Little known books...

[fajrdrako]

January 24, 2008: What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

I suppose a lot of my favourite books are fairly obscure. It's hard to know... Have other people read the Eugenides books by Megan Whelan Turner, the Macedon universe books of Karin Lowachee, the works of Dorothy Dunnett, Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword, The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox, the wonderful books of Mary Doria Russell?

Yes, some people have. In some cases I read them because they were recommended to me. But most of the above I found on my own, and I'd venture to say that they aren't books that have been read by all - even if they've won awards, or been nominated for them. Even though they are so exquisitely good.

Some of my favourite books are those which have been read by everybody, or at least heard of: Jane Eyre, the Bujold novels, the Georgette Heyer novels, the Baroness Orczy novels - that's the Scarlet Pimpernel, for the uninitiated. Precious Bane was once famous, though maybe isn't now. Shellabarger's books were made into movies. Horatio Hornblower is famous, and so is Charles Dickens.

Comments

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

The fact that I've never seen his books in a used bookstore, and there's only one of his books available in an Ottawa library (University of Ottawa), and that you're pretty well stuck with inter-library loan trying to get his books?

None of the gay bookstores had them when I phoned around a few years ago. Maybe in Toronto?

In other words, I think the reason is primarily logistical.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the reason is primarily logistical.

Hmm. I do not approve.