Which book would you choose if you could only read one for the rest of your life?

Submitted by NubbyNob t3_yguuip in books

I would pick Mossflower, the second book in the Redwall series. Brian Jacques was an incredible author. All the Redwall books are great but Mossflower stands out. The book is incredibly re-readable, and the characters are fleshed out, especially Martin. For the majority of you who can't choose just one book out of the hundreds or thousands you’ve read, this question may be challenging.

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PattydukeFan24 t1_iubmwv0 wrote

11/22/63 by Stephen King. I’ve read it every year since it came out. The only book I’ve loved enough to read more than once. There’s just something about it (and it’s not ‘typical’ King)

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sSadCactus t1_iubxdy9 wrote

The Count of Monte Cristo

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Basarav t1_iue42lp wrote

Same here

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sSadCactus t1_iufi2ip wrote

It’s long enough to last a few days and captivating enough to keep you reading despite how many times you’ve read it before ❤️

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ShowMeYourHappyTrail t1_iuanxwx wrote

Watership Down. It's the only book I've ever read more than twice.

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pippahalliwell t1_iub264b wrote

Les Mis. It’s my all time favorite book. I’ve read it three times. It had a profound impact on me

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Becca212 t1_iuc2mrn wrote

I agree! Such a beautiful book that really moved me.

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ElijahReader t1_iuau8e3 wrote

The Collected poems of Wallace Stevens- hands down, it's not even close.

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chrispd01 t1_iubprhh wrote

So I read The Snowman for the first time a few years ago (I am 56) so I got pretty far in life without knowing him.’

I think it’s a great poem - one of my top 10 but I don’t know what else I should read by him.

And recs ?

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[deleted] t1_iudclae wrote

The collection Harmonium is a great place to start. Then again his collected poems is not a huge book

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oliompa t1_iub1mim wrote

In search of lost time

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Ha__Ha__Ha t1_iub7fxe wrote

So Swann's Way is worth it? I've read about 20, 30 pages, which is not much but haven't had the urge to return to it. I like what I've read so far, and it deals with a topic I love (memory), but man does the page count intimidate me.

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imnotthatguyiswear t1_iubpivp wrote

I read it, I adored it, I think it would be my pick as well. But it does require patience and the ability to just let yourself drift away in the words workout thinking about the pages.

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Willing_Art_871 t1_iubsllq wrote

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

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Tuhks t1_iuduskm wrote

If I could only read one narrator for the rest of my life, it would be Ishmael

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tamsypc t1_iubr4le wrote

The kjv Bible

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Habeas-Opus t1_iubw8t0 wrote

Good answer, but I felt like this one was cheating.

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Habeas-Opus t1_iubw4za wrote

Got to go with The Hobbit.

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Daenerys_Stormbitch t1_iuc08ix wrote

Also my answer. No matter how many times I read it, I feel the same way I did the first time. It invokes a feeling of awe in the world being explored while being cozy at the same.

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sdwoodchuck t1_iubfara wrote

Gene Wolfe’s Peace. It’s wonderful and entertaining on its surface, and it’s also a puzzle that you feel closer to solving every time you read it, but aside from a few foundational pieces, there’s still no solid consensus on what’s going on beneath that surface. Every time I read it, I discover something new and think it might be a breakthrough. The next time I start, I keep that in mind and test it against the text. Some of my theories are strong, I feel. Others are wild speculation. I’ve still never gotten tired of trying to dig a little deeper.

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stevemtzn t1_iubgfee wrote

Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems

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chrispd01 t1_iubpvus wrote

So I commented above on him. Really loved the snow man

What else should I read …

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maraudingnomad t1_iuchg6l wrote

The lord of the rings. I have the red edition which is all of tje 3 books in one package, so it isn't cheating. Come to think of I also jave the complett sherlock holmes in a single package, but I'd still go with the LOTR.

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GandalfNeededGlasses t1_iuduzjg wrote

It's not cheating even if you have three separate books for each part, as Tolkien intended them to be one solid book.

