Your 50 favourite books

[Sevigne]

Not necessarily in order of preference but as they come to mind:


The Ambassadors by Henry James
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal
Cousin Bette by H. de Balzac
The Leopard by G. de Lampedusa
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
White-Jacket by Herman Melville (a close second-best to M-D)
Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Life of Johnson by James Boswell
Letters of John Keats any edition


Zelide by Geoffrey Scott
Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle
The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
Life and Letters of Macaulay by G. Trevelyn
The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
The Enchantment of the Middle Ages by Michel Zink
Selected Non-Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
The Land Where the Blues Began by Alan Lomax

Time to turn the bacon......

[Sevigne]

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Notre Dame of Paris by Allan Temko
Speeches and Letters of Abraham Lincoln
Shakespeare by Peter Ackroyd
Epistles and Satires by Horace
Mont St Michel and Chartres by Henry Adams
Essay of Dramatic Poesy and Other Essays by John Dryden
A Small Boy and Others by Henry James
Don Quixote by M. Cervantes
Rome and A Villa by Eleanor Clark

Anon......

[titania7]

Originally Posted by lionel

Hey, that’s some response, Titania!

And your reply was something else, too, Lionel. I bet you thought I'd forgotten all about your 50 Favorite Books by now--unless, that is, you took a look at what my literary goals are on the "2009" thread . Your name does seem to crop up an awfully lot in regard to the books I'm planning to read.

Originally Posted by lionel

Start with Monica Lewinsky's favourite Baker: it's very short, you'll read it in no time, and this is telephone sex with, er, a bang.

Sounds like a must-read.

Originally Posted by lionel

For the Anand, you might like to start with Untouchable: again, this is very short, but very poignant.

I love poignant stories.

Originally Posted by lionel

Oh, sorry, Titania, this is one of my cock-ups, as I meant L'invitée/She Came to Stay, which you've read anyway.

Yes...and this brings to mind another book of de Beauvoir's, All Men Are Mortal. Have you read it, per chance? If not, I think you might enjoy it.

Originally Posted by lionel

(regarding Camus' The Plague) These are rats, remember, not harmless Modiglianis. These are nasty fascists.

Ah, but Eric once had a pet rat, Lionel. So, we mustn't decide that all rats are nasty critters . But I take your word for the rats in this novel.

Originally Posted by lionel

Lettres de mon moulin means a lot to me because I'm familiar with pre-Mayle Provence, and I have fond memories of visiting Daudet’s windmill and the surrounding towns and villages. But the title story is a joy for anyone, and I believe DHL mentions it in Sons and Lovers.

I'll definitely look into getting my own copy of this. It sounds like it means a great deal to you (which means I must read it).

Originally Posted by lionel

As I've said before, this (The Withered Root) will rivet you or there's something wrong.

I'm nearly 100 pages in, and I'm already riveted. As you know, I'm having to hide it from my mum because I've praised it so highly to her, that she's anxious to read it immediately! (and as I've said, there's no stopping her).

Originally Posted by lionel

But haven't you seen the film ("The Pickwick Papers")
either? That's a joy as well.

Which film adaptation would you recommend? There's a rather old one that the library has a copy of, in addition to one that was made in 2005 or 2006.

Darn, I neglected to put The Pickwick Papers down on my list of books I want to read in the coming year! A complete oversight, Lionel!!

Originally Posted by lionel

(In regard to Herland):
Aw, come on! You know I’m a feminist: hadn’t you realized by now that I love men to be put in their place?

Lionel, I had no idea!

Originally Posted by lionel

Seriously, we live in a pretty shitty world, and some pretty shitty majorities rule. I think you know that, if I were American, I’d never have voted for Bill as first lady, but the powerful are too powerful, and they’re almost always white middle-class men.

I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say.

Originally Posted by lionel

Giono writes beautiful poetic prose, Grand is a wonderful fighting feminist, Gracq is kind of on another planet prose-wise (but I dread to think how he translates – maybe better to steer well clear), Hamilton was a drunk but I love all of his works: he’d just sit in a pub and record the unbelievable things he heard and then create perfectly believable characters.

Eventually--hopefully, sooner rather than later--I'll be familiarizing myself with all these writers. I have books on hold by Giono and Gracq at the library, and I'll check out Hamilton when I get through with some of the others.

Originally Posted by lionel

I think you’d love The Crowded Street. It’s a feminist coming of age novel by a senselessly underrated writer, but her very famous South Riding, I’m afraid, left me rather cold.

I can't wait to read The Crowded Street. It sounds magnificent!

Originally Posted by lionel

(in regard to not reading Ulysses) That’s a major crime. Do so forthwith, no ifs, no buts, do it, then you can join this wonderful club we’ve got going.

