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timschochet's thread- Mods, please move this thread to the Politics Subforum, thank you (1 Viewer)

28. Roots: the Saga of an American Family

Alex Haley

1976, 704 pages

historical family saga

When I first read Roots in the early 1980s (as a result of watching the miniseries a few years before) it was regarded as non-fiction and located in the history section of the bookstore. In the decades since that classification has been corrected, and the book is now regarded as fiction, which is correct since Alex Haley largely created his ancestors' personalities. relationships, and dialogue. Only the last 50 pages, dealing with Haley himself, could be regarded as non-fiction (though even this, as in Haley's earlier Autobiography of Malcolm X, has highly questionable accuracy. It should also be noted that Haley was later sued for having stolen the "middle passage" portion of the book from an earlier novel, and he settled the case out of court. 

None of this takes away from the magnificence of this novel, which introduces so many great characters to American literature and popular culture: ####a Kinte, Kizzy, Chicken George. I have read several novels about the horrors of slavery and none can come close to this one, both in it's suspenseful narrative style and it's pure emotion. This is a captivating work, IMO much better than the miniseries (I haven't seen the new one). It's a remarkable epic. 

Up next: Screenwriter William Goldman pens the greatest suspense novel ever. 

 
timschochet said:
28. Roots: the Saga of an American Family

Alex Haley

1976, 704 pages

historical family saga

When I first read Roots in the early 1980s (as a result of watching the miniseries a few years before) it was regarded as non-fiction and located in the history section of the bookstore. In the decades since that classification has been corrected, and the book is now regarded as fiction, which is correct since Alex Haley largely created his ancestors' personalities. relationships, and dialogue. Only the last 50 pages, dealing with Haley himself, could be regarded as non-fiction (though even this, as in Haley's earlier Autobiography of Malcolm X, has highly questionable accuracy. It should also be noted that Haley was later sued for having stolen the "middle passage" portion of the book from an earlier novel, and he settled the case out of court. 

None of this takes away from the magnificence of this novel, which introduces so many great characters to American literature and popular culture: ####a Kinte, Kizzy, Chicken George. I have read several novels about the horrors of slavery and none can come close to this one, both in it's suspenseful narrative style and it's pure emotion. This is a captivating work, IMO much better than the miniseries (I haven't seen the new one). It's a remarkable epic. 

Up next: Screenwriter William Goldman pens the greatest suspense novel ever. 
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:lmao:  Language filter.

 
Abraham said:
Question because I don't know: wht is Haley given a pass for fictionalizinf a story and James Frey was not?
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I think it's because Haley never tried to pretend that he had knowledge of the specific lives of his ancestors. But mainly the reason is the sociological impact of this novel, and the Miniseries. 

Prior to Roots, slavery was something that was just not discussed in American culture. There were well known novels like William Styron's The Confession of Nat Turner, but that was written and read by an elitist crowd. For the average American, their perception of black slavery was the opening scene of Gone With the Wind: "It's quittin' time!" "Who say it's quittin' time?" etc. Slavery was taught in schools as largely an abstract issue, a key to the Civil War which was argued by white people and settled by white people. The lives of blacks who were slaves was never explored. The Middle Passage was largely unknown. Even the plight of the 19th century native American was far better known than the plight of the 19th century black (largely due to Hollywood westerns.) 

Roots changed all that. And even beyond the issue of black culture, the miniseries created a phenomenon in this country in which people became fascinated with tracing their family trees. As a result Alex Haley became somewhat of an iconic figure, highly celebrated, and so perhaps removed from criticism. 

 
I am making a change to my list: I am replacing #63 Sophie's Choice with The Martian by Andy Weir. 

Sophie's Choice is a fine novel but less of a favorite after a second reading; meanwhile The Martian is so good that it kept moving up my list and has now made my top 100. 

 
Abraham said:
Question because I don't know: wht is Haley given a pass for fictionalizinf a story and James Frey was not?
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Another fair question is:  Why is Haley given a free pass for plagiarism when that finding would likely ruin the reputation of both the book and author in question?

