# What is the greatest, most memorable, story you have ever read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725 "2002-08-07T06:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bowler\_girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@bowler\_girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bowler_girl)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/41 "2002-08-09T05:50:19Z")
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/42 "2002-08-09T06:24:00Z")
**The Iliad** and **The Odyssey** Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” Fitzgerald, **The Great Gatsby** Steinbeck, **The Grapes of Wrath** Wil Eisner’s **The Spirit** Nabokov, **Lolita** Ray Bradbury, **The Martian Chronicles** and **Dandelion Wine** ---
**Author:** ![godogsgo13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@godogsgo13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godogsgo13)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/43 "2002-08-09T11:22:43Z")
George Orwell’s, “1984” hands down! LOTR is up there too. GDG ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/44 "2002-08-09T12:19:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > \*\*Broken down by category: > > Adult novel (nonfiction): _Roots_ by Alex Haley\*\* I thought it was pretty well established nowadays that “Roots” was fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/45 "2002-08-09T14:02:30Z")
**A Fan’s Notes** by Frederick Exely. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Second\_Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Guest)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/46 "2002-08-09T16:07:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bowler girl \* > \*\*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. \*\* Good answer. It was an excellent film as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/47 "2002-08-09T16:19:32Z")
Wow. What a great thread. Whenever I am in someone’s office/house/apartment, the first thing I do is wander over to their bookcase and check the titles (I know its nosy but oh well). I firmly believe that a person’s character is represented by both the quantity and quality of their books. In any case, here are my submissions. Fiction: **Foucault’s Pendulum** by Umberto Eco Non-fiction: **The Blind Watchmaker** by Richard Dawkins or **The Dragons of Eden** by Carl Sagan Fantasy: **Lord of the Rings** by Mr. Tolkien (which would also win the “Best of the Best” contest in Gafferland) Science-fiction: **A Canticle for Leibowitz** by Walter Miller, Jr. Young adult: **James and the Giant Peach** by Roald Dahl (its good to see so many Dahl fans on the SDMB) Graphic novel: **Batman: Year One** by Frank Miller Child: **Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-good, Very Bad Day** by Judith Viorst ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/48 "2002-08-09T16:27:24Z")
Novel: **to Kill a Mockingbird** followed closely by Gatsby, the Red and the Black Sci-Fi: **Dune** Short Story: **The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber** by Hemingway - best written, amazing twist Comic: **Watchmen** , followed by X-men issues 94 - 120 (bought for a quarter, sold’em a couple of years later :smack: ) ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/49 "2002-08-09T17:13:31Z")
not the greatest, but probably the most memorable is {b]the Killer Inside Me\*\* by Jim Thompson. The book is like a puch in the stomach and I get that feeling just thinking about it. Oh I mean that in a good way. 🙂 Also, **The Power and the Glory** by Graham Greene. ---
**Author:** ![p\_cific\_812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@p\_cific\_812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/p_cific_812)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/50 "2002-08-09T17:47:39Z")
[ul] [li] **godogsgo13** beat me to the punch on **1984**. (Soul-crushing fun)[/li][li] **ITR champion** got there first on **Catch-22**. (A _major-major_ly good book! :D)[/li][li] **LOTR** , obviously.[/li][li]Ellison’s **Invisible Man**. Read it two or three times.[/li][li]Fitzgerald’s **The Great Gatsby**. There is something about that book that I find utterly captivating.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/51 "2002-08-09T18:24:03Z")
Short Story: **The Fall of Edward Barnard** by Somerset Maugham. Novel: **Animal Farm** by George Orwell, After the horse was sent away, I was so sad and angry but also wiser. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/52 "2002-08-09T18:44:42Z")
Two books that had an incredible impact on me were The World According to Garp by John Irving and The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer. They sucked me into another world for the time I was reading them, and it was very difficult to come back out. “Compelling” is too tame a word for it; I was consumed by these books! I just re-read Roots a couple months ago. I looked for it first in the fiction section at the library and couldn’t find it … after looking in the catalog I discovered it in non-fiction. So …? I thought the library had categorized it wrong, or there had been a re-classification. I could have sworn when I first read it in the '70s, it was shelved in Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/53 "2002-08-09T20:53:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ellen Cherry \* > \*\* > I just re-read Roots a couple months ago. I looked for it first in the fiction section at the library and couldn’t find it … after looking in the catalog I discovered it in non-fiction. So …? I thought the library had categorized it wrong, or there had been a re-classification. I could have sworn when I first read it in the '70s, it was shelved in Fiction. \*\* Yes, it was originally published as non-fiction, but a few years later there was a big controversy when it was revealed that Haley had simply made up large chunks of the early part. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/54 "2002-08-09T22:54:52Z")
