# What are the 5 best novels you've ever read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068 "2003-07-26T12:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/81 "2003-07-27T18:37:09Z")
Villette by Charlotte Bronte One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marquez The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray Moby Dick by Herman Melville ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/82 "2003-07-27T19:44:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > \*\*It’d be cool if someone could compile the lists and rank the books, wouldn’t it? \*\* Go for it, **AuntiePam.** 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/83 "2003-07-27T19:47:32Z")
_Catch 22_, by Joseph Heller. _The Catcher in the Rye_, by Salinger. _The Grapes of Wrath_, by John Steinbeck. _A Passage to India_, by E. M. Forrster. _A Light in August_, by William Faulkner. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/84 "2003-07-27T19:52:56Z")
CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES (again) by J.K. Toole GENERATION X by Douglas Coupland I, CLAUDIUS/CLAUDIUS THE GOD (I’m counting this as one) by Robert Graves WINDS OF WAR/WAR AND REMEMBRANCE (ditto) by Herman Wouk (though this will make many folks hate me as it was critically panned) IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote For the sake of fairness, please let me add five by women authors: FAIR AND TENDER LADIES by Lee Smith THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Anne Tyler SEARCHING FOR CALEB by Anne Tyler THE GOOD EARTH (and sequels) by Pearl Buck INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE by Anne Rice (each sequel being just that much worse) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/85 "2003-07-27T19:53:59Z")
Bibliocat, I might give it a try, when it slows down a bit. I just noticed that **Pat Barker** made someone’s list too – the Regeneration Trilogy. Her other books are good too – I think I’ve read them all, and she is a master of the “no bulls\*\*\*” school of writing. Now I wish I had mentioned **Robertson Davies** – esp. the Deptford Trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/86 "2003-07-27T19:54:05Z")
Please strike “Generation X” above and write in “God Knows” by Joseph Heller. Please strike “In Cold Blood” in favor of Breakfast of Champions. ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/87 "2003-07-27T20:07:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > WINDS OF WAR/WAR AND REMEMBRANCE (ditto) by Herman Wouk (though this will make many folks hate me as it was critically panned) I won’t hate you. Those are two of my favorites, too! ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/88 "2003-07-27T20:21:14Z")
Damn. I went to bed last night thinking about this list. I can’t stop at just five. Just call me a bookaholic. 😃 I have to add: Roots Pillars of the Earth Interview with the Vampire The Man who talks to Horses (about the REAL horse whisperer) Crimson Petal and the White ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/89 "2003-07-27T20:29:33Z")
Caine Mutiny…Herman Wouk Shogun…James Clavell Holocaust…Gerald Green Cruel Sea…Nicholas Monasrrat Eye of the Needle…Ken Follett ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/90 "2003-07-27T21:13:44Z")
I don’t have a database program and I couldn’t figure out how to get Word to sort by the number, in order, but here are all the books mentioned that had more than one vote, with the number of votes. I’ll bet someone with a database/Access program could do better: 5 1984 7 – The Stand 6 – The Lord of the Rings 4 – The Godfather 4 – The Grapes of Wrath 4 – The Great Gatsby 4 – The Witching Hour 3 – The Brothers Karamazov 2 – The Good Earth 2 – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 2 – The Dollmaker 2 – The God of Small Things 2 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 2 – The Maltese Falcon 2 – The Name of the Rose 2 – The Notebook 2 – The Princess Bride 2 – The Secret History 2 – The Stranger 2 – The Woman in White 2 – The World According to Garp 12 - Catch 22 4 - A Confederacy of Dunces 5 - A Prayer for Owen Meaney 2 - A Soldier of the Great War 2 - A Suitable Boy 3 - A Tale of Two Cities 3 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 2 - Alice in Wonderland 2 - All Quiet on the Western Front 2 - Animal Farm 2 - As I Lay Dying 4 - Beloved 4 - Catcher in the Rye 2 - Chronicles of Narnia 3 - Cold Mountain 3 - Confederacy of Dunces 5 - Crime and Punishment 2 - Dandelion Wine 6 - Dune 2 - East of Eden 3 - For Whom the Bell Tolls 2 - Geek Love 6 - Gone with The Wind 2 - Great Expectations 2 - Hamlet 4 - I, Claudius 3 - Jane Eyre 5 - Les Miserables 2 - Light in August 2 - Like a Hole in the Head 3 - Little Women 2 - Little, Big 7 - Lolita 2 - Love In The Time of Cholera 3 - Mists of Avalon 2 - Moby Dick 2 - Of Mice And Men 4 - One Hundred Years of Solitude 2 - Pillars of the Earth 6 - Pride & Prejudice 6 - Rebecca 2 - Sirens of Titan 4 - Slaughterhouse Five 2 - Still Life with Woodpecker 2 - Stranger in A Strange Land 2 - Titus Groan and Gormenghast 15 - To Kill a Mockingbird 2 - Vanity Fair 2 - Vile Bodies 6 - Watership Down ---