Do note that reading Ulysess is on my list of literary goals for 2009! I'm only doing it for you, of course . Originally, I hadn't planned to read it until 2011.

Originally Posted by lionel

(in regard to Maspero's Les Passagers Du Roissy-Express)
Hold on there, as there’s a major factor at work: anti-tourism, for want for a better word. As visitors to, say, New York City think that they’ve done it if they see a few bits of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, perhaps the Staten Island ferry without actually visiting the island itself, etc, then Maspero provides an antidote to the Paris of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Montmartre, etc, by journeying from Charles de Gaulle airport through all the small towns and suburbs that are normally missed by tourists, actually talking to the people who live there, meeting the real Parisians. You really wanna go down those lines rather than take the taxi to the centre?

Of course.

Originally Posted by lionel

Thought so.

See, you really do know me too well .

Originally Posted by lionel

This is not a particularly large book, but it’s a gigantic Christmas cake of humanity. Meet the real France, by public transport: that’s where you meet real people. Fuck tourism.

It sounds extraordinary. I've added it to my to-be-purchased-soon list.

Originally Posted by lionel

This guy Bartleby’s an anarchist, Titania! You wanna associate with this mob?

Absolutely! You know me, luv, I'm an adventurous spirit!!

Originally Posted by lionel

I could mention a few choice bits (of Tropic of Cancer)
, but some here might think I have problems if I did. (They probably do already.)

But who cares what other people think? Why some people at this forum actually think I'm a coquette...and we both know I'm not. Right?

Originally Posted by lionel

To be honest, I’m surprised it’s (Keep the Aspidistra Flying)
is not better known. But this is the book that indicates that Orwell was influenced by Lionel Britton. Great book, although I doubt if Britton was even aware of it. Bourgeois writer, you see.

Can you believe it? That incorrigible library sent back the copy of Keep the Aspidistra Flying I ordered before I could pick it up! I ordered it again this morning, however. If at first you don't succeed....

Originally Posted by lionel

The Bell Jar is a painful book for anyone to read. But the power behind it…

I think one reason it's so painful is because Plath put so much of herself into it. That's what makes it so powerful...

Originally Posted by lionel

I think The Nausea must be one of the first books that made me sit up and realize that this literature thing must mean something more than I’d thought.

When a book has that kind of impact on you, you never can forget it. That's the sort of affect the novels of Dostoevsky had on me.

Originally Posted by lionel

I remember reading an article about James Kelman visiting a prominent American university, and his guide, a professor of English, offering him the choice of any author’s manuscripts they had in the library archive. She’d already noted that he had more knowledge of the authors and of the critical theory behind them than many of the people she worked with, but was entranced to see him tucking into the original manuscripts of this African writer (Amos Tutuola) when he could have chosen Beckett, or Joyce, or… That’s what a self-taught working-class education does for you, I suppose.

I've read very little African literature so far, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for Tutuola's books. And in regard to self-education, the books we find on our own are the ones that remain closest to our hearts. Although we can fall in love with a writer or book that a teacher or professor shoves down our throat, nothing compares to a personal discovery. Don't you agree?

Originally Posted by lionel

The film ("The Bonfire of the Vanities") , as you state, is unspeakable, and the book dated, but wow, the writing!

I'll definitely give it a try (and it just so happens I already have a copy of the book).

Originally Posted by lionel

Ah, I too loved it (Mrs. Dalloway), but this another cock-up, as I it’s my second favourite: The Waves is something else.

The Waves is brilliant. Among Woolf's masterpieces, it is her chef d'oeuvre.

Originally Posted by lionel

There are so many underrated women authors I could have mentioned (and have done somewhere else on this forum), but I can only hope, Titania, that I’ve suggested a few more writers in general that you might enjoy.

Lionel, you continue to enlighten me and broaden my literary horizons. Thanks for the comments about the underrated woman authors. I started my thread on Elinor Wylie because I feel she's been shamefully neglected, and there are many others (Kay Boyle, Rebecca West, Elizabeth Bowen, Nancy Mitford), who haven't been given their due. I'm planning to amend this a bit during the coming year by starting some more threads.

Thank you for sharing your favorite books and writers with me, as well as others at the forum. You continue to inspire and amaze me, luv.

~Titania

[titania7]

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Not necessarily in order of preference but as they come to mind:


The Ambassadors by Henry James
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal
Cousin Bette by H. de Balzac
The Leopard by G. de Lampedusa
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
White-Jacket by Herman Melville (a close second-best to M-D)
Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Life of Johnson by James Boswell
Letters of John Keats any edition


Zelide by Geoffrey Scott
Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle
The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
Life and Letters of Macaulay by G. Trevelyn
The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
The Enchantment of the Middle Ages by Michel Zink

Selected Non-Fictions Jorge Luis Borges
The Land Where the Blues Began by Alan Lomax

Sevigne, I'm extremely impressed by your list. I'll be coming back to make specific comments on several of your choices. Just a couple of remarks: I'm delighted to see Daniel Deronda, my favorite George Eliot novel (so far) on your list. Also, Lampedusa's The Leopard is very dear to me.


