What Is Your Favourite Work of Litertaure?

I read a lot, and although I feel literate has never truly achieved its true potential as an art-form, due to the the military etc. there are some masterpieces out there.
My favourite works of literature, are James Joyce 'Ulysses', Jame Joyce 'Portrait of the Artist', James Joyce 'Finnegan's Wake', Dante's 'Divine Comedy', Arthur Rimbaud's 'Illuminations', W.B. Yeats 'Collected Poems', Tolstoy 'Redemption'', 'Chekhov 'Cherry Orchard', Sophocles 'The Thebian Plays'', Homer 'The Odyssey', Joseph Heller 'Catch 22', Milton 'Paradise Lost', Huxley 'Brave New World' and probably some more, as that is all I can recollect for now.

All of those you list are fine, but for me “The Hobbit” and J. R. R. Tolkien are my favorite ever. I can still remember how amazed and enthralled I was by his works and Middle-earth.

a reply to: Metallicus

I do not to be rude, but that choice, to me, suggests either you are a newbie to literature and find yourself following mainstream trends, or your reading back-catalogue is not that vast, as everyone, who claims to know literature, chooses the Hobbit, whereas, those who do, choose Joyce's Ulysses, or some other work of high enlightenment. Personally my favourite is Ulysses, as it contains the complete works of literature, alongside some other woks especially Tolstoy's "Redemption", Yeats' "Collected Poems" and most importantly Rimbaud's "illuminations", his poems, Drunken Boat, and Mystical, such perfection of the poetic word.

a reply to: CyberMoses1001

Issaic Azimov, Robert Heinlein, Ian Flemming, earlier works by Stephen King.

Oh and the Jack Reacher series.

a reply to: CyberMoses1001

This will sound kind of weak I'm sure to the epics others list but my soft soft spot is for Of Mice and Men. I was a punk teenager at the time and it was assigned in grade 9 English. I thought it would be crap because I knew everything...

And I really enjoyed it. So much so that it changed my opinion of literature and the value of works of fiction.

It's a short book too, so not much of a commitment as others. No big words lol just a couple of drifting men trying to get by in the south.

It was the "classic" that was unlike the others.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Asminov, my brother has his Foundation collection, I am planning an reading it soon, what is our opinion on it?

a reply to: CyberMoses1001

Must read, enjoy!

a reply to: CyberMoses1001

It's worth the time.

*shrugs*

Everyone has different tastes in books.

C'est la vie!

a reply to: hombero

Since you mentioned epic, I forgot the masterpiece called Beowulf and since I mentions Beowulf, I will also mention King Arthur, I read Beowulf in a few hours or less it was that masterful.
Punk? You might like Trainspotting, or Junkie, but a real psychedelic novel, greater than them all, is Joyce's Ulysses, or Finnegan's Wake, I highly recommended the both of them.

a reply to: CyberMoses1001

Mary Chestnut's diary.

It is a look at the civil war from a confederate side of a woman.
I found it very interesting, enlightening, and a lot of her words of wisdom still apply today.

Isaac Asimov, Heinlein and my go to every five years or so, "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. His characters are developed so well as are the scenes that I feel like I'm back in time watching it all play out.

ETA: "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury is an eye opening read. It's comprised of a group of short stories that are linked together. The Veldt about the nursery and the lions seems to be relevant today as is The End of the World. And the movie from the sixties with Rod Steiger is a must.

a reply to: JAGStorm

A real diary or a novel structured as a diary or is it just the name? It sounds interesting, I must pick up a copy in the bookshop next time I visit.

a reply to: CyberMoses1001

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. Couldn't put it down...

originally posted by: CyberMoses1001
a reply to: JAGStorm

A real diary or a novel structured as a diary or is it just the name? It sounds interesting, I must pick up a copy in the bookshop next time I visit.

Her real diary, some tidbits and explanation are included. It is very eye opening.

Here is one of her quotes, how it rings true even today!

Brutal men with unlimited power are the same all over the world