Best Novel Ever Written

Self | June 25, 2002 | PJ-Comix

[PJ-Comix]

Ever heard of Harlan Ellison?

Yeah. I ran into him late at night at a Hughes Market in La-La Land. My impression? First class nut case. He was running up and down the cereal aisle in apparent outrage about the sugar content in the cereals and was rapidly writing stuff down in a notepad while muttering to himself angrily. He acted like the fact that supermarkets selling Cocoa Puffs was one of the great crimes against humanity.

[JenB]

I actually know one person who knew Ellison and didn't, er, want to choak the man. Nutcase is right.

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh he "bagged on" everybody... now he has started a new thread with a quote from the book to convince us.

[68 grunt]

Copy that. I caught on a few posts later. :)

[PJ-Comix]

Hey, don't read the Jones book. I don't care. But, as James Norton said in a review of the book, it's 850 pages feels like a world. Very true.

[HairOfTheDog]

Comix, you think I am dissing your book, I am not. I have not said one negative thing about your beloved book... I am turned off by your snobbish behavior toward any of the other much-loved stories that you have no trouble dissing. I find it funny, really funny.

[PJ-Comix]

And I'm not dissing SF. I really like (and read most of) Vonnegut, Asimov, Heinlein, etc.. Recently, however, SF books have lost much of the earlier quality. However, I do like to place different categories in fiction. It's done at libraries, bookstores, and by most everybody....including me and thee (whether or not you admit it).

Hey, I also love the (early) Mickey Spillane books but I definitely distinguish his stuff from novels. I prefer to see the Spillane books with Raymond Chandler and others of that genre. Whether or not folks admit fiction genres exist (Sci Fi, Detective, Romance, Westerns, etc.) they DO exist.

[HairOfTheDog]

This is a re-run...

We are not talking about types and descriptions of books. Descriptions are helpful. We are not arguing over descriptive typing. You have ranked them in comparative class, quality and worth in your world... talked about them as re-hashed fairy tales not on the level of more "serious literary works" or "SF pills". Your attitude stinks when speaking to other book lovers that come on to your thread to answer your question... And you may never get that.

[Tony in Hawaii]

I'm just wondering if Newt Gingrich ever wrote the sequel to 1945.
I'm still waiting to see how that cliffhanger ending came out.

[Tony in Hawaii]

Worse than having Captain Kirk fall in love with Joan Collins?

[PJ-Comix]

... talked about them as re-hashed fairy tales not on the level of more "serious literary works" or "SF pills".

The earlier works of SF (Asimov, Heinlein, Vonnegut) along with Tolkien were great. Most of what we have nowadays is indeed a rehash. I'll read this stuff if something really good comes out....which isn't often.

BTW, literary novels aren't as good nowadays as they were in the late 40s and early 50s. However, non-fiction seems to be at a peak right now, especially with biographies. One reason is that (Doris Kearns Goodwin notwithstanding) biographers (and many historians) are using original sources such as interviews. The prime example of the incredible history/biography is Robert Caro with his excellent multi-volume bio of Lyndon Johnson. I think this trend started back in the late 60s with the publication of T. Harry Williams' Huey Long which showed oral biographies (interviews with people involved with subject matter) could be excellent sources.

Oh, and my reading is a bit more eclectic than made out here. Usually I read a history/biography followed by fiction which could be literary novels, Westerns, detective, and, yes, even SF (but only after looking carefully to sort out the vast amount of junk out currently out there.)

p.s. PJ's autobiography recommendation: Witness by Whittaker Chambers. A biography about Chambers also came out a couple of years ago and I think I'll check that one out too.

[PJ-Comix]

Worse than having Captain Kirk fall in love with Joan Collins?

BTW, what do folks here think about the "William Shatner" SF books?

[JenB]

They don't count as SF, ok? We're not going to talk about that. They aren't really there, it's a figment of your imagination.

[PJ-Comix]

WHAT don't count as SF? Be specific. I can't answer your question until I know WHAT you're referring to.

[JenB]

William Shatner's books - I was replying to your previous comment.

[PJ-Comix]

I didn't say the Shatner books weren't SF. The use of the quote marks was to cast some doubt that Shatner was REALLY the author of those books.

[HairOfTheDog]

Blah blah blah... Did I ask you for another rambling description of what books you like? (hint, the answer is No... read my post again). Sorry to be rude this morning... But I had so hoped for something else from you.

[PJ-Comix]

Did I ask you for another rambling description of what books you like?

Um...Take a look at the THREAD title.

[HairOfTheDog]

[PJ-Comix]

Here is a quote by Norman Mailer about James Jones. Since Mailer is probably the most egotistical of all novelists, it must have killed him to make this statement:

"The only one of my contemporaries who I felt had more talent than myself was James Jones."

Mailer also proclaimed From Here To Eternity to be the best novel about WWII and better than his own The Naked And The Dead.

And knowing just how incredibly egotistical Mailer is/was, this is an ASTOUNDING admission.