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Deevilknievel t1_iubcutd wrote

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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AbsentThatDay t1_iubrzk1 wrote

Speaker for the Dead, I've read it several times. The moral reasoning is the draw for me.

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Operator51134 t1_iuc0bm9 wrote

Windup Bird Chronicle. I still don’t know the point of it but the writing sucked me in

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maple010 t1_iucfth0 wrote

A man called Ove

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MegC18 t1_iucndzu wrote

Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Huge, complex picture of eighteenth century life. An alternative would be the many volume Pepys diary.

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Despail t1_iuaxunc wrote

Pali canon)

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Spare-Cauliflower-92 t1_iuavbht wrote

Ooh I used to love the Redwall series and had sort of forgotten about it! My favourite is Marlfox, probably because it was the first one I read :) My actual answer would probably be something kinda unoriginal like Rebecca or Wolf Hall, both of which I've read several times already!

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ilysespieces t1_iubhs2x wrote

Needful Things, I've read that book so many times I've destroyed multiple copies.

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Hiciao t1_iubp4h8 wrote

I haven't read that since high school, but I loved it. I should give it a reread.

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goatgirl13 t1_iucchq7 wrote

I was trying to think of my favorite King books the other day and I forgot that one! Was a good read. I got it for Christmas when I was like...15? Read it in a day, could not put it down.

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KimBrrr1975 t1_iubr2l8 wrote

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Fine_With_It_All t1_iucxzb4 wrote

A Gentleman in Moscow. A great story with great lessons for how to live a good life with little

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Currdog t1_iud5oye wrote

Shogun! James Clavell.

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Regular_Heron_8914 t1_iuaw6zq wrote

What a fabulous question! I would have to narrow it down to any of the fantasy books by Andre Norton. While it's not the genre I typically read now, her Witch World series was my first introduction to fantasy and I loved it. You are so right that I've read thousands and I can't really narrow my reading down to one book, not even to one genre. LOL

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1funkyhunky t1_iubatlg wrote

Letters from a Stoic, Seneca. So much in a small package.

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raul2144 t1_iuc398a wrote

Anything from Raymond Chandler .

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lucabura t1_iuc9k8z wrote

Hard choice, but I think if I had to pick only one it would have to be "The Brother's Karamazov" by Dostoevsky.

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goatgirl13 t1_iuccr9k wrote

One book is hard! The Dark Tower series is my favorite always... can I count as one book since I always read them back to back ;)

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LanceCriminalGalen t1_iucd106 wrote

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. He really hit a home run there. It is a bit dry and maybe not fully on-theme with this post but I absolutely adore this book and will never stop shamelessly promoting it. For any who haven’t read and are interested it is a very dry collection of factoids that led Darwin to believe in the concept of ‘descent with modification’ to describe the various plants and animals he observed in his wide and glorious travels. His father Erasmus probably influenced him heavily.

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Silent_Swan_8606 t1_iucfnyk wrote

On the island by Tracey Garvis Graves. It has my favourite trope of older women and younger male through there is more to it than that. It is not only romance but more

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Renfield78 t1_iucq9xv wrote

The Razor’s Edge by Wm Somerset Maugham

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gvuio t1_iucyroh wrote

The Princess Bride.

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Fragrant_Taste t1_iude8k1 wrote

a suitable boy by vikram seth. could open that book on any random page and get lost in whatever is going on

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Enjoyer_of_substance t1_iudjgn2 wrote

Moby Dick… Im 22 but my remaining years would be few if I had to reread that testament of a whale lexicon

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2leewhohot t1_iudwl4m wrote

Lonesome Dove. Epic in scope. It's a love letter to the western genre.

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No_Finding_306 t1_iudwr8t wrote

Prisoner of Azkaban. It's probably my favorite book from the Harry Potter series.

But also cause I cheat I would want LOTR.

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MoabFlapjack t1_iue1v11 wrote

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk. There are layers to it with different pieces to focus on each read. It’s also slow enough to really savor, while still readable enough to enjoy.

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Rio_is_cool t1_iue5469 wrote

A dog’s purpose. I love the first book so much I could read it forever.

