Do you have a "perfect" book?

Meaning, not necessarily your favorite book, but one you can’t see any flaws in? As an example, David James Duncan’s The Bothers K is one of my favorite books, but there are long passages in the second half that I slog through and could do without. Similarly, A Prayer for Owen Meany is a favorite, but some of John’s meandering stories about his life in Canada could be cut (IMO.)

So, what are some books you wouldn’t change one sentence from?

Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett is pretty tight and pretty perfect. It isn’t a sweeping book, or a deep one, but it’s a master of its own thing.

Sorry for the obvious vote, but the first book that comes to mind is The Great Gatsby.

Another book that I would hold up as pretty much perfectly written is Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. From a writing-as-craft standpoint, that brief, complex, brilliant book is a master class. Nothing wasted.

The Art of Eating, by MFK Fischer…heck anything she wrote

The Art Lover by Carol Maso is a gem. Also, wrenching. Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness is beautiful in language and construction.

Godstalk, by P.C. Hodgell. I’ve re-read it many times over the years, and there’s still not a bit of it I skip or skim. It’s densely descriptive, full of subplots to keep things interesting, and rife with evocative asides that bring the bizarre madhouse of a city to life. It tells you just enough that the (often quite odd) plot twists make sense, and not so much as to lose the sense of mystery.

Later novels in the series hold onto a lot of that, but not quite as tightly, and there are places in them where my attention might wander a bit, or a point seems a bit belabored. Not much, and I still love them, but I can think of places where I’d trim a few words or shift a location. I can’t think of a single such point in Godstalk.

(In fact, the only trimming it might have required was actually done before publication–one whole chapter was cut. It published as a separate short story, and it’s a good one, but it would have been an unnecessary digression in the novel.)

“The Farthest Shore,” third book of the original Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin.

Also, any of the five Demon Princes novels by Jack Vance, or his four Tschai books. The apex of his mastery of adventure science fiction.

“Palindrome,” by Stuart Woods.

And, while more of a short “comic” than a real “book,” “The Unstrung Harp” (or “Mr. Earbrass Writes a Novel”) by Edward Gorey. Flawless! Brilliant! Hilarious! And so very brutally true in every detail.

The Big Sleep, Tale of Two Cities and I’ll second the Great Gatsby.

Lolita.

Animal Farm - it’s short, succinct and moves along well.

The Bible. Just in case I ever want to run for public office some day. :smiley:

I was thinking about Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card earlier as I did some trivial something or other around the house, and I think it would be close for me, although I might just be propping it up in contrast to the books that followed it. I found them to be very disappointing.

I would also put Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein very near it in my almost perfect rankings. And Friday, also by RAH. I’m reluctant to pin a perfect badge on anything, but those strike me as close. Or I might just be a fanboy.

Jurgen by James Branch Cabell.

The Glory of Their Times. An oral history of the early days of baseball.

Where the Wild Things Are

Shane By Jack Schaefer

I’ve got some reading to do…

Smillas Sense of Snow.

And it know I’ll get flack for this but, Fight Club. They way it reads it’s almost like a song.

In different genres, yes. Each of these books is so good that it is practically perfect IMHO. And how could a perfect book not also be a favorite…?

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - high fantasy
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - military sf novel
Aztec by Gary Jennings - historical novel
Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis - American history
Kennedy by Theodore Sorensen - political bio
Fatherland by Robert Harris - alternative history
Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin - sf short story collection
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin - vampire novel
The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy - coming-of-age novel
The Keep by F. Paul Wilson - supernatural thriller

Ira Levin’s A Kiss Before Dying. Absolutely no plot holes whatsoever. And the biggest surprise is buried in the middle, so you can’t turn to the end to find out what it is.