Which book would you choose if you could only read one for the rest of your life?

Submitted by NubbyNob t3_yguuip in books

I would pick Mossflower, the second book in the Redwall series. Brian Jacques was an incredible author. All the Redwall books are great but Mossflower stands out. The book is incredibly re-readable, and the characters are fleshed out, especially Martin. For the majority of you who can't choose just one book out of the hundreds or thousands you’ve read, this question may be challenging.

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Erebus172 t1_iuanfof wrote

I loved the Redwall series when I was young but I barely remember anything about it. I may have to take a dive back into it.

Edit: oops, I forgot to answer the actual question. Probably the Count of Monte Christo. There’s so much there to entertain over and over.

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apollojl68 t1_iuaszuk wrote

Hamlet. It lends itself to multiple interpretations. I pick up on something new every time I read it.

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ElijahReader t1_iuau8e3 wrote

The Collected poems of Wallace Stevens- hands down, it's not even close.

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Spare-Cauliflower-92 t1_iuavbht wrote

Ooh I used to love the Redwall series and had sort of forgotten about it! My favourite is Marlfox, probably because it was the first one I read :) My actual answer would probably be something kinda unoriginal like Rebecca or Wolf Hall, both of which I've read several times already!

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Regular_Heron_8914 t1_iuaw6zq wrote

What a fabulous question! I would have to narrow it down to any of the fantasy books by Andre Norton. While it's not the genre I typically read now, her Witch World series was my first introduction to fantasy and I loved it. You are so right that I've read thousands and I can't really narrow my reading down to one book, not even to one genre. LOL

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FredR23 t1_iuayd7b wrote

The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt

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oliompa t1_iub1mim wrote

In search of lost time

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pippahalliwell t1_iub264b wrote

Les Mis. It’s my all time favorite book. I’ve read it three times. It had a profound impact on me

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Ha__Ha__Ha t1_iub7fxe wrote

Replying to oliompa (#327,204)

So Swann's Way is worth it? I've read about 20, 30 pages, which is not much but haven't had the urge to return to it. I like what I've read so far, and it deals with a topic I love (memory), but man does the page count intimidate me.

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1funkyhunky t1_iubatlg wrote

Letters from a Stoic, Seneca. So much in a small package.

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Deevilknievel t1_iubcutd wrote

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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sdwoodchuck t1_iubfara wrote

Gene Wolfe’s Peace. It’s wonderful and entertaining on its surface, and it’s also a puzzle that you feel closer to solving every time you read it, but aside from a few foundational pieces, there’s still no solid consensus on what’s going on beneath that surface. Every time I read it, I discover something new and think it might be a breakthrough. The next time I start, I keep that in mind and test it against the text. Some of my theories are strong, I feel. Others are wild speculation. I’ve still never gotten tired of trying to dig a little deeper.

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stevemtzn t1_iubgfee wrote

Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems

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ReadingOffTwitter t1_iubhmyy wrote

The Collected Works of William Shakespeare - he has it all.

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ilysespieces t1_iubhs2x wrote

Needful Things, I've read that book so many times I've destroyed multiple copies.

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Dougiedougdoug143 t1_iubjj7z wrote

The eternal smile. Even though it’s a series of short stories in graphic novel form it is more than amazing and I’ve already owned three copies in my lifetime.

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advantagecp t1_iubly0x wrote

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

I have read it a couple of times and periodically I go back to it to revisit passages which I have marked.

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PattydukeFan24 t1_iubmwv0 wrote

11/22/63 by Stephen King. I’ve read it every year since it came out. The only book I’ve loved enough to read more than once. There’s just something about it (and it’s not ‘typical’ King)

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thepunnman t1_iubnuvm wrote

“how to make friends and influence people” by dale carnegie. Not the most fun book but i think the most pragmatic when it comes to reading only one book for the rest of my life

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chrispd01 t1_iubprhh wrote

Replying to ElijahReader (#325,781)

So I read The Snowman for the first time a few years ago (I am 56) so I got pretty far in life without knowing him.’

I think it’s a great poem - one of my top 10 but I don’t know what else I should read by him.

And recs ?

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KimBrrr1975 t1_iubr2l8 wrote

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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AbsentThatDay t1_iubrzk1 wrote

Speaker for the Dead, I've read it several times. The moral reasoning is the draw for me.

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idk-lol-1234 t1_iubt42k wrote

Song For A Scarlet Runner by Julie Hunt. No hesitation. I've loved that book since i was a kid an I will continue to do so.

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Operator51134 t1_iuc0bm9 wrote

Windup Bird Chronicle. I still don’t know the point of it but the writing sucked me in

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I-amthegump t1_iuc103c wrote

Gringo. By Charles Portis. And I can't defend it

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NTGenericus t1_iuc1161 wrote

Frankly, it would the Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu. But for a novel, I would choose Stranger in a Strange Land.