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anonymousLitMajor t1_iueo6jf wrote

Probably Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, just to remind me to keep on carrying the fire.

Or maybe something by Haruki Murakami. I love magical realism.

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Erebus172 t1_iuanfof wrote

I loved the Redwall series when I was young but I barely remember anything about it. I may have to take a dive back into it.

Edit: oops, I forgot to answer the actual question. Probably the Count of Monte Christo. There’s so much there to entertain over and over.

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FredR23 t1_iuayd7b wrote

The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt

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ReadingOffTwitter t1_iubhmyy wrote

The Collected Works of William Shakespeare - he has it all.

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Dougiedougdoug143 t1_iubjj7z wrote

The eternal smile. Even though it’s a series of short stories in graphic novel form it is more than amazing and I’ve already owned three copies in my lifetime.

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advantagecp t1_iubly0x wrote

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

I have read it a couple of times and periodically I go back to it to revisit passages which I have marked.

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idk-lol-1234 t1_iubt42k wrote

Song For A Scarlet Runner by Julie Hunt. No hesitation. I've loved that book since i was a kid an I will continue to do so.

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breakwater99 t1_iubw8cz wrote

"A Short History of Everything"

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I-amthegump t1_iuc103c wrote

Gringo. By Charles Portis. And I can't defend it

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NTGenericus t1_iuc1161 wrote

Frankly, it would the Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu. But for a novel, I would choose Stranger in a Strange Land.

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WhatislifeEverest t1_iuc2sbt wrote

Magnus chase and the sword of summer. Just never gets old.

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BobbyBohunk t1_iuc5od0 wrote

A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold

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devoteean t1_iuc5r7h wrote

Shakespeare. Re-reading Shakespeare would be less boring than any other book after a few decades.

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[deleted] t1_iuc8f1d wrote

The memoir ‘Rocket Boys’ by Homer Hickam. It was hard to put the book down because I saw myself here and there in some pages in between the lines.

The book was later adapted into a movie called ‘October Sky’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Watched the movie as well.

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supreme-dominar t1_iucbpq4 wrote

Find me the 6 original Dune books bound as a single volume and I’d be content.

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rabid- t1_iucbw3i wrote

The teaching of the Buddha.

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Beiez t1_iuccvt8 wrote

How has noone said One Hundred Years of Solitude. It‘s like multiple books in one

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Cyber-Esper t1_iuce2oo wrote

Redwall was my jam... that and the Dragon of the Lost Sea series. Those books were wild! Count of Monte Cristo maybe... would be my pick.

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Gimbloy t1_iuckybk wrote

Finnegan’s wake. Might take a lifetime to decipher it.

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Shkval25 t1_iucm04e wrote

I can't decide between Wolf Hall and The Agony and the Ecstasy. Both would be great because by the time I'm done reading them I've forgotten what happened at the beginning so I never get bored with them.

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Costly-Birthday-2281 t1_iucqzbw wrote

I would read Nancy Drew. I won't get bored even if I read it for more than a thousand times

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Saffer60 t1_iucs488 wrote

The Book of Lights by Chaim Potok

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MrRoflmajog t1_iucsfsa wrote

(grabs some glue) This really long one called A Song of Ice and Fire, although hopefully I will need to use a bit more glue in a few years.

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stayxhome t1_iucsful wrote

Speedboat by Renata Adler.

I am an avid re-reader. Gave it a quick check on Goodreads, I've read this book nine times since I first picked it up in 2016.

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lsymons22 t1_iucwgro wrote

As a surfer and reader, Barbarian Days by William Finnegan.

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mugglebaiter t1_iucwobl wrote

For me it's the quick wit of Steinbecks "Tortilla flat"

I could re-read Pilons slow justifications for drinking other peoples wine day in day out.

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AlecMorgan_ t1_iucynaw wrote

Karamazov brothers or war and peace

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pollenhuffer69 t1_iuczqub wrote

Any of the Jeeves and Wooster books. I laugh like a drain reading them.

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inpositionhs t1_iud1b5s wrote

Galaxy's Edge, complete Universe of

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dachsj t1_iud9wmd wrote

Mossflower was the first real book I ever read all the way through.

