Choose one novel for ds (18) to get back into reading

[Trumporange]

My ds just turned 18. He used to be an avid reader when he was younger but got out of the habit after primary school.
I'm biased but based on what others say too, he's funny, clever, and he also likes observing people and society.

Quite mature for his age so wants something for adults not YA fiction.

Definitely not scifi or fantasy as that's not his thing.

I'm thinking something along the lines of Martin Amis, Ian McEwan. I definitely think the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt would appeal but it is quite long for a first foray back into reading.

So, if he were to read one novel this summer to see if he can get back into reading what could it be?

Or we don't talk about Kevin (pretty dark)

The Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovich (first of the series)
Just One Damn Thing After Another (the first in the St Mary’s series) Jodi Taylor

@Trumporange I did my A Level coursework on The Secret History. My (very clever, normally very mildly spoken) teacher called it “high quality trash for the intellectual” 😂.

English teacher here. I'd support the Banks suggestions.

Boys that age have liked Orwell, Golding, McEwan ( Atonement) , Lolita( hmmm), Captain Corelli. I know it's really simple but has he read Of Mice and Men. Gatsby is a bit marmite.

Junk. Melvin Burgess. An utter classic and it really struck with teen me.

The Last Kingdom Bernard Cornwell
Dragonsdawn Anne McCaffrey
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adam’s

Oops - missed the line about “not SF or fantasy” - shame really, there are some really good, funny and clever books in those genres.

Sabra Zoo by Mischa Hillier. Beautiful coming of age story about a young 18 yo man working as a translator/undercover operative in 1980s Lebanon while navigating the usual trials of growing up - losing his virginity/whether to go to university etc

Well, I hate to lower the tone but the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurwitz got my previously avid and then reluctant boy back into reading 😂 He also loved The Martian.

😄that's perfect!

Another one I loved as a teen, which falls into the same category - The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco.

Or, a 90s classic about young people: The Beach by Alex Garland.

Sorry, one more: High Fidelity. In fact anything by Nick Hornby.

What about something quite page turning like Kate Atkinson? One of the Jackson Brodies might be quite a decent choice.

What about John le Carré? Tinker Tailor is the obvious choice (and excellent) but one of the more modern options like A Constant Gardener (I know relatively old now!) pr
Agent Running In The Field?

Reading with interest because I'd like to buy ds1(19) something.

A Le Carre is a great idea too!
Spoilt for choice here.

How about Shantaram?

My favourite book!

As I periodically like to point out, I went to school on The Crow Road!

Killing Floor , Lee Child

there are another 20 or so if he likes it

Ian McEwan: Atonement (one of the best novels by a British writer in the last fifty years)

Ian McEwan: A Child in Time (fascinating meditation on the nature of time, with a bit of quantum mysticism thrown in)

P. G. Wodehouse: Right Ho Jeeves (who knows, he might catch the bug)

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (utterly floored me when I did it for A-level)

Douglas Adams: Hitchiker’s Guide (definitely a novel for intelligent, quirky teens)

George Orwell: Down and Out in Paris and London (non-fiction, but reads like a novel. Also short, vivid, and written in crystal clear prose)

Certain writers are perfect for the young. You want someone who will inspire him, inflame his imagination, and make him eager to learn. If he was interested in science, I would urge you to buy him Sagan’s Cosmos, or a book of Feynman quotations. As for fiction, Aldous Huxley and Hermann Hesse set my world on fire when I read them as a precocious/obnoxious adolescent. Huxley in particular is a thrilling writer when you’re young. Wilde’s Dorian Grey and Virginia Woolf’s Orlando also hit the spot. Wilde and Huxley gave me a glimpse of a different world, one in which people sat around having brilliant conversations in beautiful language. I wanted to talk like a character in a Huxley or Wilde novel. I still do!

Love this list @JaneyGee! I might mine it myself.

I'm also wondering about McEwan's The Children Act for ds which is superb, as he's interested in law. But let me encourage him towards one book at a time or I'll overwhelm him!

Ian McEwan was on Radio 4's This Cultural Life tonight - for any other fans!

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

The Beach by Alex Garland. Good interplay of human nature, cool setting and readable without being simplistic

We’ve been discussing Steinbeck on another thread. The Grapes of Wrath made a huge impression on me at that age.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. It's his autobiography of childhood. So brilliant. I first read it during a commute on the London Underground and several people stopped me and asked me what I was reading because I was laughing out loud so much.

Catch 22. Joseph Heller.

What a carve up, Jonathan Coe.