Courlander sued Haley in 1977 for copyright infringement. "Without 'The African,' 'Roots' would have been a very different and less successful novel," the suit alleged. "Indeed it is doubtful that Mr. Haley could have written 'Roots' without 'The African' ... Mr. Haley copied language, thoughts, attitudes, incidents, situations, plot and character."

The trial lasted five weeks in New York federal district court. Literary experts testified, including Columbia English Professor Michael Wood.

"The evidence of copying from 'The African' in both the novel and the television dramatization of 'Roots' is clear and irrefutable," Wood said in court.

Haley, who died in 1992, said he did not plagiarize. But he admitted that some sections of "Roots" appeared to have originally appeared in "The African."

He settled the case out of court for $650,000 — $2.4 million in 2016 dollars — and issued a statement: "Alex Haley acknowledges and regrets that various materials from 'The African' by Harold Courlander found their way into his book "Roots."

Link

 
27. Marathon Man

William Goldman

1974, 309 pages

thriller

William

Goldman is best known as a Hollywood screenwriter whose credits include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Princess Bride (also based on one of his novels). Marathon Man was intended as a screenplay but when Goldman couldn't sell it it first became a novel, and although the eventual film was excellent, the novel is even better: for me, it's the finest piece of suspense fiction I have ever read. 

Part of this is because Goldman's protagonist, Babe, is so believable and so sympathetic: a nerdy historian intellectual in New York, plagued over the death of his father, who suffered in the McCarthy era. Babe is a liberal yet expert with a gun; he is an un athletic nerd yet also an aspiring marathon runner (and his imaginary conversations with Nurmi and Bikela are a great part of the novel which separates it from the movie.) Another reason is the mystery of the first half the book: the reader follows the normal life of Babe which alternates each chapter with the exploits of a mysterious assassin named Scylla- and there is no plausible connection between the two until it all starts to make sense in the second half. And finally the book introduces one of the most evil, terrifying villains in all of fiction: and of course he is a Nazi. This villain is the culmination of all Bane's fears but also his need to avenge his father by defeating a bad guy even worse than Joe McCarthy. 

Of course, the most famous scenes in this novel (and the film) involve Babe being tortured in a dentist chair. I'll leave that alone for anyone here who hasn't read it or seen the movie, but the patient, repetitive questions of the "dentist" (is it safe?) make for perhaps the single scariest moment in all of contemporary fiction. 

Up next: James Clavell's autobiographical novel of his years in a Japanese POW camp....

 
I need to stop posting in these emergency threads. I have strong opinions, other people argue with me, some get pissed off and insult me, and then I get accused of trying to make the thread all about me. Really sick of that. I suppose some of it's my fault for offering the opinions in the first place. 

From now on I'm going to try not to post in the "emerging news" threads. I'll stick to here and the political threads and stay out of those, especially the ones to do with race. I don't need the heartburn. 

 
Big fan of the Marathon Man novel.  It expanded a lot on the running metaphor which was reduced to more of a plot device in the film.  It's been a while since I read the book but as I recall, it fleshed out Babe's brother and girlfriend and made them more three dimensional.  The motives of the government agent Janeway were as murky in the book as in the movie which happened a lot in the 70s. 

Goldman's 1988 sequel "Brothers" reincarnates Babe's brother to save the world from a fiendish plot.  The first 100 pages were so bad, I put it down and never resumed.

 
Eephus said:
Big fan of the Marathon Man novel.  It expanded a lot on the running metaphor which was reduced to more of a plot device in the film.  It's been a while since I read the book but as I recall, it fleshed out Babe's brother and girlfriend and made them more three dimensional.  The motives of the government agent Janeway were as murky in the book as in the movie which happened a lot in the 70s. 

Goldman's 1988 sequel "Brothers" reincarnates Babe's brother to save the world from a fiendish plot.  The first 100 pages were so bad, I put it down and never resumed.
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Yeah Brothers was really awful. 

 
timschochet said:
I need to stop posting in these emergency threads. I have strong opinions, other people argue with me, some get pissed off and insult me, and then I get accused of trying to make the thread all about me. Really sick of that. I suppose some of it's my fault for offering the opinions in the first place.

