1FF Top 100 Books

[Vanni]

I voted for Lolita guys, and I'm certainly no paedo. I wasn't exactly dying to read it if you know what I mean, but I simply had to as one of my mates was always going on about how much he enjoyed it. Anyway, decided to read it and what can I say - Lolita is one of the best books ever written.
This is the type of book that really deserves the 'literature' tag(far too many books are, imo,incorrectly classified as literature), and also the classic status it's got. Do yourselves a favour and read it, you'll thank me later

 

[mistermagic]

We'll never look at 12-year olds the same way though...

 

[mistermagic]

#23 - Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh - 33 points, 3 lists (2012: 14)

Still haven't managed to get past the first few pages as the dialect is some challenge. Trainspotting is a compilation of short stories about 4 heroin addicts and their adventures in the world of drugs, prostitution and struggling with life in general. I really should try and read it again.

 

[lordofthepies]

You really should. I think you'll find that you get used to the dialect pretty quickly. It's worth the effort - great book. This was somewhere in my top 3.

Lolita is another book that probably would have been on my list if it was a top 30. Definitely a classic.

 

[mistermagic]

#22 - Lord of the Flies by William Golding - 34 points, 2 lists (2012: 8th)

A modern classic. Written in 1954, LotF is the story of a group of children left on an deserted island and how each of them change as the stay on the island becomes longer and longer. It has won its classic status thanks to Golding's ability to depict how human nature changes which leads to panic and fatal mistakes. Has scared a few of us of actually.
Myself, I didn't like it. I thought it was too much of a treasure hunt type of thing and not really the type of book I would like to finish so that I can criticize no end. So instead, I stopped reading and will never be able to offer a decent review as I haven't finished it. I think it's better that way. Respect, Will.

 

[This Charming Mike]

This has been on my to-read list for years and I still haven't got round to delving into it yet. Anyone want to convince me on why I should be getting started on it pronto?

 

[Ginola14]

Another that wouldn't be on my list, never felt the love for it like many others.

 

[mistermagic]

@ Mike: Jackinky & SUTSS.

 

[Cardsfan]

This has been on my to-read list for years and I still haven't got round to delving into it yet. Anyone want to convince me on why I should be getting started on it pronto?

Its ok, it drags in the middle a bit and the middle 100 pages could be cut out. Its alright but its probably not worth your time.

 

[mistermagic]

#21 - The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth - 34 points, 2 lists (2012: N/A)

The story of the planned assasination of French president Charles De Gaulle. The year is 1962 and De Gaulle has finally granted Algeria independance with probably his most famous speech ("Je vous ai compris"). Disgruntled right-wing extremists are unhappy with such an event and hire a professional killer whose name is never mentioned in the book. He just goes by the name, The Jackal.
Follows the manhunt from the French and British secret service to find out who and where this killer is and how to stop him killing one of the most influential political figures at the time.
I remember reading this aged 18 and probably should give it another read as I most certainly didn't get all the political and historical intricacies that the book deals with. Good book which I highly recommend if like me you prefer reading novellized history rather than history books (not that this book is a true story, just inspired by a genuine political climate).

 

[Stagat]

One of mine. Really liked the detail of the bloke's plan (and how bloody cool he was), the background, the characters, the pace, the way it described the locations, the suspense, pretty much everything apart from the sex bits. They felt a bit unnecessary.

btw, not quite on the level of Catch-22 inventing a phrase, but the book did lend its name to the Jackal passport scam/identity fraud method.

Spoiler: Book Conclusion Spoiler

Was a bit gutted when the Jackal was killed at the end. He was that cool, he was like the good guy, even though he was the bad guy.

 

[lordofthepies]

I never thought to vote for the Day of the Jackal, but I do really like it. I should probably read some more Forsyth, as this remains the only one of his I have read so far.

 

[mistermagic]

#20 - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - 34 points, 4 lists (2012: N/A)

Viewed by most as the all-time Christmas classics #1, A Christmas Carol is the story of grumpy old man Ebeneezer Scrooge (OMG is that what EG got his name from? IS IT???) hating Christmas and the general happiness around it. He then gets the visit of 3 Christmas ghosts (one of the past, one of the present and one of the future) who teach him that charity, kindness and goodwill are actually nice.
I'm quite surprised to see this short (100 pages) story be so high in the list and on so many people's choices. It really goes against what Dickens is all about: poverty, hardship, having a word for the poor, misery and suffering etc. I'm even more surprised that this book didn't make it in 2012 at all and that posters at the time focussed on more sad novels such as Hard Times. Maybe TFF was a place for sad bastards in 2012 or maybe posters were very much in the Christmas spirit as I got loads of lists very late on.
Guess we'll never know.

 

[Veggie Legs]

I've never read a Christmas Carol, but I can tell you that Ebeneezer Goode's name is from a song:

 

[mistermagic]

That band used the book for inspiration though. #amirite

 

[Son of Cod]

#25 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy - 30 pts, 4 lists (2012: 46)

Yet another love/hate book. It deals with a man's sojourn with his son after an apocalypse hit where the two characters lived. They are going south where it is said to be less gray and less dark. We don't know where this is supposed to happen and there is no plot. It is a relatively short work by McCarthy and uses a poetic prose. It also doesn't use quotation marks during a conversation which a lot of people had problems with.