A Beautiful Mind - Sylvia Nasar Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt L. A. Confidential - James Ellroy The Odyssey and The Illyad - Homer Comics - Anything with Wonder Woman ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/55 "2002-08-10T03:55:00Z")
_Paradise Lost_ is, quite simply, the best big book in the English language. I’m not saying it’s the best, period, but that it is the best thing that was written with the intention of being huge and epic. If that made sense. Oh, but if we’s talkin’ comics, I gotta put my vote in for _The Sandman_, particularly the _Brief Lives_ storyarc. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/56 "2002-08-10T04:58:15Z")
Short story: _Flowers for Algernon_ - I didn’t find the novel so powerful, maybe because I knew the plot already. I’d quote the last line, but that’s where I break down. Fiction series: The Matt Scudder mysteries by Lawrence Block. The early ones are more about alcoholism, with a hard-boiled mystery mixed in. Bleak as hell, but he carries on. Non-fiction: Who can say, since there’s so much good stuff out there? The first _Connections_ by James Burke stands out, and I just read _Who Stole Feminism_ by Christina Hoff Sommers, which kept me in a rage all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/57 "2002-08-10T06:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sparrow \* > \*\* > > I thought it was pretty well established nowadays that “Roots” was fiction. \*\* Part fact, part fiction. However, as the label bothers you, I shall modify my list. In addition, upon further reflection, I’ve made some modifications and corrected the illustrator on V. Adult novel (general fiction): _To Kill a Mockingbird_ by Harper Lee Adult novel (historical fiction): _Roots_ by Alex Haley Nonfiction Novel: _1812_ by David Nevin Graphic novel: _V for Vendetta_ by Alan Moore and David Lloyd Short Story: Tie: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Leguin and “Dori Bangs” by Bruce Sterling Short Short Story: “Answer” by Fredric Brown Novella: “Beggars in Spain” by Nancy Kress Children’s novel: _Holes_ by Louis Sachar Young Adult novel\*: _Jacob Have I Loved_ by Katherine Patersen Children’s Picture Story Book: _Red Ranger Came Calling_ by Berkley Breathed (yes, the guy who did Bloom County Babylon) \*This was very difficult for me, as there are three books that vie for top honors, _Jacob Have I Loved_, _Island of the Blue Dolphins_, and _The Giver_. _The Giver_ is particularly interesting for me. At first, I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but once I realized that the ending is much darker than it seems, it went way up in my estimation. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/58 "2002-08-10T06:34:47Z")
**A Confederacy of Dunces** was so entertaining and at the same time meaningful for me - I saw some parallels between myself and Ignatius, and it shook me up and made me try to get better. **Steel Beach** by John Varley is usually maligned by critics, and I can’t see why. It manages to pull you into a perfectly realized and strange future world, with enough strange ideas for a half-dozen books, and get you to relate to the characters in a way that makes you really feel for them. I’ve recomended it to a few friends, including some who didn’t read SF (and one who didn’t read for pleasure, at all), and they all liked it. **The Dragons of Eden** by Carl Sagan. That and **Broca’s Brain** changed the way I think. I also really enjoyed **The Hot Blooded Dinosaurs** by that Bakker guy. I’ve always loved dinosaurs and that book really brought them to life. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/59 "2002-08-10T21:49:28Z")
**Heart of Darkness**. Both a disturbing and revealing bit of prose. Runners-up include: **Crime and Punishment** ; Dostoyevsky has performed the nearly-singular feat of setting my nerves on edge early on in the story, and sustaining that feeling for the next 600-odd pages. I’m usually much more jaded than that. **The Great Gatsby** ; I swear I could spend a lifetime meditating on those last few paragraphs. **Foucault’s Pendulum** ; just because I love meta-novels. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725/60 "2002-08-11T00:19:05Z")
Non-Fiction: [The Hite Report](http://search.eb.com/women/articles/Hite_Report_The.html). Ought to be required reading for every 14 year old boy. 😉 Second Non-Fiction: **Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster In The Making of Heaven’s Gate**. This is an incredible inside view of the damage done by the film mentioned in the title. I read it about every two years, and will continue to do so. It’s a humbling read. Fiction: [My Name Is Asher Lev](http://www.lasierra.edu/%7Eballen/potok/Asher.syn.html). ;j Short Story: Also **The Long Walk**. It’s a deeply frightening story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-most-memorable-story-you-have-ever-read/122725.md?page=4)