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A book that has stayed with you for a long time

155 replies

Peckhaminn · 19/03/2023 20:54

Really looking for a book that is so utterly fantastic that it's stayed with you for a long time and you could re-read it over and over again. Any suggestions are welcome.

OP posts:
Andywarholswig · 19/03/2023 21:37

A thousand splendid suns - it was so moving and I couldn’t put it down.

Autienotnautie · 19/03/2023 21:38

Next of kin by kia Abdullah is the most harrowing book I've ever read. I'll never forget it.
Some other 5* books I've read are -
One of the girls Lucy Clarke
12 secrets Robert Gold
Mad Honey Jodi Picoult
After the end Claire Mackintosh
6 days Dani Aitkins

squashyhat · 19/03/2023 21:38

The Grapes of Wrath

Squirrelsnut · 19/03/2023 21:40

The Poisonwood Bible.

Sunnysideup999 · 19/03/2023 21:41

A Fine Balance
The Timetraveller’s Wife
I thought about life a bit differently after both

Anoisagusaris · 19/03/2023 21:41

DustyLee123 · 19/03/2023 21:36

Every time I read Twopence to Cross The Mersey I wonder how Helen and her family survived.

I did this as an exam novel when I was 13-14. I’ve never met anyone outside of our class who read it!!

HarrietSchulenberg · 19/03/2023 21:42

My Antonia by Willa Cather is a book I read 30 years ago and its imagery of the vast, open plains of Nebraska and the life of European immigrants will stay with me till I drop dead.
Similarly, Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. Decoding the language made it feel more special to me, and when Riddley walks the Downs with the pack of wild dogs, it's like I'm there with him.
The Jinny at Finmory books I read as a child have also stayed with me, and lines from TS Eliot's The Wasteland pop up in my life with alarming regularity.

DustyLee123 · 19/03/2023 21:44

Anoisagusaris · 19/03/2023 21:41

I did this as an exam novel when I was 13-14. I’ve never met anyone outside of our class who read it!!

My DM was a frequent library visitor when I was young. She introduced it to me, along with the follow up books.
I read it at least once a year.

Malibu12 · 19/03/2023 21:46

Slave by Mende Nazer

MrsEdnaWelthorpe · 19/03/2023 21:48

schloss · 19/03/2023 21:24

Hopefully these two are allowed - both have never left me since I have read them however I would not rush to read either of them again because they were so sad.

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain and A Pin to see the Peep Show by F Tennyson Jesse

Testament of Youth is absolutely harrowing. I just felt amazed that people managed to live through it- I can't imagine going through that and then somehow go back to living a normal life after the war.

choochooandspook · 19/03/2023 21:48

Anoisagusaris · 19/03/2023 21:41

I did this as an exam novel when I was 13-14. I’ve never met anyone outside of our class who read it!!

I also loved this book, I went to see the play and I read the 2 sequels to it.

LucyWildeGru · 19/03/2023 21:49

The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists. Free to download online.

Maraudingmarauders · 19/03/2023 21:49

A Terrible Kindness by Joe Browning Wroe. That won't leave me for a long long time.

Also the Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker, absolutely changed my view of literature and what I like to read.

Whiskyski · 19/03/2023 21:50

Incendiary by Chris Cleave.
and then I read his other book The Other Hand.

mind blowing. Harrowing. Thought provoking. Scary.
I then decided that, as good and as well written as the books are - I didn’t like how it made me feel. Not sure I will ever be able to read them again

Annabananna1 · 19/03/2023 21:50

Books that I read in my teens have always stated with me, including:

  • Junk
  • Journey to the river sea
  • A traveller in time
  • His Dark Materials
  • Naughts and crosses

To be honest I think on the whole I've always preferred teen-fiction to grown up books. Exciting plots? Emotive?

eish · 19/03/2023 21:52

Another vote for a thousand splendid suns
also A Little Life, which I hated as it was so harrowing but brilliant and has stayed with me

schloss · 19/03/2023 21:53

MrsEdnaWelthorpe · 19/03/2023 21:48

Testament of Youth is absolutely harrowing. I just felt amazed that people managed to live through it- I can't imagine going through that and then somehow go back to living a normal life after the war.

Yes I agree, it certainly puts life into perspective - I remember reading it and realising the deaths were going to happen in addition to knowing it was a non-fictional book.

Littlemissfroggy · 19/03/2023 21:54

I think so much of what makes a book memorable or important are the circumstances of your life when you read it. I was a bit depressed and frequently bothered by suicidal thoughts as a student and so I was drawn to books which matched my mood. At the time I was completely unable to seek out any support or confide in anyone.

The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) left a real impression on me that one can be strong for oneself and that perseverance in the face of despair can pay off, even that hope is worth hanging on to for its own sake. Everyone talks about the feminist message/warning but to me it will always be a book about hope.

Around the same period in my life I read Appointment in Samarra (John O' Hara) - which is very of its time (1930s), pretty depressing / tragic, and I'm not sure I would even recommend it - nevertheless there was a message for me personally about the futility of suicide and that one's perspective on how awful things are can be skewed.

This are probably the two most impactful books for me personally because of when I read them and my headspace at that time, not necessarily because they are my favourite books or the books I would most recommend (though I would wholeheartedly recommend the Handmaid's Tale).

I don't consider myself to be well read but I think Lord of the Rings is a great piece of literature which confers a real sense of meaning, and again a major theme is perseverance against the odds and holding on to hope, so perhaps that's just something resonant for me.

NinetyNineRedBalloonsGoBy · 19/03/2023 21:54

My top 3 books to utterly lose yourself in have already been mentioned:

The Hearts Invisible Furies
Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible

I have also recently loved:

Demon Copperhead
A Town Called Solace

Puffykins · 19/03/2023 21:57

I second Anna Karenina.
I've also read Polo/ Riders/ Rivals about 5 times each.
Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet quintet.
Brideshead Revisited
Also second The End of the Affair.
Evelyn Waugh's Men At Arms trilogy.
Pat Barker's Ghost Road trilogy.
Recently, The Whalebone Theatre.

schloss · 19/03/2023 21:58

@Puffykins Yes to Brideshead Revisited.

Bookworm333 · 19/03/2023 22:00

Lonely castle in the mirror

James Herriot books

Innocent traitor by Alison Weir - I don't know why but I was so invested in this one, was sobbing at the end!

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

Everything you ever wanted by Luiza Sauma

CarpeVitam · 19/03/2023 22:01

user1471453601 · 19/03/2023 20:56

Years ago I read (and 're read) The women's room by (I think) Marilyn French, it really opened my eyes.

@user1471453601

Yes! Reading that book was life-changing for me!

UniPsychle · 19/03/2023 22:02

Piranesi - such a gorgeous book.

“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its kindness infinite.”

...has stayed with me and I remember it when feeling glum

MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 19/03/2023 22:05

"Do they hear you when you cry" by Fauziya Kassindja.
I first read it as a teen and it totally changed my view on immigration.

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