Thursday, January 24, 2008

Booking Through Thursday Meme

Booking Through Thursday:

What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”


Well, most people have heard of Camus though not everyone has heard of The Plague, but I don't know that it's terribly obscure. Everyone knows LOTR. A lot of people know the Master & Commander series when I remind them about the movie.

So I guess that leaves a couple, though again, they're not super obscure. I really enjoyed Pilgrim by Timothy Findley and the Kristin Lavransdatter series by Sigrid Undset. I understand there's a "better" translation of the latter out, so I'll need to check those out. For me, Norway + middle ages, and Jung + history and immortality = fiction gold :)

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:29 AM

    When I was a kid I really enjoyed The Westing Game which I think was a Caldecott winner, but none of my friends have ever heard of it. Other than that, I'm not a good one with obscure.

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  2. The Kirstin Lavransdatter series sounds interesting, will need to check that out. Hadn't heard of it before you mentioned it...

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  3. Paul - well, I'll have to be added to that list. I was all about Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, and the Hardy Boys when I was a kid :)

    CGP: Definitely check it out! There's a number of different translations out there - apparently the latest (from Penguin) is very good, though the one I read was the Vintage release in the 1980s and I liked it quite a bit.

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  4. I am really enjoying this BTT... I've already gotten quite a list started... and here goes more on it. Thanks!

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  5. Anonymous6:19 AM

    When I was a kid I adored this book my teacher gave me called Farewell to Troy - nobody else I knew had heard of it. It's not that I read obscure things, it's that most of my friends didn't like the same things I did. As an adult I really lose at obscure. Does Star Trek manga count?

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  6. Anonymous7:26 AM

    I have read most of the books by Camus. I think I should re-read those!

    "Huh?"

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  7. Judy - I know, lots of great recs today thanks to BTT!

    Heather - I'm with you...I don't really do a lot of obscure. Unless it's non-fiction.

    Gautami - definitely time for a re-read!

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  8. Anonymous11:58 AM

    The Plague is the best horror novel I've read so far;o) I really like Camus, and also the Outsider

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  9. I adore Kristin Lavransdatter!

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  10. Hmmm I don't think I have heard of these books. But that probably because, as many have said all over the place, I'm not into the genres of the books. So I weren't know or heard of them :) Maybe I should check them out :)

    Happy BTT! Have a good Thursday and good weekend ahead!

    Julia - Yen

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  11. Virginie - The Plague is one of those books that really sticks with you, isn't it??

    Annie - I know, huh!! My mom introduced them to me and I was hooked. Since I;m mostly Norwegian by heritage, it was so cool to read about medieval Norway.

    Julia - One of the great things about BTT huh! Have a fab weekend!

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