Ah, I'm getting enlightenment!
Great literature is judged by the emotional response of PJ-Comix.
Anyway, here are a few of my favorite works of fiction:
Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, by Tolkein
(sorry, the Nobel Committee was asleep at the switch, most of the people who love it still don't get it).Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
(Revelation meets Science Fiction).Work of Art, by Sinclair Lewis
(incredibly profound, taught me to see inspiration where we don't usually look for it).Sidharttha, by Hermann Hesse
(Hadda pick one of his).The Source, by James Michener
(I know, I know, but I read it in 7th grade, and it sparked my interest in all things Middle Eastern ever since).Paradise Lost, by John Milton
(I don't care if it's an epic poem, it's breathtaking).The Last Temptation of Christ, by Nikos Kazantzakis
(Scorsese butchered it worse than he did The Scarlett Letter).Barabbas, by Par Lagerkvist
(Became a cool Anthony Quinn movie, too)The Trial, by Franz Kafka
(welcome to the nightmare).The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammet
(I liked this one even though I was reading it for a class).Midworld, by Alan Dean Foster
(totally flawed structure, pedestrian prose, and reads like a first draft, but an absolute guilty pleasure because of the fantastic world he created).Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
(couldn't respect the Left after reading it).Red Nails, by Robert E. Howard
(pulp Sword and Sorcery, a mist of blood seeps from the pages).Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler
(Liked it better than Ivan Denisovitch, haven't read any other Solzhenitsyn).
There are more, if I think about it.
BTW, PJ, your comments at the top of the thread piqued my interest in From Here to Eternity. An interest that wanes with each subsequent mention.
