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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?

OP posts:
Vulgar · 04/11/2009 23:17

I like

"Dreams of Dead women's Handbags"

and

"Our spoons came from Woolworths"

just because they are so evocative

Lotster · 04/11/2009 23:12

I initially saw the thread title and thought you were looking for funny titles, I was going to suggest these:

The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories

This is amusing

But in seriousness I liked the title The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things (by J.T. LeRoy)

hocuspontas · 04/11/2009 22:57

I asked for it for Christmas when it first came out. After one chapter I'd had enough and have never had the urge to look at it again. Completely unfunny.

Original poster
nighbynight · 04/11/2009 22:53

I just looked on amazon, there is My Booky Wook 2 coming out as well! He obviously thinks its a winner.
I wont be buying either, I think.

OP posts:
mellifluouscauliflower · 04/11/2009 22:49

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a great title. Fits so much into 5 words.

I like "Brighton Rock" too - lots of things to think about in a couple of words.

But no one has mentioned "My Booky Wook" - it must be one of the worst titles ever!

Original poster
nighbynight · 04/11/2009 22:47

(5 words, emotion or abstract idea)
yes, I love that one too. I had heard of that title years before I read the book.
must go to bed now, am knackered.

OP posts:
hocuspontas · 04/11/2009 22:46

My favourite is The Bonfire of the Vanities. I love saying it. The book is one I read over and over again so I get to say it a lot

Original poster
nighbynight · 04/11/2009 22:34

Here they are again, arranged by type (I have probably made some mistakes classifying them, eg I am not sure about East of Eden ? haven?t read it yet).
NAME OF A MAIN CHARACTER
Emma
Adam Bede
Jane Eyre
Silas Marner
Oliver Twist
Little Dorrit
Nicholas Nickleby
Rebecca

IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE BOOK
Middlemarch
Wuthering Heights
Bleak House
Chesil Beach
The Mill On The Floss

DESCRIPTION OF MAIN CHARACTER
Jude the Obscure
Tess of the D?Urbevilles
Our Man In Havana
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

PLOT OUTLINE OR SHORT MANIFESTO OF WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
1984
Buddenbrooks
Kifkif Demain
Enduring Love
War and Peace
Death In Venice
A Pilgrim?s Progress
I capture the Castle
Of Mice And Men
Love In A Cold Climate
The Return Of the Native
The Sorrows of an American
The Confessions of Felix Krull
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Remains of The Day
A Prayer For Owen Meany
The End of the Affair
Down And Out In Paris And London
Out of the Silent Planet

EMOTION OR ABSTRACT IDEA THAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
Persuasion
Atonement
On Beauty
Enduring Love
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Keep the Aspidistra Flying
The Tortilla Curtain
Die verlorene Ehre der Katherine Blum

NON-ABSTRACT THING THAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
The Black Book
The White Castle
The Secret History
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

NON-ABSTRACT THEME THAT RUNS THROUGH THE BOOK
Snow
White Teeth
Brighton Rock
My Name Is Red
A Room With A View

QUOTATION
Brave New World
To Kill A Mockingbird (?)
Far from the Madding Crowd
For whom the Bell tolls

ENIGMATIC / METAPHORIC / WEIRD
Bonjour Tristesse
Altered Carbon
The Razor?s Edge
East of Eden
Plagued By the Nightingale
The Catcher In the Rye
One Flew Over The Cuckoo?s Nest
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things
Lilacs Out Of The Dead Land
Don?t Point That Thing At Me
A Short History of Tractors In Ukranian
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept

Some conclusions are obvious. Enigmatic titles tend to be longer, name titles tend to be shorter.

Tentatively I could suggest that the optimum length for a title is 3-5 words? If it?s going to be longer than that it had better have lots of short words, or be a work of genius.
It?s hard to get any word in which is more than 3 syllables, and the rhythm of the title is as important as the meter of a poem.

In fact, maybe the secret to thinking of a great title is for a novelist to think in terms of poetry, instead of novel-writing?

OP posts:
Original poster
nighbynight · 04/11/2009 22:33

OK, here are some titles arranged by length:

1 WORD
Emma
1984
Middlemarch
Persuasion
Buddenbrooks
Atonement
Snow
Rebecca

2 WORDS
White Teeth
On Beauty
Adam Bede
Wuthering Heights
Jane Eyre
Silas Marner
Brighton Rock
Oliver Twist
Bleak House
Little Dorrit
Nicholas Nickleby
Chesil Beach
Bonjour Tristesse
Kifkif Demain
Altered Carbon
Enduring Love

3 WORDS
Pride and Prejudice
Crime and Punishment
War and Peace
Sense and Sensiblity
Jude The Obscure
Death In Venice
A Pilgrim?s Progress
The Black Book
The White Castle
The Razor?s Edge
The Secret History
East Of Eden
Brave New World
The thirtynine Steps
The Tortilla Curtain

