Coming off a literary high - please help

And Stephen King - although a fantastic writer - is hardly in the intellectually challenging camp either!

@cote Dune? Intellectually challenging? Really? I thought you were talking aout Good Reads. Because that's what most of the books mentioned here are. Sorry, I thought this thread was completely different than you thought it was. Easy mistake though given the two books (both of which I love but neither of which could be described as intellectually challenging) which kicked it off.

I'm almost finished 'the company of liars' by Karen Mailtland. I'm crap at describing books but it's plaguey, set in 1348 about a group who end up travelling along trying to escape the pestilence and they all have secrets that propel the story along. It's quite dark and mysterious and I've really enjoyed it. I didn't expect much from it but I like to ring the changes with genres. Maybe worth a look, I'm def going to read more by her now. Also, I love love Murakami but he is fairly marmitey.

Dorothy Dunnett is the best author ever in my humble opinion. Her books sparkle and the plots are breathtaking.

Start with Game of Kings for the Lymond chronicles or Niccolo Rising for the house of Niccolo series.

The Lymond series and the Niccolos are tied but you don't find out how until the last page of the last book.

Anything by HP lovecraft is worth a go, The ring is also amazing, so much better than the film, and batman the broken bat trilogy is great :)

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.

Since reading this book 5 years ago, I've given it as a present to numerous people with all different tastes and interests when it comes to literature.

Without fail, everybody has agreed that it is one of the most haunting and high-impact books that they've ever come across.

Now that I know how extraordinary it is, and how it's stayed with me since I first read it, even reading the blurb gives me chills:

'Charlie Gordon- IQ 68, is a floor sweeper, and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes, until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius. But then Algernon, the mouse whose triumphal experimental transformation preceded his, fades and dies, Charlie has to face the possibility that his salvation was only temporary'.

Oh God. PLEASE read it! :o

wWater for Elephants. NOT the film. The film is a pale imitation of the book.

Yes, agree that the Dune series, and Asmiov's Foundation series both fufill, imho, the 'epic and fantastic' brief.
Def yes, yes to Slaughterhouse Five also.

(Also, maybe not up your street, but I loved loved the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Since about eleven, if I had to take one book to a desert island - assuming trilogies are accepted - I would choose this one.)

@cote Murakami - I haven't read 1Q84 yet, but I would second the recommendation for Wild Sheep Chase. Plus his short stories are always great, and often you'll find themes in them that he expands in later novels.

I think you don't need to know the absolute political detail of modern Turkey to appreciate Pamuk - altho in my case it meant I went out and read up - I think a lot of themes raised are pretty universal.

I've been pondering my other favourite authors. Have you read Bruno Shultz? Totally beautiful - I couldn't bear to finish it so skipped the last two pages!

Sounds like you might like The Sisters Brothers which I have just finished. Very good read. If you want a laugh I really liked Our Next Queen of Heaven by Gregory Maguire (who wrote Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Mirror Mirror, Lost and the Wicked trilogy). And actually the latter are really good if you havent read his stuff before.

Cat's Eye & the Robber Bride are my favourite Atwood novels.

Love Middlesex but found The Virgin Suicides quite slight in comparison: much less meaty & satisfying.

Favourite Iain Banks are the Crow Road & the Bridge. Not read any of his sci fi.

Also: Donna Tartt if you haven't read her already!

Of Hilary Mantel's books I loved Wolf Hall & A Place of Greater Safety but not Beyond Black, found it v dull & uninteresting.

Marking my place so I can make notes tomorrow.

Love the difference of opinion on who enjoyed which books.

I never, ever leave books on holiday. Was mortified when my DB left a book I had leant him on a Greek beach.

But I am extremely grateful that others do leave books. Has saved my sanity many times.

The film is great but compared to the book it's just not in the same league. The book is a masterpiece. (obviously the original Morgenstern is better).

Princess Bride okay - but the film is better.

@MNHubbie Nice to see Princess Bride on the list. Although obviously it's a crime it's not the Morgenstern but the inferior Goldman translation [buangry][buwink]

The Hours
The Stepford Wives
Cat's eye
Wolf hall

Dystopian fantasy
Sheri Tepper, I love her books.

I read Cloud Atlas on holiday, I usually leave my books for other visitors but insisted on bringing it back. No-one else I have recommended it to liked it

Oscar and lucinda

Another vote to say Dune is an all time must along with the works of Asimov and Clarke.

From Hell - the illustration is a very acquired taste. I never acquired it myself but you get used to it a hundred or so pages in... unlike...
Watchmen - Dave Gibbon's art style is very clear and crisp (and he is a jolly nice bloke).

If you liked that antihero take then seriously check out the others on my list (V for Vendetta and the 2 Bat books) as they take that up a notch (and if you like that I can recommend some that take it up even further).

This lists many things myself and others have mentioned

It also reminded me of a huge commitment of a book series that I can not recommend highly enough: The Mars Chronicles (Red, Green and Blue (and the Martians)). They are a big read and occasionally glacial but worth it in the end.

I found Music and Silence booooring. I can't really remember anything about it. I read 'From Hell' - didn't think the illustrations were that bad and also fascinating for all the London freemasonary information.

I like 'Dead Babies' by Martin Amis. I also like 'Good Omens' - whoever said Gaiman makes it better is right; I love Gaiman. I still really like 'In a Glass Darkly' by LeFanu.

Hackneyed a bit now the mini series has been on but if you haven't read 'The Pillars of the Earth' it is totally addictive.

Which one, BulletProofMum? Great name by the way...

'The True History Of The Kelly Gang' was okay - somebody on here recommended it but I can't remember who.

Found that one dull!