Coming off a literary high - please help

[CoteDAzur]

I just read Cloud Atlas and This Thing Of Darkness in quick succession, both epic, fantastic books of great scope and vision.

Now I don't now what to do with myself. Read another book, but what? What can I read now that won't be a huge disappointment after these two wonderful books that I have just finished?

cote if you liked Hyperion, please try Vernor Vinge's 'Fire Upon the Deep' and Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow'.

I would definitely recommend Murakami- Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is most well-known, but I like Wild Sheep Chase best.

Arthur and George is a good Julian Barnes... though I love History of the World...

Lovely to see retiredgoth here!

I loathe Dune...

If you like graphic novels, may I recommend Posy Simmonds?
I love all her works, but Tamara Drewe and Gemma Bovary easiest to get hold of. She has done a wonderful children's book too Baker Cat.

I can't get on with Marakami - especially Wild Sheep Chase. I did quite like After Dark (have I remembered that right?) but the sheep one and the bird one were too silly for me.

@cote ? I said just go from book 2. Don't bother to re-read book 1. The new book (which comes out on 24 April) comes between books 4 and 5. So we will all be reading it out of sequence but if you don't read too quickly, you could manage to read it in sequence. I'd also strongly recommend Under the Dome (which is also DT as are practically all SKs books. You'll understand once you've read the DT sequence) and Stephen Donaldson's Gap series which is just stunning. Complete book crack, so it is.

I know you can't Remus!

Life would be very boring if we all liked the same things though

another vote for "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides - I really enjoyed this.
Gave up on "The Road" - beautifully written but boring.

I still think Wolf Hall is brilliant!

Yes.

Arthur & George is splendid..

Julian Barnes is at his best when his journalistic streak comes out...

(see Nothing To Be Frightened Of. An extended essay, really. But the fear of death, and the desire to leave a mark, are what has always fuelled him. Me. Most of us)

Does anyone else remember when he was the Observer's tele critic? Succeeded, I think, by Sebastian Faulks. Who, incidentally, is not so much. I recently read A Week In December. Guff.

'True say dat' as dd1 would say - shudder. :)

I finished, 'The Road' but was underwhelmed by it - and the ending is v contrived, I thought.

Yawn to SF - though 'Engleby' was okay.

I loved Middlesex and hated the Virgin Suicides. I nearly didn't read Middlesex because I found VS so supremely irritating, but it was another kettle of fish altogether. Can take or leave Cloud Atlas. Sometimes the classics are worth another airing even if you've already read them. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is still fantastic as is John Wyndhams The Chrysalids. Handmaid's tale is wonderfully thought provoking as is The Children of Men by P.D. James.

Sorry havent read the whole thread but has anyone mentioned 'The Hare with the Amber Eyes' ? Non-fiction and utterly brilliant.

Lots of great ideas here. I've taken notes! I enjoyed dark tower series but did find them a very light read. Nice to see something other than glorified 'chic lit' discussed here

Because I'm dull like that, I'm going to throw "Oscar and Lucinda" out there again. I also really liked the first bit of "Illywhacker" but the last bit on the pet shop does my nut a bit.

Found that one dull!

'The True History Of The Kelly Gang' was okay - somebody on here recommended it but I can't remember who.

Which one, BulletProofMum? Great name by the way...

I found Music and Silence booooring. I can't really remember anything about it. I read 'From Hell' - didn't think the illustrations were that bad and also fascinating for all the London freemasonary information.

I like 'Dead Babies' by Martin Amis. I also like 'Good Omens' - whoever said Gaiman makes it better is right; I love Gaiman. I still really like 'In a Glass Darkly' by LeFanu.

Hackneyed a bit now the mini series has been on but if you haven't read 'The Pillars of the Earth' it is totally addictive.

Another vote to say Dune is an all time must along with the works of Asimov and Clarke.

From Hell - the illustration is a very acquired taste. I never acquired it myself but you get used to it a hundred or so pages in... unlike...
Watchmen - Dave Gibbon's art style is very clear and crisp (and he is a jolly nice bloke).

If you liked that antihero take then seriously check out the others on my list (V for Vendetta and the 2 Bat books) as they take that up a notch (and if you like that I can recommend some that take it up even further).

This lists many things myself and others have mentioned

It also reminded me of a huge commitment of a book series that I can not recommend highly enough: The Mars Chronicles (Red, Green and Blue (and the Martians)). They are a big read and occasionally glacial but worth it in the end.

Oscar and lucinda

Dystopian fantasy
Sheri Tepper, I love her books.

I read Cloud Atlas on holiday, I usually leave my books for other visitors but insisted on bringing it back. No-one else I have recommended it to liked it

The Hours
The Stepford Wives
Cat's eye
Wolf hall

@MNHubbie Nice to see Princess Bride on the list. Although obviously it's a crime it's not the Morgenstern but the inferior Goldman translation [buangry][buwink]

Princess Bride okay - but the film is better.

The film is great but compared to the book it's just not in the same league. The book is a masterpiece. (obviously the original Morgenstern is better).

Marking my place so I can make notes tomorrow.

Love the difference of opinion on who enjoyed which books.

I never, ever leave books on holiday. Was mortified when my DB left a book I had leant him on a Greek beach.

But I am extremely grateful that others do leave books. Has saved my sanity many times.