Your top 5 books

[pondlife]

Genuinely tough to pick 5

American Tabloid - James Ellroy
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy 
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Anáis
Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

I'll throw Watchmen in there as a comic book too

Did you read The Cold Six Thousand ? Thought it pretty good at the time and believed it just a matter of time before it was made into a movie but ...

Since then I've read a review or two of it and get the impression that because it was the sequel (or 2nd in the trilogy) it/he lost the lustre that American Tabloid had. Thoughts?

Blood Meridian

[Shaun dot Lawson]

How good are Dahl's books. Can't wait to share them with my daughter. Danny, the champion of the world is probably my favourite, but I imagine that might change when reading them together, or as she gets older as well.

Roald Dahl books were amazing growing up. Danny the champion of the world and The Wonderful story of Henry Sugar were my favourites. Brilliant.

[Herzog]

I remember our English teacher reading us I Am David. Brought the Holocaust crashing home

[Iker Kashillas]

We read The Machine Gunner, Of Mice and Men and An Inspector Calls in English. Don't remember much about them but remember basically being forced to say the N word when reading Of Mice and Men and the teacher justifying it to the class by saying she had a black husband

[Widespread Gang Violence]

Impressed at how well-read the THF are. I don't read enough books, and when I do read it tends to either be non-fiction or trashy thrillers.  

Top 5 off the top of my head:

• A Season With Verona - just a perfect football book. Frequently appears on "best football books" lists for good reason; would recommend it to anyone here.
  
  
• The Lies of Locke Lamora - a really fun read; heist caper set in a brilliantly-written world. The trilogy (as it stands - there's meant to be a fourth book coming soon) is really good, but the first is excellent.
  
  
• You - the book the Netflix series was based on. Trashy, but I couldn't put it down.  
  
  
• Macbeth - read this in 4th year at school. Just a great play - have seen it live shree times now.
  
  
• I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan - the funniest book ever written.    
  

[Nive la France]

Other than "The Best of William Shakespeare", Macbeth is my favourite too. Would be interesting to see it in a theatre. Went to see Waiting for Godot once at the Usher Hall and it was really good

[Widespread Gang Violence]

Saw Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan in Waiting For Godot at the King's Theatre about 10 years ago.

[Nive la France]

That must've been brilliant. Only seen bits of that on YouTube.

[CritchSmile]

Walt/Dr Colossus. Talk me through Camus' the stranger (or whatever the french name is)

I wanted to love it, and it was ok, but what makes it good for you? I know it's in many people's top fives and would love to understand.

I like existential topics for reading so was expecting to love it. Maybe I built it up too much for myself

[Mikey]

It's pretentious and French

[Edson Arantes 2Nascimento]

Is l'etranger the one where he bitches out the priest in prison near the end? That's a great book. What's the one where it's just one side of a drunken conversation in amsterdam and it mirrors dante's layers of hell? Dug that too.

[Imaq]

Hated L'Etranger when I had to read it for Higher French - a really weird choice to give to school pupils whose only aim is to understand and write a short summary of a novel Can remember struggling through a chapter where all he does is watch people from his balcony like 'what the fuck is this' Maintained that hatred right up until I read it again as part of my MLitt, at which point I was more able to understand it. Still wouldn't say it's a particular favourite tbh. The other novel 2na is referencing is La Chute, which I liked a bit better.

Would recommend that anyone who enjoyed L'Etranger take a look at The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud (Meursault Contre-Enquête in French - Daoud is Algerian, but wrote the original in French rather than Arabic. Being an intellectual, I have only read this version and not the English translation). It's written in the first person from the perspective of the brother of the Arab Meursault kills, and explores the failings of post-independence Algeria. Daoud is primarily a journalist, and in that capacity is actually a bit of a clown imo, but it's a really good novel.

Bit late to the party re. the Higher English texts, but IIRC I did Animal Farm. Can also remember doing Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Lord of the Flies, Death of a Salesman, and William Golding's The Inheritors - another novel which, like L'Etranger, I was nowhere near equipped to understand at the time and thought was some boring weird shit about neanderthals rather than a musing on human nature.

[Nive la France]

Anyone ever read Grapes of Wrath? Surprised I forgot about all about it in my top 5 and honourable mentions, but it's one of my favourites. When he's sending the deid baby downstream

[Widespread Gang Violence]

That must've been brilliant. Only seen bits of that on YouTube.

It was fantastic. Obviously the play is total mince bobbins, but you're sitting there like at the stage presence of both of them.

[Iker Kashillas]

Acey meeting Patrick Stewart

[Walter Sobchak]

Other than "The Best of William Shakespeare", Macbeth is my favourite too. Would be interesting to see it in a theatre. Went to see Waiting for Godot once at the Usher Hall and it was really good

Saw Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan in Waiting For Godot at the King's Theatre about 10 years ago.

That must've been brilliant. Only seen bits of that on YouTube.

You wait all day for Godot then three come along at once.

[Nive la France]

I'm going.

[King WillDred of Orange]

Going to take a few of the suggestions here and start reading them.

I've started with The Catcher in the Rye, started it yesterday and have almost finished it. Not sure if it's just because of the exposure to Trump and his speaking style but that's who I'm reminded of initially from Holden caulfield's thought process.

Not sure which to go for next

[Diego Armando Toblerone]

Going to take a few of the suggestions here and start reading them.

I've started with The Catcher in the Rye, started it yesterday and have almost finished it. Not sure if it's just because of the exposure to Trump and his speaking style but that's who I'm reminded of initially from Holden caulfield's thought process.

Not sure which to go for next

I've done the same!

Ordered myself a copy of Catcher in the Rye & I, Partridge: We need to talk about Alan.

Given I generally only read books when I'm lying by the pool on holiday, this is quite a commitment for me.
Don't let me down fam.

[Walter Sobchak]

Going to take a few of the suggestions here and start reading them.

I've started with The Catcher in the Rye, started it yesterday and have almost finished it. Not sure if it's just because of the exposure to Trump and his speaking style but that's who I'm reminded of initially from Holden caulfield's thought process.

Not sure which to go for next

Get wired into “not fade away.”