If you could only recommend one book...

TotallyFloored · 2024-03-12T11:27:06+00:00

what would it be ? I always find that I read a lot of the same type of stuff (mystery, thriller type things), but the books I recommend most strongly to people are often the ones that are totally different to my usual fare. I think mine may be Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follet), although it was a close one with Shogun (James Clavell).

Sinuhe · 17/03/2024 15:53

whosaidtha · 17/03/2024 09:19

I've read quite a few of the 'classics' people are recommending and find them boring. I often wonder if people really enjoy these books or recommend them because they make them sound good.
I don't have a recommendation for a book that everyone should read because everyone likes different styles of books. I'm in a book club and it's surprising how carried we can be on our opinions.

I read a lot, but haven't read any of the so called classics. Thankfully I was spared Shakespeare at school, unlike my DC. I like my books well written in contemporary language and the same applies to translations. Sloppy, lazy writing or out dated language is a slog to read. (Now, I have to confess, English isn't my first language)

However, there is a little book that would appeal to most readers, that, dare I say it, is a classic in the authors home country.

Chess by Stefan Zweig. It's quite simplistic in its story line but also very powerful in terms of selection of characters.
Basically it's about a series of chess games on an ocean liner and how the main characters got there.

BakedBeansforabrain · 17/03/2024 12:06

whosaidtha · 17/03/2024 09:19

I've read quite a few of the 'classics' people are recommending and find them boring. I often wonder if people really enjoy these books or recommend them because they make them sound good.
I don't have a recommendation for a book that everyone should read because everyone likes different styles of books. I'm in a book club and it's surprising how carried we can be on our opinions.

This post is spot on I had read many the so called classics and I thought they were rubbish.

the catcher in the rye, catch 22 didn’t get the hype

Mercurial123 · 17/03/2024 11:39

whosaidtha · 17/03/2024 09:19

I've read quite a few of the 'classics' people are recommending and find them boring. I often wonder if people really enjoy these books or recommend them because they make them sound good.
I don't have a recommendation for a book that everyone should read because everyone likes different styles of books. I'm in a book club and it's surprising how carried we can be on our opinions.

I love some of the classics. Sons and Lovers is probably my favourite, followed by Vanity Fair. I didn't choose it as my favourite book. I doubt anyone would be impressed, though, with someone naming a classic as their favourite. I find Russian literature extremely boring, but that's just me.

Sunshineaftertherain80 · 17/03/2024 09:26

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

Misorchid · 17/03/2024 09:23

Anything by the French writer Colette.
The Lost Man, Jane Harper, a recent bookgroup choice, was brilliant.

whosaidtha · 17/03/2024 09:19

I've read quite a few of the 'classics' people are recommending and find them boring. I often wonder if people really enjoy these books or recommend them because they make them sound good.
I don't have a recommendation for a book that everyone should read because everyone likes different styles of books. I'm in a book club and it's surprising how carried we can be on our opinions.

halfthesun · 17/03/2024 06:41

Little Women

DancefloorAcrobatics · 17/03/2024 06:01

I second The Shadow of the Wind, just brilliant.

Mercurial123 · 17/03/2024 05:53

The Cairo Trilogy.

EcstaticMarmalade · 17/03/2024 03:37

Pride and Prejudice or 100 Years of Solitude. It would depend on the person I was recommending it to, magical realism isn’t for everyone.

Geppili · 17/03/2024 02:32

Crime and Punishment.

eddiemairswife · 17/03/2024 00:12

1984

Mothership4two · 16/03/2024 23:36

Loved Any Human Heart and it got a unanimous thumbs up from everyone at my book club (rare event)

Nanny31 · 16/03/2024 15:39

Crime and Punishment - It is Exceptional!

Terrribletwos · 16/03/2024 15:28

The Grapes of Wrath.

EmmaStone · 16/03/2024 15:26

William Boyd: Any Human Heart is the book I recommend the most.

JaninaDuszejko · 12/03/2024 20:08

Only one book it has to be something big with all human life in it. So probably War and Peace. If you read a chapter a day it takes a year to read which is probably the best way to read it. Each chapter is ~4 pages so not so onerous.

Funkyslippers · 12/03/2024 17:58

I'm a really crap reader so don't read anything that's too challenging. My fave book is The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish

Vicliz24 · 12/03/2024 17:57

A Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain . Everyone should read it .

Funderthighs · 12/03/2024 17:54

The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. My favourite book of all time. ❤️

AgentProvocateur · 12/03/2024 17:53

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

MamaGarl85 · 12/03/2024 17:52

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo...love it!

clarepetal · 12/03/2024 17:50

The first of the Cazalet Chronicles.

Rainydayweather · 12/03/2024 17:47

Diary of a provincial lady by em delafield.

Be abuse if you are going to only ever read one book make it an acutely observed book that’s very, very funny.

Hellohah · 12/03/2024 16:35

Sherlock Holmes - The Complete Sherlock Holmes.
I think everyone should read it at some point in their lives. There's a reason it's been rehashed over and over again. It has everything you could ever want I think.