The Republic of Heaven

Just a question, tried to check if has already been done. Sorry if it has.

Just wondered what peoples opinions were?

1 or 2 (HDM as a whole) Vying with the Night Watch (pratchett) Hitch Hiker Guide (adams) Man in a high castle (Phillip K. Dick) Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Cronicals (bradbury) Brave New World (Huxley) Homage to Catalonia and N1984 (Orwell). Theres probably some other ones as well.

I don't really know...

All I know is that it isn't 1st. Northern lights is there...

It'll be in my top ten, though, along with The Subtle Knife, Mort, Guards Guards, The Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy, Lord of the Flies, some others...

I feel bad now - It wouldn't be in my top ten at all. Northern Lights might make it, but neither TSK or TAS would. However if I took the trilogy as a whole (ie. counted them as one book) they would definitely be top 10!

No need to feel bad, aklebury.

Personally I think ranked lists are a bit silly, but I suppose The Amber Spyglass might figure in a personal top 100. As for top ten, I'm at a loss to know what I would include in a top ten and my list might change from day to day, but candidates that would rank well above TAS might easily include

The Portrait of a Lady
Wuthering Heights
Vanity Fair
Middlemarch
Narziss und Goldmund
Waterland
The Return of the Native
Sons and Lovers
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Magic Toyshop
Bleak House
The Grapes of Wrath
The Long Good Bye
The Nine Tailors
Anna Karenina
Song of Solomon
Brighton Rock

See, that's seventeen already without pausing for breath. This is not to disparage HDM; it is an achievement to be even close to such company.

.

Enitharmon, Wurthering Hights and Bleak House...

Oh dear...

Enitharmon, Wurthering Hights and Bleak House...

Oh dear...

I'm sorry you don't like them. Bleak House is a bit heavy going in places, but Wuthering Heights is an absolute cracker by any standards.

i didn't place it on my top 10 either. i might rate the golden compass there because it's so narratively strong, but the amber spyglass has problems even if the story is amazing. better writing exists on my bookshelf (which isn't particularly expansive).

I hesitate to rank HDM in general, but it would definitely be among my first ten. I got captivated by Pullman's command of the language from the very beginning, when I read TGC/NL, and as I've written elsewhere, I like very much reading most anything Pullman writes...even if I might disagree.

i put 8th but have to add that this is for the entire trilogy not just tasg.

there are books i prefer amazing as these works are

All interesting points, maybe i haven't read a large enough variety to judge whether they should be in the top places, oh well, i'm sure that i will read better books, i just don't want to put HDM down, but thanks for all opinions, all very valid and accounted for

Enitharmon, Wurthering Hights and Bleak House...

Oh dear...

I'm sorry you don't like them. Bleak House is a bit heavy going in places, but Wuthering Heights is an absolute cracker by any standards.

Not a fan at all-I see Wuthering Hights genius but I don't enjoy it as a book.

From what i have heard Wuthering Heights is sad, it doesn't sound like my kind of book

2nd, Northern lights definately 1st!

I think that Northern Lights would be second and The Amber Spyglass first.

I would put it 3rd or 4th. GC 1st, SK 2nd and AS 3rd or maybe Jurassic Park would be 3rd.

The Nine Tailors

Really?

I read it when I was about 12, and I sussed out "whodunnit", as it were, pdq. But then I knew about stuff like that.

Oh, and to answer the question, TAS? no, never in my top 10, were I to have one.

TAS would most definitely be at the top.

I think NL would be in my top 10 books, though I would rather put them in as a series... and I am not nearly as well read as most of the people here it seems. Harry Potter and LOTR also make it in there, along with some japanese books and a few other more serious ones. I found the HDM series to be one of my favourites, the whole story is just beautiful and very well written though I think there are elements of the "flavour of the month" involved as well as they are books I have read most recently. Having said that, that ending will forever remain as one of the best and will probably continue to move me forever.

so I guess my tag along question is... what should I read next? I think we are pretty like minded people on here (though many would find that tag rather offencive to be associated with the likes of my mind ), so would appreciate any input about what other books you found to be interesting/thought provoking.