Five favorite books

[ellid]

This is for celandineb, who asked the names of my five favorite books, and why.

Here we go. Note that there are two lists, one of books by men, one of books by women.



1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien. Hands-down, this is the single most influential book I've ever read. I found it when I was eleven, have worn out one hardcover and two paperback sets, and go back to reread it every two or three years. It sparked my love of the Middle Ages and heroic fantasy, primed me for Star Trek and all the other fannishness that is my life, and is ultimately a big reason I took to the SCA like a duck to water.

And yes, I'd take it to a desert island.

2. The Doorbell Rang, Rex Stout. On the surface this is a delightful, clever Nero Wolf/Archie Goodwin detective novel where Wolfe turns the tables on J.Edgar Hoover and the FBI. Underneath, though, it's a deeply subversive book about not trusting the government and the duty of the informed citizen to stand up for him/herself no matter what. It's also quite often screamingly funny, with Stout's gift for characterization and dialogue in full bloom.

3. Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain. The single best novel ever written by an American, one of the best looks at the insanity of racism, and quite simply one of the funniest, truest books ever written. I nearly fell out of the back seat of my uncle Oscar's car reading the part where Tom Sawyer decides that Jim needs to water a tobacco plant with his tears, teach a rat to dance, learn to play the jew's harp, and write incoherent messages about being the bastard son of the King of France on a pie plate before he escapes.

I also tear up whenever I read the passage that ends with "All right them, I'll go to hell - and tore the letter up."

4. Cat of Many Tails, Ellery Queen. Another classic mystery, and a brilliant look at a city in the grip of panic. Queen (actually the cousins Manfred Lee and Fred Dannay) is unjustly neglected today, and I have no idea why. This book predicted what happened to New York during the infamous "Summer of Sam" almost perfectly.

5. Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann. I had to read this for a college assignment, and thought I'd hate it. Several hours later I was halfway through it and completely absorbed in the tragic saga of a family's decline. Mann was a genius, and though he wrote many other books, this early effort is still one of his very best.




1. Gaudy Night, Dorothy Sayers. What seems to be a mystery about a poison pen at a women's college turns into a long, absorbing meditation on women's education, the nature of marriage, and the risks we take in trying to love as equals. It's a true feminist classic.

2. The Disorderly Knights, by Dorothy Dunnett. The third book in Dunnett's magnificent Lymond Chronicles is possibly the best. It's crammed with superb characters: Francis Crawford, Gabriel Malett and his sister Joleta, Oonagh O'Dwyer, Kate and Phillipa Somerville...oh, just read it! And the last scene - !

3. Barrayar, by Lois McMaster Bujold. Chronologically the second in the Vorkosigan series, and the second narrated by Miles Vorkosigan's remarkable mother, Cordelia. Motherhood, marriage, the nature of honor, choice, and a fabulous "WHOOSH!" when Cordelia returns to her father and father-in-law at the end...I love Bujold's work in general, but this one is exceptional.

4. The Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon. Beautifully written story of a paladin as she goes from raw recruit fleeing an arranged marriage to a willing martyr for her faith and for her friends. I've never read a truer picture of what religious faith is and what true sacrifice means than the last book.

5. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte. Yes, the plot is now a cliche, but people who don't read the original have no idea of how strong a character Jane really is, and how it's Rochester, the brooding hero, who must be humbled before he's worthy of Jane's courage and integrity. Stunning, stunning book, with some of the most heartbreaking and romantic words ever put to paper.

Comments

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've read five of the ones you've listed -- Tolkien, Twain, Sayers, Moon, and Bronte. The only one that would go in my top five list is Tolkien, though. *g* It's interesting what different books are people's favorites!

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

I *love* Jane Eyre!

But I've probably hated almost every movie adaptation of it that I've ever seen. They make it too romantic.

(Yes, I know that's the wrong Jane in my icon.)

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

Jane Eyre would probably be in the top ten. *g* Or at least the top twenty.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra were accomplished patchworkers, BTW. :D

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo!

Do any of their quilts still exist? That would be cool.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Yep. (http://picasaweb.google.com/MJSumner/JaneAustenSHouseMuseumTour/photo?authkey=NHoSltyt0bc#5073347883974728018) They made this beauty (which is NOT a quilt, but a patchwork summer spread) while Jane was writing Pride and Prejudice, I believe.

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

WOW.

*reverence*

[ellid.livejournal.com]

That's the whole point, isn't it? Everyone has different tastes and likes different things. :D

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

And now I wonder why Cat of Many Tales has been sitting on my bookshelf unread for thirty years. I bought it at random when I thought I might like Ellery Queen, decided I might not, and never read it.

*blows dust off it*

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I've read it at least five or six times. I hope you enjoy it!

[orphandani.livejournal.com]

Rex Stout and Ellery Queen-- two of my all-time favorites!

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Yep! I still have trouble understanding why Ellery Queen isn't in print any more. Some of the early ones are pretty stiff, but if nothing else, everything from Calamity Town on should be available.

[orphandani.livejournal.com]

I've seen some of the Digest collections on eBay. And there's still a few copies running around the local library.

[varianor.livejournal.com]

Now I have a couple things to go onto my reading list! Thank you.

[persevero.livejournal.com]

Rather frustrating that I want to reply to this straight away but I’m boycotting, so this’ll have to stay in Word until tomorrow.

This was one of those odd coincidences. We were woken at an unnatural hour this morning by a cat whose stomach really needs summer time, and I fired up my laptop and decided to reread ‘Of Mutual Benefit’, only now noticing that Neville and Hermione’s offspring was named Francis Crawford Longbottom. Trotted into the bathroom and ended up expounding to il_grifone (who was having a bath) my theory that there was a remarkable consonance of reading tastes in the fanfiction community, while sitting on the lid of the loo.

Five minutes later clicked on LJ (look, don’t touch!) and read this entry. On 3rd March wildfyre was asking people about their comfort/most reread books, and this was my reply:

“Mansfield Park, Emma and P&P. Jane Eyre. Dorothy L. Sayers's 'The Nine Tailors'. Rosemary Sutcliffe's 'Sword at Sunset' (comfort books don't have to have happy endings). Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles (enough for a week in bed, there). Elizabeth Moon's 'Deed of Paksennarion' trilogy. Rumer Godden's 'In This House of Brede'.”

Gaudy Night is my second favourite DLS. Must obviously read the Lois McMaster Bujold series (have only read, and loved, ‘The Spirit Ring’). Have you read ‘In This House of Brede’? If not, I *strongly* recommend it.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Rumer Godden is a long-time favorite as well. Have you ever read Paul Gallico?

[quyllur.livejournal.com]

I'd always have to say The Lymond Chronicles. It is hard for me to think of them as anything but a whole. If I did though, it would be The Ringed Castle. It was the first book of the series that I read, hooked me into the series, and I lived through anxious years before Checkmate was published. I was enchanted by the "Languish locked in L" part long before I knew that it was favored by so many others. My Elizabeth icon has a quote from The Ringed Castle.

What is the difference between a summer spread and a quilt?

[ellid.livejournal.com]

A summer spread is an unquilted piece of patchwork or applique. There is no filling and no decorative stitching holding the layers together, and the traditional belief is that these were intended for use as summer coverlets because they would be lighter than an actual quilt.

[quyllur.livejournal.com]

So the underside is all raw stitching and raw edges?

[ellid.livejournal.com]

No, it's lined. There just isn't a batting or any stitching holding the top to the lining.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

The best part about Lame Lamuel and his friends? There are actual early Tudor plays (they're technically called interludes) that are *just like that*. I'd love to see one of them performed, if only because of the comic potential.