From now on I'm going to try not to post in the "emerging news" threads. I'll stick to here and the political threads and stay out of those, especially the ones to do with race. I don't need the heartburn.
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What is wrong with you?  Stop playing victim all the time.  Of course every thread becomes about you because you post so damn much.  Everyone knows your opinion on everything by now.  You don't need to keep repeating them at every chance possible.

 
Donkey Derp said:
What is wrong with you?  Stop playing victim all the time.  Of course every thread becomes about you because you post so damn much.  Everyone knows your opinion on everything by now.  You don't need to keep repeating them at every chance possible.
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I'm not a victim. And there's nothing wrong with me. But thanks for the concern. 

As far as "everybody knows my opinion", my opinions on the shooting last night were formed last night and this morning. 

 
26. King Rat

James Clavell

1962 (1999), 370 pages

World War II drama

Like William Goldman, James Clavell was a Hollywood screenwriter (The Fly, The Great Escape, To Sir With Love which he also directed) turned novelist. His first novel, King Rat was written during a writer's strike in a three week period. It is a novel set in Changi, the Japanese POW camp on Singapore Island during World War II. Clavell himself was a prisoner there for 3 years, along with thousands of British, Australians, and a very few Americans who survived the Fall of Singapore. Of these 9 out of 10 died. Clavell's novel is stark and brutal, depicting the terrible life in the camp. It is many other things as well.

The novel is a study, in microcosm, of the differences between American and British culture: the two main protagonists are the "King", an American corporal who is the main trader in the camp and thus more prosperous than anyone else, and Philip Marlowe (based on Clavell himself, as he makes very clear in a later novel, Noble House, to be reviewed upcoming), an English member of the upper class. Marlowe struggles with his ethics as he is drawn into the King's world (in some ways, this relationship is quite similar to that between Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas in the film Wall Street.) The King is not immoral, but his ethics as an American capitalist are quite different than Marlowe's sense of British honor. The third major character, Grey, is a lower class Briton who hates both King and Marlowe for different reasons. 

In this first novel Clavell demonstrates all of the qualities that make up most of the novels of his later career: dozens of characters, expertly drawn, marvelous storytelling and narrative, a grand epic theme, high suspense, and an exploration of the differences and similarities between cultures- though regarding this last, Clavell spends far less time in this novel on the differences between Western and Eastern- since for the most part the Japanese, Korean guards, and native Malaysians are only in the background: none are major characters or fleshed out in any way. The novel also concludes, with the end of the war, with a striking defense of America's decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki- selfishly, Clavell points out that it's probably the only way that the survivors on Changi weren't all massacred.

In 1999, following Clavell's death, his daughter Michaela published a new version of King Rat including dozens of pages of previously edited out material, centering around short narratives of the women left at home interspersed within the original novel. This gives the novel a kind of Lost feel as suddenly the narrative jumps to Australia, or England, or to a woman's POW camp. If anything this makes the novel even richer than before. I also want to add that a film was made of this novel in 1965 starring George Segal, James Fox and Tom Courtenay: it is, IMO, the only screen version of one of James Clavell's novels which comes close to matching the excellence of the novel itself. 

Up next: The first, and by far the best, of James Michener's grand historical epics....

 
Marathon Man is one of my favorite spy genre novels (read at least 3-4 X), with Shibumi and the Eiger and Loo Sanction by Trevanian, as well as most of Ian Fleming's Bond novels. I never really explored John le Carre or Robert Ludlum (though the former's film adaptation of the novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was excellent, and I enjoyed the latter's Bourne film adaptations).     

BCATSK was one of the first scripts I'm aware of that started a bidding war between studios and received an at the time record amount ($1 million? in obligatory Dr. Evil voice).