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WhatislifeEverest t1_iuc2sbt wrote

Magnus chase and the sword of summer. Just never gets old.

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strangr55 t1_iuc309z wrote

The Godfather. Not great literature, but I have read it probably 15 times and enjoyed it just as much every time - most recently just this past Spring.

​

If you let me have five, I would add: 2. The Lord of the Rings (the set, of course, including The Hobbit) 3. Shogun 4. Everything by Robert A. Heinlein (impossible to choose just one; I would have trouble trying to narrow it down to twenty) 5. Everything by Larry Niven, (same apology.)

But wait - that leaves out Michener's many superb works, and the entire Ender universe of Orson Scott Card, and everything by Scalzi, and Herman Wouk. And single gems like Watership Down, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Once and Future King, Jurassic Park. Then I would add I Claudius/Claudius the God, the Hannibal Lector books of Thomas Harris, the Jack Ryan books of Tom Clancy...

Okay, okay, I admit that I suck at this game. It's a dumb game, imho. Thanks for asking.

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raul2144 t1_iuc398a wrote

Anything from Raymond Chandler .

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Asecularist t1_iuc58r8 wrote

No joke. The Bible is not only a literary masterpiece, but you get to live and experience it... it is alive and happening right now. It’s like if the masterpieces were choose your own adventure with fresh threads all the time. A profound familiarity. And a deep unsearchable trove of treasures.

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BobbyBohunk t1_iuc5od0 wrote

A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold

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devoteean t1_iuc5r7h wrote

Shakespeare. Re-reading Shakespeare would be less boring than any other book after a few decades.

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Adsiduus t1_iuc7yp3 wrote

The Gospel of Luke. Alternatively the entire New Testament if that’s within the limits.

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[deleted] t1_iuc8f1d wrote

The memoir ‘Rocket Boys’ by Homer Hickam. It was hard to put the book down because I saw myself here and there in some pages in between the lines.

The book was later adapted into a movie called ‘October Sky’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Watched the movie as well.

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lucabura t1_iuc9k8z wrote

Hard choice, but I think if I had to pick only one it would have to be "The Brother's Karamazov" by Dostoevsky.

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thefntexan t1_iucb9ah wrote

On the Road by Kerouac. I read it yearly.

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supreme-dominar t1_iucbpq4 wrote

Find me the 6 original Dune books bound as a single volume and I’d be content.

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rabid- t1_iucbw3i wrote

The teaching of the Buddha.

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goatgirl13 t1_iucchq7 wrote

Replying to ilysespieces (#330,334)

I was trying to think of my favorite King books the other day and I forgot that one! Was a good read. I got it for Christmas when I was like...15? Read it in a day, could not put it down.

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goatgirl13 t1_iuccr9k wrote

One book is hard! The Dark Tower series is my favorite always... can I count as one book since I always read them back to back ;)

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Beiez t1_iuccvt8 wrote

How has noone said One Hundred Years of Solitude. It‘s like multiple books in one

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LanceCriminalGalen t1_iucd106 wrote

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. He really hit a home run there. It is a bit dry and maybe not fully on-theme with this post but I absolutely adore this book and will never stop shamelessly promoting it. For any who haven’t read and are interested it is a very dry collection of factoids that led Darwin to believe in the concept of ‘descent with modification’ to describe the various plants and animals he observed in his wide and glorious travels. His father Erasmus probably influenced him heavily.

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Cyber-Esper t1_iuce2oo wrote

Redwall was my jam... that and the Dragon of the Lost Sea series. Those books were wild! Count of Monte Cristo maybe... would be my pick.

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Silent_Swan_8606 t1_iucfnyk wrote

On the island by Tracey Garvis Graves. It has my favourite trope of older women and younger male through there is more to it than that. It is not only romance but more

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maraudingnomad t1_iuchg6l wrote

The lord of the rings. I have the red edition which is all of tje 3 books in one package, so it isn't cheating. Come to think of I also jave the complett sherlock holmes in a single package, but I'd still go with the LOTR.

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Lonely_Builder_9768 t1_iuchxrt wrote

Lord of the Rings; I can't read it now without getting overwhelmed by the lore so I might finally get around to finishing it

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Gimbloy t1_iuckybk wrote

Finnegan’s wake. Might take a lifetime to decipher it.

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Shkval25 t1_iucm04e wrote

I can't decide between Wolf Hall and The Agony and the Ecstasy. Both would be great because by the time I'm done reading them I've forgotten what happened at the beginning so I never get bored with them.

