Is The Virginian by Owen Wister one of the best books ever? If not what is?

[peggybac]

A Separate Peace

[This Just In]

Yes. Our family also enjoys the Adventure In Odyssey CD’s.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

No, I haven’t — but they sound like great fun!

[This Just In]

Have you read The Inklings by Carpenter?

[Valpal1]

No, but I shall add it to my library list. Thanks for the tip.

[Stonewall Jackson]

If you like Westerns, I recommend anything by Louis L'Amour, with a strong emphasis on the Sackett series (start with Sackett and then try The Daybreakers and The Sackett Brand, they are the easiest access to the series).

For military fiction, I enjoy Tom Clancy and Harold Coyle (also check out of fellow FReeper Jeff Head's Dragon's Fury).

But my one true love has to be science fiction. Some of my favorite authors include Timothy Zahn, Elizabeth Moon, Isaac Asminov, David Drake, Eric Flint, Orson Scott Card, John Ringo, Harry Turtledove, and David Weber.

[dennisw]

Lord of Darkness by Robert Silverberg

[CaliGirl-R]

A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving is one of mine.

[Billthedrill]

If you liked that you might also like Shane by Jack Schaefer. One I also really enjoyed in that genre was Outlaw by Warren Kiefer.

As far as a "perfect" book, it's hard to say. A Farewell To Arms was a masterpiece of construction. Another one good enough to teach courses around is, believe it or not, a Stephen King novel, Salem's Lot. Concision, pacing, character development, and the emotional arc between story and reader - these two are pretty good models of the art form. Already mentioned, Gibson's Neuromancer was very stylish. 1984 was simply bone-chilling, a masterpiece of horror that wasn't even a horror novel. I don't think any of these is likely to leave you feeling cheated.

[Bonaparte]

Blood Meridien (Cormac McCarthy) is a fine literary western.

The Pistoleer (James Carlos Blake) is a taut and engrossing fictionalized account of John Wesley Hardin's life. Blake has also written some of the most violent westerns I've ever read, such as In The Rogue Blood. And his short stories will knock you on your keister.

Desperadoes (Ron Hansen) is an excellent tale of the Dalton Gang. He also does a fine job in The Assassination of Jesse James.

[fish hawk]

“Dune”

[Bonaparte]

Sounds like you might appreciate The House Nextdoor (Ann Rivers Siddons), a psychological horror novel. Never saw any other author create such a vivid sense of sweltering claustrophobia. She rivals the best of Shirley Jackson.

[Lancey Howard]

Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein

[B-Chan]

Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

[This Just In]

Have you read any of Tony Hillerman’s books?

[microgood]

East of Eden - John Steinbeck
The Stand - Steven King
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (basis of Apocalypse Now movie)

[sushiman]

On The Road by Jack Kerouac who was a true American patriot ( and not what the media and press portrayed him as ...yes , he drank but ...) . On The Road is Jack’s love letter to America . The newly published On The Road : The Original Scroll ( unedited and as Jack wanted it published ) highly recommended .

[athelass]

I second most of the above. You should also definitely read The Road by Cormac McCarthy; The Open Range Men by Lauran Paine; American Gods and The Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (read everything by NG, he's brilliant); Lonesome Dove (already mentioned but worth listing twice) by Larry McMurtry; Fantasy? Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, David Eddings, R.A. Salvatore, Robin Hobb, Stephen King; for series nobody beats Martha Grimes, Patrick O'Brien and Bernard Cornwell; non-fiction, The Prince of Darkness by Robert Novak. Something lighter? The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher; Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (my husband just read them all and loved them). I could talk books all night but that should keep you busy for awhile.

My top five books(and I am a voracious reader):
The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien; Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen; Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens; Les Miserables, Victor Hugo; The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I wanna see ya smile when ya talk like that, pardner.

[PJ-Comix]

The best novel ever is a tossup between From Here To Eternity and Some Came Running. Both by James Jones. Don't go by the movies of either. The novels are MUCH better. In the case of Some Came Running they used the same title and character names but there the similarity between novel and movie ends. There is no better look at small town American life than Some Came Running. Critics at the time HATED it because it seemed "too ordinary." Yes, it was about "ordinary" Americans but the book was incredible as well as accurate. I conside Some Came Running to be THE Great American Novel.