Marathon Man (film) review by Ebert 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/marathon-man-1976  

Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK26KtN99R4

This is one of my favorite roles by Roy Scheider (with Sorcerer, Jaws, All That Jazz, The French Connection and The Seven Ups). I agree the film was excellent and the novel was even better. Outstanding adaptation by John Schlesinger - he also contributed a segment to an Olympic film Visions of Eight titled, fittingly, The Longest about the Marathon (below is Arthur Penn's titled The Highest about the pole vault competition).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6pRZCvAPlc

William Goldman's bio/background, arguably the most famous Hollywood screenwriter (?), I was bummed he seemed to retire from novel writing for the past three decades after Brothers. He is 84. He also adapted Harper, The Stepford Wives, The Great Waldo Pepper, All The President's Men (one of two Oscars, with BK), A Bridge Too Far, Misery, Chaplin, Absolute Power and Dreamcatcher, along with many films in which he served as a consultant/otherwise did uncredited work. Other films based on his original novels/scripts (in addition to Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and Princess Bride) include Magic and Heat. The former was pretty good with a young Anthony Hopkins in I think one of his first starring roles, but the latter was pretty brutal (both as a novel and film, starring Burt Reynolds).    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goldman

Magic '78 (VIDEO 105 minutes), plot VERY similar to a few Twilight Zone episodes, The Dummy and Caesar and Me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcaypcA3ctU

* Good point by Eephus about running taking a much more prominent role in the structure of the novel. I've read Brothers 2-3 X :bag: :) , just because I was so starved for more Goldman, and it extends the characters in the Marathon Man universe, but not his finest work. I tried a few other of his novels (Control '82 and Color of Light '84), but they failed to recapture what was great about Marathon Man. I haven't read Princess Bride (just seen it a bunch of times), so perhaps Magic is my next favorite Goldman novel.   

 
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25. Hawaii 

James Michener

1960, 937 pages

historical novel

Hawaii is the first of James Michener's epic histories (others include The Source (Israel), Centennial (Colorado), Chesapeake (Maryland), The Covenant (South Africa), Texas, Alaska, etc.). These are all long books and all of them are more like a collection of short stories rather than full novels, spanning hundreds of years linked by family histories. Many of these are fun, informative reads for those interested in history, but few are outstanding or have great suspense. Hawaii has both, and epic sweep as well, and it's the only Michener novel which makes the list.

James Michener was a liberal in it's truest, classical sense, and his writing is understanding and sympathetic. I would have to say that much of my modern thinking about politics, culture, and the the wonder of the United States stems from this novel. For instance, there is this passage (I can't find the exact page at the moment, so I quote from memory, hope its close):

So penniless Kamijiro, who cleaned out garbage at night, dreamed of sending all five of his children to college. It is a testament to the greatness of the United States at this time in it's history that this was an achievable goal. 

The novel deals with the following topics at length: the geological birth of the Hawaiian islands, the religious feuds of the ancient Polynesians, the epic canoe voyages of said Polynesians from the south sea islands to Hawaii (Michener sets this at around 800 AD, but modern historians believe that it happened much earlier), the creation of the Taboo system of government, the rise of Congregationalist missionary Christianity in the early 1800s, the harrowing voyage of Christian missionaries to Hawaii, whaling ships and the capture of whales, the interaction between the missionaries, whaler ships, and the Hawaiian royalty and peoples, the sandalwood craze of the early 1820s, the Lahaina riots of the 1820s and 30s, lava overflows, the measles which eradicated most of the Hawaiian people, ancient China and the feud between the Punti and the Hakka peoples, the emigration of Chinese workers to Hawaii, the development of the sugar plantations and the hunt for water, leprosy and the island of Molokai, the American seizure of the Hawaiian islands, the emigration of Japanese workers to Hawaii, the birth of the pineapple, the polo games of Kawaii, the labor strikes of the 1920s (and later, the 1950s), the white power structure of the 1930s, Punahou high school and the sports fanaticism of Hawaii (particularly football), the attack on Pearl Harbor, the treatment of the Nisei and the incredible exploits of the 442 (Japanese American battalion in World War II), the transformation of Honolulu, and later the entire Hawaiian islands, into the resort community it is today. 

