One book only for 6 week trip

Six of One

I am going off to Africa for six weeks, I'm not going to have access to any books whatsoever. I read quite fast and will have plenty of time. I can only really bring one book, so I need something that will last me! I'm looking for a big long fiction book that is also a good read and will entertain me. I really wish I hadn't already read Shantaram! If anyone could suggest something that they think might suit that would be great. A friend suggested Moby Dick, any opinions?

Ho-Hum

The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. It's a very big book and damn well entertaining.

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

Meeja Ireland

Your friend is onto something with Moby-Dick. I'd also suggest Don Quixote. It's boring in spots, admittedly, but it's one of the world's great books, and you'll be glad you've read it.

Have you looked at any of those cheapo Collected Novels? I think you can get all of Jane Austen in one chunky volume, and you'd be hard pushed to do better than that. It also gives you the appeal of starting a whole new book every week or so.

It might also be a good time to crack Ulysses, or Gravity's Rainbow, or the Complete Shakespeare....

randomguy

You'd need something a bit lighter than some of the above recommendations, if you are thinking along the lines of Shantaram. If so, avoid Moby Dick, Gravity's Rainbow and Don Quixote.

How about Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry? Brilliant book, read it while travelling, loved it, passed it on to my then girlfriend, she loved it, and both of us agreed it was the perfect travel book. Epic, but really easy to read and really funny. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a Western - it won the Pulitzer in its day and is seriously smarter than you'd expect.

Other suggestions - if you want something modern and literary, how about Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace?

Something longish and Africanish? The Poisonwood Diary by Barbara Kingsolver. (The Famished Road by Ben Okri is another idea, but maybe a bad one since it just seems long rather than being long.)

randomguy

Another one - Almost as good as Lonesome Dove - A Suitable Boy.

randomguy

Also thinking Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.
Or War and Peace, if you skip the "philosophy of history" crap between each section.

Hermy

John Updikes four books in the Rabbit series are available in one volume.

EDIT: Another link.

rockmongrel

You can get the entire George Orwell collection for 30 quid, all of his published novels. Fantastic stuff.

qt9ukbg60ivjrn

War and Peace

buck65

Second for "A Suitable Boy".
Am reading 2666 at the moment - quite good.

biZrb

The Count of Monte Cristo - its long but a great story that keeps you interested all the way through

Sephiroth_dude

"The Redemption of Althalus" By David and Leigh Eddings is a very good fantasy book,its over a 1000 to I think if I remember correctly,dunno would it last you 6 wks though especially if you read fast.

JesseCuster

First post - felt compelled to recommend some favourites!

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke) - An amazing novel which centres on two magicians in 19th century Britain. You don't have to be a big fan of the fantasy genre to enjoy this, it is like a Dickens story at times. One of my all time favourites.

His Dark Materials Trilogy (Phillip Pullman) - More magic. This is an epic coming-of-age tale of two children, Lyra and Will, set in alternate universes. Recently voted third best book of all time in the BBC Big Read poll. Makes Harry Potter look like Sesame Street!

The Stand (Stephen King) - Apocalyptic tale of good and evil from the master storyteller. Would also recommend It, you will never see clowns in the same light again.

Homicide (David Simon) - Non-fiction. A reporter spends a year shadowing the Baltimore Homicide department. It will make your jaw drop in shock one minute and have you cry laughing the next. If you like The Wire you'll love this.

All are doorstop-sized books that I wished would never end:D

randomguy

JesseCuster wrote: »

First post - felt compelled to recommend some favourites!

Homicide (David Simon) - Non-fiction. A reporter spends a year shadowing the Baltimore Homicide department. It will make your jaw drop in shock one minute and have you cry laughing the next. If you like The Wire you'll love this.

Good recommendation - read this on holiday and really enjoyed it - don't be put off by the crime or true story labels. Really well written too.

But I thought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was complete crap. I couldn't see the point of it at all.

There are more ideas here in an earlier thread for long books for travelling...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055232237

BossArky

• The entire Lord of the Rings in one book
• Ulysses

alfranken

Get James Ellroys Dudley Smith Trio (The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz), amazing books

Meeja Ireland

alfranken wrote: »

Get James Ellroys Dudley Smith Trio (The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz), amazing books

A great recommendation.

