Most popular books 2

Lexus1976

I'm currently building up a book collection. I left out a lot of popular books in my last poll and decided to add another list. A lot of these books have been mentioned in the thread above in relation to what books to read.

To date my favourite book is the Life of Pi which I would give 9/10
Have not mentioned it in this poll as I'm keen to note what your favourite books are from the books I have not read.

BossArky

I was about to vote for Darkness at Noon, until I saw that Brave New World was on the poll too. Not much between them.

Brave New World is along the lines of 1984. It will leave you with a dark mental hangover.

Darkness at Noon is a topical-ish read what with the Russian spy poisoning in the news the past few weeks.

FunkyChicken

Voted for the Stand as it's the only one I've read out of the list! I gotta get me some more books

edit: Tried to read Crime and Punishment but it wasn't for me at all. It was a struggle to get through the first 50 pages so I just stopped.

r3nu4l

Haven't read enough of them to know which is 'best' but The Stand and Crime and Punishment were both excellent imo

Esmereldina

I voted for 100 years of solitude by Garcia Marquez as it was my favourite of all these (I also really like one of his other books, Love in the time of cholera) -- Brave new world and Mockingbird are really good too though.

I bought The Sea about 5 months ago and it's still sitting on my desk waiting to be read... I will get around to it one of these days though!

John

FunkyChicken wrote:

Voted for the Stand as it's the only one I've read out of the list!

Same here. I haven't read any of Crime and Punishment but I'm not a fan of any Russian literature that I've read.

Goes to show you how many great books are out there when I would consider myself well read but haven't read these classics.

Rnger

I've only read "5 people you meet in heaven" out of all them so i went for that. The fact that i finished it goes a long way even if it really short.

i thought for sure i'd be voting for Catch-22

Lexus1976

I see the Stand has 5 votes! Is that because its such a good book compared to the others or its the only book the 5 voters have read which is why they selected it!

What do you think?

r3nu4l

Lexus1976 wrote:

I see the Stand has 5 votes! Is that because its such a good book compared to the others or its the only book the 5 voters have read which is why they selected it!

What do you think?

Well despite my post, I didn't vote. I think you should have read at least 80% of them before voting. I'm a Biologist and for me the first half of the Stand in particular was excellent. Kings' portrayal of the escape and spread of a highly infectious disease was incredibly rich and accurate. The second half of the book was an excellent portrayal of good versus evil and the exploration of that theme. Brilliant. I think anyone would find that book brilliant. The complete and unabridged version is overlong in places but still serves well to see how King develops certain characters.

John

Yeah, I think a lot of people look down on The Stand because it's "only" Stephen King. It's a damn fine book, very well written and unlike the majority of books I read, I actually gave a damn about the characters.

Ho-Hum

I generally dont get why King is looked down upon so much, he has some great books especially the ones he wrote in the 70's/ 80's.

If you're going to get The Stand make sure you get the uncut version.

Attractive Nun

Of the few that I've read:

Of Mice and Men is a good book, although my enjoyment of it was probably diminished by the fact that I was studying it for the Leaving Cert. I love Steinbeck's prose (East of Eden is magnificent) but it is way too short to be more than a really good read, though.

I hated Brave New World, found it very tedious and dull, even if I quite liked the idea of the novel. Well, 'hate' is most certainly an exagerration, and the book certainly has its merits, but it didn't pass the most crucial test - enjoyment.

Crime & Punishment is the best novel I have ever read: it's absolutely fantastic - full of suspense, psychological exploration, brilliantly unlikeable characters. The murder scene is the best passage of literature I've ever come across. So, obviously, I'll choose this as my favourite from these choices.

I read To Kill A Mockingbird ages ago, but can't remember much of it.

Lexus1976

Thanks for your comments will purchase some of these this weekend. Were's the cheapest place to buy books at the moment besides online?

scojones

I haven't read the majority of books on that list but voted To Kill a Mocking Bird. Absolutely loved it.

Lexus1976

Have only read To Kill a Mocking Bird from this list so far. Heading to Borders at lunch to purchase the rest of them

Zaph

Have only read Of Mice and Men from that list, absolutely hated it. Very tedious and boring, IMO.

Mrs. MacGyver

5 people you meet in heaven is amazing - it touches the soul. It's gone all around our office (and its rarely we all agree on the same type of book!)

Karlusss

Crime and Punishment. It feels like reading a vacuum but afterwards it's like a weight.

Valmont

Crime and punishment. John, I'd recommend you read it as I've been irritated by other Russian writers before (War and Peace anyone?) but I found Crime and Punishment to be in a league of it's own.:)

Illkillya

There are a couple of them that I haven't read, but I voted for Crime & Punishment (although it was a close call with 100 Years of Solitude). The others are genuinely great books though, unlike some of the selections in the previous poll which in my opinion were average and overrated.

Lexus1976

Dam I still have to read 8 of these books....