| Author | Message | ||
     Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
This is to while away the time as I watch my flat being turned upside down by Phoenix Gas workmen. Yep, I'm almost there... FAVOURITE NOVELS (with no apologies for predictable choices): HORROR: 'Dracula' (1897) by Bram Stoker SCIENCE FICTION: ‘The Dune Chronicles’ (1965-85) by Frank Herbert – 6 volumes: ‘Dune’ (1965), ‘Dune Messiah’ (1969), ‘Children Of Dune’ (1976), ‘God Emperor Of Dune’ (1981), ‘Heretics Of Dune’ (1984) & ‘Chapterhouse Dune’ (1985) [my favourite is ‘Dune’] FANTASY: ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ (1954-55) by J.R.R. Tolkien – 3 volumes: ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring’ (1954), ‘The Two Towers’ (1954) & ‘The Return Of The King’ (1955) [my favourite is ‘The Return Of The King’] CRIME: ‘Crime And Punishment’ (1866) by Fyodor Dostoevsky WHODUNNIT: ‘Ten Little Niggers’ (1939) by Agatha Christie ESPIONAGE: ‘The Human Factor’ (1978) by Graham Greene ADVENTURE: 'Moby Dick' (1851) by Herman Melville WAR: ‘The Naked And The Dead’ (1948) by Norman Mailer INJUSTICE: ‘His Natural Life’ (1872) by Marcus Clarke SURVIVAL: 'Lord Of The Flies' (1954) by William Golding [my ALL-TIME FAVOURITE NOVEL] PURSUIT: ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ (1841) by Charles Dickens CHARACTER DRAMA: ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ (1839) by Charles Dickens FAMILY SAGA: ‘One Hundred Years Of Solitude’ (1967) by Gabriel García Márquez ROMANTIC DRAMA: ‘The End Of The Affair’ (1951) by Graham Greene HISTORICAL: ‘I, Claudius’/’Claudius The God’ (1934-35) by Robert Graves POLITICAL: ‘The Devils’ (1872) by Fyodor Dostoevsky RELIGIOUS: 'The Power And The Glory' (1940) by Graham Greene PHILOSOPHICAL: ‘The Magus’ (1966-77) by John Fowles MYSTICAL: ‘The Unlimited Dream Company’ (1979) by J.G. Ballard AVANT-GARDE: ‘The Trial’ (1925) by Franz Kafka SATIRICAL: ‘Catch 22’ (1961) by Joseph Heller COMEDY: 'The Throwback’ (1978) by Tom Sharpe CHILDRENS: ‘The Chronicles Of Narnia’ (1950-56) by C.S. Lewis – 7 volumes: ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ (1955), ‘The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe’ (1950), ‘The Horse And His Boy’ (1954), ‘Prince Caspian’ (1951), ‘The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader’ (1952), ‘The Silver Chair’ (1953) & ‘The Last Battle’ (1956) [my favourite is ‘The Silver Chair’] GRAPHIC NOVEL: ‘Ed The Happy Clown’ (1989) by Chester Brown Anyone else... or any categories I've missed?  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.144.35 |
I still think you could fit a ghost novel in there. Haunting of Hill House? Was it you said you couldn't read Jackson? I mentioned animal stories; where would Watership Down fit? It's a kids' book, but it's also quite tough. Adventure? Animal? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
Favourite ghost novel would be 'Voice Of Our Shadow' by Jonathan Carroll, then between 'The Turn Of The Screw' & 'The Haunting Of Hill House' - I love Shirley Jackson! Henry James probably just shades it though... after those comes Peter Straub's 'Ghost Story'. My favourite anthropomorphic fantasy would be Richard Adams' 'The Plague Dogs' - marginally ahead of 'Watership Down', with 'Animal Farm' third & Barbara Gowdy's 'The White Bone' fourth. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
Make that 'The Shining' fourth & 'Ghost Story' fifth! Very tough call though... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
COMING OF AGE DRAMA: 'The Catcher In The Rye' (1951) by J.D. Salinger | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 212.219.63.204 |
I like this thread. bit of a challenge though. HORROR: 'The Shining” by Stephen King SCIENCE FICTION: ‘The Voyage of the Space Beagle” by A E vanVogt FANTASY: “Stormbringer” by Michael Moorcock CRIME: ‘The High Window” by Raymond Chandler WHODUNNIT: “Virgin in the Ice” (Brother Cadfael mystery) by Ellis Peters ESPIONAGE: ‘The Day of the Jackal” by Frederick Forsythe and “The Bear’s Tears” by Craig Thomas (no way I could choose between those two books) ADVENTURE: “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stephenson WAR: ‘The Cruel Sea’ by Nicholas Montserrat and “Birdsong” by Stephen Falks (no way I could choose between those two books either) INJUSTICE: ‘Resurrection’ by Leo Tolstoy SURVIVAL: “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck [my ALL-TIME FAVOURITE NOVEL] PURSUIT: “The Running Man” by Stephen King CHARACTER DRAMA: “Small Island” by Andrea Levy FAMILY SAGA: “To Serve Them All Our Days” by R F Delderfield ROMANTIC DRAMA: ‘The Woodlanders”’ by Thomas Hardy HISTORICAL: ‘Witchfinder General” by Ronald Bassett POLITICAL “Myra Breckinridge” by Gore Vidal MYSTERY: ‘Rebecca” by Daphne DuMaurier RELIGIOUS: 'The Bell” by Iris Murdoch PHILOSOPHICAL: ‘The Magus’ by John Fowles MYSTICAL: “The Crystal World” by J G Ballad AVANT-GARDE: “Sylvow” by Douglas Thompson SATIRICAL: ‘Catch 22’ by Joseph Heller COMEDY: “Sorcery” by Terry Pratchett | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
Nice list. Of those I've only read; 'The Shining', 'The High Window', 'Treasure Island', 'The Running Man', 'The Magus', 'The Crystal World' & 'Catch 22'. Steinbeck is one of those great authors I've been intending to get more into for years. Only read 'Of Mice And Men'. Ditto Tolstoy (some short stories) & Hardy ('Tess Of The d'Urbervilles'). So many great books, so little time... | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
