Favorite Book

[ryfink]

What is your favorite PD book or series of all time, and why? Non-public domain book or series of all time, and why?

- Ryan

[MaryinArkansas]

That’s a difficult one to answer. I doubt if anyone has just one favorite book or one favorite anything! I think the best books have memorable characters. For PD books in the U.S.: One of my favorites growing up was “Little Women”. “Great Expectations” is another favorite, too. I’ve read it three times at different ages and have gotten something different out of it each time.

Non PD U.S. books “The Yearling” by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. An excellent coming of age story. The movie was well done, too. Beautiful cinematography.

I used to read series novels, but haven’t done that in some time. An exception is Louise Penny’s 3 Pines mysteries. Not just for the stories themselves, but for her excellent development of the great characters.

[KevinS]

The book I read the most often was The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956.) I was fascinated with the storyline and setting. That my uncle was a fireman might have helped.

[Penumbra]

Currently, the Adamsberg series by Fred Vargas and the Three Pines series by Louise Penny, for the characterization of the detectives. Also the Napoleon Bonaparte series by Arthur Upfield, for the depiction of Australian life in the early 20th century and for the detective.

For sheer quirkiness, The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. My wife hated it, but I was captivated.

I have read all of Stout's Nero Wolf books several times.

As a youngster I read SF/fantasy, so then it was Bradbury, Pohl, Asimov.

So I don't have just one all-time favorite.

[schrm]

for years, i had a list of my most favorite books.
after i ceased reading (that's another story), and after 20 years or so..
i forgot many of these books.
but there are two books left, which happen to answer your question:

- public domain is benno stehkragen by karl ettlinger. i have read it as a solo, despite it's in parts written in a foreign dialect. not my best results, also.
and 20 years ago, i hated the book after reading it. it has no happy ending.
i think, it is more sentimental than humorous - despite being a satire according to critics... one of the most important books, for me!
i remember quotes and feelings after 20 years, still (and now, after recording it, even more)
uh yes, i've read benno stehkragen maybe... 3-5 times?

- not pd (and won't be in my lifetime) is karneval der götter (carneval of the gods) by bill behm. i have a very old copy, sort of single pages collection, half rotten. it is absolutely funny, a wonderful story, full of history-knowledge, knowledge about human mankind and the psyche, and one of the most funny books i ever read. i think i read it 50-100 times. i wanted to read it for librivox and researched the author. i found nothing but a (quoted ) literary encyclopedia. the author seemed to be sympathizing with the nazis and there is rumor, he murdered someone and never got sentenced for it. he has fled and the year of death is unknown, but estimated to be in the last 20 years of the last century. i was shocked, actually. the book tells about statues of egyptian gods, coming to live in a museum, and each one having their certain magical godlike abilities, they go on high society vacations. the whole story could be read as a sort of metaphor for the semi-teutonic nazi-mythology or the regime (and the hopes of the people in the beginnings, even). but i doubt it was meant like that. maybe needless to say, the book was published right after the war and won't be pd in the usa for ca. 20 years, also.