Books of the Decade (fiction) (1 Viewer)

[Thorn]

1. Peace Like a River - Leif Enger - the novel i have most enjoyed reading, ever. a writer's novel. as optimistic in outlook as Cormac is bleak

Man, I'd forgotten all about this book. It's really, really good. Not sure what to compare it to - it seemed totally original to me when I read it and I'm definitely up for a re-read.

+1

 

[Abraham]

Did anyone "The Hour I First Believed?" I didn't, but my mom said it was one of her favorites of the last decade and she reads a ton of books.

 

[bucs4life_99]

The Road >> No Country for Old Men, but most of you beat me to that point already.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides deserves at least a mention in this thread, as does On Beauty by Zadie Smith.

For non-fiction, I'd put The Tipping Point and The Black Swan at the top of the list.

 

[Bonzai]

Will there be a non-fiction edition?

 

[Abraham]

The Road >> No Country for Old Men, but most of you beat me to that point already.Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides deserves at least a mention in this thread, as does On Beauty by Zadie Smith.For non-fiction, I'd put The Tipping Point and The Black Swan at the top of the list.

Tipping Point was compelling, as was Black Swan. I am REALLY liking Bill SImmons' Book of Basketball right now. Very detailed but not at all boring. I also liked "Street Fighters" about the fall of Bear Sterns, "Snowball" (Buffet biography), "The Blind Side", and "Duel" (Aaron Burr, ALexander Hamilton story)

 

[D_House]

I've got to think that the Vince Flynn mentions are even though I've enjoyed those books.

I swear, to this day, that one of the best books I've read in 10 years has been Shantaram. It's a tome, so it takes some getting into, but I've recommeneded to a FBG or two and at least one has come back with rave reviews.

Big thumbs up to that book and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

If you like books about India and Mumbai (Bombay) try Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. He's not as freewheeling as Rushdie and spins a good cops and robbers yarn while going into a lot of India's history and lifestyles. Not a top 10 book but highly enjoyable.

I was browsing Barnes and Noble online because I received a gift card and ran across this deal on a hardcover edition of Sacred Games. Given your recommendation and the $2 price tag, I ordered it.

 

[mon]

Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections

Yes yes yes. I'm about finished with this and I loved it. Best modern fiction I've read in a loooong time. My aunt recommended it to me and loaned me her copy. I'm a finicky reader and this is my kind of book. Brilliantly written.

 

[Chigurh]

I'm completely dumbfounded that David Eggers gets so much love. His "Heartbreaking Work ..." has to be one of the most self-righteous, pretentious pieces of authorship I've ever read. I forced my way through about 3/4ths of the book, but had to stop reading because I was so annoyed with his arrogance.

I somewhat agree with the arrogance and I thought it was a little juvenile, or at least twenty-something. What I enjoyed was the way he turns a sentence and the randomness and artistic form he uses. He's a good writer who might be great if he matures a little.

You should check out his last two books. What is the What is about one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and Zeitoun is about a man who stayed in New Orleans during the hurricane.

 

[Chigurh]

My 10:

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Álvaro Mutis*

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

* This is technically cheating since the novellas that make up this book were not written in this decade but they were packaged and published by the NYRB in this decade.

(Note to authors: If you put "Everything" or "Adventures" in the title of your book, I'll probably love it.)

 

[SimonMoon]

As someone who enjoys a lot of the authors and books listed here, like

DF Wallace

Pynchon

Rushdie

Hosseini

McCarthy

Lehane

etc.

and also some guys like

Vonnegut

CS Lewis

Thomas Wolfe

Asimov

Heinlein

etc.

I feel the need to reiterate how much I admire Neal Stephenson's work, and to re-recommend The Baroque Cycle (3 different novels) and Cryptonomicon - Two (or four) incredible works of fiction.

Anathem is also really good. When I say "really good," I mean for him. From anyone else, that one would probably be a crowning achievement...

He's more well-known for Snow Crash and/or Zodiac, neither of which I've read, though, so I can't recommend them. Yet.

There seem to be a lot of discerning readers up in this joint; please further your literary enjoyment by checking out his work.

/PSA

Edited for stupid math

 

[kupcho1]

I have The Corrections and Yiddish Policeman's Union on my bookshelf, looking forward to those based on the OP.

Verdicts?

 

[kupcho1]

Here's a first draft, as it were. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, so I may come back and edit this list.

Top 10

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections

John Wray: Canaan's Tongue

Roberto Bolaño: 2666

Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go

David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas

Cormac McCarthy: No Country for Old Men

Roberto Bolaño: The Savage Detectives

Michael Chabon: The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Honorable Mention

Ian McEwan: Atonement

Richard Russo: Empire Falls

Thomas Pynchon: Against the Day

Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Cormac McCarthy: The Road

Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger

Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Yann Martel: Life of Pi

David Wroblewski: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

anything by Dan Brown

Probably should start a non-fiction list as well (Consider the Lobster, Heartbreaking Work, John Adams ...)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell