What's the most epic novel of all time?
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What's the most epic novel of all time?
Moby Dick
Or Ulysses
Or Ulysses. Or A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. James Joyce probably the best author ever, for me.
But you know there's so much. I mean this would be tricky if you just said the past fifty years. There's just so damn many wonderful books.
You say epic, and I'm hoping you mean epic in scale both literary and intellectually rather than fantasy castles and armies or whatever.
I haven't read everything, but I can give you a few top personal favourites, but those first two suggestions are what I probably would say if pushed to give you one or two. those books are pretty beyond.
Buttt. In the late twentieth century to now, I've really gone for House of Leaves, by Mark Z Danielewski, which is probably my favourite novel of the last ten years. Uh. Not a massive amount else has taken me too recently, but that's probably more me being an conservative fuck about it all than there not being top tier stuff.
Thinking wider twentieth century it's probably the best one there is.
'Finnegans Wake'-James Joyce,
'The Master and Margarita'-Mikhail Bulgakov [really liked this one]
Obviously, 'Titus Groan'-Mervyn Peake
'Catch-22'-Joseph Heller is pretty bro tier.
Uh, fucking 'Crime and Punishment'- Dostoyevsky. real high tier.
'A Clockwork Orange', It's way better than the movie.
If you haven't already, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'-George Orwell is worth a go. Although I'm probably the only person in the world who preferred Animal Farm.
Slaughterhouse 5-Kurt Vonnegut
There are hundreds but I'm trying to stick to things that could be considered epic, i guess.
hmm. I'll consider a bit more quite what you're looking for then be back with a vengeance.
Also, Paradise Lost. Read my signatureee. That one is fucking epic.
The Heart of Darkness is pretty awe inspiring also.
edit: yeah i've pretty much just spat my favourite books at you.
LOTR Trilogy.
If you like dragons then definitely pick up the Inheritance Cycle, which is Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr. Or you could try the Age of Fire series.
I second Moby Dick. It is definitely a challenge to get through but incredible.
Check out these great works of literary achievements:
ninja are used like a star rating on a scale of 1-6
The Chronicles of The Imaginarium Geographica::ninja:-:ninja:-:ninja:-:ninja:-:ninja:
http://nozama.typepad.com/photos/unc...comparison.jpg
The Fighters: Forgotten Realms::ninja:-:ninja:-:ninja:-:ninja:
(The Master of Chains is the best one in this series)
http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/i...49/n245935.jpghttp://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/i...49/n245949.jpghttp://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/i...49/n245958.jpghttp://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/i...49/n245966.jpg
The Night Angel Trilogy: :ninja:-:ninja:-:ninja:-:ninja:(4.5)
(you'll be amazed at the style and amount of action and the authors straightforward way of telling stories)
http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...gelTrilogy.jpg
Yes i have read each book in each series (except for the final 1/4 of Ghostwalker in the fighters series, my dog chewed it up Grr)
Wow, thanks a bunch. :)
I've read a pretty good chunk of those, and enjoyed most of them immensely. ATM I feel like sitting back and immersing myself in an epic-ass masterpiece that'll blow me the f*** away, so I'm thinking either Moby Dick or Paradise Lost. I've never read anything by James Joyce. I'll put those on the ol' reading list too.
On a sidenote, I just finished Ishmael. If you like the whole "non-fiction/philosophy disguised as fiction" thing, it's pretty great.
Read it and loved them all.
Thanks man, I'll look into them. Wasn't Eragon made into a movie? I haven't seen it, j/w.
Yeah, I'm thinking it's gonna be Moby Dick. Can't believe I haven't read it already.
Definitely going to check out the Imaginarium Geographica series. Digging the covers on those and the reviews look pretty good.
If you've read the LOTR series and loved them then The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series is a must. It is one of the best literary works this decade..... It's the culmination of history and literature brought into four books.
I haven't read enough novels, but I always hear blessings of H.P. Lovecraft. Cthulu is probably one of the most popular monsters out there, right next to Godzilla and King Kong.
I second LOTR. The Hobbit is also very good. On the subject of fantasy books, the Ranger's apprentice series is awesome, but for every book past the fourth you'll have to order a foreign copy (probably UK/Australia) as they haven't been released in the US (why?)
To make a total 180 in genre, I was assigned In Cold Blood as a summer reading assignment, and I thought it was pretty good. It definately changed my views on capital punishment (wrote my paper on it), and crime in general.
If you're in the mood for something a bit deeper, I strongly reccomend you read Journey To Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda if you haven't already.
too much fantasy in this thread. Unless that's explicitly what you want by "epic".
edit; in fact most times people talka bout books they all seem to only love fantasy :s
If you haven't read it, "The Heart of Darkness" is very very short bur pretty aweinspiring and blowing away worthy. I'd really recommend reading the heart of darkness then watching Apocalypse Now straight after, which is actually an adaptation of the book. You'll be tripping epicness for weeks. Also "The Outsider" by Camus is one of the subtlest epic novels i've read. Super short, again.
I'd recommend Milton as well. Of course, it's a poem, not a novel.
The Illiad / Odyssey - Homer
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
1984 - George Orwell
Hearts in Atlantis - Stephen King
Flatland - Edwin A Abbot <- Very very surreal and weird, but def one of the best books ever written
Flatland's copyright has worn out, so you can read it for free on Google Books.
Haha you sold me. I'll for sure put it on the list.
Never read Call of the Cthulu but I want to. My buddy has this on the back of his car:
http://brian.carnell.com/files/image...hulhu_fish.jpg
Weird that you mention it. I literally just got back a copy I was letting someone borrow. :shock:
Journey to Ixtlan was one of the first non-kid's books I ever read.
I think I'm going to read THoD while I decide what to read, lol. 79 pages FTW.
And no, I didn't specifically mean fantasy, but it's totally welcome.
Sounds good, I'm definitely a fan of very very surreal and weird. The free part doesn't hurt either.
Lol yeah dude the movie looks pretty bad. Might look into the book though.
- Jarhead
- American Psycho
- Interview with the vampire
Gravitys Rainbow by Pynchon is pretty high tier.
And Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes will destroy your mind.
I mostly do only like Fantasy.
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
I would recommend Clive Barker's "Imajica" and Tad Williams's "Otherland" series.