And the above topics only touch on the basics. Michener offers up memorable character after character: the fanatical yet somehow admirable missionary Abner Hale, his Yale roommate the scientist-missionary John Whipple, the stalwart, long living Chinese girl Nyuk Tsin, the brilliant egomaniac who stole Hawaii for America, Wild Whip Hoxworth, the tough Japanese farmer, Sakagawa Kamejiro. All of these and many more are based on real people or compositions of several people. Michener makes them real to the reader. This is a truly remarkable work.

Up next: Ayn Rand's tribute to individualism. 

 
Wish I could comment more on the list, but definitely different tastes from me.  (I've only read a handful of those mentioned.)  My list would probably have a decent amount of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Roth, Vonnegut, Dickens, Waugh, et al.; none of whom have appeared in the list yet. 

 
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Don Quixote said:
Wish I could comment more on the list, but definitely different tastes from me.  (I've only read a handful of those mentioned.)  My list would probably have a decent amount of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Roth, Vonnegut, Dickens, Waugh, et al.; none of whom have appeared in the list yet. 
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And they won't. (Though I did consider Portnoy's Complaint and A Handful of Dust.) 

This is a completely subjective list. If somebody wants to argue that many of the novels by authors you have listed are superior to mine I won't argue. I am quirky and some of my tastes are quite trashy. All I can say is that these are the novels which I enjoy to read over and over. Every book in my top 30 or so I have probably read at least 6 times or more. 

I am considering doing a favorite movies list when this one is done...

 
My tastes run more similar to Tim's than to the literary or all-time classics side, though I lean more towards speculative fiction than he does (at least, based on his list). I don't mind being challenged when I read but I don't wanna have to work literary calculus anymore and read more for enjoyment these days. 

 
24. The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand

1943, 753 pages

Philosophical novel

Unlike Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead is NOT a political novel. Rand does not spend any time here discussing the role of government in American society. Her theme is essentially the same in the two novels (and for that matter, in all of her work): the individual vs. the collective. But in this novel she views it through the prism of culture rather than politics. Howard Roark is an architect (his style of design, though not his life, is based heavily on Frank Lloyd Wright), and his struggles are not against a collectivist government but against a collectivist point of view that is prevalent in the art world.

And that point of view DOES exist. Despite Ayn Rand's descriptions which can at times be silly to the point of caricature, she does very effectively touch on some complaints that reasonable people have been making about art for some time. I have no idea why Jackson Pollack, for example, is considered a great artist, or why some novels which are, for me, impossible to read are given such high regard by the critics. Rand offers her own point of view on this, which is comical and I don't really agree with it. However, at the same time she also offers a great defense of individualism. And ultimately that shines through and makes this a great novel.

It is also a great novel, IMO, because her narrative is so compelling. The Fountainhead is a suspenseful work, with court trials, action scenes, great dialogue, and very memorable characters. Yes, there are a few of the long speeches which can make Atlas Shrugged so exasperating, but not nearly as many: I can suffer through them. Yes, there are bizarre sex scenes (and one rape scene) which makes you question Rand's sense of morality (if not her sanity.) But overall this is a great read, and, dare I say it? a fun read. Like a good Rocky movie, the hero goes through one trial after another, and wins in the end. The emotional payoff is satisfying.

If I had made this list in college, I'm pretty sure The Fountainhead would have been at the very top of the list; that's how enamored I was with it, and with Rand's ideas, back then. But I'm much older now, and hopefully a little wiser. I've come to find flaws in her writing style, and in the philosophy (which I no longer believe in.) But I remain entertained. 

Up next: Ken Follett's magnificent sequel to The Pillars of the Earth...

