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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 1380 Views
Hmmm. Difficult. Rebekah - 21/04/2010 08:15:31 PM 872 Views
Re: Hmmm. Difficult. lyringlas - 21/04/2010 08:35:03 PM 821 Views
Okay. Replace P&P with Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Rebekah - 21/04/2010 09:15:59 PM 772 Views
It is a book... Jacob - 23/04/2010 06:22:05 PM 891 Views
Hm. Maybe. Rebekah - 26/04/2010 03:08:12 PM 931 Views
Harumph. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 08:51:25 PM 946 Views
And of course Huxley's Brave New World. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 08:52:49 PM 794 Views
So now, if you would, edit it down to just five. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 09:13:13 PM 959 Views
No. I do enough editing as is. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 10:17:56 PM 826 Views
Thanks lyringlas - 21/04/2010 09:21:15 PM 998 Views
It is very good. Ghavrel - 21/04/2010 10:18:08 PM 942 Views
I've read a bit about it... LadyLorraine - 21/04/2010 11:04:52 PM 975 Views
Interesting. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 09:08:35 PM 974 Views
Re: Interesting. lyringlas - 21/04/2010 09:19:41 PM 983 Views
Without rules, peoples' best "5" becomes meaningless. Hard decisions need to be made. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:00:08 PM 848 Views
Yes, but then the number was arbitrary to begin with... Legolas - 21/04/2010 10:26:02 PM 834 Views
I disagree for the above stated reasons. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:30:13 PM 923 Views
I agree, #1 problem people had in composition classes... LadyLorraine - 22/04/2010 12:00:19 AM 966 Views
I was forced to read JUDE the OBSCURE in high school. Jacob - 21/04/2010 09:50:37 PM 1010 Views
It's in my top ten books of all time. The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:02:01 PM 917 Views
what are the others in your Top 10 of All Time? lyringlas - 21/04/2010 10:11:29 PM 805 Views
Here goes, The Shrike - 21/04/2010 10:36:21 PM 1097 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 979 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 827 Views
I think I might just reread some of them sometime soon. LadyLorraine - 22/04/2010 01:10:30 AM 960 Views
omg, naming top 10 is impossible. Aeryn - 22/04/2010 03:57:24 AM 1035 Views
I enjoyed it as well Larry - 21/04/2010 10:45:53 PM 905 Views
It's a powerful and shocking beginning to any book. The Shrike - 22/04/2010 01:01:03 AM 898 Views
Indeed Larry - 22/04/2010 03:07:48 AM 872 Views
Well, I was 16 Jacob - 23/04/2010 06:14:15 PM 911 Views
It might be worth at least trying to re-read LadyLorraine - 22/04/2010 12:01:47 AM 780 Views
I seem to recall that it was actual dislike. Jacob - 23/04/2010 06:15:37 PM 912 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 873 Views
I'm old and frequently forget nationalities Mossman - 21/04/2010 09:25:07 PM 980 Views
I loved Watership Down when I first read it! *NM* lyringlas - 21/04/2010 10:10:45 PM 414 Views
Difficult Beqi - 21/04/2010 10:00:09 PM 847 Views
Let's see... Legolas - 21/04/2010 10:37:07 PM 784 Views
Leaving aside the usual suspects (Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Chaucer, Hardy, Austen) Larry - 21/04/2010 10:49:35 PM 901 Views
Hm.... A Deathwatch Guard - 22/04/2010 12:44:20 AM 984 Views
This is a very difficult task. Tom - 22/04/2010 02:16:07 AM 843 Views
I love your number one. I love that book The Shrike - 22/04/2010 02:51:15 AM 813 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 924 Views
Definitely agree with Greg about the Wedgwood book. LiterateDog - 22/04/2010 04:06:49 PM 890 Views
I suppose it depends on definitions... jh - 22/04/2010 04:34:40 PM 841 Views
I'd count him as both The Shrike - 22/04/2010 07:11:58 PM 930 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 441 Views
I think you mean snoopcester - 22/04/2010 11:09:22 PM 823 Views
Oh wow. nossy - 22/04/2010 02:29:38 AM 880 Views
just remembered the Herriot books. nossy - 24/04/2010 03:48:18 PM 789 Views
James Herriot has a special place in my heart. LadyLorraine - 25/04/2010 01:45:50 AM 817 Views
Mine also snoopcester - 26/04/2010 11:02:19 AM 848 Views
Begone, you! *NM* nossy - 26/04/2010 02:54:07 PM 365 Views
What did I do? *NM* snoopcester - 26/04/2010 02:56:37 PM 395 Views
You might try The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. *NM* heartbreak - 22/04/2010 04:08:30 AM 402 Views
I'm going to cheat and give you two different lists Brian - 22/04/2010 06:54:18 AM 886 Views
Ooo nossy - 22/04/2010 06:54:21 PM 884 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 1072 Views
Only 5? snoopcester - 22/04/2010 11:43:32 AM 778 Views
Never delved much into British literature, but here are my five. Vodalus - 22/04/2010 07:43:24 PM 870 Views
Tricky. Camilla - 23/04/2010 11:12:36 AM 1109 Views
Re: 5 best books of British Authorship you've ever read BlackAdder - 23/04/2010 08:43:46 PM 972 Views
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