BOOKS….Every once in a while I read a really spectacular book. Not just a good book, but something that really knocks me flat. So far in my life there have been five of these books. Here they are, along with the year I read them:
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1976: Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
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1980: The Power Broker, by Robert Caro
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1984: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen Donaldson
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1991: The Quincunx, by Charles Palliser
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1997: Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace
This isn’t a list of every book I’ve ever liked, of course (that list is here, if you’re interested, although it hasn’t been updated for a few years), but these are the ones that have really stood out. Some observations:
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I seem to have a weakness for really long books. Crime and Punishment is probably the only one on the list that clocks in under half a million words.
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Despite the fact that 80% of my fiction reading is science fiction, there’s not a single sf title on the list (although there is one epic fantasy). I don’t know why.
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About half my reading is nonfiction, but there’s only one nonfiction book on the list.
And here’s the most important point of all: I seem to run into these books about once every five years, which means that I’m due. The next knock-me-for-a-loop book ought to be heading my way any time now. I can’t wait!
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