Catch 22.
My daughter first read this in high school, and I think she still rereads it every year.
Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
41–50 of 52 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#42Sphere by Michael Crichton. I was quite young at the time, but I remember being completely engrossed. Please don't relate it to the movie version :)
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#43I have found books from Jon Evans very delightful and interesting to read:
1) Beasts of New York – http://www.beastsofnewyork.com/
2) Invisible Armies (thriller, drama, computer hacking) – http://www.rezendi.com/invisibleArmies.htm
Both books have their digital edition freely downloadable as well.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#44Sphere by Michael Crichton. I was quite young at the time, but I remember being completely engrossed. Please don't relate it to the movie version :)
Loved this book when I was younger. Fascinating read.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#45`Do robot's dream of electric sheep` by Philip K. Dick
Do not relate to the movie adaptation (Blade runner) as it is completely different.
The ending of it is brilliant, and when I had finished it I felt sad and wanted to read it all again :D
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#46A confederacy of dunces, amazing book! tragedy, comedy, insane characters, really good book!
The biggest tragedy of A Confederacy of Dunces is that it's author, John Kennedy Toole, did not live to see its publishing and success. I also love this book!
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#47Catch 22.
> When I read something saying I've not done anything as good as Catch-22 I'm tempted to reply, "Who has?" -- Heller, author of Catch-22
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#48"All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Since you're going with "classics" I'd add: * Les Liaisons dangereuses * The Count of Monte Cristo Plus my personal picks; Taltos the assassin, Chronicles of Amber, Dune & LoTR.
All the nerds I know (which is basically everybody I know) like the Vlad Taltos books. As long as you're OK with dragons, sarcasm, and crime you should like them, too.
I just hope he comes back to the Lady Teldra plot sometime soon. The last few books have left me hanging for almost as long as I can bear.
Re: Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read?
#50The Master of Hestviken, by Sigrid Unset (long forgotten, but she was a Pulitzer-winning author in the 1930's), is probably the best novel I've ever read.