I want to read something really intelligent and beautifully written

[SalveRibena]

I have been reading crap on my Kindle for too long and now want to go back to reading Proper Books. Past favourites include Atonement, Bring Up The Bodies, The Poisonwood Bible, The Sea and The Line of Beauty.

Any advice?

One which took me out of my comfort zone was "The Watch" by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya. The Wall Street Journal called it the first great novel of the war in Afghanistan..a re-working of the story of Antigone. Surprisingly there are only three reviews of it on Amazon but it deserves to be read much more widely.

Donna Tartt has a new book out, called The Goldfinch. It will be only my Christmas list.
The Magus by John Fowles is brilliant.
Another vote for Norwegian Wood.

Will get, 'Pure' - thanks, Cote. I have a beautiful new Wilkie Collins and a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge Everest book to read first.

Agree that Mr Y promised so much and ultimately failed dismally. Some passages in it (in the earlier part) are v beautifully written though.

Not fiction, but Nabokov's autobiography, "Speak, Memory," is fantastic, it is just beautifully written and worth reading whether you care anything about Nabokov or not.

The service of clouds, delis falconer. So beautifully written, I could weep. I quite like tim winton also....

Gosh yes to, 'Speak, Memory.' Must re-read.

Dp has just read, 'Lolita' for the first time and didn't like it. I may have to LTB. :)

Rumer Godden. I second her. Lovely writing. Edith Wharton

My top shelf is full of books by the following-
Primo Levi
William Golding
Julian Barnes
John Fowles
Ernest Hemingway
Kazuo Ishiguro
Cormac McCarthy
Umberto Eco
Italo Calvino

Theyre all pretty old-fashioned, but if I were stuck on a desert island I'd be happy with that lot to keep me company.

The Primo Levi book 'If this is a man' is the saddest book I have ever read. I couldn't describe it as an enjoyable book but it is a must read.

I recently read The House of Mr Biswas and can't recommend it too highly. It's funny and moving and feels exactly like real life. I lived with Mr Biswas and his family this summer.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

If I want intelligent writing I read:
Milan Kundera
Thomas Mann
Iris Murdoch
If you haven't tried them, do.

Cote That's a shame you couldn't find the other books I listed. I wonder why that was as they were all listed on the Amazon Deal of The Day offer.

They are on this link here, Cote and anybody else that is interested. I am very much looking forward to reading the Diana Athill.

Thank you so much for that mignonette. I've just bought The English Patient. I believe the film only scratched the surface of an excellent novel so I'm looking forward to reading it.

The Observations by Jane Harris is well worth getting - quirky, funny and intriguing and also on offer for 99p on the same link.

I'm sure you'll enjoy Diana Athill's book. I was lucky enough to hear her talk about it in London last year. What an amazing woman - one of a dying breed I think.

You are lucky to hear Ms Athill, Highland. I agree she is one of an inspirational kind. I liked Kathleen Jamies non fiction; they have that same disciplined 'roaming' across whatever interests the writer.

I downloaded 'Pure', 'Oscar and Lucinda' 'Flight Behaviour (despite owning the hardback), 'Somewhere Towards The End' and a couple of the less 'literary' thrillers. Looking forward to the next list of offers.

I'll download 'The Observations' upon your recom Highland. Thanks.

One of the most influential, formative and profoundly moving books I have ever read is 'The Story of an African Farm' by Olive Schreiner. Old fashioned, less well-known, but visionary; so ahead of its time.

'Under the Volcano' by Malcolm Lowry. Unforgettable, almost poetic exploration of the tortured world of an alcoholic British diplomat, deserted by his wife, against the hallucinatory background of a city in Mexico on the Day of the Dead. Another book that will never leave me.

BTW Cote I have now got a copy of Ready Player One and started reading - fantastic - just my cup of tea! Really grateful, for the recommendation - thanks.

Enjoy If you find a book along those lines, please share.

Lord of the Flies
Flaubert's Parrot
This
This

The Way the Crow Flies and Fall on Your Knees by Anne Marie Macdonald. My only complaint about this author is that she's not writing more books!

Next best thing to Margaret Atwood.

Sweet I have read those books. They are lovely thick, meaty reads.

Posting do I can have a look next time I'm in a book shop or library. I think must get that then often forget.

Yes indeed, Story of an African Farm, dapple.

And thank you for this thread OP. It may be the kick I need to put down the laptop and start reading and re-reading my books.

Though as the hand wavers over the bookcase, it's so hard for it not to come down comfortably on an Austen.

Kindle daily deals has a great non fiction book about Paris worth reading plus Susan Hill's 'Howards End is on the Landing' for £4,63 in the general Kindle Store.

sweetsoulsister totally agree about Ann Marie Macdonald ..loved those books.

All and everything by David Mitchell but especially Cloud Atlas.