 
23. World Without End

Ken Follett

2007, 1024 pages

Historical novel

World Without End continues the saga of The Pillars of the Earth, but it's not really a sequel as it takes place 157 years later (in 1327) with brand new characters. The book has the same epic feel of the first novel- as in all great historical novels, Follett creates his own world- yet it's better in many ways, because the characters are deeper, and because the events are even more interesting- specifically the Hundred Year War and the Black Death. 

As in the first novel, characters' lives intertwine over the years; there are secrets, love affairs, courtroom trials, battles, and great suspense. Follett also knows his history, and he does a good job of explaining how things are done, especially when describing art and building construction. (He also does a fine and poignant job in discussing the utter helplessness of the people who lived then faced when it came to understanding anything to do with health and disease.) There are Machiavellian struggles for power which are worthy of The Godfather here. 

I wouldn't call this a deep novel. But it's one of my very favorites because it's so epic, and so entertaining. A great yarn. 

Up next: One of John Grisham's two great courtroom novels...

 
OK, I need to make a change to my novels list- I have been re-reading many of these novels as Ive been going along, and sometimes a few are not quite as good as I remembered. 

So I am scrapping #56, The Runaway Jury by John Grisham- it's not really one of his better novels. I am returning the epic Far Pavilions by MM Kaye to the list in the #100 slot and re-ordered the numbers on the list accordingly. 

I know nobody cares about this but me, but I wanted to get this right. 

 
timschochet said:
23. World Without End

Ken Follett

2007, 1024 pages

Historical novel

World Without End continues the saga of The Pillars of the Earth, but it's not really a sequel as it takes place 157 years later (in 1327) with brand new characters. The book has the same epic feel of the first novel- as in all great historical novels, Follett creates his own world- yet it's better in many ways, because the characters are deeper, and because the events are even more interesting- specifically the Hundred Year War and the Black Death. 

As in the first novel, characters' lives intertwine over the years; there are secrets, love affairs, courtroom trials, battles, and great suspense. Follett also knows his history, and he does a good job of explaining how things are done, especially when describing art and building construction. (He also does a fine and poignant job in discussing the utter helplessness of the people who lived then faced when it came to understanding anything to do with health and disease.) There are Machiavellian struggles for power which are worthy of The Godfather here. 

I wouldn't call this a deep novel. But it's one of my very favorites because it's so epic, and so entertaining. A great yarn. 

Up next: One of John Grisham's two great courtroom novels...
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Pillars of the Earth is one of my all time favorites, though I couldnt really get into WWE. I also liked his Fall of Giants trilogy.

Thanks for sharing. Where is the entire list to date?

 
I enjoyed Fall of Giants but I don't think it was one of his strongest efforts like World Without End, Pillars, and one other I am going to discuss shortly. 

 
timschochet said:
I enjoyed Fall of Giants but I don't think it was one of his strongest efforts like World Without End, Pillars, and one other I am going to discuss shortly. 
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So....Tim, I really respect this list.  I don't agree with all your picks, but I GET that it's a list of books you enjoy vs books that are "great" which in my opinion would be more dubious.  So, @timschochet and @Native, I HATED World Without End.  HAAAAAATED it.  The whole, "This guy just happened to run into one of Teddy or FDR, and then his BROTHER ran into Churchill, and then, can you believe it!?, his SISTER dated Lindbergh!?" drove me nuts.  (That might not have been the sequence, but that's how it felt as I read it.)  Was I wrong?  Should I give the trilogy another chance?  To be frank, I put WWE down about 1/2 way thru and never read any more of the series.

 
facook said:
So....Tim, I really respect this list.  I don't agree with all your picks, but I GET that it's a list of books you enjoy vs books that are "great" which in my opinion would be more dubious.  So, @timschochet and @Native, I HATED World Without End.  HAAAAAATED it.  The whole, "This guy just happened to run into one of Teddy or FDR, and then his BROTHER ran into Churchill, and then, can you believe it!?, his SISTER dated Lindbergh!?" drove me nuts.  (That might not have been the sequence, but that's how it felt as I read it.)  Was I wrong?  Should I give the trilogy another chance?  To be frank, I put WWE down about 1/2 way thru and never read any more of the series.
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I think you mean Fall of Giants, not World Without End. World Without End has few historical characters (less than Pillars, IIRC.) 

