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I need a recommendation on a book for a friend for Christmas. She does not normally read "chart topping" books but she loved the DaVinchi Code (although she is not religous). The only author I have seen her read on more than one occasion is Paul Auster (Book of Illusions, Timbuktu, 'Smoke' screenplay). Other than that, I have nothing to go on. Oh, she also read most of the Oprah books before they went the classics route.

Not much to go on but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

BBP

Seeker

Give her "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, author of Davinci Code. The main character is even the same character as the one in Davinci code!

GeoffK

I'm reading Fast Food Nation right now and I can't put it down. Very interesting read

RevLiver

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem.

I'm recommending this to everyone I know. It's sort of a mystery, but the main character has Tourette's Syndrome, which leads to some incredible wordplay and hilarious scenes.

Geofferson

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

I too am recommending this book to everyone I run into.

(M. Night Shyamalan has gotten the movie rights)

PalmerJoss

The Alienist or it's sequel, The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr.

javanut

Blindness by Jose Saramago. It won the nobel prize for literature but is a good and fast read. about an outbreak of contagious blindness in England. It's terrifying and beautiful all at the same time.

WillieTheShakes

Sorry for nit-picking, javanut, but I gotta:
The Nobel isn't given for a single work - it's given for a writer's body of work. Blindness just happened to be published at around the time that Saramago was awarded the Nobel...

jay77a

a lot of great choices.
I'll have a hard time choosing one!

Thanks to all.

Keep'em coming!

jay77

Spooky

Buy her a Kama Sutra book...or isn't she that kind of friend?!

javanut

Thanks for the info. i had no idea.

Josh-da-man

If she's into Paul Auster (and I will confess that I've only read his New York Trilogy), I would suggest:

"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

"House of Leaves" by Mark Danielewski (Poe's CD, "Haunted," was actually inspired by this novel and serves as a companion piece. Poe is Danielewski's sister.)

"The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon

kcbrett5

That is not actually true. While it can be given to recognize a life's body of work it cannot be done so without a specific significant work to cite.

Also, they are not always given to a body of work. Many times it goes to a specific work. Look at the number of relatively young writers that win every year.

javanut

I'd also recommend Hesse's Siddhartha, one of the best books I've ever read.

BoatDrinks

You're both right in a way.

It is given annually and the "prize givers" recite something like: the award is given to the person who during the past year conferred the greatest benefit to mankind, and that one part is given to the person who produced (in literature) the most outstanding work.

Yes, there is usually a specific work cited but it is by no means required to have come from the past year.

So, imho, even though they say it's for contributions from the past year -- what would no doubt be a specific work -- the award rarely if ever goes to anyone who doesn't have a significant body of work.

The Nobel prize for literature is something I have a bit of a problem with. The Nobel in other areas seems to be okay - experts choosing experts - physics, chemistry, medicine, etc - but that means that for the lit prize not only is it members of the Swedish Academy voting, but also any professor of literature at any university. Any.

Now, sure, probably a lot of these profs know their stuff, but I guarantee you that many of them are frustrated authors themselves, and I can speak from experience that the writing community is as jealous and catty and self-serving as any. And I don't believe that physics or chemistry is affected as much by personal taste/opinion/etc as literature.

So, I'm sure there are certain authors that will never get a shot at the award because of this... and some that perhaps shouldn't be considered but are by their status within that prof world.

I'll stop blathering now.