So when did Tolstoy write Of Mice and Men? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
I'm sure they must have cropped up somewhere in 'War And Peace'...  | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.165.7 |
Watership Down is anthropomorphic in a really distinctive way. For example, the rabbits have spoken language but can only count up to four, and only a decadent warren of reality-denying rabbits bred for food have any conception of representative art. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.59.115.60 |
Children's would be, for me, either GIANT UNDER THE SNOW or THE WIERDSTONE OF BRISINGAMEN. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Mine. Minus the genres that I think Stevie just made up (or that nothing sprung immediately to mind for). :-P HORROR: IT by Stephen King SCIENCE FICTION: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS by H.G. Wells FANTASY: I can't claim to be a big fantasy reader, so for this one I'll probably have to go for WEAVEWORLD by Clive Barker CRIME: STRANGE LOYALTIES by William McIllvaney ADVENTURE: THE LOST WORLD by Arthur Conan Doyle WAR: THE KILLER ANGELS by Michael Shaara SURVIVAL: See Science Fiction HISTORICAL: See War POLITICAL: DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler RELIGIOUS: BEHOLD THE MAN by Michael Moorcock MYSTICAL: THE UNLIMITED DREAM COMPANY by J.G. Ballard AVANT-GARDE: THE ATROCITY EXHIBITION by J.G. Ballard CHILDRENS: JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl GRAPHIC NOVEL: V FOR VENDETTA by Alan Moore and David Lloyd In terms of anthropomorphic novels, Chris Freddi's greatly under-read PORK remains a great favourite of mine. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Read a good few of those, John. 'It', 'The War Of The Worlds', 'Weaveworld', 'The Lost World', 'The Unlimited Dream Company', 'The Atrocity Exhibition', 'James And The Giant Peach' & 'V For Vendetta' - all brilliant, as you say. I suppose Patricia Highsmith's 'The Animal Lover's Book Of Beastly Murder' could be called a work of macabre anthropomorphic fantasy. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Mick, 'The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen'/'The Moon Of Gomrath' (1960-63) by Alan Garner is a close second to the Narnia books for my favourite childrens' novel. As I've said before 'Weirdstone' was my very earliest memory of being terrified by something I'd read. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 212.219.63.204 |
"Comet in Moominland" was a childen's book that captued my imagination way back when, and "The Silver Sword" by Ian Serrailier. I made the mistake of re-reading the latter last year and was bittelry disapointed. never go back... | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Terry, but you can safely go back to the Moomin books: their rich subtext of thoughts about family, identity, loneliness and the impact of environment on mental states takes on more meaning for the adult reader. And there's a superb guide to the practicalities of hibernation. I was knocked out to learn recently that Snufkin was based on Tove Jansson's lifelong friend and one-time lover, Atos Wirtanen, who became a leading social-democratic politician. Whether he played the harmonica in the Finnish parliament is not recorded. Neither is his harmonica. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.29 |
Wonderful. I remember sitting on the floor, listening to the teacher reading Moomin stories to us...the last time I came across a set of Moomin books was on Lamma Island, Hong Kong. Bought them for Heather. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.144.35 |
I came to the Moomins late and enjoyed them maybe more than I had as a kid. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'm only familiar with the classic animated TV Series from Poland which I'd dearly love to have on DVD. Up there with 'Noggin The Nog' imo. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
As Graham Greene already has two other entries I'm going to change my favourite Romantic Drama to 'Wuthering Heights' (1847) by Emily Brontë. How I didn't think of it first is beyond me...  | ||
| Douglas_thompson (Douglas_thompson) Username: Douglas_thompson Registered: 03-2011 Posted From: 82.23.114.157 |
Having just joined up, a belated thank you to Terry for his kind remarks/mention and review of Sylvow. I hope everyone fired something in to his Monster Book For Girls anthology. Now that you're drumming your fingers again, why not write something for Eibonvale's "Where Are We Going" anthology: http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/infoforwriters.htm My favourite novels? The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin, in almost every category. Hebdomeros by Georgio de Chirico under "surreal", and The Fall by Albert Camus under "existential"... | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Welcome Douglas. Most welcome. Terry's a geezer, isn't he. (: | ||
| Douglas_thompson (Douglas_thompson) Username: Douglas_thompson Registered: 03-2011 Posted From: 82.23.114.157 |
Thanks Frank. Diamond geezer. But the inside of his head is a very scary place... I should know, having proofread his "Bloody War"... David is working his magic on the cover as we speak... going to be a good one! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
