Read em and weep - You might, knowing my poor taste. (Top 10 Books)

Member Name: Daisybelle

Product:	Top 10 Books
Date:	08/05/01 (183 review reads)
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This looked like a category I could write a nice easy op for. Great, I thought, how about a top 10 favourite fiction list. Two hours later and I’m sitting with eighteen books in front of me, not a word written, and a very tentative list of the top 10 in reverse order. Whether the list will be in the same order by the time I finish is anyone’s guess, but before starting, here’re the eight also rans, in no particular order. Just because they didn’t make the top 10 doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a mention, and on another day it could easily be different. I should also mention that some of these authors could have had multiple entries, but this is meant to be fun so I just picked one book or series by each. So when I ramble on about other books some of them have written you know why. Here are the best of the rest.

JD Salinger “Catcher in the Rye”
JRR Tolkien “Lord of the rings”
CS Lewis “The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe”
CJ Cherryh “The Chronicles of Morgaine”
Leon Uris “Mila18”
Iain Banks “The Wasp Factory”
John Steinbeck “The Grapes of Wrath”
Brett Easton Ellis “American Psycho”

So, now on to the winners. Having finished the op I realise it’s not particularly brief, so before the reviews here’s a list of the books, so you can stop now if they don’t tickle your fancy.

10 Stephen King “The Green Mile
9 Jack Kerouac “On the Road”
8 Neal Stephenson “Cryptonomicon”
7 John King “The Football Factory Trilogy”
6 Tom Sharpe “The Throwback”
5 Mary Gentle “Ash”
4 Julian May “The Saga of the Exiles”
3 Stephen Donaldson R
20;The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever”
2 Irvine Welsh “Trainspotting”
1 James A Michener “The Drifters”

In 10th place I’ve gone for Stephen Kings “The Green Mile”. This book was a real departure from the King I was used to, and took me by surprise, as I was unaware of the hype. The empathy and emotion of this book make it a classic, and the subject matter, capital punishment, is handled brilliantly. Since this I’ve read Hearts in Atlantis which also throbs with compassion, and it seems that King is a new man. The tale of a 1930s prison, it revolves mainly around one of the warders, who is recalling the events of the 30s as he resides in a nursing home in the present day. His story is about a man he believed innocent and the slightly supernatural events that surrounded his stay on death row. A real page turner that was difficult to put down for even a minute, it was first published as a series of novellas, which must have been excruciating for those that purchases them on publication. I still haven’t watched the film yet, as I found the book too emotional.

9th comes the beatnik classic, “On the Road”, by Jack Kerouac. The tale of Sal Paradise and his travels from coast to coast, it is a rebellious riot of booze, drugs, sex, jazz and the underground that began to grow in fifties America. Kerouac is a real wild card, who apparently lived as he wrote. A binge drinking poet, educated by Jesuits, his writing takes a bit of getting used to. He called it spontaneous prose, I call it jittery, but this is still a great book. His characters are all, in Scots parlance, Heid the baws (nutters). The people they meet are all caricatures of their backgrounds. This doesn’t make for a smooth read, and his obsessive meanderings down whatever rat-hole he feels relevant (Or otherwise) take a bit of forbearance. Really recommend it though. <
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My 8th spot goes to Neal Stephenson’s “Cryptonomicon”. This book is impressive for a number of reasons. Being 918 pages long is one of them, as I often feel cheated by short books. The story basically covers the history of hacking in the 20th century, and clothes it with an engaging tale of espionage, love and invention. Mainly set in the years of WW2 and the present, the central characters are Lawrence Waterhouse and his grandson Randy, in each era respectively. Obviously very well researched, Stephensons masterpiece covers some aspects of coding that I’m afraid went whoosh over my head. That is one of the points he is determined to make though. In this modern age we have a belief that anyone can do anything, and to say otherwise is politically incorrect. Sorry folks, but Stephenson blows this one away and injects plenty of dry humour whilst doing so. One of the quotes on the back of the book says – What cyberculture needs right now is not another science-fiction novel but its first great historical novel, and Cryptonomicon is it. I thought this an extremely astute comment, and at £8.99 the book is a bargain, when you consider some of the piffle doing the rounds for a couple of pounds less.

John Kings “The Football Factory” trilogy makes it in at number 7. Although they are now published a single book, I purchased them separately as they were released, and the wait between each was filled with anticipation. The books trace the stories of a number of men and women who drink in the Unity Pub and follow Chelsea FC, although they are each stand-alones. The first is predominantly football violence, the second relationships and the third reflections. I’ve read all three a number of times now, and still find this study of male working class loyalties, violence, social history, coming of age and how the wheel turns continuously to be totally fascinating. In my opinion, King writes dispassionately about the v
iolence, which is especially copious in the initial chapters of the first book, but the language, bloodshed, and absence of political correctness will turn off many people. It’s truly worth persevering though, as King is a rare talent in other aspects of his writing. He shines at creating characters that beg your empathy. However nasty they might be he humanises them, often in a touching fashion, with every chapter offering a myriad of insightful observations. In this aspect of his writing I find him comparable to Steinbeck, which will probably horrify those who think he just writes about fighting to make sales.

