Best book you ever read?

[KAZ]

Title, Author, Subject matter and Why was it so Great?

[Joe Shmoe]

The Portable Door By Tom Holt . It is very funny , quirky , impossible but believable, but most of all different to anything else I have read . Look it up on amazon.co.uk . Not one bad review. It is the first of an excellent trillogy.:-D

[JustSia]

I always mention it but don't think anyone actually read this book. It's written by Bulgakov and is called Master and Margarita.

http://cr.middlebury.edu/public/russian/Bulgakov/public_html//index.html

http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/book-store/index.php?Operation=CustomerReviews&ItemId=0679760806&ReviewPage=2

S.

[fat rascal]

the crimson and the petal by micheal faber.. cracking read...

[purpose]

JustSia... i tried reading it but just couldn't get on with it. I knew someone who loved it, so i thought i would see what all the fuss was about... wish i hadn't now!

[BabsG]

The Far Pavilions by M M Kaye. It is a superb read with romance, excitemant, suspense, history, warfare and crackling with atmosphere. It is long but so well worth it.

[raysparx]

Hi KAZ,

Only one,that is tough,but the most recent was Angelas Ashes, By frank McCourt, about his growing up in a depressed Ireland, WHY? Because it was real also brought back some things I had forgotten from my own Childhood,so it made me happy and sad,laugh and cry,

I could pick some others but as it is only one ask the question again and I can pick another one,It is a very good question, Ray

[SaxyJag]

Has to be Great Expectations, for several reasons.

It's a mystery, an adventure, a romance, a crime novel and a social comment all in one book.

It's beautifully written and evocative in terms of both setting and characters.

It was the first Dickens I ever read, and sparked a passion for his work.

FInally, through a dramatisation of it, I discovered an actor (unfortunately deceased) who is the reason I now write books myself. Mind you, whether I'll ever do either of them proud remains to be seen.

[JustSia]

Purpose, yeah I know, it's not a book for everyone. I think it's mainly due to all the long weird names and the alien culture of communist Russia. If you ignore them the first time you read it it would be much easier to understand the plot. This book is so eclectic and to understand it all takes time. But if you are interested in Biblical stories, magic, love and the lengths one can go to in order to be with their soulmate, practical jokes, talking cats, naked witches, the stuck up bureaucrats getting what they deserve and then some, being invited to a Devil's ball and meeting and greeting the Hell's finest then THIS is the book for you.

S.

[feebal]

The Magus by John Fowles. So many themes and riddles and a really intriguing story as well as a discussion about philosophy and even the act of novel writing itself. Fascinating, dark and brilliant. The Collector by the same author would be a close runner up for me.

[snow_ho]

The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold. A lot of people have recommended this book to me I picked it up yesterday to read a few chapters (just to see what all the fuss was about), I read the entire book in one sitting. This is the most enchanting and beautifully written book I have ever picked up. Anyone who has lost someone close to them, especially if they were young or under very tragic circumstances will find comfort in this book. At least I did anyway. Loved it!

[waimarie]

Hi KAZ, For me it has to be 'Catch 22' by Joseph Heller. Why? It is a funny, bizarre but believable anti-war book. The sort of book you can read again and again, each time finding a new scene or insight into the characters and situations. A classic.

[tony1941]

Here's a second vote for "The Magus". I've read it at least four times, and have also acquired the original (unrevised) version. It's a retirement project to read the two versions together!!

On the other hand......the film was pretty dreadful. (Actually made in Mallorca - the villa built for the set was only demolished about 4 years ago - I photographed the ruins, unknowingly, on an earlier visit but this time met the local cafe owner who was an extra in the film!!)

[tony1941]

Or, of course "The French Leiutenant's Woman" by the same author. Grreat book, but having read it and then seen the film - the only time I've seen a film better than the book! If only The Magus had been made by the same team.......

[feebal]

I submitted a script for a TV adaption of The Magus to BBC drama when I was in my 20s. They were interested when I said it was set in Greece, but they thought it sucked when they read my treatment for the first episode - because I was terrible at writing then! Still think it would make a great film if anyone would tackle it...