re-readable novels
Hugh Hewitt has asked bloggers to name novels they’ve re-read or would re-read.
Here’s my own short list – all books I haven’t seen mentioned on Hewitt. The Amazon.com reviews are good.
The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann.
This novel was a huge influence in forming my political consciousness. It features a classic liberal and a classic conservative fighting for the soul of a feckless youth. Deep, rich, powerful arguments from both sides.
Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy.
An unbelievable read, but not for the faint-of-heart. McCarthy’s prose is beyond purple at times, but I loved every ultra-violet word of it. Sometimes I open it up randomly and read a paragraph or two, just to remind myself what can happen when you rub the right words together.
The Man Who Loved Children, by Christina Stead.
Randall Jarrell called it the 20th century’s Moby Dick, and there’s something to that. TMWLC is big, sprawling, and long-winded in parts, but its brilliant and horrifying portrayal of 1940’s family living in Georgetown is riveting (almost) throughout.
Dog Soldiers, by Robert Stone.
I’ve re-read this book six or seven times. Stone’s politics, especially later in his career, are awful, but if anyone writes a better American sentence I don’t know who it is.
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller, Jr.
This 1959 sci-fi classic is frequently voted the best sci-fi book ever written… and it’s especially prescient in this new century when we’re all sitting around waiting for the other (bigger) shoe to drop.
Boom boom boom.
Then what?
Here’s my own short list – all books I haven’t seen mentioned on Hewitt. The Amazon.com reviews are good.
The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann.
This novel was a huge influence in forming my political consciousness. It features a classic liberal and a classic conservative fighting for the soul of a feckless youth. Deep, rich, powerful arguments from both sides.
Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy.
An unbelievable read, but not for the faint-of-heart. McCarthy’s prose is beyond purple at times, but I loved every ultra-violet word of it. Sometimes I open it up randomly and read a paragraph or two, just to remind myself what can happen when you rub the right words together.
The Man Who Loved Children, by Christina Stead.
Randall Jarrell called it the 20th century’s Moby Dick, and there’s something to that. TMWLC is big, sprawling, and long-winded in parts, but its brilliant and horrifying portrayal of 1940’s family living in Georgetown is riveting (almost) throughout.
Dog Soldiers, by Robert Stone.
I’ve re-read this book six or seven times. Stone’s politics, especially later in his career, are awful, but if anyone writes a better American sentence I don’t know who it is.
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller, Jr.
This 1959 sci-fi classic is frequently voted the best sci-fi book ever written… and it’s especially prescient in this new century when we’re all sitting around waiting for the other (bigger) shoe to drop.
Boom boom boom.
Then what?
posted by patrickhenry at 5:22 PM
1 Comments:
Who has time to re-read novels? I reread short stories, but to re-ead novels requires more time and lots of ddication. It means the novel better have been damn good.
That said, here are a few novels I've already re-read (not exhaustive):
1. To Kill A Mockingbird
2. Catcher In The Rye
3. A Separate Peace
And here are few I wouldn't mind re-reading (also not exhaustive):
1. Farenheit 451
2. The Boys From Brazil
(These were two of the first "grown-up" novels I read as a child)
3. East Of Eden (but I should probably read Grapes Of Wrath first)
4. Great Expectations
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