Other books that I enjoyed reading…
Would also add Clouds above the Hill: A Historical Novel of the Russo-Japanese War. The characters in the novel were real and were quite prominent in history.
Also enjoyed John Le Carre’s the Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Sad for the protaganist. Made use and disposed of after work was done - but then he was a spy anyway.
Really, really loved J.G Ballard’s Empire of the Sun (made into a movie too). If you love the movie, you will love the book.
Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye. Fascinating story about a girl’s life experiences. Lots of imagery used and up till now a lot of stuff I find difficult to underrstand.
George Orwell’s 1984. 'Nuff said.
The Devil’s Alternative. Fascinating Cold War novel. I learnt a lot about the Soviet Union after reading this book.
Buck Rogers (Arrival)
Not exactly, a novel…but his book read like fiction anyway.
Devil on the Cross - book about colonialism in Africa. Lots of use of hyperbole and creative writing techniques.
Genesis, by W.A Harbinson. First book to get me interested in UFO conspiracy theories.
Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh). (Translated Version). One of the four great Chinese classics.
Winter of the The World by Ken Follet. World War 2 setting.
Cathedral by Nelson Demille. Fascinating novel about with a cathedral in NYC as a setting.
Fatherland by Robert Harris. Superbly well-researched. I haven’t read Philip K. Dick’s the Man in High Castle but the setting is similar.
Fun while it lasted. Not really fiction either but really fascinating rags to riches to rags story about a coin collector.
A Stone for Danny Fischer. Another fascinating rags-to-riches story.
I had to read S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders in school but the book and its characters never left my memory throughout my life and when I learnt that there was a movie about it available online, I went to watch the movie. I re-read the book a few times throughout my adult life.
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Got me interested into understanding terrorism more.
I read Louis Cha’s The Return of the Condor Heroes novel in Chinese. It took me two weeks of non-stop reading to finish the book but it’s a fascinating read.
Louis Cha was one of the most prolific writers in the Chinese literary world with his books adapted in tv dramas and films and he is a household name. In fact, he was a big fan of Alexander Dumas and one of his novels, A Deadly Secret, was influenced by Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo which some people have mentioned here.
Now, some of his books have been translated into English.
Anita Desai’s the Village by the Sea. Another book I had to read in school but really enjoyed.
Political Satire. Another Orwell classic.
The Wonderful Stories of Henry Sugar by Roald Dhal. Where I got my ideas about having X-ray vision and breaking the casinos. I still hope I can achieve this superpower one day.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Inspiring short-fiction.
Oliver Twist. Sad story but with happy ending.
- This is a movie tie-in, but I read the book first before I ever got to catch the movie online.
Very hilarious and I read it multiple times.
Momo. One of the few fantasy writings that I really enjoyed.
Yasunari’s Kawabata’s Snow Country. With a location in the snowy mountains of Japan as a setting, the writer fused the various themes of traditional Japanese conceptions of beauty, human nature and love in his novel.