Weekly Column
Past Columns
Other Writing Home Page
Sites Writing is Linked to
EWriters
Favorites
- The Paper Chase - Bold, unique, gutsy. It successfully riles the establishment. An unconventional love story.
The Associates - I used to consider this my favorite novel, or at least the one I most wanted to emulate. It is striking for its characters, dialogue, scenes, and humor. "The Paper Chase," however, is probably more powerful and lasting.
The Prince of Tides - One maybe cannot appreciate it without a love for the lowcountry. A universal story about the need to come to grips with one's past and family. Amazing ability to link a personality with a place.
My Secret History - It takes courage to have the protagonist be selfish, cynical, and self-possessed. This is a plausible, coherent, expertly-written history/chronology of a writer. It embodies the power of ideas.
Sophie's Choice - Along with Joseph Heller and maybe Norman Mailer, William Styron is someone I admire just for his sentences. Here he also creates an epic, unforgettable story. It is such a good one that Pat Conroy mimicked it, without appropriate credit, in "Beach Music."
Gorky Park - An everyman (Renko) who excels at what he does. He makes a difference. The opposite of greed.
The Water is Wide - Admiration for a worthy deed and respectable man (before "Beach Music").
Travels With Charley - Maybe the most subtle look at people, and a whole country, that I have read. Is it about racism? Pooh-poohed as insignificant compared to his other books, but is it?
To Kill A Mockingbird - Also about racism and the courage to stand up to it, i.e., the power of writing about it. This is a work so huge it transcends age groups, media, generations, and almost everything else.
Edisto - Also set in the lowcountry this is the coming of age for a young boy. It is a clash between young and old, educated and not, and the lowcountry vs. everyplace else. A reminder that less is more.
The Firm - Affirmation that it is the story, and its presentation, that makes it work. Imagine a book read by so many people that the movie chose to have a different ending? The last hundred pages is the best, fastest-reading, and longest chase scene I have read.
Blind Ambition - Deep Throat did not have the courage to come entirely forward but John Dean, in his way, did. He did as much as anyone to expose one of the biggest American events of the second half of the twentieth century.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Whenever you need it, a reminder that there are others who are smarter.
A Walk Across America - Particularly in the beginning the reader can tell that Peter Jenkins is really struggling as a writer. He earned my respect. The best follow-up to "Travels With Charley" that I know of.
coming soon, a discussion board. e-mail me with suggestions. pcpfeiffer@msn.com
Links
wwforums.com