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MegC18 t1_iucndzu wrote

Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Huge, complex picture of eighteenth century life. An alternative would be the many volume Pepys diary.

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Renfield78 t1_iucq9xv wrote

The Razor’s Edge by Wm Somerset Maugham

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Costly-Birthday-2281 t1_iucqzbw wrote

I would read Nancy Drew. I won't get bored even if I read it for more than a thousand times

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Saffer60 t1_iucs488 wrote

The Book of Lights by Chaim Potok

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MrRoflmajog t1_iucsfsa wrote

(grabs some glue) This really long one called A Song of Ice and Fire, although hopefully I will need to use a bit more glue in a few years.

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stayxhome t1_iucsful wrote

Speedboat by Renata Adler.

I am an avid re-reader. Gave it a quick check on Goodreads, I've read this book nine times since I first picked it up in 2016.

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lsymons22 t1_iucwgro wrote

As a surfer and reader, Barbarian Days by William Finnegan.

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mugglebaiter t1_iucwobl wrote

For me it's the quick wit of Steinbecks "Tortilla flat"

I could re-read Pilons slow justifications for drinking other peoples wine day in day out.

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Fine_With_It_All t1_iucxzb4 wrote

A Gentleman in Moscow. A great story with great lessons for how to live a good life with little

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AlecMorgan_ t1_iucynaw wrote

Karamazov brothers or war and peace

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gvuio t1_iucyroh wrote

The Princess Bride.

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pollenhuffer69 t1_iuczqub wrote

Any of the Jeeves and Wooster books. I laugh like a drain reading them.

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inpositionhs t1_iud1b5s wrote

Galaxy's Edge, complete Universe of

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Currdog t1_iud5oye wrote

Shogun! James Clavell.

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dachsj t1_iud9wmd wrote

Mossflower was the first real book I ever read all the way through.

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Fragrant_Taste t1_iude8k1 wrote

a suitable boy by vikram seth. could open that book on any random page and get lost in whatever is going on

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Med9876 t1_iudf4wf wrote

War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy.

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IamaPotterI t1_iudjfi7 wrote

HARRY POTTER ... all the way bro !

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Enjoyer_of_substance t1_iudjgn2 wrote

Moby Dick… Im 22 but my remaining years would be few if I had to reread that testament of a whale lexicon

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DiscoMonkeyz t1_iudjqqb wrote

Probably Letters from a Stoic. I like Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, but if it's 1 book, at least with Letters it's like having a pen pal a bit.

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punnypen t1_iudkqt7 wrote

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

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ImaginaryWar2322 t1_iudlmhu wrote

I would choose Stephan Zweig’s “Letter from an Unknown Woman” It takes me other world. Also I love romantic romance and it’s one of them. Being away from love has never been this hard.

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Jamesdmorgan t1_iudm7lf wrote

Neuromancer by William Gibson. Though id like to have the whole trilogy ideally

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Simba_Rah t1_iudom5h wrote

Pet Semetary by King.

It’s such a good look into the grieving process, and how it effects people in such wildly different ways.

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dentarthurdents t1_iudtuk8 wrote

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, no question (maybe I'm a touch obsessed lmao)

Maybe not as literary as a lot of the other comments (which are all great choices) but hey. I have a hard time rereading books but every time I reread HHG I find something new to think about or laugh at. It'd be worth it.

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Pactumana t1_iudw4t6 wrote

Mmm maybe "the poppy war" I've read that series twice and I wouldn't be mad to read it more times

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2leewhohot t1_iudwl4m wrote

Lonesome Dove. Epic in scope. It's a love letter to the western genre.

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No_Finding_306 t1_iudwr8t wrote

Prisoner of Azkaban. It's probably my favorite book from the Harry Potter series.

But also cause I cheat I would want LOTR.

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MoabFlapjack t1_iue1v11 wrote

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk. There are layers to it with different pieces to focus on each read. It’s also slow enough to really savor, while still readable enough to enjoy.

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Rio_is_cool t1_iue5469 wrote

A dog’s purpose. I love the first book so much I could read it forever.

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mamayana19 t1_iue6tyw wrote

House in the Cerulean Sea or maybe Cloud Atlas

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sofia775x t1_iue6zqj wrote

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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Distinct_Gain4941 t1_iue8l74 wrote

The dictionary. It's like a book IKEA. With that, you can assemble all other books yourself!

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anonymousLitMajor t1_iueo6jf wrote

Probably Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, just to remind me to keep on carrying the fire.

Or maybe something by Haruki Murakami. I love magical realism.

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kernel1010 t1_iuf8qcs wrote

Arch of Triumph from Remaruqe

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Tanettenba t1_iuj0efp wrote

Duma Key by Stephen King. I love that book so much!

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