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Tricky. Camilla Send a noteboard - 23/04/2010 11:12:36 AM
Please list the 5 best British authored books you've ever read. I'm curious of what you've read, and how I can expand on my British literature.


5 isn't doable.
But I'll give you 5 English books that are not Shakespeare or Austen or Wodehouse or Tolkien or Arthur Conan Doyle or the rest of the pantheon of established literary gods that everyone knows about (that does not mean you shouldn't read them. They are excellent).

Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai
Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens
Lord Dunsany's something or other. There is a good Penguin collection of his stories.
Tom Stoppard's Travesties (provided you've already read Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare.

I know I'll change my mind the minute I press submit. 5 really is an absurd number.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
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5 best books of British Authorship you've ever read lyringlas - 21/04/2010 08:10:56 PM 1321 Views
Hmmm. Difficult. Rebekah - 21/04/2010 08:15:31 PM 814 Views
Re: Hmmm. Difficult. lyringlas - 21/04/2010 08:35:03 PM 757 Views
Okay. Replace P&P with Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Rebekah - 21/04/2010 09:15:59 PM 712 Views
It is a book... Jacob - 23/04/2010 06:22:05 PM 829 Views
Hm. Maybe. Rebekah - 26/04/2010 03:08:12 PM 869 Views
Harumph. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 08:51:25 PM 885 Views
And of course Huxley's Brave New World. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 08:52:49 PM 737 Views
So now, if you would, edit it down to just five. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 09:13:13 PM 891 Views
No. I do enough editing as is. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 10:17:56 PM 764 Views
Thanks lyringlas - 21/04/2010 09:21:15 PM 940 Views
It is very good. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 10:18:08 PM 884 Views
I've read a bit about it... LadyLorraine - 21/04/2010 11:04:52 PM 912 Views
Interesting. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 09:08:35 PM 912 Views
Re: Interesting. lyringlas - 21/04/2010 09:19:41 PM 912 Views
Without rules, peoples' best "5" becomes meaningless. Hard decisions need to be made. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:00:08 PM 780 Views
Yes, but then the number was arbitrary to begin with... Legolas - 21/04/2010 10:26:02 PM 766 Views
I disagree for the above stated reasons. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:30:13 PM 849 Views
I agree, #1 problem people had in composition classes... LadyLorraine - 22/04/2010 12:00:19 AM 903 Views
I was forced to read JUDE the OBSCURE in high school. Jacob - 21/04/2010 09:50:37 PM 946 Views
It's in my top ten books of all time. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:02:01 PM 856 Views
what are the others in your Top 10 of All Time? lyringlas - 21/04/2010 10:11:29 PM 745 Views
Here goes, The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:36:21 PM 1035 Views
...I think that's the first time I've noticed Lackey on anyone's top books list. <3 LadyLorraine - 22/04/2010 12:13:26 AM 915 Views
As a gay teenager, albeit a happy one in NYC, her books were still powerful for me. The Shrike - 22/04/2010 01:00:21 AM 762 Views
I think I might just reread some of them sometime soon. LadyLorraine - 22/04/2010 01:10:30 AM 891 Views
omg, naming top 10 is impossible. Aeryn - 22/04/2010 03:57:24 AM 954 Views
I enjoyed it as well Larry - 21/04/2010 10:45:53 PM 844 Views
It's a powerful and shocking beginning to any book. The Shrike - 22/04/2010 01:01:03 AM 830 Views
Indeed Larry - 22/04/2010 03:07:48 AM 809 Views
Well, I was 16 Jacob - 23/04/2010 06:14:15 PM 847 Views
It might be worth at least trying to re-read LadyLorraine - 22/04/2010 12:01:47 AM 720 Views
I seem to recall that it was actual dislike. Jacob - 23/04/2010 06:15:37 PM 851 Views
The movie version of Jude the Obscure is bad. Really bad. And doesn't make me want to read the book. Legolas - 21/04/2010 10:28:44 PM 808 Views
I'm old and frequently forget nationalities Mossman - 21/04/2010 09:25:07 PM 912 Views
I loved Watership Down when I first read it! *NM* lyringlas - 21/04/2010 10:10:45 PM 390 Views
Difficult Beqi - 21/04/2010 10:00:09 PM 788 Views
Let's see... Legolas - 21/04/2010 10:37:07 PM 723 Views
Leaving aside the usual suspects (Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Chaucer, Hardy, Austen) Larry - 21/04/2010 10:49:35 PM 832 Views
Hm.... A Deathwatch Guard - 22/04/2010 12:44:20 AM 928 Views
This is a very difficult task. Tom - 22/04/2010 02:16:07 AM 777 Views
I love your number one. I love that book The Shrike - 22/04/2010 02:51:15 AM 745 Views
It was the book I had in mind when talking about Island at the Center of the World. Tom - 22/04/2010 02:57:32 AM 869 Views
Definitely agree with Greg about the Wedgwood book. LiterateDog - 22/04/2010 04:06:49 PM 829 Views
I suppose it depends on definitions... jh - 22/04/2010 04:34:40 PM 773 Views
I'd count him as both The Shrike - 22/04/2010 07:11:58 PM 852 Views
Irish by accident of birth, English to the depths of his soul by the grace of God. *NM* Tom - 22/04/2010 10:12:28 PM 411 Views
I think you mean snoopcester - 22/04/2010 11:09:22 PM 756 Views
Oh wow. nossy - 22/04/2010 02:29:38 AM 820 Views
just remembered the Herriot books. nossy - 24/04/2010 03:48:18 PM 721 Views
James Herriot has a special place in my heart. LadyLorraine - 25/04/2010 01:45:50 AM 731 Views
Mine also snoopcester - 26/04/2010 11:02:19 AM 772 Views
Begone, you! *NM* nossy - 26/04/2010 02:54:07 PM 337 Views
What did I do? *NM* snoopcester - 26/04/2010 02:56:37 PM 367 Views
You might try The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. *NM* heartbreak - 22/04/2010 04:08:30 AM 369 Views
I'm going to cheat and give you two different lists Brian - 22/04/2010 06:54:18 AM 828 Views
Ooo nossy - 22/04/2010 06:54:21 PM 808 Views
If I wanted to be really specific I could say book 1: The Sword in the Stone Brian - 23/04/2010 02:37:24 AM 1006 Views
Only 5? snoopcester - 22/04/2010 11:43:32 AM 723 Views
Never delved much into British literature, but here are my five. Vodalus - 22/04/2010 07:43:24 PM 799 Views
Tricky. Camilla - 23/04/2010 11:12:36 AM 1042 Views
Re: 5 best books of British Authorship you've ever read BlackAdder - 23/04/2010 08:43:46 PM 902 Views
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