As a Writer, What is your idea of THE perfect novel?

One the grabs my brain and warps my perspective. Philip K. Dick is good at that. I can't handle a couple of his books though. Catch 22 is a good one for that.

scarletpeaches said:

My ex used to dress up as a priest and-

No, wait. I'll keep that for emails.

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*Runs to check email*

My other perfect books would have to be I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb and Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. But there are so many books I absolutely love that provide me with the perfect read.

I don't measure books against each other (at least, not in a "this is a standard the rest of you aren't achieving" way). There are certain books and genres I reread and enjoy each time, but usually for different things.

"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey, because it reminds me that history isn't real.
"A Surfeit of Lampreys" by Ngaio Marsh, because it is so funny and yet centres around a horrible act.
"Beauty" by Robin McKinley, because it so completely makes me care about the people and their lives.

And many others.

Not sure about the perfect one, but I think perhaps the closest I've found are the Harry Potter and Dresden Files series.
Both have great characters(although at time HP are kinda lackluster), good plots, they don't exasperate with either dialog or narration, and their language is still very succinct.

kurzon said:

"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey, because it reminds me that history isn't real.

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Great book.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.