but there are no breaks and no respite throughout. It tells the tale of one unlucky conscript in WWI in the first person. The story weaves around the futility of the war and the constant push and pull of trench warfare. It raises some questions around why we go to war but it's done in a way that isn't forced nor political.

It treads the line between giving a non fiction account from a fictional character with absolute perfection. I prefer non-fiction and this kind of based in reality fiction ticks all the boxes.

Should you read it?
Absolutely, this is one of the best books I've read in the last 10 years.
Is it a classic and does it deserves to be on the list
Yes, without doubt. Top 10 for me a this point.

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SECOND REVIEW - GORTEX


141. All Quiet on the Western Front ---------- Erich Maria Remarque

The book describes the German soldiers (Paul Baumer) extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front. It covers Paul and his fellow class mates and comrades in arms and their experiences and how this changed and brutal life of a very young man affects him when visiting home and coming to terms with what civilians think about the War and the soldier’s involvement.

This is a short Novel and throws you straight away into the world of trench warfare of WW1 and be warned is incredibly powerful and in some cases disturbing reading. It holds nothing back and brilliantly delves into the physiological effect this kind of environment would have on a 19 year old lad. It is also fascinating as it is written from the point of view of the German side and not like most books I have read on the great Wars from the Allied and often American view, and covers the question “Why do we continue to fight”?

This is possibly one of the best and most interesting, entertaining and emotional reads I have ever come across and in my opinion jumps straight in to my top 10 books read and has me asking the question why it has taken me so long to pick it up.

Should you read it?
Yes. One of the books you really have to read at some point.
Is it a classic and does it deserves to be on the list
Yes. This book should be in the top 10 if not 5 as it is just that good.