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Med9876 t1_iudf4wf wrote

War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy.

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IamaPotterI t1_iudjfi7 wrote

HARRY POTTER ... all the way bro !

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DiscoMonkeyz t1_iudjqqb wrote

Probably Letters from a Stoic. I like Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, but if it's 1 book, at least with Letters it's like having a pen pal a bit.

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punnypen t1_iudkqt7 wrote

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

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ImaginaryWar2322 t1_iudlmhu wrote

I would choose Stephan Zweig’s “Letter from an Unknown Woman” It takes me other world. Also I love romantic romance and it’s one of them. Being away from love has never been this hard.

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Jamesdmorgan t1_iudm7lf wrote

Neuromancer by William Gibson. Though id like to have the whole trilogy ideally

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Simba_Rah t1_iudom5h wrote

Pet Semetary by King.

It’s such a good look into the grieving process, and how it effects people in such wildly different ways.

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dentarthurdents t1_iudtuk8 wrote

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, no question (maybe I'm a touch obsessed lmao)

Maybe not as literary as a lot of the other comments (which are all great choices) but hey. I have a hard time rereading books but every time I reread HHG I find something new to think about or laugh at. It'd be worth it.

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Pactumana t1_iudw4t6 wrote

Mmm maybe "the poppy war" I've read that series twice and I wouldn't be mad to read it more times

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jakubpastuszak t1_iue4vub wrote

Infinite jest by David Foster Wallace.

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mamayana19 t1_iue6tyw wrote

House in the Cerulean Sea or maybe Cloud Atlas

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sofia775x t1_iue6zqj wrote

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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Distinct_Gain4941 t1_iue8l74 wrote

The dictionary. It's like a book IKEA. With that, you can assemble all other books yourself!

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apollojl68 t1_iuaszuk wrote

Hamlet. It lends itself to multiple interpretations. I pick up on something new every time I read it.

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strangr55 t1_iuc309z wrote

The Godfather. Not great literature, but I have read it probably 15 times and enjoyed it just as much every time - most recently just this past Spring.

​

If you let me have five, I would add: 2. The Lord of the Rings (the set, of course, including The Hobbit) 3. Shogun 4. Everything by Robert A. Heinlein (impossible to choose just one; I would have trouble trying to narrow it down to twenty) 5. Everything by Larry Niven, (same apology.)

But wait - that leaves out Michener's many superb works, and the entire Ender universe of Orson Scott Card, and everything by Scalzi, and Herman Wouk. And single gems like Watership Down, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Once and Future King, Jurassic Park. Then I would add I Claudius/Claudius the God, the Hannibal Lector books of Thomas Harris, the Jack Ryan books of Tom Clancy...

Okay, okay, I admit that I suck at this game. It's a dumb game, imho. Thanks for asking.

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thefntexan t1_iucb9ah wrote

On the Road by Kerouac. I read it yearly.

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Lonely_Builder_9768 t1_iuchxrt wrote

Lord of the Rings; I can't read it now without getting overwhelmed by the lore so I might finally get around to finishing it

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Lonely_Builder_9768 t1_iuci1ri wrote

Also I don't think I'd be able to stand re-reading any of my actual favourite books so much.

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kernel1010 t1_iuf8qcs wrote

Arch of Triumph from Remaruqe

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Tanettenba t1_iuj0efp wrote

Duma Key by Stephen King. I love that book so much!

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thepunnman t1_iubnuvm wrote

“how to make friends and influence people” by dale carnegie. Not the most fun book but i think the most pragmatic when it comes to reading only one book for the rest of my life

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Adsiduus t1_iuc7yp3 wrote

The Gospel of Luke. Alternatively the entire New Testament if that’s within the limits.

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Asecularist t1_iuc58r8 wrote

No joke. The Bible is not only a literary masterpiece, but you get to live and experience it... it is alive and happening right now. It’s like if the masterpieces were choose your own adventure with fresh threads all the time. A profound familiarity. And a deep unsearchable trove of treasures.

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