Friday Favourites - a chance to rave about a favourite reading/book related topic each week.
This is the first of a year's worth of Friday Favourite posts. As of today, I have enough topics listed to get this started.
Sometimes you just want a chance to rave about some favourite aspect of reading that doesn't really come up during regular blogging posts - that's what this is about. I'm willing to bet that at least some of those will come up one week or another.
This week, I'm wondering what your all-time favourite book is.
Leave a link to your response in the comments (I have yet to figure out the various linking tools out there), or the response itself, please, if you're so inclined.
For myself, the answer is easy. The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
There's so many layers of detail and meaning that every time I read the book, I notice something new, and I can always drop into the story, no matter where I pick it up from this time. Tolkien was such a genius with words and description. Sometimes when I've read the books it's been the Old English that really jumped out at me, other times its the use of various older and archaic words, most of which I can figure out from context. But then, there's the times when I'm reading something else and there'll be a definition (usually for a medieval meaning) that just makes something Tolkien wrote seem even clearer.
Tolkien's love of language shows through in every word, each just as carefully chosen as the others. All of the drafts we have in the History Of Middle-Earth series shows that. Maybe that's part of my love for the Lord of the Rings. It's the only book I know of where we have such a clear picture of the evolution of Tolkien's writing and the labours that made up his wonderful world of Middle-Earth. For me at least, I think that just heightens my appreciation.
What's your favourite book?
4 comments:
I don't have a favourite book. Nothing I've read makes me think "best book ever!" and even in the books really like, recommend at work, reread every couple years, I can find flaws and failings, so I can't even define "favourite" as "perfect". But the ones I reread probably get closest so:
-The Harper Hall trilogy, by Anne McCaffrey
-The Hunter's Moon, by O.R. Melling
-Komarr and A Civil Campaign, by Lois McMaster Bujold (I have an omnibus)
-Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett
-Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
These are books that always give me something new, or always make me laugh, or hit just the right emotional notes repeatedly. Frequently they do all three. And they're largely my "comfort reading" list, so there's that, too. :)
That "comfort list" is a great way of defining favourite novels isn't it. Almost all of Mercedes Lackey's books are on that list for me.
I loved the Harper Hall trilogy this last time I read it too. I could see it making it's way onto my list in the future.
Thanks for commenting, Anassa.
This is like saying, "Which one of your children do you love the most?" Impossible!
But it does give me the chance to advocate for The Sun Also Rises. I like it because it is both well-crafted (not a word out of place) and filled with layers and subtleties that make reading it a rich experience every time. It's a writerly book that addresses the big themes and rewards the time spent with it. So . . . definitely one of my favorites.
I've never read any of Hemmingway's books, J.G. Maybe I should take a look at them some day.
Thanks for dropping in with a comment and have a great weekend.
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