Whats your favorite book?

[fowltemptress]

Quote:
Well . . . yeah. The black rabbit didn't have silvery ears. I guess it can be easy to miss that part if you aren't paying too close attention. I know every time I read that book I find something new in it and think, "How on earth did I miss that before?" Love it, though I'm not a big fan of "Tales from Watership Down." When you write a story so perfectly it doesn't need that sort of sequel.

"Watership Down" is my second favorite book, next to "The Pursuit of Love" by Nancy Mitford. After that the list of favorite books is too long. My favorite Author, though, is Mark Twain. My SO still can't understand how I can say he's my favorite author when he didn't write either of my favorite books, but that's the way it is. His style and subject matter is practically custom designed to suit my tastes.

Since I'm on this subject, my favorite poem . . . anyone lived in a pretty how town by e.e. cummings. He's my favorite poet, too, which is no small feat, considering I generally despise poetry.

And favorite fairy tale . . . "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde. Everyone on the planet should be required to read that one. Embarrassing fact: when it was passed around for us to read quietly in high school, I actually had to be escorted from the room because I was crying so profusely by the end of it. I still can't believe no one else in the room was as affected as I was. And even though I know how it ends, I cry just as much every single time I read it. It kills me.

 

[chinbunny]

Quote:
Well . . . yeah. The black rabbit didn't have silvery ears. I guess it can be easy to miss that part if you aren't paying too close attention. I know every time I read that book I find something new in it and think, "How on earth did I miss that before?" Love it, though I'm not a big fan of "Tales from Watership Down." When you write a story so perfectly it doesn't need that sort of sequel.

"Watership Down" is my second favorite book, next to "The Pursuit of Love" by Nancy Mitford. After that the list of favorite books is too long. My favorite Author, though, is Mark Twain. My SO still can't understand how I can say he's my favorite author when he didn't write either of my favorite books, but that's the way it is. His style and subject matter is practically custom designed to suit my tastes.

Since I'm on this subject, my favorite poem . . . anyone lived in a pretty how town by e.e. cummings. He's my favorite poet, too, which is no small feat, considering I generally despise poetry.

And favorite fairy tale . . . "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde. Everyone on the planet should be required to read that one. Embarrassing fact: when it was passed around for us to read quietly in high school, I actually had to be escorted from the room because I was crying so profusely by the end of it. I still can't believe no one else in the room was as affected as I was. And even though I know how it ends, I cry just as much every single time I read it. It kills me.

He wrote tales as an apology. Some people missed the point, and were not happy about the treatment of the does in the book. Some of the critics gave some bad reviews over it. So tales was more of a "fix it" to give the females more of a role in the warren. Now if those people had ever owned a rabbit, esp an intact buck, they would have understood that rabbits are not romantic when it comes to that sort of thing. And basically the females are 'breeding stock' to keep the warren thriving. That view from the bucks also gave them an interesting flaw. However, Hyzenthlay did have a pretty powerful role in the book. That was something else that they missed. She was just as cunning as some of the bucks. And would have done anything to get out of the abusive life in Efrafa. There is just so much they overlooked because of the feminist stuff. I loved hazel, even though he got a little doe crazy towards the middle of the book. And his job kind of went to his head in the end.

What I would like to know is who was the father of hyzenthlays litter. I always thought it was hazel since he was the dominant buck, and was longing for a doe pretty bad. However, some on the watership down discussion yaho group seem to feel that it was Big wig(loved him too). Thinking about writing Adams to praise him about the book, and ask him myself. Ive been reading that book since I was in 7th grade. I still find something new each time. Like the story Vilthuril tells her kits at the end. Its based on Hazel and company's adventures in Cowslips warren. Only Rabscuttle and Elahriarah are substituted for Hazel and Fiver. That one kind of makes you stop and think. And realize the stories they tell of them may not always be accurate. Also, the peom Hyzzie recites makes me really sad every time I read it. Silverweeds, however, was creepy.

A few more I have forgotten about is the clan of the cave bear series.

 

[BoiseBubba]

My fav author is Donita K. Paul

 

[chinbunny]

And a couple more that are good. Both jurrasic park books, and the horse whisperer.

 

[PineappleMama]

OHhh I forgot about Sparks.... and Mockingbird... and The Giving Tree.

SEE it's just impossible to pick ONE... even one genre ACK!

It sure is nice though to see other bookworms... I catch a lot of comments about my reading habits from my kin, and hubby's, and friends, and other PTA Moms... meh. DH is a bookworm too, hello Philosophy Major. And we get a lot of grief because we don't have cable. And the rabbit ears on our TV are our DD's pink Easter headband. We buy/rent a movie now and then but any cartoons/etc that we want to watch can be found online (hulu-hubby likes House-, crackle -has Bewitched!!-, Cartoon Network) Evidently it is offensive for me to say "I don't watch TV" in reply to one of his family yet again asking "Have you seen *insert show only on cable station*?" Really? After years of the same answer, and you getting huffy about said answer (evidently me replying honestly is somehow an insulting way of saying you watch too much or don't read enough or ????) why do you keep asking the same dang question!??! Hmm... sore spot you think?

