Yep, another top ten. Which I might have posted earlier, but I had something to do (more later), plus I didn’t finish writing the list out until around noon. And so:
TOP TEN BOOKS (fiction)
01. The Complete Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle, 1887-1927) Fiction’s greatest detective. Over a span of 56 short stories and four novels, the quality is a mixed bag—the worst can be quite dull, the best simply magnificent. Almost all of them have great moments. Doyle was the reluctant creator of a true legend.
02. The Complete Shakespeare (William Shakespeare, 1590-1613 approx.) This is almost a ’nuff said choice. The greatest playright of all time; the writer of some of literature’s most powerful human drama and poetry.
03. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee, 1960) A tale of childhood, and of bigotry in America’s South in the 1930s, seen through the eyes of a girl nicknamed Scout. This appears to be Harper Lee’s one and only novel, and justifiably considered a classic.
04. Misery (Stephen King, 1987) The horror is psychological rather than supernatural. This was one of the first King books that won him any degree of approval amongst the critics—which is a great shame, in a sense, as it speaks volumes about the brainless stigma attached to ‘horror’…
05. The Dark Tower (Stephen King, 1970-2004) Stephen King’s magnum opus finally ends next year, with the publication of the sixth and seventh volumes. The first volume is comprised of short episodes written over a 12-year period, and is scratchy and slightly dull. Things really take off with volume two.
06. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Agatha Christie, 1926) This is Christie’s masterpiece, with everything a detective novel needs; strong characters, a great detective (Hercule Poirot), and a denouement that broke new ground. The ending may seem ordinary today—it’s been done to death ever since (no pun intended). In 1926, readers were astounded and baffled.
07. The Odyssey (Homer, 750BC approx.) This is a work we can never enjoy in the way the Ancient Greeks did, but there’s still much to appreciate. Homer’s epic poem, over 24 books (or chapters), follows the trials of Odysseus following the Trojan war. It has inspired storytellers ever since. Damn shame Jack Kirby never drew it as a comic book.
08. Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury, 1963) Bradbury is a fine writer, but most of his work is sci-fi (not one of my favourite genres), so it’s this foray into straight horror that makes my list. It’s more about childhood and rights of passage, really, which is why it’s wonderful. Bradbury borders on mawkish at times, but his sincerity pulls it through.
09. Crime & Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1866) All translated works suffer from the transition, but its power and psychological intensity shine through. I felt the ‘redemption’ ending was a little weak, but otherwise this grim novel is truly excellent. And anyway: how can you go wrong with the book that provided the inspiration for Columbo? 🙂
10. Jack Kirby’s Fourth World (Jack Kirby, 1970-85) Most of Kirby’s Fourth World material—spanning primarily the comic book titles New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle—is now back in print in collected editions. So I can legitimately call them books! The series is a patchy, flawed masterpiece… its best moments are the finest comics ever made.
As before, this is very much a ‘50% subject to change’ list. But I’m pleased with the choices. Please feel free to add your own top tens and comments!
2026 COMMENT: In fact, I’d disagree with at least half of these choices today. Maybe a new version beckons…
A wonderful list. I’ll steal a few to start my own list (Conan Doyle, Shakespeare and particularly Kirby) and try to track down and read the others. Of course my list would include _Cryptonomicon_ and _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay_.
More later (and hopefully it’s not too late to comment on a couple of days in the previous week).
Not necessarily great books but I find myself re-reading every few years the books that inspired the Granada(?) series “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” and “Game, Set and Match.” In both cases I started the book *after* the series began; the casting was impeccable (other than the respective lead characters). With Le Carre I read subsequent books but liked less and less, but with Deighton’s I haven’t stopped–it’s now a trilogy of trilogies (plus everything in between) and I hope he decides to add more.
Le Carre said he grew to write Alec Guinness as George Smiley (I hated Smiley’s People) but I guess Deighton never got over Ian Holm as Bernard Samson (the only way I can imagine him).
I don’t read fiction. The last fiction book I bought was ‘The Edge Of Reason’ by Helen Fielding. I value it so much that I’m giving it away to someone in my therapy group. For nothing.
Still, just got through ‘Villeneuve’ by Gerald Donaldson in about 4 hours. Just got to read the other books I bought today – one on corruption in world football, one on the Kursk disaster, one on Dmitri Mendeleyev, John Pilger’s latest. My distance vision is starting to go, you know…
Fascinated by the comments on Ray Bradbury – though you call him Sci-fi, much of his work is borderline psychological stuff (I used to work for his publisher). I love ‘Something wicked this way comes’ (the title comes from Macbeth) it confirms my lifelong unease with circuses.
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