I have so many.

But my top five are:
Ian McEwan--any of his work
Colum McCann-- Everything in This Country Must got me hooked
Seamus Heaney-Beowulf translation and his poetry
Chinua Achebe--Things Fall Apart
Joyce Carol Oates--her short stories are amazing

djsgaelic1972 wrote:I have so many.

But my top five are:
Ian McEwan--any of his work
Colum McCann-- Everything in This Country Must got me hooked
Seamus Heaney-Beowulf translation and his poetry
Chinua Achebe--Things Fall Apart
Joyce Carol Oates--her short stories are amazing

I remember reading "Things Fall Apart" in college. That was an interesting book.

Oh, there's too many good books, eh?

Yes, I agree - Snow Falling on Cedars - a wonderful story, and good movie too.

Yes, I too like the Mayor of Casterbridge (sorry if I didn't spell that right).

I truly love Pride and Prejudice - I've read it in print, heard it on audio, seen the movie and no matter what form I take it, I crack up laughing.

The humour in that story is grand.

Albert Camus . . . yeah - I really ought to take in some of his. I read one (where his character arranges his mother's funeral) and really enjoyed it.

Gee, I was wondering where Pride and Prejudice was, until WildCityWoman finally brought it up. And nobody for Gone With the Wind or The Mill on the Floss or Ethan Frome or Great Expectations? Moby Dick? The Old Man and the Sea? Washington Square? No takers?

Anyway, here's five of my fvorite novels of all time. Not necessarily literary classics, just five I enjoyed most:

The Sand Pebbles by Richard McKenna (the hero was ME!!! Excellent movie too, well worth looking for - starring Steve McQueen and the amazing Mako).
Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (forty years later, still makes me laugh).
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (I dare you to read this on a cold winters night all alone in your bed).
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (another book I never wanted to end - and she wrote some other good ones, too - Tim, The Ladies of Missilonghi, An Indecent Obsession, and her Rome series).
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (oh, my, what a joy to discover by accident one day - and what a wonderful character is Atticus Finch. A true American classic).

Shall we have a go at non-fiction?

Ralph

You're right Ralph: Gone With the Wind.

I read this one summer when I was 14-- in French, non-stop. A friend of mine was going to England, so I asked her to buy it in English for me, which she did.
I immediately read it again, non-stop.

That was some book!


On the other hand, many years later an English colleague of mine told me that she had tried to find something in it for her classes, and there was nothing.
I tried, and indeed it was pretty useless, and usually there isn't that much I can't turn into an English lesson if I set my mind to it.

But still, it had been nice dreaming about Rhett Butler and Clark Gable...


And shall I tell you an awful story?

Also many years later, I read something Clark Gable had said about making the film.
When asked to look suitably inspired on film about his love for Scarlett, he had remembered that he had often been hungry when he was young, so to express longing he would think of a steak!
Really, if he had to think of food when it came to Scarlett, but only had thought of a vegetarian meal... but no, of course, a steak!!
How could any of his female fans still dream after that?

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (another book I never wanted to end -

Really?

At the time when it was published everybody was raving about it.
In the end I tried, and I thought it was awful.

I didn't finish it.
Those endless stories about girls falling in love with a Catholic priest, and the priest giving in/ not giving in. Grrrr!

"Awful?" Oh, Ophelia, I am just crushed. And I thought we had a good thing going . . .

I guess you've read more books about priests and requited/unrequited love than I have - probably something to do with your being French.

O.K., I will agree to disagree - but I hope this doesn't happen too often. I only want friends who agree with me!

Yours in dismay,

Ralph

P.S.
I wonder what Vivien had to fantisize about when she was required to gaze longingly at Clark? I doubt it was her daughter.

I guess you've read more books about priests and requited/unrequited love than I have - probably something to do with your being French.

I understand how one might think this is a theme for culturally Catholic societies, but it tends to be more universal than one would expect.

When I was 16, my English teacher made us study The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene ( Catholic priest living with a local woman in South America I think, endless guilt and remorse, leaves her in the end...).


Then there are films. The most famous one in France is "Leon Morin, priest", with Jean Paul Belmondo. Belmondo is excellent, and at least there's none of the "Shall I, shall we?" you find in the other books and films. Two young handsome people discuss theology throughout the film, she's in love with him, he doesn't care, he is only interested in saving her soul.


Want an American version?
Hitchcock' "I confess". It goes: young American man (played by Montgomery Cliff, who was perfect, serious and Romantic) goes to fight in Word War II, leaving girlfriend behind. When he returns, he's turned into a Catholic priest.
Usual romantic interest from afar, and at one stage they meet (to talk) and get caught in a storm.
There's also been a murder, the priest wants to protect the reputation of the (now married) woman, while trying to do his duty with the police about the murder...

I also happen to read detective stories.
There was one series by Margaret Coel I rather liked about a Catholic priest who turned sleuth every time one of his parishioners was murdered or was in danger-- it was a Catholic mission on an Indian reservation; he was helped by a female parishioner, who was in love with him...

Here's a link. I enjoyed the books. At least the priest, John O'Maley, is battling with the bottle as temptation rather than his parishioners.
Though it seems that most of the time (that is except for Graham Greene), the woman is the only one who is tempted by the devil and his cunning ways.


To use an American expression, writers get a lot of mileage out of this theme. http://www.margaretcoel.com/novels_raven.html

P.S.
I wonder what Vivien had to fantisize about when she was required to gaze longingly at Clark? I doubt it was her daughter.

It was Lawrence Olivier (you see, women don't disappoint their fans).
I read that while the film was being shot she was always urging everybody to put a few more scenes into each day's work so the film would be over and she could go back to him.

Ophelia, mon ami -

I think that the tragedy of Vivien Leigh's life was her meeting Laurence Olivier. Hers was a great passion - much greater than his - and she sublimated her life to his. So, when he left her, she went completely round the bend. I think they were both self-obsessed, but that he took himself much more seriously than she did. This is just pop psychology on my part, you understand, and may be way of the mark.

I have read biographies on both Leigh and Olivier - fascinating people, whatever their flaws.

Ophelia, have you ever read "Memo," by David O. Selznick? Mr. Selznick, producer of Gone With the Wind, Rebecca and many other great films, was a prodigious writer of memos/letters, and that's what this book is - simply a collection of his workaday memos during his time in the film industry. Gone With the Wind, from buying the book, casting, writing and re-writing, is a huge chapter in the book. It's probably out of print now, but if you ever get a chance to read it, please do. It's one of my facorite books of all-time - full lof the gossip and minutia that I thrive on.

Ralph