The best novel you've ever read?

I never know how people answer this question. I'm too fickle. I love hundreds of books.

The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner. Hands down. Though it helps to read it with a guide that can explain what's going on because it's complex and downright difficult at times, particularly the second section where the time jumps become less obvious. Absolutely brilliant, however.

Second place would go to All Quiet on the Western Front. There was just so much in that novel that moved me, that I can still remember in detail today. Difficult subject matter, but an amazing work of art.

If we were talking modern books there are quite a few that I would put on the list of best I've read (A Thousand Splendid Suns, for instance), but I'm not sure any of them would qualify quite for the same level as the first two mentioned.

I couldn't choose a "best novel", but I know which novel I go back to time and time again. Rather, it's a series, but the first one is probably the best. It's Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams.

I keep meaning to read Dracula, but it's never stocked in my book store, so instead of ordering it in, I just buy something else then realise I can't really afford to order it in... hope it's good, though.

Edit: Last time I went looking for Dracula I wound up buying Claudia Gray's Evernight, and then Stargazer the next week.

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

Lately my favorite has been Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Ask me again, later, and I'll likely have a different answer. What struck me about that one, though, was it's everlasting presence, like the voice of someone talking to you right now, by the collars, about something deeply and vitally important and personal and of great human moment.

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale, hands down. It's the only book that makes me believe in love and hope each time I read it.

One? Can't be done. But if I had to grab just one book on my way to the desert island, I guess I'd cheat and grab a single volume collection of Jane Austen's novels. Six for the price of one!

There are too many factors to pin one down. My favorite, oddly enough, is still The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. I reread it this past summer, and I still love the story.

I can't pick a favorite. I know some novels have really stuck with me: Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey; Confederacy of Dunces; The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester (maybe just because I've never read The Count of Monte Cristo, though I loved Dumas' Musketeers trilogy).

I reread L. Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall every year or so.

Not sure 'best' is the right word. Favourite would probably be more appropriate.
Even then it's tough. Currently if I had to pick one, it would probably be the Master and Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov.

but that's today.

Oh, the question is just too hard, you know, don't you?!

I'll still go with Catch-22. Everybody needs to read Catch-22, so I'll call that best

It's a matter of taste. For me, nothing has topped 'Lolita.' But I'm still looking.

Leaving aside the blatant ego that would make me name my own, my favorite novel (because no one is qualified to declare a "best") is "On The Road". There's something about the manic prose that I love, even though the plot feels completely secondary to the experience.

I'll second Kaitie's recommendation for All Quiet on the Western Front. Peace Like A River is another favorite of mine.

I can give you five of my favourites but I can't claim they're my top five or my only favourites. And they're also in no particular order.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (and also The Cider House Rules; and everything else by John Irving)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens (and also The Girls)

RikkiKane said:

Ok, go easy on me now as I am fairly new to novels, but the best one I have read so far is Bram Stoker's Dracula. I suppose I have a lot to learn if this is the best I have ever experienced?

Click to expand...

Hi Rikki,

I'm very glad you've decided to read more (I saw that post in the other thread.) It really will make you a much stronger and more confident writer. Plus, you'll find it's fun, I'm sure!

I love Dracula. It's a wonderful novel. Definitely my favorite in the horror genre.

It's hard for me to pick just one "best book I've ever read," because I love so many of them for so many different reasons. But here are a few from the top of my list.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -- I love this book for its incredible use of language, and for showing that an ugly topic can be made beautiful. If you're going to use this thread as a way of getting recommendations on what to read next, I'd put off Lolita for a while -- it could be a remarkably hard book to read, I imagine, for a person who is still relatively new to novel-reading. But it is glorious, and you should read it some day. You might want to check out the audio version, read by Jeremy Irons. It's available on audible.com

Watership Down by Richard Adams -- This is, I think, the best "animal fiction" book out there. A lot of people have tried to boil down human struggles into a more simplistic form by using animals as characters, and while I love this form of fiction, I think Watership Down took itself seriously enough that it worked the best.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card -- This is pure storytelling! This would be a great novel to read for somebody who's still venturing into fiction. It's sci-fi, but very accessible -- you don't have to like sci-fi (or you don't have to think you like sci-fi) to love Ender's Game.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett -- This is a huge, fat book but the writing style is accessible. This book shows how to create a very busy storyline with many subplots and many different characters, each equally important, and to bring all these various facets together into one super-story.

George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series -- Since you like fantasy, you might like to see the flip side of the genre, done especially well. This is fantasy, but without any elves, dwarves, or Sauron. There are undeniable fantasy elements in it, but it's much more about character development and an extremely complex plot than the typical fantasy tropes. It would be a good series to read if you're planning on writing fantasy one day.

Animal Farm by George Orwell -- Short and sweet. Orwell was a master writer, and this is a ripping good story.

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding -- Ditto to the above. Great, light reading.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess -- Dark and a bit creepy, but a great book. Brilliantly written.


That's all for now -- I've got more recommendations/favorites on the tip of my brain but they're not cooperating right now and I can't recall them.

Best novel I've ever read? No idea.

Favorite novel I've ever read - Watership Down, by Richard Adams. This has been my favorite book since I discovered it as a twelve-year old.

Manuel Royal said:

The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester (maybe just because I've never read The Count of Monte Cristo, though I loved Dumas' Musketeers trilogy).

Click to expand...

YES!!! The Stars My Destination is right up there with Lolita on my list of favorites. Can't believe I forgot it. It's so great.

And The Count of Monte Cristo is amazing. Funny, lyrical, delicious...you must read it, Manuel.

Harry Potter. The first one, if i can't choose the whole series. Others would disagree i suppose, but for me it's the best novel i've read because it has been appreciated by people of all ages; that seems like quite a feat.

I Know This Much is True - Wally Lamb.

Anyone who disagrees is clearly out of their gourd and needs some medication.

For Whom the Bell Tolls-- Hemingway

Perfection. Anyone who disagrees is out of his gourd more than scarletpeaches could ever be.

Stephen King's IT. Talk about getting lost into a story. The apocalypse could come and I'd still be reading it.

Hey! I saw that!

I'm sure I'd give you a different answer every single day if you asked but for today my answer is: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Honorable mentions to:

Pride and Prejudice
Count of Monte Cristo
The Three Musketeers
almost anything by Anne Tyler
Brave New World