Anywho, the only rooms in our house that don't have dedicated bookshelves are the bathrooms -humidity is bad for books- I reckon if you have more books than shelves it shows that you are continually expanding your mind... and your dusting chore *sigh* but in addition to being great entertainment they're also a good decoration too.

Now that I think on it, I really do need to get a catalog. Been meaning to for YEARS and just haven't. *sigh* There's just so many. My fiction alone is pretty big, then there's B's, and then the children's... and then there's all the non-fiction too. Anyone here actually have a catalog of their books? Any suggestions? Perhaps send a PM as I don't want to take this thread more off topic than I already have. *blush*

Ohhh, thinking on Children's... I just bought DD a copy of Velveteen Rabbit for Christmas. Great story that. Oddly enough my MIL got the exact same book, not just VR but the EXACT same copy... weird because hers was new where as I found mine at Half Price Books... kookie huh?

 

[cap1717]

No way I could pick a favorite, but Watership Down and Stranger in a Strange Land would have to be on the list. also Poisionwood Bible and Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, The millenium series (3 books, mystery/womens rights) by Steig Larsson, Raising Demons and the other autobiographical works by Shirley Jackson. . .The Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout. . . .

 

[MamaPeg]

Watership Down, hands down! I recently read The Memory of Running, by Ron Mclarty. It was almost good enough to bump Watership Down from it's number one position, but not quite. As a kid I loved Where the Red Fern grow, anything by Louis L'Amour (especially The Sackett books), Island of The Blue Dolphins, and the list could go on and on. I have a poetry book, The Best Loved Poems of the American People. I love poetry, and have had this book in my home for literally my entire life. I read something from it every few days. It is my most beloved and most used book.

 

[fowltemptress]

Quote:
Is that it? I'd always wondered why he was so heavy handed on the feminism in that one. Having had rabbits, I can't imagine the anthropomorphic ones giving a flip about equal rights for women. Hazel's group was even unique in using brains instead of brawn, according to Richard Adam's vision of them, so it made sense to me that the rabbits would still be evolving to a point where they could view does as anything other than walking incubators. Their way of thinking was no different than what men were thinking when they brought women along to colonize America . . . it might not be a pleasant idea, but it's accurate. If I was Adams and I really felt I owed it to my readers a book that emphasized the strength of females, I would have chosen a more female dominant species, like lemurs or hyenas, and written an entire new story surrounding them. I wish he had done that, in fact, I would have much preferred that over "Tales."

 

[MagsC]

I love all kinds of stories in general but my favorite author and books currently has got to be Laurell K. Hamilton.
Watership Down was one of the first "longer" books I ever read (latter elementary or the beginning of junior high, dont exactly remember). Love it.

 

[chinbunny]

Quote:
Is that it? I'd always wondered why he was so heavy handed on the feminism in that one. Having had rabbits, I can't imagine the anthropomorphic ones giving a flip about equal rights for women. Hazel's group was even unique in using brains instead of brawn, according to Richard Adam's vision of them, so it made sense to me that the rabbits would still be evolving to a point where they could view does as anything other than walking incubators. Their way of thinking was no different than what men were thinking when they brought women along to colonize America . . . it might not be a pleasant idea, but it's accurate. If I was Adams and I really felt I owed it to my readers a book that emphasized the strength of females, I would have chosen a more female dominant species, like lemurs or hyenas, and written an entire new story surrounding them. I wish he had done that, in fact, I would have much preferred that over "Tales."

Yep, even though hisa rabbits were based on real people he had known in real life, they still behaved and thought like rabbits. He has admitted that he never intended to get the backlash that he did, or upset anyone over it. Hazel and holly were the first to consider them 'breeding stock' but geese I just saw them as hormonal bucks that were lonely for does. The does end up getting treated ell in the end anyhow. So what was the big deal? They kidnapped, stole, rescued (howver you want to view it lol) , a group of badly abused does from one warren, and brought them to a life where they were otherwise free. Even if it was originally meant to produce babies with them. i think Bigwig ended up being the exception to that once he realized how bad things really were for them in Efrafa. He wanted to get them out of there.

Tales wasn't the greatest, but really isn't that bad. one thing I did notice was that Hyzenthlay had a personality change. She was more like Hazel then she was in the first book. But what did make sense was that the two of them paired up. In real warren settiings the dominant buck mates with the dominant doe. According to the private life of the rabbit.

I can't imagine him writing about lemurs.