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Best Novel

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dreamwaverider Flag London 22 Feb 24 10.06pm Send a Private Message to dreamwaverider Add dreamwaverider as a friend

Not the best, but certainly right out there. Very different

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by S.J. Watson.

Not sure how good it is to read this unless you are very solid up top. I thought I was going mad in some parts of it.

Since covid I havent read books so much.

 

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becky Flag over the moon 23 Feb 24 7.48am Send a Private Message to becky Holmesdale Online Elite Member Add becky as a friend

For a bit of lighter reading (but no less good) I've loved all of the Lindsey Davies Falco novels and the subsequent Flavia Albia ones.

Racy, pacey and with a cast of Roman characters you couldn't begin to imagine - these almost tongue-in-cheek books never fail to entertain.

 


A stairway to Heaven and a Highway to Hell give some indication of expected traffic numbers

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Badger11 Flag Beckenham 23 Feb 24 8.03am Send a Private Message to Badger11 Add Badger11 as a friend

Originally posted by becky

For a bit of lighter reading (but no less good) I've loved all of the Lindsey Davies Falco novels and the subsequent Flavia Albia ones.

Racy, pacey and with a cast of Roman characters you couldn't begin to imagine - these almost tongue-in-cheek books never fail to entertain.

Agreed to a point. I have read all of the Falco books however I think the quality did start to deteriorate towards the end of the series so I have not bothered with the Flavia books.

FYI
Lindsey Davies first wrote a biography of the Emperor Vespasian's mistress which the publishers had no interest in. This involved a lot of research into Roman life. So she was a failed author but decided to put her knowledge to good use and created the Falco stories, good for her. If at first you don't....

 


One more point

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Teddy Eagle Flag 23 Feb 24 8.45am Send a Private Message to Teddy Eagle Add Teddy Eagle as a friend


Two others come to mind. The Quincunx by Charles Palliser which is a Victorian set pastiche of, mainly, Dickens & Wilkie Collins. It's very long (1200+ pages) but I found it completely immersive.
The New Confessions by William Boyd, one of his whole-life stories which brings in most of the last century.

 

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JRW2 Flag Dulwich 23 Feb 24 9.04am Send a Private Message to JRW2 Add JRW2 as a friend

For pure uninterrupted entertainment the Flashman stories (there are 12) take some beating. For a first-timer I would recommend a volume published by Everyman's Library, which contains the first story in the series ("Flashman" and two others - available for under £20 online.

 

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JRW2 Flag Dulwich 23 Feb 24 9.07am Send a Private Message to JRW2 Add JRW2 as a friend

Originally posted by JRW2

For pure uninterrupted entertainment the Flashman stories (there are 12) take some beating. For a first-timer I would recommend a volume published by Everyman's Library, which contains the first story in the series ("Flashman" and two others - available for under £20 online.

Don't know how that emoji crept in - meant to be close bracket.

 

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Cucking Funt Flag Clapham on the Back 23 Feb 24 12.23pm Send a Private Message to Cucking Funt Add Cucking Funt as a friend

The Ginger Man by J P Donleavy. Yet to read a novel that's better.

 


Wife beating may be socially acceptable in Sheffield, but it is a different matter in Cheltenham

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Palace Old Geezer Flag Midhurst 27 Feb 24 3.06pm Send a Private Message to Palace Old Geezer Add Palace Old Geezer as a friend

Originally posted by Palace Old Geezer

Apart from the obvious, as in anything by John Gresham, Tom Clancy, Frederick Forsyth and James Patterson and maybe a few others who never disappoint; try this one Lanzo - I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Guaranteed to keep you gripped and certainly one of my favourite reads.

I've recently started reading Terry Hayes' second novel The Year of The Locust.

By 'eck it's a cracking read.

 


Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

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RubinsCube Flag Wimbledon 27 Feb 24 3.47pm Send a Private Message to RubinsCube Add RubinsCube as a friend

Stretching the definition of novel, but:

The Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius
The Odyssey by Homer
The Aeneid by Virgil

More conventionally:
A Tale of Two Cities and The Pickwick Papers by Dickens
Jude The Obscure by Hardy

 

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ASCPFC Flag Pro-Cathedral/caravan park 28 Feb 24 4.35pm Send a Private Message to ASCPFC Add ASCPFC as a friend

Umberto Ecco - probably The Name of the Rose but also Foucault's Pendulum.

 


Red and Blue Army!

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Badger11 Flag Beckenham 28 Feb 24 4.52pm Send a Private Message to Badger11 Add Badger11 as a friend

Originally posted by ASCPFC

Umberto Ecco - probably The Name of the Rose but also Foucault's Pendulum.

Both very good.

 


One more point

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dreamwaverider Flag London 28 Feb 24 6.38pm Send a Private Message to dreamwaverider Add dreamwaverider as a friend

Originally posted by RubinsCube

Stretching the definition of novel, but:

The Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius
The Odyssey by Homer
The Aeneid by Virgil

More conventionally:
A Tale of Two Cities and The Pickwick Papers by Dickens
Jude The Obscure by Hardy


You must be at Uni !!

 

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