One point to watch out for, though. They are not so much a trilogy as the last three books of a quartet. You really need to have read the Black Dahlia to get full enjoyment out of it. But that's also a brilliant book, so you can't lose.

alfranken

Meeja Ireland wrote: »

A great recommendation.

One point to watch out for, though. They are not so much a trilogy as the last three books of a quartet. You really need to have read the Black Dahlia to get full enjoyment out of it. But that's also a brilliant book, so you can't lose.

I think The Black Dahlia can be read seperate and those three together on their own make a great saga.

Ann22

Stephen King's 'It' is long..I haven't read it but it's meant to be good. You could bring a couple of his 'Dark Tower' series with you either, they're great reads. More suitable I'd imagine for a woman these two 'Gone With The Wind' and 'The Thornbirds'. My sister read 'Strumpet City' said it was great.

Blush_01

Get a Sony reader. One book, lots of stories!! Or buy loads of audio books and put them on an MP3 player. Or get the classic novels cartridge for the DS (if you have one) - even if you don't really like some of the novels involved, there's lots in one cartridge, and you can get spare batteries.

One book for 6 weeks? Sounds like an impossible challenge.

SarahBM

Im a second for the Lord Of The Rings. The Count of Monte Cristo is supposed to be good, I havent gotten around to reading it yet though. I loved the Three musketteers though.
I would say if you could get The Jane Austen novels in one volume that would be good, because they are all very different in my opinion.

IvyTheTerrible

SarahBM wrote: »

Im a second for the Lord Of The Rings. The Count of Monte Cristo is supposed to be good, I havent gotten around to reading it yet though. I loved the Three musketteers though.
I would say if you could get The Jane Austen novels in one volume that would be good, because they are all very different in my opinion.

Oh the Count of Monte Christo is excellent!

I liked Les Miserables too, and that's fairly long.

I would go for LOTR, A suitable boy, The Stand, or maybe Pillars of the earth.

I do think it's almost an impossible challenge though...if I was you I would really consider one of those electronic readers...

Cyrus

Blush_01 wrote: »

Get a Sony reader. One book, lots of stories!! Or buy loads of audio books and put them on an MP3 player. Or get the classic novels cartridge for the DS (if you have one) - even if you don't really like some of the novels involved, there's lots in one cartridge, and you can get spare batteries.

One book for 6 weeks? Sounds like an impossible challenge.

what he said

Fr Clint Power

The Quincunx by Charles Palliser could be just the thing to keep you going for a few weeks.

It is a big book (approx. 1200 pages), and should keep you entertained even after finishing it as it can be interpreted in many ways so you may find yourself reading some sections again.

From wikipedia

"The Quincunx (The inheritance of John Huffam) is the epic first novel of Charles Palliser. It takes the form of a Dickensian mystery set in early 19th century England, but Palliser has added the modern attributes of an unreliable narrator and an inconclusive ending. So, beyond a straightforward reading, the book offers the puzzle of extracting alternative underlying explanations of events.

The book charts the fortunes over a number of years of a single mother and her young son, John Huffam, through the eyes of the latter. There is a complex web of scheming and conspiracies between five families - The Huffams, The Mompessons, The Clothiers, The Palphramonds and The Maliphants - as they circle and maneuver around a fortune being determined in Chancery, and several wills (and one codicil) competing to be found valid. John and his mother fall from comparative wealth to poverty and eventual destitution before the prospect of his inheritance offers a change of fortune."

Blush_01

Cyrus wrote: »

what he said

He's a she...

I have to say, none of those novels would come close to lasting 6 weeks for me.

Notorious

It definitely won't last six weeks, but East of Eden by John Steinbeck is an excellent read. Its a fairly large book, but not six-weeks-of-reading large

not bakunin

rockmongrel wrote: »

You can get the entire George Orwell collection for 30 quid, all of his published novels. Fantastic stuff.