More to come....


Best wishes for a grand 2009,
Titania

[Sevigne]

Folks have been known to erupt in anger because of my liking for the works of Thomas Carlyle. Good Lord, I want to read the man not date him. Carlyle may have been an unpleasant piece of work but he was full of ideas and could state them poetically.

[titania7]

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Not necessarily in order of preference but as they come to mind:

The Ambassadors by Henry James

Oh, what a marvelous book! I keep thinking of the line, which is so utterly Jamesian, and which I believe you've included in one of your posts, Sevigne, "Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't matter so much what you do in particular, so long as you have had your life. If you haven't had that, what have you had?"

There's an interesting story behind this book--for me, that is. My mum, a former English professor, tried to get me interested in James when I was about 14. I tried both The Ambassadors and The American, and both bored me to tears! Truly. I was accustomed to writers like Dostoevsky and Flaubert--authors who wear their hearts on their sleeves, in many respects. The subtlety and intricacy of James' prose eluded me--that is, it left me cold. Then, when I was about 17 or so, I read The Portrait of a Lady. Which brings us to the next book on your magnificent list, Sevigne....

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

My goodness, what can one say about Isabel Archer? Has there ever been a more memorable or a more multi-faceted literary heroine? I love, love, love this book. I was hooked on Henry after this.

Originally Posted by Sevigne

The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal

More personal digressions....

I began with Stendhal's The Red and the Black, which left me with a certain feeling of revulsion. I recognized the fact that the writing was
top-notch, and I found the novel infinitely interesting. Indeed, I believe I finished it in one day. However, I was unable to like Julian Sorel. In fact, I found him to be despicable. A little while after I finished The Red and the Black, I came across a strange article in some magazine about how women should beware of any man who said The Red and The Black was his favorite book. Since most of the men I meet in "real life" these days wouldn't know Stendhal from the guy who bags their groceries at the local supermarket, I doubt I'd have to worry . But it's good to know, I suppose.

I read The Charterhouse of Parma after The Red and the Black, and I was certainly pleasantly surprised. It's a much more enjoyable novel--adventurous, romantic, and absolutely splendid. I'm glad to have discovered another fan of this beautifully written book!

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Cousin Bette by H. de Balzac

Balzac. Is there any other author quite like him? Let's enjoy a passage from Cousin Bette, since this is a literary forum and Cousin Bette is one of Balzac's greatest accomplishments. This is probably my favorite passage
from what is an infinitely quotable work:

"Inspiration gives genius its opportunities. It runs, not on a razor's edge,
but on the very air and takes wing with the quick alarm of a crow.
It wears no scarf that the poet can grasp; its hair is a flame; it flies away like those beautiful pink and white flamingoes that are the despair of the huntsman."

Originally Posted by Sevigne

The Leopard by G. de Lampedusa

Another of my favorite books! Sevigne, I can't get over how much we have in common. This is beautiful!

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

It's been quite some time since I read this novel, but I remember being mesmerized by it.

Originally Posted by Sevigne

White-Jacket by Herman Melville (a close second-best to M-D)

I'll have to add this to my ever-growing collection.

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

Now this was also on my good friend Lionel's list. I'm delighted to see it again. Irene Wilde has also recently read and reviewed it.

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle
The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle

I've known for quite some time that I needed to read more of
Carlyle. Thanks for reminding me, Sevigne.

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald

I've heard wonderful things about Penelope, but I haven't yet
read her. Which of her novels should I start with? I seem to recall your mentioning her as one of your favorite authors.

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

What a book! So rich with philosophical insights, so replete with
deft characterizations. I must admit, though, that my favorite
parts were those featuring the lovely, impetuous, tragically misguided
Gwendolyn Harleth.

Sevigne, I've already told you privately how pleased I am that you've discovered our literary group! I admire the fact that you took the time to once again post your favorite books to this thread (I know your previous posts were lost, along with my comments about them).

I'll look forward to hearing more from you. You are certainly an inspiration
to me. I already sense that I'll be adding many of the books on your list--ones I haven't yet read, of course--to my list of must-reads.

May 2009 be a blessed year for you in every way! Happy, happy New Year!!

