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Mine's Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy because Hardy knew me and wrote about me centuries before I was born - except for the ending of course.
i have 2.
1 is The Sojourner by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (she of The Yearling fame) because this family, this little farming family, is so beautifully described, so heartrendingly real in every way, that no matter how many times I read it, it never fails to hold my attention and sympathy.
2. 50 Years On The Streets by Michael Bentine. Just the most stupid, most hilarious, most ridiculous book ever in the history of printing. From the copyright page to the end it is one long joke and I love it. It came out in 1964 and still makes me laugh - that says a lot about the level of humour and class writing of the book.
I know I'm supposed to say a great classic, but my choice would be Killing The Shadows by Val McDermid. A great lesson in crime writing and how to write perfect tension.
Tough question. However, at the present time I would say 'Revolutionary Road' by Richard Yates.
It's the only book that I've read that I can't find fault with. Beautifully written, not an ounce of flab on it, and a wonderfully tragic story that doesn't date even forty-plus years after it was produced.
A hard question this. Probably Oliver Twist or for something funny, Elliot's book about the cats. Or the 'Diary of a Nobody'. OK, so that's three books!.
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Mine's Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy because Hardy knew me and wrote about me centuries before I was born - except for the ending of course.
1 is The Sojourner by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (she of The Yearling fame) because this family, this little farming family, is so beautifully described, so heartrendingly real in every way, that no matter how many times I read it, it never fails to hold my attention and sympathy.
2. 50 Years On The Streets by Michael Bentine. Just the most stupid, most hilarious, most ridiculous book ever in the history of printing. From the copyright page to the end it is one long joke and I love it. It came out in 1964 and still makes me laugh - that says a lot about the level of humour and class writing of the book.
The one
desert islands books
desert island reads
It's the only book that I've read that I can't find fault with. Beautifully written, not an ounce of flab on it, and a wonderfully tragic story that doesn't date even forty-plus years after it was produced.
Rich