# Please recommend some novels based on included criteria **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626 "2016-05-12T18:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/21 "2016-05-13T05:31:06Z")
I loved Kavalier and Klay too. My suggestion would be something by Mark Helprin. While reading [A Soldier of the Great War](http://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Great-Helprin-Mark-Hardcover/dp/B00HTCDYAK?ie=UTF8&keywords=mark%20helprin&qid=1463117036&ref_=sr_1_12&s=books&sr=1-12), I recall several times pausing to re-read a particular sentence because it was so beautifully written. Read some of the Amazon reviews in the link and you’ll see I’m not alone. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/22 "2016-05-13T07:02:33Z")
If I understand your criteria, my nominees, in no particular order, might be: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (although, in truth, I recommend this book no matter the criteria!) Tana French, who writes what are ostensibly police proceedurals but has perhaps the greatest contemporary gift for prose I’ve read in years, start with In The Woods. The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach, baseball-related. I’m also a big fan of James Lee Burke’s writing, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/23 "2016-05-13T14:28:57Z")
Mark Helprin is a master of gorgeous prose. If you want a linear novel, try _Soldier of the Great War_. If you’re up for some magical realism in a novel length prose poem, go with _Winter’s Tale_ (which took me forever to read, not because it was difficult or dull, it was neither. I just had to constantly stop, gasp at the beauty of the language and reread)./ gush ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/24 "2016-05-13T14:48:47Z")
Ray Bradbury has (had) an amazing gift of language. He’s certainly not just a “sci-fi” guy, but someone who can tell a story with extremely affecting and moving prose. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/25 "2016-05-13T15:04:19Z")
I can’t say enough good things about Walker Percy; _Love In The Ruins_ is a good place to start. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/26 "2016-05-13T16:16:55Z")
Here are some books that I found very beautifully written, but were also nicely and briskly plotted without any experimental frills (because I do really think that Faulkner’s prose is beautiful, but it’s definitely not breezy reading): [Sea of Poppies](http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Poppies-Novel-Ibis-Trilogy/dp/0312428596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463155989&sr=8-1&keywords=sea+of+poppies) by Amitav Ghosh (and sequels) [Never Let Me Go](http://www.amazon.com/Never-Let-Me-Kazuo-Ishiguro/dp/1400078776/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156014&sr=8-1&keywords=never+let+me+go) by Kazuo Ishiguro [Out Stealing Horses](http://www.amazon.com/Out-Stealing-Horses-Per-Petterson/dp/0312427085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156039&sr=8-1&keywords=out+stealing+horses) by Per Petterson [Zone One](http://www.amazon.com/Zone-One-Colson-Whitehead/dp/0307455173/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156064&sr=8-1&keywords=zone+one) by Colson Whitehead (anything really by Colson Whitehead) [The Monsters of Templeton](http://www.amazon.com/Monsters-Templeton-Lauren-Groff/dp/140134092X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156087&sr=8-1&keywords=the+monsters+of+templeton) by Lauren Groff [Black Swan Green](http://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Green-David-Mitchell/dp/0812974018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156107&sr=8-1&keywords=black+swan+green) and [The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet](http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Autumns-Jacob-Zoet-Novel/dp/0812976363/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156127&sr=8-1&keywords=the+thousand+autumns) by David Mitchell (who is known for being quite experimental, but these two are very straightforward in terms of plot) [Life After Life](http://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Novel-Kate-Atkinson/dp/0316176494/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156150&sr=8-1&keywords=life+after+life) by Kate Atkinson (which is conceptually a little out there, but not in terms of the reading experience, if that makes sense. It isn’t cryptic or obscure.) [The Time of Our Singing](http://www.amazon.com/Time-Our-Singing-Novel/dp/0312422180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463156179&sr=8-1&keywords=the+time+of+our+singing) by Richard Powers ---
**Author:** ![Esturionette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9d8465/32.png) [@Esturionette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esturionette)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/27 "2016-05-21T12:14:21Z")
I think most of Ursula K. LeGuin’s works would fit your criteria. If I were to recommend one thing specifically, it would be [The Lathe Of Heaven](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lathe-Heaven-S-F-MASTERWORKS/dp/1857989511). Runner-up: “Paradises Lost”, a short story from [The Birthday of the World](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birthday-World-Ursula-K-Guin/dp/0060509066). Another of my favourites is [The God of Small Things](https://www.amazon.co.uk/God-Small-Things-Arundhati-Roy/dp/0006550681) by Arundhati Roy. That thing is impossible to read quickly, I savour every word each time. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/28 "2016-05-22T22:10:16Z")