4 WORDS
My Name Is Red
Tess Of The D?Urbevilles
Keep The Aspidistra Flying
Our Man In Havana
I Capture the Castle
Plagued By The Nightingale
To Kill A Mockingbird
Of Mice And Men

5 WORDS
The Catcher In The Rye
Love In A Cold Climate
The Return Of The Native
The Sorrows Of An American
A Room With A View
The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall
The Mill On The Floss
The Confessions Of Felix Krull
The Sorrows Of An American
Far From the Madding Crowd
For Whom the Bell Tolls
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Remains of The Day
A Prayer For Owen Meany
The End of the Affair
Out of the Silent Planet

6 WORDS
One Flew Over The Cuckoo?s Nest
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things
Lilacs Out Of The Dead Land
Die verlorene Ehre der Katherine Blum
Don?t Point That Thing At Me

7 WORDS
Down And Out In Paris And London
A Short History of Tractors In Ukranian
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

8 WORDS
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

9 Words
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept

OP posts:
Original poster
nighbynight · 04/11/2009 17:29

I have always loved "Out of the Silent Planet" too. Only read the book because the title was so fantastic! (though the book was good as well)

I agree, "a" or "the" sounds better. More specific, not so generalising.

Ive never heard of "Dont point that thing at me." Its good though, because it could mean lots of different things. I would definitely pick up a book with that title and browse through it in the bookshop.

Balloonslayer - I have quite a good list of 1 word titles actually. I am leaving chicklit/sex&shopping/celeb biography off, as they are a whole other genre of titles with different rules. Will copy it off my work computer later.

OP posts:
EffiePerine · 04/11/2009 14:00

'The' changes the meaning, doesn't it?

39 steps - to what?
The 39 steps - that's what the book is trying to find out, what are the 39 steps?

EffiePerine · 04/11/2009 13:57

Just read 'Don't point that thing at me' (Kyril Bonfiglioli - I think). Thought it a pretty good title. Don't like titles that are trying too hard.

BalloonSlayer · 04/11/2009 13:47

I think if a book has a article, eg "the" "a" or "one" in its title it makes it look a bit more classy, like.

Compare "The thirty nine steps" with "Thirty nine steps."

One word titles spell out: "Ghost written shite ghost supposedly by Jordan"

OTOH I think very long titles such as "A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian" make me think the author is trying to hard, so have never thought about reading it.

LadyThompson · 04/11/2009 13:44

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.

Simple, elegant, elegaic - much like the book, really...

Can I vote for anything by Louis de Bernieres as being the reverse (off putting, naff, all front and no back)

BalloonSlayer · 04/11/2009 13:39

Two polar opposites IMO from CS Lewis.

"Out of the Silent Planet" I still think is a spine-tingling book title. I read the whole - frankly rather tedious - trilogy because I liked that title so much.

"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" strikes me as deeply unimaginitive, on the other hand.

Thinking of spy novels:

How's about "The thirty nine steps"?

Wirrwarr · 03/11/2009 00:01

'Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum' by Heinrich Böll (The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum).

Also, the 'The Testament of Gideon Mack' is good; it seems to be a modern reading of Hogg's 'The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner'.

Final alcohol-fuelled thought for the evening, how about 'Enduring Love' - the play on words, i.e. the double meaning of 'enduring'? Thank you and good night.

Original poster
nighbynight · 02/11/2009 22:03

lol keep posting balloonslayer!
I spent part of my day at work compiling a list of titles, which I am going to analyse by type and length, to create the formula for a perfect book title. I have just added the latest suggestions. (my excuse for such time-wasting is that I am trying to think of a novel title atm).

I have got another 8-word great title: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

Cant think of any longer than that.

OP posts:
Sunshinemummy · 02/11/2009 14:25

Of Mice & Men and East of Eden are a couple of my favourites.

I also quite like Dave Eggers titles - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (something of an exaggeration) and You Shall Know our Velocity.

Rebecca is an intriguing title as the book isn't really about Rebecca at all.

Aniyan · 02/11/2009 14:13

And 'A prayer for Owen Meany'

Aniyan · 02/11/2009 14:11

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my fave titles.

BalloonSlayer · 02/11/2009 14:07

"The remains of the day," another good one IMO.

Gawd I am going to post forever on this thread. Can you have me barred?

BalloonSlayer · 02/11/2009 14:06

"One hundred years of solitude" I like.

"The secret history" sounds like the sort of thing that would be written on the cover of one of DD's many exercise books.

SleepingLion · 02/11/2009 13:55

Brave New World - because if you know the context in which the words were originally said by Miranda in The Tempest, you then see the irony of Huxley's point in his novel.

Bucharest · 02/11/2009 13:48

Definitely By Grand Central Station...

I bought one years ago called Lilacs out of the dead land (from Browning I think?) Was a bit rubbish actually, but I liked the title.

SarahHW · 02/11/2009 13:44

'The Secret History' It immediately intrigues you because it hints at some hidden knowledge that the book will reveal, it is also a great book which lives up to its name.