 
timschochet said:
I think you mean Fall of Giants, not World Without End. World Without End has few historical characters (less than Pillars, IIRC.) 
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Crap.  You are correct.  I am a big Follet fan for his early stuff, Pillars, and WWE.  So, should I give Fall of Giants another try?  THAT'S what I meant to ask.

 
facook said:
Crap.  You are correct.  I am a big Follet fan for his early stuff, Pillars, and WWE.  So, should I give Fall of Giants another try?  THAT'S what I meant to ask.
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It's not his best effort. On the other hand, I love novels about the 20th century, so I'm a sucker for this stuff. The third book actually related the history of a fictional major British rock and roll band (think Led Zeppelin or the Kinks) from it's beginnings in the mid 60s through a reunion in the 90s. I liked that part 

 
But if you like big epic novels with the narrative drive of Pillars or World Without End, check out the top 20 novels on my list, coming up. There's plenty of them. 

 
facook said:
So....Tim, I really respect this list.  I don't agree with all your picks, but I GET that it's a list of books you enjoy vs books that are "great" which in my opinion would be more dubious.  So, @timschochet and @Native, I HATED World Without End.  HAAAAAATED it.  The whole, "This guy just happened to run into one of Teddy or FDR, and then his BROTHER ran into Churchill, and then, can you believe it!?, his SISTER dated Lindbergh!?" drove me nuts.  (That might not have been the sequence, but that's how it felt as I read it.)  Was I wrong?  Should I give the trilogy another chance?  To be frank, I put WWE down about 1/2 way thru and never read any more of the series.
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Everyone's taste is different. Here are my thoughts.

Pillars is one of my personal favorites. Absolutely loved the time period, the characters, the attention to detail. Couldnt wait to read the sequel (WWE) and was fairly disappointed. Seemed artificial and contrived compared to POTE.

I enjoyed Fall of Giants and Winters of the World. While I dont think they come close to matching Pillars in terms of the epic storyline, I did enjoy how Follett weaved together the lives of the five main families in the novel. To be fair, I am not as well read on early 20th century history compared to others so I enjoyed how Follett brought many of the major WW1 battles to life - the Battle of the Somme, etc. Could have done without the scenes involving Woodrow Wilson but it didnt ruin it for me either.

Cant wait to see Tims top 20. 

 
22. The Rainmaker

John Grisham

1995, 430 pages

courtroom drama

The Rainmaker is one of the two John Grisham novels that rise above the rest: not coincidentally, both are courtroom dramas. This one has a rather simple premise- a young man fresh out of law school inadvertently becomes the main attorney for a major litigation against an insurance company that refused to pay for treatment for a man who dies of leukemia. Like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, like a score of movies and novels, this is the little guy takes on the powers that be novel. And like so many of those, it is ultimately satisfying. Grisham has a fine sense of melodrama and this story is not nuanced- the good guys are really good, and the bad guys are truly evil. But that's OK- in fact, in Grisham's hands, its better than OK, because like a good Rocky movie it's fun watching the underdog eventually triumph. 

This is a feel good novel, with moral clarity, great humor and great suspense. I wish there were more of these out there; they're hard to find. 

Up next: Pat Conroy's epic recounting of The Holocaust, the 60s, and a small southern town...

 
21. Beach Music

Pat Conroy

1995, 640 pages

family drama

Beach Music is Pat Conroy's masterpiece, his finest novel. (It is not, however, my personal favorite of his novels; I'll get to that a little later.) It's the culmination of his fiction and non-fiction, the novel in which he deals with the insanity of family (in real life, Conroy lost both a brother and wife to suicide) and explores the issues that fascinate him the most: South Carolina and her dark history, the 1960s, and the Holocaust. Somehow Conroy manages to combine all of these disparate subjects into one epic story which also explores love and hate, family and friendship, race and politics. 

