Books everyone should read

[country_boy]

I've just got back into reading, can anyone recommend a book you think everyone should read before they die?
Would post in Literature but it's as quiet as a library in there!

[alijangra]

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes.

[raysparx1]

I would say Animal farm
Diary of anne Frank
Addict by steven smith
Angelas ashes

And everybody should read "The Ragged trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressal

And for humour any thing by Tom Sharpe

[raysparx1]

Should have also mentioned some of Thomas hardys books, also some Dickens, can be hard to get into but great books once you do, and White Fang, Kack London

[raysparx1]

Sorry Jack London kack don't sound nice does it .

[hippyhoppy]

Have you tried a Mike Gayle - hilarious from a womans point of view - interested to hear what a man thinks...

[country_boy]

cheers Ray, have found Hardy a bit hard to keep my attention in the past.
Ragged trousered one sounds intriguing tho!
Loads to go on now, will compile a top ten out of this, will keep me going for ages - thanks folks.

[jake-the-peg]

I love Umberto Eco's books although sometimes he frustrates me by insisting on taking the plot lines in different directions to where I wan't to go, and they can be intimidating and impenetrable at first before widening out into intricate webs of references and subtlties.

I wouldn't say they were books for everyone but I love Foucault's Pendulum - a group of friends create the ultimate conspiracy theory or Baudolino - Constantinople's fall in 1453 as a backdrop as a group of adventurers journey to the East meeting the fabulous creatures seen on medaevil maps

[AllyLally]

"Perfume" by Patrick Suskind. The most memorable book I've ever read. I've given copies to teenage nephews and middle-aged friends and they've all loved it. It's a very slim book - you'll finish it in a few hours, but you'll always remember it, I promise!

[country_boy]

Great to see people are passionate about books still these days, just re-discovering them myself.
Love a book that will grab me early on and becomes un-put-down-able!
Keep your recommendations coming

[country_boy]

Sold me on that Ally, especially as I've got so many to read now!

[AllyLally]

Great choice! Let me know what you thought, won't you ....

[country_boy]

Will do Ally

[Goodsoulette]

speaking of slim books, one of the best books to read if you are feeling a bit down, The Diving BEll and the Butterfly by Jean Dominique Bauby.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a translation of the French memoir Le scaphandre et le papillon by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. It describes what his life is like after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition called locked-in syndrome.

The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid. An amanuensis repeatedly recited a frequency-ordered alphabet, until Bauby blinked to choose the next letter. The book took about two hundred thousand blinks to write and each word took approximately two minutes. The book chronicles everyday events and what they are like for a person with locked-in syndrome. These events include playing at the beach with his family, getting a bath, and meeting visitors. The book was published on March 6, 1997. It received excellent reviews and sold 150,000 copies in the first week. Three days after the French version of the book was published, Bauby died.

Locked in condition is where you have a fuly active brain but cant move speak or anything. All he could do was blink. If you ever think life is going bad for you it really makes you think, hang on, my life isnt that duff, its quite inspirational.

[oRiX]

try the Rebus series by Ian Rankin if you are into crime

i think someone has already said it but i must repeat it, '1984' as well as 'animal farm' both by 'Orsen Wells'

war of the worlds H.G.Wells

if you like fantasy 'The Lord of the Rings' is like the 'Of war and peace' of this genre, Extremely tedious if you are not into walking...try the Wheel of time series by Robert Jordan

also ANY Discworld novel by terry pratchett

and of course The Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

It's hard to say what books MUST be read before you die, everyone like different things, and every book affects us differently. Find a genre you relate to, but don't be too scared to step outside of that paricular realm.

[sophie_1003]

For a gentler version of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is thoroughly enjoyable! Most of the books I would have said have been mentioned already but my personal favourites are-
Little Women & Good Wives by Louisa M Alcott
The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Peter Pan by J. M Barrie
The Green Mile by Stephen King
Truckers, Diggers and Wings by Terry Pratchett
any childrens classics too!

[garybfsl]

Fantasy
Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkein

Thrillers
At All Costs - John Gilstrap
39 Steps - John Buchan

Historical
The Lymond Chronciles (6 books) - Dorothy Dunnett

Crime
The complete Sherlock Holmes - Conan Doyle

Classics
Treasure Island - R L Stevenson
The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins

I could go on and on and on. I would love to have the pleasure of reading the above all again for the first time.

[pingping]

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
I could go on and on!!

[pingping]

in response by oRix - 1984 and Animal Farm were both written by George Orwell and not Orsen Wells and both are fascinating (if slightly disturbing!) books.

[bubblem8]

To kill a mockinbird-Harper Lee
Complicity-Iain Banks
Fluke-James Herbert
The Woman Who Walked Into Doors-Roddy Doyle
A Child Called It-Dave Pelzer
The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe-CS Lewis
Wild Swans-Three Daughters Of China-Jung Chung
My Family and other animals-Gerald Durell

[Eeneymush]

please don't die - until you've read Atonement Ian Mcewan or Bird song Seb Faulks, makes grown men cry - or at least it should,