Sun 28 May 2006
Dan Drezner ‘90, having tired of writing about foreign affairs, is now into literary criticism.
I like potboilers more than I like highbrow fiction. If I was strapped to a polygraph and had to confess which novel moved me the most in the past 25 years, I’d have to cop to Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs.
So….. the hardworking staff here at danieldrezner.com encourages it’s readers to submit their choice for the greatest mass-market novel of the past 25 years!! [How is that defined?--ed. Any novel that was popular enough to eventually be released in a mass-market paperback.] My choice is Silence of the Lambs — let me know yours.
The Face by Dean Koontz is my choice.
May 28th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Truman
May 28th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Not a novel - my error.
May 29th, 2006 at 3:35 am
I say False Memory by Dean Koontz.
He’s an excellent writer.
May 29th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
If we’re going down the horror/fantasy/suspense road, then I’d pick probably either It or The Shining by Steven King. Dean Koontz is a lot of fun, but IMO has nothing on King as a writer.
May 29th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
I haven’t read The Shining but early King sounds perhaps right- Salem’s Lot, anyone?
May 29th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. Most were trade paperbacks, but there WAS a mass-market edition (albeit one with a faulty cover).
May 30th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
May 30th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
2 choices:
1.) Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton)
Definitely his best work. Marries pop science, genuine suspense, and a fantastic premise.
2.) The Hunt for Red October (Tom Clancy)
Also probably the best novel. Marries adoring militarism, genuine suspense, and a fantastic premise.
May 30th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
The Stand by Stephen King is easily his best work and would be my pick. Though Salem’s lot is also really good.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:10 am
A) This one is old, but I found “Eye of the Needle” by Ken Follett to be suprisingly good writing and a fantastically suspensful plot (about a WWII German spy in England, and the English who track him down).
B) I second Jurassic Park. Aside from the tad-omnipresent reflections on chaos, great characters from the kids to the raptor-ass kicking paleobotanist, and above all a fascinating premise. It’s hard to find novels that successfully dramatize large aspects of science, without becoming biopics.
C) Early-mid P.D. James. I’d put “Death of an Expert Witness” on any top list. Her later Cordelia Gray mysteries are good but not as good as the early Dalgiesh. (I think she made paperback besteller status in the US, not sure).
D) Maybe a Scarpetta mystery, maybe “Postmortem,” the first, although I know there were better in the 90’s. (Patricia Cornwell). The plots of these books now tend to run together in my head, and I had to stop reading them. The last one I read was quite a soap opera.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:54 am
mostly, “the mosquito coast” by paul theroux. although I have a distinct feeling that he may be something of an unpleasant human being, paul theroux is a hell of a writer, and this is one of the bleakest, grimmest adventure books I know of, and with one of the most memorable characters. (on an alarmingly regular basis, I think “wow, that’s like ally fox.”)
as a second choice, “bel canto” (ann patchett). it may not actually have been released in mass-market paperback, but it was a decent-sized hit, so I guess that’s close enough (right?).
June 1st, 2006 at 11:03 am
Just two quick responses to other posts — I have not read any of Theroux’s fiction, but I do read lots of his travel writing, and I tend to agree with Emily — I think he may not be the greatest guy around, but his books are readable — I’m not sure how great I think he is as a writer, but he is a pretty good observer, even if sometimes his observations seem more crass than curmudgeonly.
For Frank, while this is not a discussion of nonfiction, since you mentioned Truman, you probably owe it to yourself to go read what is hands down, bar none the best bio of Truman, which is Lon Hamby’s Man of the People. (Lon was my advisor for my PhD, which does not obviate the fact that his book may not be quite as sugary a read, it is a better work of history and biography. Ask any serious historian of twentieth century politics and they will tell you the same.)
dcat