"Your masterpiece?" Topic

What is the one book you read that you think is a Masterpiece above all other books?

I do not want a list here, I want *one* choice only. Yes, I know it's hard.

For me, it's Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables". I read a lot of so-called "Masterpieces" in my life; from War and Peace to Hamlet, Moby Dick, etc. and I was always disapointed. I liked some of these,some I did not, but not to the point of calling them masterpieces.

And then, I read "Les Misérables" (hey, I never said your choice had to be original!). Everyone I knew had told me it was great, I even knew the story because of the movies and the play, and yet it was a hundred times better than I anticipated. It is, imho, an absolute Masterpiece. To this day, I have not read anything coming even remotely close to the enjoyment (and at times, sadness) I had reading this book. Very few books actually brought tears to my eyes.

So, what's your Masterpiece?

I'd probably say "Apathy".

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It's the funniest book I've ever read, laughing out loud on nearly every page.

That would be my humor masterpiece… I'd probably pick others for other genres. It's not fair to compare humor to Biography to books on Photography or poetry (and so on and on and on…)

-Alex

RAH Time Enough for Love.

The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G Finney

The book and the movie, Seven faces of Dr Lao, are quite different in intent and story. Best part of the book is the Appendix, which is quite large.

And I say up front this book will not appeal to most people.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Small and perfect.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but you have to get a good translation if you do not read French.

The Lord of the Rings

But you're forcing me to choose, and to some extent this follows sentimentality as I have loved this book the longest. There are plenty of others I do love equally well or in different ways, and I am also restricting my response to fiction.

The answer might vary depending on how I order the criteria… but you want one answer so I too will go with Lord of the Rings (primary criteria = the novel that has had the most influence on my life).

I would have to say Lord of the Rings – I have read this many, many times and find something new each time.

The scope of the mind that created such a complete world is breathtaking.

Ditto LOtR. It's the only book I regularly reread.

The Chinese Bandit, by Stephen Becker.
It is the perfect picaresque adventure.

It is good that you do not allow us to make a list. There can be only one. Anyone listing more than one automatically disqualifies himself as illiterate, since he cannot read your simple and direct instructions.

My second choice is…

The Black Company by Glenn Cook

Leave it to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse.

Briar Rose by Rober Coover… it's a book that really captures a certain feeling that I can't put in to words.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov…a simply stunning example of literature.

Pete

In the spirit of Archiduc Charles's original post, a masterpiece that really surprised me was "The Three Musketeers". I "knew" the basic story from various movies over the years, especially Richard Lester's version, but every time I looked at the book in the library or bookstore, its length put me off. (Even though I've read many longer books, not to mention many trilogies and series.) I just couldn't see how the *fun* of the movies could be sustained over 700+ pages.

I finally picked up a paperback copy about 15 years ago and decided that I was going to plow through it, come hell or high water. To my surprise, it was very easy to read, and it *did* maintain my interest all the way through. I've since read it twice more, as well as "Twenty Years After" (the sequel), "Count of Monte Cristo", and "Man in the Iron Mask". Great stuff!

I'd have to go with RAH Time Enough for Love, it scarred my psyche in my impressionable teenage years. In the absence of any relevant input by my parents its impact was huge. I was about 13-14. My parents bought it for me because they knew I lied Heinlein. If only they knew what had been in it.

I Claudius/Claudius the God….

"Midst Shot And Shell", my grandfathers unpublished memoirs from WW1, so understated! He spent 12 months in Ypres before wounded by shrapnel. Gassing, over the top, shelling, bayonet fights…..the full monty.

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