A book that has stayed with you for a long time

[Peckhaminn]

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.

I didn’t know there was a play (not in the UK).
I read the sequels too. I could never understand how the parents could be so utterly useless.

H is for Hawk

The left hand of darkness

A film is coming out based on this next month with Jim Broadbent in the title role.

My contribution ‘After the Fire’ by John Lockley (all 3 books).

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist.

'Tis by Frank McCourt. and also his other book Angela's Ashes.

achievement.org/achiever/frank-mccourt/

My Mum was the same generation as Frank, also raised in poverty in Ireland. It describes much of her own history and values and things that were never explained to me growing up. My Mum was of the generation to never explain, discuss or even mention family business or secrets. She died many years before I read the book. I really wish I had known and understood her better (or even at all).

This Game of Ghosts by Joe Simpson. 25 years since I first read it and I still think of it frequently.

The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

The kite runner. My favourite book!!

To Kill a Mocking Bird

A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown! One incredibly amazing woman!

Great choices. Totally agree about the Sword of Honour trilogy. Superior to Brideshead imo.

I will call it Georgie’s Blues by Suzanne Newton- young adult book ready it aged 11 but it stayed with me.

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald

The Dead by James Joyce

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien

i realise now there is a kind of coming of age theme here 🤔

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnhem is a beautiful novel about women and friendship

An amazing book

A Little Life - I still don't know if I even liked it but something made me plough through the 800 odd pages.
Shuggie Bain - I still think of Agnes and Shuggie sometimes.

From when I was much younger, but still loved and re-read, the Ursula Le Guin 'Earthsea' books, especially 'Tehanu'

From more recently 'The Time Traveller's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger

More recently still 'The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock' by Imogen Hermes Gowar

Ooh, look what I have right here on my lap! Not started it yet because I know with a good book I get nothing else don't because I don't want to put it down.

I'd say Life After Life and A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. Also We Need To Talk About Kevin - read it years ago and found it very thought provoking.

done not don't

Skallagrig by William Horwood

You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi MacFarlane

Totally not my usual genre of book and not sure why I read it (possibly recommended on here), but it stayed with me for ages afterwards. I think I fell a bit in love with the male character in the book and that has never happened before or after reading this novel!

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and The Little Friend by Donna Tartt.

They are certainly brilliantly written books, but I also wonder if they stayed with me for so long because I read both of them at a particular point in my life.

Oh also, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. Again read around the same time as the other two!

I'll second A Fine Balance.
I'll add Animal Farm... Read that at just the right age for the message to hit home.

I also love The Heart's invisible Furies and The Handmaid's Tale but none at all of the other books mentioned.

Station Eleven by Hilary St John Mandel
Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
The End of Men Christina Sweeny Baird.

Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles series, starting with The Game Of Kings.

I’ve read it multiple times over the years.

My daughter "read" that recently in year 7. She'd not great at reading so I read it to her. It was a bit odd. Sort of Worzel Gummage

As others have said: A Little Life. It stays with you because it is utterly devastating, not sure if I'd ever put myself through it again though!

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is one of my favourites to read time and time again.