A few days ago, I finished reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. It seems to get better every time I read it. In fact, I now believe it is one of the best novels ever written.
When I finish reading a book, I usually start looking for another book to read almost immediately. I read a wide variety of things, from history to travel adventure and from fantasy and mystery to classic fiction. My favorite mystery authors are Tony Hillerman, Ngaio Marsh, & Ellis Peters. My favorite fantasy author is Ursula LeGuin.
When I finished reading The Shipping News this time, I couldn't even decide what kind of book to read, or what author. I just read National Geographics for a few days until I could make up my mind. I finally decided to reread Watership Down by Richard Adams. It seemed like the only book that I knew that had the "everyman" or should I say "everybeing" quality of The Shipping News.
I would love to hear your opinions on these books, or your ideas on books that have universal meaning, the "everyman", "everybeing" quality.
