Some good choices on here. Graham Greene is my favourite writer, but I shall go in a different direction and nominate "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Not a particularly literary book but a most powerful indictment of hate driven injustice. The lonely fight against entrenched power is a universal and enduring theme
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If you could have written one of the great books, what would it be?
- Thread starter Magicpole
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Magicpole
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Another on my wish I'd written list.Some good choices on here. Graham Greene is my favourite writer, but I shall go in a different direction and nominate "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Not a particularly literary book but a most powerful indictment of hate driven injustice. The lonely fight against entrenched power is a universal and enduring theme
Saddleworth2
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Atticus Finch is one of the great literary heroes.Some good choices on here. Graham Greene is my favourite writer, but I shall go in a different direction and nominate "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Not a particularly literary book but a most powerful indictment of hate driven injustice. The lonely fight against entrenched power is a universal and enduring theme
Saddleworth2
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Two quotes from a book who's author is extremely commercial but doesn't get the critical acclaim he deserves. This book was simply amazing and I would have loved to have written it.
“Men who find themselves late are never sure. They are all the things the civics books tell us the good citizen should be: partisans but never zealots, respectors of the facts which attend each situation but never benders of those facts, uncomfortable in positions of leadership but rarely unable to turn down a responsibility once it has been offered . . . or thrust upon them. They make the best leaders in a democracy because they are unlikely to fall in love with power.”
“He looks like anybody you see on the street. But when he grins, birds fall dead off telephone lines...the grass yellows up and dies where he spits. He's always outside. He came out of time...He has the name of a thousand demons. Jesus knocked him into a herd of pigs once. His name is Legion. He's afraid of us...He knows magic. He can call the wolves and live in the crows...He's the king of nowhere.”
“Men who find themselves late are never sure. They are all the things the civics books tell us the good citizen should be: partisans but never zealots, respectors of the facts which attend each situation but never benders of those facts, uncomfortable in positions of leadership but rarely unable to turn down a responsibility once it has been offered . . . or thrust upon them. They make the best leaders in a democracy because they are unlikely to fall in love with power.”
“He looks like anybody you see on the street. But when he grins, birds fall dead off telephone lines...the grass yellows up and dies where he spits. He's always outside. He came out of time...He has the name of a thousand demons. Jesus knocked him into a herd of pigs once. His name is Legion. He's afraid of us...He knows magic. He can call the wolves and live in the crows...He's the king of nowhere.”
johnnytapia
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Executioner’s Song or The Unfortunates. Always read them both once a year and both always seem to throw up new insights. Mailer is my all time favourite author. Belligerent, bellicose, misogynistic womaniser but utterly compelling to read.
Saddleworth2
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Here is another amazing book that I wish I had written
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” ―
William Goldings 'Lord of the Flies'
“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” ―
William Goldings 'Lord of the Flies'
dobingsdobber
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The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
That is a bloody brilliant book, in my top 5 all time list.The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
MellowJoe
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I don't read much, but I read that book, I didn't really get it :/ I might try it again.. I remember thinking how well written it was, especially the bit where one of the coppers brought out is ever decreasing in size chests but I never knew what the fuck was going on reallyThat is a bloody brilliant book, in my top 5 all time list.