At 6 I’ve gone for “The Throwback” by Tom Sharpe, as it’s probably the funniest book I’ve ever read. If you like black, bitter humour and have never read anything by this man, please do so. This is his funniest by only a narrow margin, other hilarious, biting satires by him include Riotous Assembly, Indecent Exposure and Wilt. Sharpe was a Social Worker in South Africa in the Fifties, and it would appear this fuels a lot of his work, the various TV adaptations were insipid by comparison, to expect otherwise would have been foolish, as Sharps pastiches are so unique and over the top. The central character of The Throwback is one Lockhart Flawse, an illegitimate member of the aristocracy who must prove himself worthy of inheriting to his Grandfather. Doing so involves a variety of evil, dastardly deeds culminating in murder. They include blowing up the taxmen and stuffing his granddad. The funniest though, has to be the filling of Colonel Finch-Potters condoms with oven cleaner. The ensuing agony has him seeking relief with a cheese grater…

5th comes Ash – A Secret History, by Mary Gentle. This is the best stand-alone Fantasy novel that’s passed my way for years. Describing it as Fantasy is slightly dubious though, as it crosses the genres of Altered History and SF. Whatever, it&#
8217;s a brilliant book. Set mainly in 15th century Europe, but interspersed with the research of historians in our own time, Ash is the story a young female mercenary. Although not out of her teens she commands a force of 800 men and women, by virtue of her military skills, having made her first kills at the age of eight following her brutal rape. Her supreme tactical abilities are not of a natural origin though, and this embarks her on a rollercoaster ride of kidnapping, betrayal, political intrigue and even marriage. The book is crammed with detail about the weaponry and battles of the day, as Gentle, a master fencer, has an MA in War Studies. The bloodiness and coarse language add to the realism. Ash is an extremely likeable character, who is brimming with pragmatism and humour. My favourite line from her comes when she is denigrating a man of God she has genuine reasons for loathing - “I’m an equal opportunities heretic – I think you’re all talking through your arses….”

So on to Julian May and her Saga of the Exiles in 4th place. This series of four books, which begins with the Many Coloured Land, was written in the eighties, and is set in two ages, the 22nd Century and the Pliocene Epoch, 6 million years ago. I always considered it a cross between SF and Fantasy, as much of the goings on 6 million years ago hint at being the origins of many of humanities myths. The plot is simply that a French physicist accidentally discovers a route back in time, and it becomes a secret method of opting out for mankind’s misfits. When the travellers arrive though, they discover Pliocene Europe to be inhabited by factions of two warring, humanoid races, the Tanu and Firvulag, who’ve elected to flee their own planets to continue a way of life they love. This includes indulging in epic tourneys and tournaments for the honour of each race, using fantastic telepathic powers. The earthlings that land in the middle of all thi
s are either enslaved, or if they have useful skills or latent psionic powers (The Tanu have the science to unleash the mental powers of the humans who have them) elevated to prominent positions within the society. This series glows with May’s fantastic imagination, and she is also possessed of a style that makes it all so believable.

In at 3rd is another Fantasy series, Stephen Donaldsons trilogy The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. The first of the trilogy sets the scene for a dark, agonising tale in which so many who try to befriend the hero, Covenant, are betrayed or die. It begins in our world, where he is leprosy sufferer. Shunned by family and neighbours, he lives alone but one day is knocked unconcious and wakes in another place. In this New World his leprosy is gone and he is whole again, apart from lacking the two fingers his disease had claimed. He is aided by villagers in the Land, who due to his missing digits and a white gold wedding ring believe him to be an incarnation of a past hero, Berek Halfhand. His reaction is to rape Lena, one of those who aids him. The people tolerate this, and everything else he does, as they believe him to be a saviour. Covenant though, is no willing hero, and the mental scars inflicted by his illness haunt and cripple him. This may sound depressing, but it’s also very rewarding as Donaldson is a rich writer who describes a magical land filled with his invented creatures, with great skill. Laden with epic battles and quests, this is a Tolkienesque tale, but better, because Donaldson loves to tackle painful subject matter head on and succeeds.

Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting is my no 2. Indeed, some might say they think Welsh himself is no 2, but I find his riotous writing about a way of life that sounds horrible to most people rather refreshing, optimistic and compassionate, and not least of all bubbling with humour. Until he wrote Filth, I felt Welsh was possibly
the best contemporary British novelist. I’ll hold back on that until I’ve read Glue though. Trainspotting follows the lives of a bunch of reprobates from Edinburgh’s housing estates in a series of loosely connected short stories. Littered with foul language in an Embra brogue, and oozing with drugs, drink, sex and violence, one of Welsh’s loves is making the reader listen to his characters thinking out loud. That is a key to Welsh’s success, in my opinion, and he often delivers his best lines in this fashion. Backed up by being highly descriptive of people’s mannerisms, Welsh’s skill as an observer of human nature is what makes him a winner. Unfortunately, those who can’t abide the C word may have to miss out.

First place goes to The Drifters by James A Michener. I’m not honestly sure whether it’s my favourite book ever, but his books en masse have kept me entertained for years and this is definitely the best of the lot. Michener specialises in historical epics covering generations. This book is also an epic, but covers only about 18 months. Written towards the end of the sixties it is the story of six young people’s rebellion and coming of age. They travel around Europe and Africa and he certainly makes the Torremelinos and Marrakech of the day sound like a sad loss to us. As well as being a fantastic period travelogue, for me it is a timeless study of the push back against the previous generation. George Fairbanks narrates the tale in an autobiographical fashion, he is an Uncle like figure to the youngsters, whom he meets sporadically on their travels. Always a slightly stick in the mud character, he acts as a foil for their constant forays against the adult world, including draft dodging, drugs, sex, religious rebellion and mixed race sex, which I guess would have been a very sensitive subject in the US then. Written, I feel, to try to help two disparate generations understand each other
, this is a great book about people, which as a bonus includes a fascinating description of the bull running at Pamplona.

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