Thursday, July 24, 2008

20 Favorite Works of Fiction

Joe Carter has a list of his fifty favorite works of fiction. I can't think of fifty, as I sold most of my book collection when I moved a few years ago, and most of the rest is still packed away. So I'm largely working from memory. Like Joe:

Unlike similar lists, though, you won't find anything as unreadable as Joyce's Ulysses or as faddish as the latest Salman Rushdie novel. In fact, on first glance the inclusion of children's books and graphic novels might give the impression that it is rather lowbrow, if not philistine. But each of the entries was carefully selected because they have what most modern fiction lacks: a compelling story.

1. Watership Down by Richard Adams

2. Shardik by Richard Adams

3. The Pearl by John Steinbeck

4. The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold.

5. Anthem by Ayn Rand.

6. Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch

7. Battlestations by Diane Carey

8. Beowulf

9. When the Legends Die by Hal Borland

10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

11. Shane by Jack Shaeffer

12. Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth by Lucy Tate

13. Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales by Asimov and Conklin (eds.)

14. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

15. The Epic of Gilgamesh

16. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck

18. Rally Cry by William R. Forstchen

19. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

20. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good list. Among other titles that would merit inclusion, I would add The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Sincerely. Earl.

Carolyn Chapple said...

Love your list. One especially made me cry...A Day No Pigs Would Die.

Dan Trabue said...

Interesting list. Not familiar with many of them, though. I'll have to broaden my horizons some, perhaps.

I'd agree with the LOTR suggestion by Earl and would suggest, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Wendell Berry's Fidelity (or Come Watch With Me, or Jayber Crow, or Hannah Coulter - but that's me) and Moby Dick as all-time great reads.

John said...

You know, I never have gotten around to read LOTR. But I ought to. That, and Stranger in a Strange Land.

wes said...

I would also add The Wizard of Oz - this book was the first book I ever read and created a love relationship that has lasted to this day.

JD said...

If you liked Starship Troopers, read Armor by John Steakley. He read Starship Troopers and thought that he could make it better. Great read! His only other book, Vampires, was butchered on the big screen by John Carpenter. (a fun read as well)

PAX
JD

JD said...

Oh, and this one is also an interesting read. I found it in 7th grade at a truck stop while traveling cross country to Yellow Stone. Loaned it to someone and never got it back. One on the more unique twists on Atlantis that I have read.

Stranger from the Depths by Gerry Turner

PAX
JD