Excellent suggestion.
See also Anna Karenin

Offy

The Bible, you could easily get six weeks out of that. I read it once from cover to cover while out of work, it took me four weeks and if your not a holy joe it can be very entertaining!

two wheels good

You could:
- bring a few paper-backs and give them away along the way.
- I suspect you might have a few opportunities to swop; meeting ex-pats, book-shelves in hotels\hostels.
- consider bringing a poetry compilation

Suggestion: Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell. Compilation of travelogues - e.g. Granta publications

Swampy

Sho-gun - James Clavell
or
Noble House - James clavell.

Amazing books.

Reg'stoy

JesseCuster wrote: »

The Stand (Stephen King) - Apocalyptic tale of good and evil from the master storyteller. Would also recommend It, you will never see clowns in the same light again.

Couldn't agree more, loved both books. Might I be so bold as to recommend James Herbert's Fluke and Others for the flights over and back (both short enough for the journey).

Denerick

Six of One wrote: »

I am going off to Africa for six weeks, I'm not going to have access to any books whatsoever. I read quite fast and will have plenty of time. I can only really bring one book, so I need something that will last me! I'm looking for a big long fiction book that is also a good read and will entertain me. I really wish I hadn't already read Shantaram! If anyone could suggest something that they think might suit that would be great. A friend suggested Moby Dick, any opinions?

Lord of the Rings (One of the few books one can read and re-read continuously if you ask me)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Big and brilliant, I haven't got round to reading it myself unfortunately!)
Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (One of my favourite books, and big too!)

Closed ac

War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy.

It's around 1,500 pages according to Wikipedia so it would definately last you for six weeks!

beans

'Consciousness Explained' by Daniel Dennett. It's very well-written and entertaining, but requires a lot of mental digestion along the way. Should certainly keep you going for 6+ weeks

Edit - sorry, I see now you're after fiction. How about this

Six of One

Well, better late than never to reply

In the end I brought A Suitable Boy, as suggested by two posters so thanks for that. During the first few weeks of the trip I did indeed have the opportunity to borrow other books so I had A Suitable Boy on hold for a fortnight while I read through the other books available . Thankfully no book rationing was necessary at all!

randomguy

Glad you picked one of my recommendations, but you haven't told us if you enjoyed it or not!

Giselle

I'd bring the complete Sherlock Holmes collection, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes and Watson will be old friends by the time you come back.:)

dr gonzo

rockmongrel wrote: »

You can get the entire George Orwell collection for 30 quid, all of his published novels. Fantastic stuff.

Excellent choice, i concur

biZrb wrote: »

The Count of Monte Cristo - its long but a great story that keeps you interested all the way through

I actually came on to recommend CoMC and found every second post suggesting it and for good reason. Its long (probably not 6 weeks long), highly engaging and thoroughly enjoyable... or at least i found it very enjoyable and i have a tendency to put books aside and move on if they dont grab me.

Best of all i think this books hits a nice middle ground between quality and density, some of the other books suggested might be a bit dense meaning you could end up in a scenario where you have one book for 6 weeks that youve carefully chosen and seems to tick all the boxes except you dont actually enjoy reading it.

You might not adore CoMC but you definitely wont trudge through it.

Six of One

Yes, I loved A Suitable Boy. Struggled a little at the start but really got into quickly enough. When I finished I really missed my travel companions!

Thank god I didn't bring The Famished Road though, reading it now and it would have driven me mad!!

Emiko

If you don't mind mathematics, and the human condition, I recommend 'Godel, Escher and Bach' by Douglas Hofstadter.

That'll keep you going.

randomguy

Six of One wrote: »

Yes, I loved A Suitable Boy. Struggled a little at the start but really got into quickly enough. When I finished I really missed my travel companions!

Thank god I didn't bring The Famished Road though, reading it now and it would have driven me mad!!

Glad to hear it. I read A Suitable Boy when travelling, as did a girlfriend, and it is great because it is light enough to dip in and out of, but interesting enough that it'll keep you absorbed for a four hour train journey. I keep recommending Lonesome Dove to people too, for the same reason, few people follow my advice but those that do always come back and thank me.

There's a reason I was ambivalent about The Famished Road. I like South American magic realism, but I found this African version a bit harder to take - it's very dense and maybe a bit too poetic for travel reading.