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Original poster

Literary fiction: what are the best ever book titles, and why?

62 replies

nighbynight · 31/10/2009 13:29

Is this question considered on creative writing courses? (Never done one, so dont know.)
Anyway, I was trying to think of a good title, and was thinking of lots of famous books, and recent books, and why the titles are so great.

Quotes are out, I think? (dated). Like "The agony and the ecstasy" or "To Love and Be Wise"

A title like "Crime and Punishment" is too big for the book, unless you are writing, well Crime and Punishment.

I rather like wordplay like Faiza Guene's "Just like tomorrow" (kifkif demain) in which the author is describing a way of life from which it is very hard to escape.

The sorrows of an american is a great title as well, because it's so memorable.

what are your favourite book titles?

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loopylou2 · 24/02/2010 21:22

My vote goes to:

"The Fuck-Up" by Arthur Nersesian

My first reason is it's a great cover, with the title spelled largely across front spine and back. This makes it quite fun for reading on public transport, I always find I get some curious looks and the seat next to me stays empty!! (even in London)

Another reason is the title is a description of the main character and it's a very well written book, which I would recommend to anyone.

Another quite fun title is "The Colour of a Dog Running Away", but I can't remember who wrote this.

SkaterGrrrrl · 05/01/2010 13:35

The Catcher in the Rye is a great one!

WouldYouCouldYouWithAGoat · 26/11/2009 12:22

'Lucky Bitches!' the spook jackie collins novel by french and saunders

verytiredmummy · 26/11/2009 12:16

Bit late to this but I like Sense & Sensibility. Elinor is Sense and Marianne is Sensibility - just like Mr Darcy being Pride and Elizabeth being Prejudice. They have to learn from each other and find the middle ground, d'you see?

I also like The Catcher in the Rye - Holden explains it in the book - he has misheard a children's rhyme (think it's a Rabbie Burns poem) about a body meeting a body coming through the rye as 'catch a body', and he pictures lots of children in a field near a cliff with him as the catcher who has to stop the children falling. It's do with him being on the verge of a breakdown, I think? Or am I wrong?

I have a secret guilty passion for crime thrillers, which always have the most awful titles. Always. But rubbish James Patterson's terrible books I think take the biscuit - they're SO contrived. It's the seventh book in the series, what shall I call it? Ooh how about Seventh Heaven?

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/11/2009 23:52

Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth - I love the title pf that book and it sums up the main theme.

Original poster
nighbynight · 06/11/2009 22:25

no, or the copyright will rest with mn! Will probably post if I manage to sell the book

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BalloonSlayer · 06/11/2009 21:40

Ooooh, tell, tell!

Am on the way to bed so might not be able to comment till morning though...

Original poster
nighbynight · 06/11/2009 20:53

Oh goodness, yes, book covers are just Barbie / Action Man for grown ups now.
Only the "intelligent" reads in teh middle seem to escape the cliched covers.

I have thought of a title, and it has 5 words and a nice rhythm, and is a manifesto of the book, and also has a double meaning. Is too complicated to be taken seriously

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BalloonSlayer · 06/11/2009 08:22

A one word title like Atonement does indeed suggest a serious, intelligent tome, but you have to look at the cover of it as well.

Alas, these days you can judge a book by its cover.

The actual title would not be totally out of character for this author or this one

Original poster
nighbynight · 06/11/2009 07:26

A Jerk on One End is very good - oh how the British do love wordplay. Living overseas, I miss it.

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Original poster
nighbynight · 06/11/2009 07:22

Well, I would imagine that that doesn't appeal to anyone who's female and over the age of 35!

IMO, any title with a hint of ponce should be avoided, because the best novels don't have them.

Crime and Punishment
Middlemarch
Wuthering Heights
etc.

On the other hand, you get books like "Atonement" with a simple, all encompassing title. I have picked this up several times in the bookshop, but haven't parted with money yet. I know it has lots of fans, but it has a fatal whiff of the intelligensia about it.

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Ponymum · 05/11/2009 17:27

I dislike this one, but I read that it got picked up because the publisher thought the title would sell:
'Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman'
I suppose that might shift a few books in Waterstones but it's not for me. Although it does illustrate that it pays to put some thought into your title.

bluebump · 05/11/2009 17:13

'He died with a felafel in his hand' is a good book title, it always makes me laugh.

worthmore · 05/11/2009 17:02

To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men.
Makes you wonder if the title or the story came first.

Sosca · 05/11/2009 16:00

Best title is for Robert Hughes' book on fishing, which he called A JERK ON ONE END.

funwithfondue · 05/11/2009 15:50

I find The Sea, The Sea (Iris Murdoch) very enigmatic.

Also second The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Miln Kundera).

Then I think His Dark Materials (Pullman) and Paradise Lost (Milton) are very leading, evocative titles...

Books with a person's name in the title can put me off, whereas an abstract or philosophical title will intrigue me.

SerenityNowAKABleh · 05/11/2009 13:38

I like "100 years of Solitude" because when you finish it, you go "huh. Yes. I get it now" and it's like a puzzle being completed.

Original poster
nighbynight · 05/11/2009 11:23

I agree, Elinor and Marianne has a far better sound than S + S.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe is an interesting one. It's very long,a nd has 2 long words in it, yet it's not too clumpy. I think the word "whistlestop" helps, because you skate over it so quickly.

The Way We Live Now is a sort of manifesto of the book, and is very good, isn't it. I like the manifesto type titles.

Right, I am going to try and think of a one line poem, that's between 3 and 5 words, and sets out the manifesto of the book. Shouldn't be hard then

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choosyfloosy · 05/11/2009 00:00

Worst title ever:

Sense and Sensibility

Should have stuck to Elinor and Marianne.

choosyfloosy · 04/11/2009 23:59

Forgot all about -

The Way We Live Now

Plainly descriptive and yet inspiring.

choosyfloosy · 04/11/2009 23:52

Is the ideal a wonderful title for a crappy book? Rather like a really good marketing plan for a film, which should result in a boffo box office opening weekend and a plunge to nothing in the second week.

on that principle, Tuesday Afternoons with Morrie (is that the one?) Truly awful book with a great title.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe (haven't read it, feel it can't beat the title)
Our Hearts were Young and Gay (one of my Mum's favourite books, I just can't read it but do like the title)
Esther Waters (memorable, but the woman sounds like a drip immediately)
Martha and the Eye of Love (rubbish but has a snap about it)

Favourite titles of good books:
A Suitable Boy
The Reason Why
The Future Homemakers of America
Religion and the Decline of Magic
When I Lived in Modern Times

Snorbs · 04/11/2009 23:52

Another vote for The Bonfire of the Vanities.

The Age of Wire and String - Ben Marcus

Songs of the Doomed - Hunter Thompson

The Road to Wigan Pier - George Orwell

Count Zero - William Gibson

said · 04/11/2009 23:33

The Heart Of Darkness

Poledra · 04/11/2009 23:27

The Trick is to Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway

I like Christopher Brookmyre's titles, as they make me smile (Quite Ugly One Morning, A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away etc).

claudialyman · 04/11/2009 23:19

Playing the Muldovans at Tennis and Round Ireland with a Fridge, both Tony Hawks.

Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald

A Theory of Relativity - Jacquelyn Mitchard

Falconers Lure - Antonia Forest

Breathing Lessons- Anne Tyler

Where the Indus is Young: Dervla Murphy