I noticed a lot of lovely turns of phrase in David Mitchell’s Slade House and The Bone Clocks. Well worth reading, if you have the patience to read what are essentially short stories with another short story embedded in them. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/29 "2016-05-23T00:04:00Z")
A Death in the Family by James Agree ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/30 "2016-05-25T02:54:59Z")
I’m a huge fan of the crime novels of W.R. Burnett, most of them as good, many better, than the more famous movies adapted from them: **Little Caesar, The Asphalt Jungle, Iron Man** (hard to find but worth it, with some chapters as good as anything Hemingway ever wrote, just considered as prose) and, my favorite Burnett novel of all, **High Sierra** , way superior to the excellent movie based on it. Also excellent, Grahame Greene, whose novels are now considered classic. Where to begin? Well, **The Quiet American, The Heart Of The Matter, Our Man In Havana, The Human Factor** and, from earlier on, **Orient Express** and **Brighton Rock**. So many to choose from. Most local libraries should be well stocked with Greene’s novels. On a more modest level, and still highly entertaining, the novels, especially the early ones, of Eric Ambler, a “spy specialist” whose novels of intrigue are often set “somewhere in the Levant”, or nearby. Two well known early ones: **Journey Into Fear** and **A Coffin For Dimitrios**. His later novel, **The Light Of Day** , was adapted into the charming movie **Topkapi**. Ray Bradbury has already been mentioned, however two other masters of the short story, John Collier and Roald Dahl, deserve a mention. Also, for darker subject matter, Cornell Woolrich is tough to beat. As for crime fiction, just about any novel by Raymond Chandler is, if you’re in the right frame of mind, and enjoy reading a book by someone who obviously loves writing, Chandler is a joy. The somewhat similar but less flamboyant James M. Cain is also good but more journeyman. Chandler was a master of the English language who, had he been born at a different time, had a more ambitious disposition, could have been one of the “greats”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/31 "2016-05-25T03:20:31Z")
_The Go-Between_, by L. P. Hartley. If you’ve heard the quote “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there”, that’s where it’s from. Also second Willa Cather, esp. _Death Comes for the Archbishop_. John Buchan is best known for his Richard Hannay adventure stories, especially _The 39 Steps_, all (well, most) of which are quite well-written in their own right; but if you want something really extraordinary, try his historical (Tudor) novel _The Blanket of the Dark_. It’s thoughtful, and haunting, and deep-rooted, and a damn good read, and _different_. ---
**Author:** ![CatastrophicFailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@CatastrophicFailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatastrophicFailure)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/32 "2016-05-25T03:32:50Z")
Another vote for Nabokov. I loved Kavelier and Klay. Have you read Wonderboys? Loved that one, too. Philip Roth’s writing is beautiful. Also Salman Rushdie. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/33 "2016-05-25T06:30:55Z")
> [@CatastrophicFailure](#): > > Another vote for Nabokov. > > I loved Kavelier and Klay. Have you read Wonderboys? Loved that one, too. > > Philip Roth’s writing is beautiful. Also Salman Rushdie. …and Philip Roth grew over the years. He was quite the mature, serious and at times lyrical writer when he wrote the deeply felt **American Pastoral**. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/34 "2016-05-25T12:11:17Z")
And another vote for Nabokov. When I want beautiful prose I like: E.M. Forester A.S. Byatt Margaret Atwood Jane Austen If you’ve never read To Kill A Mockingbird, its very good prose. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/35 "2016-05-25T13:24:55Z")
Anything by Marilynne Robinson - _Gilead_ is amazing, but I just finished _Home_ recently and found it even better. Bring a hanky though. God. I reread _1984_ a few years ago and was really struck by the language, which of course is surely on purpose as it’s about people who have been robbed of their language. Just wonderful. ETA - oh, wait, how about John Crowley’s _Little, Big_? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/36 "2016-05-25T14:20:34Z")
[The Fool’s Progress](http://www.amazon.com/Fools-Progress-Honest-Novel/dp/0805057919/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464185837&sr=1-1&keywords=the+fools+progress) by Edward Abbey …slamming the door behind her. Slams it so hard the replastered wall around the doorframe shivers into a network of fine reticulations, revealing the hand of a nonunion craftsman. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/37 "2016-05-25T14:26:57Z")
When I re-read _Charlotte’s Web_ as an adult, I was struck by how beautifully written it was. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626/38 "2016-05-25T14:38:13Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > When I re-read _Charlotte’s Web_ as an adult, I was struck by how beautifully written it was. It’s gorgeous, and cries to be read aloud. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-some-novels-based-on-included-criteria/754626.md?page=1)