Ooooh, James Lee Burke! A fave of mine also. Met him at a book signing in Missoula, Montana some years back (nearly 9 now, I guess…WOW.) and have a signed copy of “Cimarron Rose” from him in my collection. He’s a great guy, with a kind of Hoyt Axton’s looks-from-the-early-eighties-vibe to him, articulate and interesting. He does make you want to go boozin’ and trawling with Dave Robicheaux all up and down the Bayou, doesn’t he?
–Beck
Got me some Flannery O’Connor and some Joyce Carol Oates, as well as Roach’s Spook. but I have work to do! Argh.
Haven’t seen it yet (I take it it’s the BBC film?).
Do read the book. It helps if you appreciate English humour, I think, but Durrell was a very funny yet evocative writer - I can almost hear the insects buzzing in the olive groves still…
Mr God, This Is Anna - read it when I was eleven, and every couple of years since. Ursula K Le Guin creates worlds that also sing to my soul S/F or fantasy. Ben Elton - though preferrably those of his books without deviant sexual acts, because they take so very long to leave the internal movie screen…
I forgot to mention another book (or series of books) that was very evocative for me - Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. (I think the mention of his brother Gerald reminded me). Kristin Lavransdatter transported me to Medieval Norway; This transported me to Egypt, ca. 1940s.
And I’ll also mention Paul Scott’s Jewel in the Crown novels - although I didn’t read them until after seeing the BBC mini-series, when I read them the images from the books and tv show all mushed together to make me feel I was there witnessing the end of the Raj in India.
The Chalk Giants - Keith Roberts
When the Lights go Out - Tanith Lee
All of Patrick O’Brian’s sea stories, but especially **The Far Side of the World ** and The Mauritius Command
Perdito Street Station - China Mieville
**The Pastel City ** - M John Harrison
The House on the Brink - John Gordon
Definitely Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury–that book takes me into a world that I can feel, touch, taste, and smell. It’s absolutely incredible, and one that I have to reread every so often so I can relive it. I feel the same way about Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes.
To Kill A Mockingbird is also very evocative, as is everything I’ve read by Flannery O’Connor. I haven’t read much Capote, and this thread is inspiring me–I’m going to have to make a library run.