Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1982

haha, oops

Adrian Mole was a thing my dad gave me to read in my teen years, really no idea in retrospect how much I was supposed to relate and how many British references I was probably missing? Think I enjoyed her book where the royal family gets kicked out of Buckingham better.

Adams should've left well alone after Life, The Universe & Everything (he certainly wanted to).

Anyway, this is True Deceiver, Jansson's masterpiece, just so sharp and unrelenting on how people work. I should reread.

Voting for the heartbreaking Brautigan book, though Adrian Mole is definitely in my top-5 most-reread books.

Best HHGTG book is #4, "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish", best thing he ever wrote, this is a hill I will die on. (book #5 is the worst thing wrote)

Either PL or PKF.

Adrian Mole was a thing my dad gave me to read in my teen years, really no idea in retrospect how much I was supposed to relate and how many British references I was probably missing?

iirc my dad was baffled by this letter from adrian's american pen pal but i managed to parse it:

Howya doin’? I hope the situation Pandorawise is ongoing! She sounds kinda zappy! Scotland blew my mind! It was so far out as to be nuked! You’re a great human being, Aid. I guess I was kinda traumatized when we rapped but Dr Eagelburger (my shrink) is doing great things with my libido. Mom’s really wiped out right now, turns out number four is a TV and has a better collection of Calvin Kleins than she do! Don’t you think the fall is a drag? Son-of-a-bitch leaves everywhere!

This is all I've read:

Concrete by Thomas Bernhard

At some point in the late 70s it's gone from half a dozen or more to only one or three read in these lists.

Last year was a 0 for me, this year I've read 6. Have you seriously never read The BFG or Adrian Mole?

I've just read The BFG to my daughter, there was one funny bit:

I is reading it hundreds of times,' the BFG said. 'And I is still reading it and teaching new words to myself and how to write them. It is the most scrumdiddlyumptious story.'

Sophie took the book out of his hand. 'Nicholas Nickleby,' she read aloud.

'By Dahl's Chickens,' the BFG said.

'By who?' Sophie said.

Besides that there was not much for a 47 year old man to enjoy.

Also read Allende, Ishiguro, Doug Adams, Banville, and Adrian Mole, I guess Ishiguro out of that lot.

Have read the Levi, Ishiguro, Dahl, Bukoswski, Murakami; Adrian Mole is burned into my brain from re-readings when I was a kid. Still think this is Bruce Chatwin's On The Black Hill though. Beautiful book.

Having only read the Hitch-Hiker's Guide sequel, Adrian Mole and A Wild Sheep Chase I'm going for Murakami, despite his somewhat icky attitude towards women.

Hm. Read a few and I think it will be Brautigan, though it's not my favourite of his. Btw I'm terrible at dates so aside from my already-completed Johnson/Quin boosting I won't be able to write anything in - if anyone wants to note fine experimental works I can be indignant about the exclusion of then please do.

Or, better yet, be like emil.y and give me a heads up on what you want included in future installments instead of complaining after it's too late :D

yay, The True Deceiver!

I've read very few of the others, vaguely dislike both Murakami and Anne Tyler and hate Roald Dahl so this is an easy vote.

The only one I've read from this list is the Douglas Adams book. I've also read a lot of sci-fi from this year that was wisely excluded (e.g. Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard, Friday by Heinlein, Foundation's Edge by Asimov, 2010 by Arthur C. Clarke) and a middling Vonnegut novel (Deadeye Dick).

I liked the Murakami when I read it but at some point I got tired of him, sorry

Deadeye Dick isn't top tier Vonnegut but there are some interesting ideas in there.

Best HHGTG book is #4, "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish", best thing he ever wrote, this is a hill I will die on.

Totally agree, he gives Arthur a brief period of happiness, which I really like.

It’s also really deeply descriptive of the Islington of my childhood, and I love that.

write-ins for:

wittgenstein's nephew, thomas bernhard
in viriconium, m. john harrison

I'd have voted for Viriconium in a flash

was The Gunslinger published at the time?

wikipedia
"The finished product was first published by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. as a limited edition in 1982", with another 10k later. (and even then it was 5 short stories munged together.

so not really. i wasn't aware until '88 when it became Dark Tower vol 1

It's rubbish anyway :)

i have memories of reading it in the guesthouse during my first week of my first job, sat in the guest house before we'd sorted out accomodation.

and went on to read all the others, *some* of which were good. didn't bother with anytihng after the original 7 though (haven't there been add-ons and prequels?)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I'll take a tie, shout outs to the other four True Deceiver stans!

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1983