The Road was my number one. To say there is no plot is doing the book a massive injustice. I've read this no plot line before, with regards to The Road. You've described the plot and then said there is no plot! What people mean when they say that about this work is that there is no discernible "beginning, middle and an end". The book is undoubtedly about the father and son's relationship and the love that they share in the dark world that they're struggling through. It's an overwhelmingly strong tale in places, with some horrific and heartbreaking parts. I think "emotionally shattering" is the review quote that sticks in my head as being the most apt. The ending is so beautifully written and moved me to tears the first time I read it.

You really should. I think you'll find that you get used to the dialect pretty quickly. It's worth the effort - great book. This was somewhere in my top 3.

Lolita is another book that probably would have been on my list if it was a top 30. Definitely a classic.

Yeah Trainspotting is brilliant and would have made my list had it not been for Glue. I think it took me about half of Filth (the first Welsh book I read) to get used to the Scottish accents.

 

[mistermagic]

#19 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam - 36 points, 3 lists (2012: #10)

Here comes the first instalment of the Hitchhiker's series. THGTTG is our top Douglas Adam book after the previous appearances of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and So Long and Thanks for All the Fish.
The story is about two friends, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, going in space exploring the galaxy along with other savvy characters such as Zaphod Beeblebrox, a 2-headed 3-armed ex-hippie, Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend, Marvin, a chronically depressed robot and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who has a thing for making ballpoint pens disappearing.
This book is not to be taken seriously. It really is about Adam going mental and having lots of fun writing a book and it works. Some quotes I read while researching the book are funny and witty. If you have time to kill and looking for a laugh then this book looks like doing the trick.

 

[Oaf]

Hitchhikers was recommended to me on here (or, you know... there) and I can't thank people enough for introducing me to those books. The most entertaining reads I think I've ever had and provided plenty of moments where you're sat reading while laughing like a twat.

 

[SUTSS]

I've read the Hitchhiker's series so many times. Fun and entertaining. I think it's much harder to get humour across on the page than it is on screen but Adams manages it superbly.

 

[RavenBish]

Good book which I highly recommend if like me you prefer reading novellized history rather than history books (not that this book is a true story, just inspired by a genuine political climate).

This is me. Anyone have any good recommendations? Either true stories or similar to DOTJ (which is one of the few I've actually read).

 

[mistermagic]

This is me. Anyone have any good recommendations? Either true stories or similar to DOTJ (which is one of the few I've actually read).

Who?

Robert Harris is my reference. He's done some shit down the years but when it's good, it's really good.
Actually I'm finishing my second Bernard Cornwell and it's also good. So there you have it Bish, two authors!

 

[RavenBish]

Yeah, I've read Fatherland and Enigma. World War II is a bit boring to me now though.

 

[mistermagic]

The fact that you read the only WWII Robert Harris books doesn't help! Imperium and Lustrum are fantastic. They are about Cicero's slave (iirc). I recently read An Officer and A Spy which is the story of the Dreyfus affair that hit France in the late 1800s. Superb. The Ghostwriter is also better than the film.

 

[mistermagic]

#18 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling - 37 points, 2 lists (2012: N/A)

Book 4 of the Harry Potter series. This one is #6 in chronological order and takes place between Harry's 5th and 6th at Hogwarts (the super school of magic). While chilling having a beer, that he drinks with his wand as he's not old enough to drink like a true magician, Harry gets the surprise visit of Professor Dumbledore. What could possibly bring the Professor to Harry's backyard?
Read the book if you want to find out! Many HP experts have classed this one as #1 of the series!

 

[This Charming Mike]

WHAT?! Worst book of the series for me.

 

[mistermagic]

I think it's called a difference of opinion...

This HP was placed extremely high by the two members who voted for it.

 

[Veggie Legs]

Not my favourite Harry Potter either, I'd rank it somewhere in the middle. Did anyone vote for all seven?

 

[IanH]

I think I voted for the Half Blood Prince. I chose to only select one HP book and this, for me, was the best. It was my favourite series of books as both a child, and more recently as an adult learning Spanish and it may well have been number one on my list.

My guilty secret is that about half of the reading I've done in the last year or so has been reading Harry Potter fan fiction. I can try to butter it up by saying it is all in Spanish, but that is still incredibly sad for a 28 year old bloke who generally despises anything fantasy-related and thinks kids books are for kids. The fact is though that JKR didn't just write seven books, she created a universe that has endless possibilities and there is no other author who has ever done that.

 

[mnb089mnb]

I think I voted for the Half Blood Prince. I chose to only select one HP book and this, for me, was the best. It was my favourite series of books as both a child, and more recently as an adult learning Spanish and it may well have been number one on my list.

My guilty secret is that about half of the reading I've done in the last year or so has been reading Harry Potter fan fiction. I can try to butter it up by saying it is all in Spanish, but that is still incredibly sad for a 28 year old bloke who generally despises anything fantasy-related and thinks kids books are for kids. The fact is though that JKR didn't just write seven books, she created a universe that has endless possibilities and there is no other author who has ever done that.

I am far too old to have read Harry Potter when I was a child, but I can certainly understand the allure of the books. They're magical. Fantastic. I'm sure if I were born a few years later that I'd have absolutely adored them too.

I woudn't have got into the fan fiction though, you sad bastard.

 

[IanH]

If you're calling me a sad bastard then I know I'm in trouble. That's not meant as a dig, just that you're one of the most non-judgemental people on the board. I should probably re-evaluate my life right now.