**Author:** ![konspiration](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@konspiration](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/konspiration)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/91 "2003-07-27T21:47:31Z")
Metropolis by Thea von Harbou 1984 by George Orwell The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (counting all five books as one) Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/92 "2003-07-27T22:29:55Z")
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy O’Toole Lolita - Nabokov To Say Nothing Of The Dog - Connie Willis The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver This list is more representative than it is accurate. So many good books. ---
**Author:** ![Merla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Merla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merla)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/93 "2003-07-27T23:32:25Z")
(In no particular order): Dandelion Whine- Ray Bradbury Anthem- Ayn Rand To Kill a mockingbird- Harper Lee Relic- Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child Cabinet of Curiosities- Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child Merla ---
**Author:** ![Merla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Merla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merla)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/94 "2003-07-27T23:34:43Z")
!!! Er, that’s Dandelion WINE, not whine. You’d think all this readin’ would teach me to type better! Merla ---
**Author:** ![TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@TheFunkySpaceCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFunkySpaceCowboy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/95 "2003-07-28T01:28:32Z")
Best/favorite novel I’ve ever read is easy: - Of Human Bondage \* W.S. Maugham (actually a little surprised no one else has mentioned Maugham) The other four weren’t as easy. But here they are, in no particular order. - Winds of War \* and \* War and Rememberance \* Herman Wouk (also counting these as one book) - Brave New World \* Aldous Huxley - Fountainhead \* Ayn Rand - Tale of Two Cities \* Dickens And don’t you ever make me pick just five again! That was hard! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/96 "2003-07-28T03:40:38Z")
A Spell for Chameleon - Piers Anthony The Shining - Stephen King The Bride Wore Black - Cornell Woolrich The Amber Chronicles - Roger Zelazny Palace Walk - Naguib Mahfouz ---
**Author:** ![kubi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@kubi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kubi)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/97 "2003-07-28T03:58:11Z")
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett Anything by Wilbur Smith or Desmond Bagley The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings - Tolkien Watchers - Dean Koontz ---
**Author:** ![lindsay.reid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@lindsay.reid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsay.reid)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/98 "2003-07-28T04:38:25Z")
I can’t limit myself to five, but I got my list down to these: East of Eden by John Steinbeck Catseye by Margaret Atwood The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Secret History by Donna Tartt The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/99 "2003-07-28T19:33:36Z")
Wow, **AuntiePam** , that’s some impressive compiling. [Not-so-obligatory “Friends” reference]We might have a place for you in data entering and configuration.[/“Friends” ref] This is incredibly difficult since I feel I have so many beloved books. But here goes: Here are mine: Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier Compulsion by Myer Levin Christine by Stephen King Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin No Night is Too Long by Ruth Rendell (as Barbara Vine) ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068/100 "2003-07-29T15:25:49Z")
I don’t have much to add to these except **The Quiet American** , which I read about 20 years ago and I still think about and recommend, as I do **To Kill a Mockingbird** and **I, Claudius** , both of which I read in high school. **Foucault’s Pendulum** is the only novel I’ve ever had to read with a dictionary and a set of encyclopedias at my side. Terrific novel. Lastly, I was going to include **The Scarlet Woman of Wall Street** , but I think it would have to be one of John Le Carre’s George Smiley novels, so I’ll pick **Smiley’s People**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-5-best-novels-youve-ever-read/191068.md?page=6)