I stood with David at Fantasycon and drooled over the covers. Very well presented material. If I ever set up a small press (mmm... yes...no... yes... no...no..) I'd be seeking his advice. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
Le Guin is another of those fondly remembered authors from my teenage years I've long been planning to get back into... The Earthsea Trilogy was one of those formative fantasy epics, for me, that is overdue an adult re-read. I haven't read anything else by her but know the kind of quality we're talking about. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Some more categories for the list: COMIC HORROR: 'Full Dark House' (2003) by Christopher Fowler - yes, even pipping 'Good Omens'! COMIC SCIENCE FICTION: 'Job : A Comedy Of Justice' (1984) by Robert A. Heinlein COMIC FANTASY: 'Glory Road' (1963) by Robert A. Heinlein | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
And... COMIC CRIME: 'Dancing Aztecs' (1976) by Donald E. Westlake | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.45 |
Comic crime should be one of carl hiaasen's - I'll say Lucky You | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I've seen his name on the bookshelves but know nothing about him. Westlake's series of Dortmunder & Kelp novels are wonderfully funny black comedy crime capers but 'Dancing Aztecs' is a one-off masterpiece, wildly unpredictable and absolutely hilarious imo. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 212.219.63.204 |
Thanks Douglas. You're right, the inside of my head is so scary I don't go in there very often. Favourite comic fntasy - outside of Terry Pratchett - was "Remember My Name in Atlantis" by John Jakes. Comic science fiction - "Wasp" by the forgotten but glorious Eric Frank Russell and "Dimension of Miracles" by Robert Sheckley Cheers Terry | ||
| Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan) Username: Matt_cowan Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 98.213.185.194 |
Well, I'm not as diversly read as most here and I tend to stick to horror 90% of the time but heres my short list: HORROR NOVEL: NIGHT THINGS by Michael Talbot (I know nobody's heard of him but I love this novel). SCI-FI: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES by Ray Bradbury ADVENTURE/DRAMA: CREEPERS by David Morrell ESPIONAGE: 7 STEPS TO MIDNIGHT by Richard Matheson YOUNG ADULT: just about any of THE THREE INVESTIGATOR books. COLLECTION: ALONE WITH THE HORROR'S by Ramsey Campbell ANTHOLOGY: THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF HAUNTED HOUSE STORIES edited by Peter Haining | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Matt - I think Micahel Talbot has been mentioned on here a few times. He rang a bell, but I had to look him up. Tragically, as you no doubt know, he died shockingly too young - 38. RIP. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Finally got round to watching the second episode of 'Fringe', Frank, and enjoyed it very much. It's an obvious attempt to emulate 'The X Files' but with a much lighter touch and the Walter Bishop character is positively inspired. How many series did it run for? | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Still running, Steve. Just got the green light for the fourth. You should stick around for it. It gets very interesting. Though I haven't watched series 3, Ewa has, she loves it. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Glad to hear that, Frank, and thanks again! Matt, I've only read 'The Martian Chronicles' out of your list, although I do have Haining's 'Haunted House Stories' in my TBR pile and will be getting 'Alone With The Horrors' for all the stories not available elsewhere. Michael Talbot sounds very interesting, who would you put him on a par with as a horror writer? | ||
| Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan) Username: Matt_cowan Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 98.213.185.194 |
"Matt - I think Micahel Talbot has been mentioned on here a few times. He rang a bell, but I had to look him up. Tragically, as you no doubt know, he died shockingly too young - 38. RIP." There isn't much out there from his as a result. Very sad. "Matt, I've only read 'The Martian Chronicles' out of your list, although I do have Haining's 'Haunted House Stories' in my TBR pile and will be getting 'Alone With The Horrors' for all the stories not available elsewhere." Can you believe I read THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES as a homework assignment. We were taken to the library and told to pick a sciene fiction book to read and report on. I picked it at random and ended up getting an A for my report. THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF HAUNTED HOUSE stories is great because my favorite type of stories are haunted house tales. ALONE WITH THE HORRORS is my favorite book of any sort (novel, collection or anthology). "Michael Talbot sounds very interesting, who would you put him on a par with as a horror writer?" I am bad at comparing writers. I just remember being swept up in the supernatural mysteries of the house and the weird caretaker, as well as the drama of the young protagonist and his mother with all these forces closing in on them. It's a short novel but it packs a lot of cool stuff it. |