The novel is full of stories recalled by it's main characters: among the best of them is the tale of 4 young boys lost at sea, which is just as exciting as Unbroken. There is a great and brutal chapter about a woman raised in hillbilly country.  The story of the 1960s protest at the University of South Carolina might be the best and most revealing about that era I have ever read. As in most of Conroy's later books (both fiction and nonfiction) his love of fine dining comes out as he describes the preparation of magnificent feasts. 

But the most well written sections of the book, and the hardest to read, involve the Holocaust. I have mentioned that The Wall by John Hersey (#66) was some of the best writing on this subject that I have ever read, but this exceeds even that. A couple of my top ten books also deal with this subject, and those novels are by Jewish authors, and they are more enjoyable to read (if such a thing about this subject is possible) but they are not as well written. It's interesting to me that the best fiction I have personally ever read about the Holocaust is by gentile authors. 

Pat Conroy would go on to write 4 more non-fiction books and one more fiction one (South of Broad, reviewed earlier), which, together with his previous work, comprise the full saga of his life. But he never again reached the heights of Beach Music. He passed away last year. 

Up next: my favorite Ken Follett novel...

 
20. A Dangerous Fortune

Ken Follett

1993, 578 pages

Historical drama

My favorite Follett novel. He brings all the skills and drama of his later novels (Pillars, World Without End, the Fall of Giants trilogy) and surpasses them in this suspenseful story of the rise and fall of a British bank in the 19th century. There is much financial suspense here, but also intrigue involving politics, religion, race, class, and it rivals a couple of the James Clavell novels I have yet to review (coming up!) This is an epic novel, filled with many characters (some historical), and as will all of Follett's best work there are both splendid heroes and villains. And man do the villains get their comeuppance at the end of this story! Very satisfying. 

Up next: My favorite novel by John Grisham

 
I am leaving tomorrow for a 2 week vacation: 5 days in New York, 9 days in the Carribean. So I don't expect to be posting much. See you guys when I get back! 

 
timschochet said:
20. A Dangerous Fortune

Ken Follett

1993, 578 pages

Historical drama

My favorite Follett novel. He brings all the skills and drama of his later novels (Pillars, World Without End, the Fall of Giants trilogy) and surpasses them in this suspenseful story of the rise and fall of a British bank in the 19th century. There is much financial suspense here, but also intrigue involving politics, religion, race, class, and it rivals a couple of the James Clavell novels I have yet to review (coming up!) This is an epic novel, filled with many characters (some historical), and as will all of Follett's best work there are both splendid heroes and villains. And man do the villains get their comeuppance at the end of this story! Very satisfying. 

Up next: My favorite novel by John Grisham
Click to expand...
Going to read this next. Thanks.

 
timschochet said:
22. The Rainmaker

John Grisham

1995, 430 pages

courtroom drama

The Rainmaker is one of the two John Grisham novels that rise above the rest: not coincidentally, both are courtroom dramas. This one has a rather simple premise- a young man fresh out of law school inadvertently becomes the main attorney for a major litigation against an insurance company that refused to pay for treatment for a man who dies of leukemia. Like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, like a score of movies and novels, this is the little guy takes on the powers that be novel. And like so many of those, it is ultimately satisfying. Grisham has a fine sense of melodrama and this story is not nuanced- the good guys are really good, and the bad guys are truly evil. But that's OK- in fact, in Grisham's hands, its better than OK, because like a good Rocky movie it's fun watching the underdog eventually triumph. 

This is a feel good novel, with moral clarity, great humor and great suspense. I wish there were more of these out there; they're hard to find. 

Up next: Pat Conroy's epic recounting of The Holocaust, the 60s, and a small southern town...
Click to expand...
Seems like you and I don't like the same Grisham novels either.

For me A Tme to Kill and Sycamore Row tops the list. His court room procedurals are way down the list. IMO Scott Turow blows the roof off the genre in Presumed Innocent

 
At 9/11 memorial. The fountains they have created are...unbelievable. Incredible. Awe inspiring. 

 
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