[PJ-Comix]

What are your nominations for Best Novel Ever Written? I just don't think any novel was better written than From Here To Eternity. That book affected me at many levels.

[Billy_bob_bob]

I don't know about a "best" novel. I would say that "Atlas Shrugged" was probably the more important book I ever read, and that "Clans of the Alphane Moon" by Philip K. Dick is without a doubt the most fun book I've ever read. Best book ever? That's a toughie.

[Snake65]

William Styron - Sophie's Choice.

Moved me more than any other book I've ever read.

[randita]

"Gone With the Wind"

[Lee308]

What are your nominations for Best Novel Ever Written? I just don't think any novel was better written than From Here To Eternity. That book affected me at many levels

The SACKETTS, by Louis Lamour or "the Hobbit". Can't decide which. Lee308

[mcjordansc]

My favorites:

Huckleberry Finn
An American Tragedy
On The Road

and a more recent entry -
Cold Mountain

[yooper]

It's hard to pick just one; however, I'd say that if multiple readings are an indicator, I've read Huckleberry Finn more times than I can recall, starting when I was a boy. To Kill a Mockingbird also comes to mind...

[Sword_of_Gideon]

Ok, I'm going to show my former liberal colors here for a second in my choices for my favorite (I don't know if I'd go so far as to say best ever written, though)novel(s) of all time. Top 3 in no particular order were all read while in college in the 80's & I still enjoy them (read through all 3 of them again within the last couple of years):

1. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
2. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
3. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson

[Skooz]

"Catch-22" and "1984."

[varina davis]

Hard to pick just one, so here are three of my top favorites, ones that live with me always:

Gone With the Wind -- Grapes of Wrath -- 1984

[Rocko]

Perhaps Lord of the Rings.

[Carolina]

Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov

[Commander8]

It's pretty hard to choose, but here goes, I liked Thomas Cullinan's The Beguiled because of the author's use of multiple first person narrative. My favorite mystery novel would be Mickey Spillane's I, The Jury. My favorite science fiction novel would be Dune by Frank Herbert. I'm also a huge fan of Forrest Carter's Josey Wales Books.

[Skooz]

Oh heck, I have to add Herman Raucher's "Summer fo '42" to the list. Absolutely some of the finest writing I have seen. I first read it when I was 15 (in the summer, no less) and it was so close to my psyche it was like reading my diary. The interaction between the friends in the book reflected my relationship with my friends exactly. Such insight into the personalities of his characters makes it a truly great book. Hardly in the class of "The Lord of the Rings," or "Catch-22," but impressive, nonetheless.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I exclude science fiction from this category.

Uhm, pardon me for asking... but why are you excluding SF?

[habs4ever]

Anna Karenina

[HairOfTheDog]

Lord of the Rings! J.R.R. Tolkien...

[Mr. Jeeves]

Atlas Shrugged for best exposition on the critical issues of our time.

Lord of the Rings for best story ever told.

[Andyman]

Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

[BluesDuke]

What are your nominations for Best Novel Ever Written?

In no particular order of preference, I nominate these five...

Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Darkness at Noon (Arthur Koestler)
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Pylon (William Faulkner)
The Natural (Bernard Malamud)

And, for honourable mention...

The Scarlett Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich (Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn)
From Here To Eternity (James Jones)
Rabbit, Run (John Updike)
You Know Me, Al (Ring Lardner)

[luvbach1]

From Here to Eternity is a great novel. Studs Lonigan Trilogy, James T. Farrell, although dated, is a powerful naturalistic novel that had a great impact on me. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is also high on my list, as well as on many others' lists.