I Did It Again - Book Meme Two

[teddy_radiator]

I've already done this meme once, and the second time round, I was surprised it had changed a bit. Still, this is my new set of Top 10 books. You know the meme:


Okay, I've been tagged a couple of times for this, so the fact that more than one person actually would like to know what I read is a compliment and one it would be rude to ignore.

The rules: post a list of 10 books that have stayed with you in some way, then tag 10 friends to do the same! Don't take more than a few minutes and do not think too hard. They do not have to be the "right" books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way. (People below, please tag me as I did those who tagged me so I can see your list.) Here's my list, I feel these books stuck with me all my life and influenced me in many ways.

1. Dark Tower Series - Stephen King. I am currently reading these again, and while the first time they totally pissed me off, now I'm reading them through different eyes. This is a series that will enthrall and break you. It has wrecked me in places. King is not a writer I have read extensively, but I have more respect for him than pretty much any other writer. His ability to disarm and destroy you with a beautifully written sentence is his true gift, not all that horror stuff.

2. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell only wrote one book, and as far as she was concerned, it was no big deal. It is a perfect blend of history and her own social mores of the day. Whether you agree with it all or not, it is an unforgettable story.

3. The Godfather - Mario Puzo. As far as ripping yarns go, this one rips them all to shreds. The marvelous thing is that while you see the deeds than men do, you also can understand why - perhaps even appreciate their cunning and belief in taking care of their own world. When I read the Godfather, I think, "Yes, that's fair."

4. Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All - Allan Gurganus. Seeing a pattern here? I love just about everything there is to love about this story. It's gritty, and funny, and painful and at the end, you truly feel you have lived this life with Lucy Marsden. A masterpiece of writing style, characterisation and emotion.

5. Alas, Babylon - Pat Frank. I suppose this could be considered Pulp Fiction - very well-written pulp fiction. It was written in 1959, back when America still felt threatened by the 'Russkies' and segregation was part of everyday life, until complete thermonuclear war tears the country apart. The day of the war (because wars like this will only take a day or so) is a very chilling read, as technology, trade and social order crumble. And yet, there's a feeling of hope at the end. It's one of my favourite books ever.

6. Beach Music - Pat Conroy. Conroy is a Southern writer, and his descriptive style is breathaking. Being Southern, he, like myself, tends to lay it on a little thick, but for full on angst, love, loyalty and duty, not to mention Southern charm, he is in a class by himself.

7. Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Høeg. This is a Danish novel translated into English, and it is bleak and thoughtful and as brittle as the main character. When I read it, I feel the darkness of winter coming in. It has one of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever read, but it's complexity and intricacy have always snared me.

8. Shogun - James Clavell. For sweeping, masculine drama, you can't beat this novel. It's part history lesson, part travelogue, part political guide and part social study of 17th century Japan. Huge kudos for the mini-series as well; it perfectly captured the book.

9. Black Dagger Brotherhood Series - JR Ward. While the later books have sort of fallen off the rails and become formulaic, the first seven or so were worth the price of admission. Sexy, tough vampires, world building like whoa, romance, humour, sleaze, these books have got it all. Ward's voice is tough and street-wise, and she puts you right smack dab in the centre of the brains of her characters.

10. Harry Potter - JR Rowling. I put these last, because, while I love the books and what they represent, it was the fandom of these books that first drew me in - the knowledge that I could take these stories as a springboard to my own imagination. I will always be grateful for these books, because they unlocked something within, something I had been waiting to be unlocked for a very long time.

I won't tag anyone from this, because I don't know who has already done this or not. But if you want to do it, please do.

Comments

[lemonade8.livejournal.com]

Stephen King just has a way of encapsulating a point in time with such... I don't know... vivid realism... that even when he is writing 'horror', you can feel and know the place and time he's talking about. I read that behemoth "The Talisman" and that trail across the US was pretty accurate. I can tell that he has had to go to lots of book signings across the country.

I do love the non-horror book "Different Seasons"! I love the last novelette in it, "The Breathing Method". How can you not adore a supernatural men's club with a carving like "It's the tale, not he who tells it" on the fireplace mantle, I ask you?

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

What I love most about King is his ability to make you not only see the character and believe in his reality, but to come to love his characters. I fell a little bit in love with Johnny Smith from The Dead Zone and Eddie from the Dark Tower. No one can flesh out a character like King.

[delphipsmith]

Yes! Even in The Stand, for example, you can feel sorry for Harold and Nadine -- they're not just stock villains but real, complicated people who struggle to decide what to do with the hand fate has dealt them.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Even when they know they have the get out of jail free card in their hands, they turn their backs on them, even though they want to find acceptance enough to give them a reason to stay. The Stand was a masterpiece of writing, and one of my favourite books of all time, but I think Roland and The Dark Tower books have pushed it aside and firmly entrenched themselves in my heart. Weeks after I finished that series it's still calling to me.

I haven't read many of King's books, but I have such respect for him as a writer, and for the very reasons stated here. It is his ability to make you 'know' a character, to get right inside their head and live with them. And it's the way he can use the language - at times his eloquence takes my breath away. He can literally stun me with a beautifully worded sentence. Those things do so much more for me than all that horror business.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I fell in love with Roland, knowing his heart could never be mine, knowing he would sacrifice everything, including me, to realise his Quest. I wanted to hate him, but that dark vein of Romance King gave him tore open my soul over and over.

Hell, I cried my eyes out when Oy was killed.

[birdsofshore]

I've had that Brotherhood series recommended to me before, but I've never got around to giving them a look.

Thanks so much for these thoughts and recs!

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Thank you - Black Dagger is a very sexy bunch of vampires, and I really like her world building. She also wrote a companion piece called the Insider's Guide, which featured lots of good advice about writing and inspiration.

She also did the coolest thing - she set up a 'meme' and had all the main characters fill it in. It was so interesting that I had my own original characters do one that was similar. It really helped me get inside their heads.

[delphipsmith]

Shogun is hands down one of the best historical novels I've ever read. Time to dive into it again, I think...

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

It is lovely, isn't it? I also read Clavell's Nobel House, which mentions Blackthorn, Mariko and Toranaga's descendants as well. It wasn't nearly as much fun to read, but it tickled me to see these familiar names again.

[tamlane.livejournal.com]

Would you believe I haven't read any of these except the HP series? The Godfather is my favorite all-time film, though, for the reasons you mention. Moral ambiguity at its finest.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

The film was very faithful to the book, I will admit. It's very well written, and so sepia-toned. It's very readable; I stumbled upon a hardback version of it in a thrift store one day, and I've read it to death.

I love all the books (series) in this list very much, but Dark Tower was one I had to read twice to appreciate. Now it's in my bones and my blood; I think about it constantly.