~Titania

[titania7]

Originally Posted by Sevigne

The Leopard by G. de Lampedusa

Somehow I overlooked this. And, because it's so close to my heart, I felt compelled to post about it specifically. There have been rumors (undoubtedly, you've heard them) that Lampedusa's mother is the person who actually wrote this book. Well...all I can say is, who cares? No matter who wrote it, it's brilliant, captivating, and positively stupendous! What a shame that Lampedusa didn't write more novels (of course, it it was his mother who did write The Leopard, that could explain a lot ).

If you haven't yet seen it, Sevigne, I highly recommend Luchino Visconti's film adaptation of The Leopard starring Alain Delon, Burt Lancaster, and the positively stunning Claudia Cardinale. What a cinematic masterpiece!


~Titania

[titania7]

Originally Posted by Sevigne

Folks have been known to erupt in anger because of my liking for the works of Thomas Carlyle. Good Lord, I want to read the man not date him. Carlyle may have been an unpleasant piece of work but he was full of ideas and could state them poetically.

I think it's wonderful that you feel so passionately about an author.
More power to you, Sevigne! And quite frankly, my dear, even if
you did want to date Thomas, that would still be your choice.
Why I used to have quite a crush on Arthur Miller! Unfortunately,
I never had the chance to meet him....and now it's too late .

~Titania

[Sevigne]

Fitzgerald's novelsrun from 120 to 240 pages in length. Any one of them can be read on a rainy Sunday if you start right after breakfast and skip Sixty Minutes in the evening.

You might not mind my having a soft spot for Carlyle, Tat,but his wife, Jane Welsh Carlyle, certainly would. She is the Jenny of the poem Jenny Kissed Me by Leigh Hunt. Some of her letters are collected in a book called I Too Am Here. JWC was an intellectual force all her own. But she resigned herself to housekeeping to keep Carlyle happy and productive.

[nnyhav]

Blogspotted: D.G.Myers chooses 50 (20th century more or less, English language)

[Daniel del Real]

Originally Posted by nnyhav

Blogspotted: D.G.Myers chooses 50 (20th century more or less, English language)

It's really strange not to see Moby Dick or something from Melville here

[Mirabell]

Originally Posted by Daniel del Real

It's really strange not to see Moby Dick or something from Melville here

Wouldn't say it is strange. Look at his list. His axiomatic values would forbid him to do that. 'nuff said.

he's like those guys who think that richard wilbur is the best living American poet.

[Beth]

I don't understand what "axiomatic values" means.

Edit: Okay, I think I understand from your edit. Hmm, my favorite novel is number 6. And to make matters worse, I just bought the Elizabeth Taylor with one click!

[Sevigne]

D.G. Meyers seems to have been smoking crack.

[promtbr]

"Literary Historian" ? is that a paid academic position? That and his list... OMG...

*shakes head and adds Texas A & M to the (very small) list of Universities that daughter is forbidden to apply to...*

I respect our lists more. They have hugely influenced my reading and book purchases (amazon thanks you)...

The only gripe I have is I wish it were possible to still edit them (Stewart -hint hint). I posted mine from vague (blurred etc) memory of long ago reads, and it would be a VERY different list if I posted my top 50 today!

[nnyhav]

I don't know that DGM's list is less interesting for not being in agreement with it, rather more. Hardly anything from '65 on. A prepomo retro kind of sensibility, with some surprising choices of works by particular authors (and of authors themselves). I've read about half his list and could easily make the case for at least half of those ...

[e joseph]

promtbr - Perhaps you should just redo a list. We can just merge them later to create a top 73 or whatever it ends up being.

And if you all think D.G. Myers' list is questionable, you all should see my bookshelf.

[hdw]

I don't have 50 favourite books. There's an element of pretentiousness and one-upmanship in all these lists. It's like putting your 1,000 favourite tunes on your iPod. How the hell can anyone have 1,000 favourite tunes?

Harry

[titania7]

Originally Posted by hdw

I don't have 50 favourite books. There's an element of pretentiousness and one-upmanship in all these lists. It's like putting your 1,000 favourite tunes on your iPod. How the hell can anyone have 1,000 favourite tunes? Harry

Harry,
I think you have a marvelous point! Making a list of one's 50 favorite books is somewhat pretentious, isn't it? But that's rather the point, I think. I suppose what I'm saying is, I was certainly trying to impress as many people as I could with my list. . .and I daresay I wasn't the only one with such mischievous intentions! Oh, dear, does this mean I'm just a shameless little imp?

~Titania

[saliotthomas]

Originally Posted by hdw

I don't have 50 favourite books. There's an element of pretentiousness and one-upmanship in all these lists. It's like putting your 1,000 favourite tunes on your iPod. How the hell can anyone have 1,000 favourite tunes?

Harry

Well thanks Harry.Nice post.