Every unhappy book is unhappy in its own way

A Listmania! list by P. J. Walker (Sheffield)
(REAL NAME)   
 
In Search of Lost Time (Proust Complete - 6 Volume Box Set) (Modern Library)
1.  In Search of Lost Time (Proust Complete - 6 Volume Box Set) (Modern Library) by Marcel Proust
The list author says:
  "Not only is 'In Search..' the greatest novel of all time but is, in my opinion, one of the greatest works of art in any form"
£55.25   Used & New from: £51.83
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Moby-Dick (Vintage Classics)
2.  Moby-Dick (Vintage Classics) by Herman Melville
The list author says:
  "The premier American novel. A Shakespearean tragedy at sea"
£4.89   Used & New from: £2.20
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

The Recognitions
3.  The Recognitions by William Gaddis
Used & New from: £10.99
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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The Autumn of the Patriarch
4.  The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The list author says:
  "A post-modern masterpiece. The ramblings of an insane dictator"
£6.39   Used & New from: £0.94
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

Rabbit Angstrom A Tetralogy: (Rabbit Run,Rabbit Redux,Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest): A Tetralogy - "Rabbit, Run", "Rabbit Redux", "Rabbit Is Rich", "Rabbit at Rest" (Everyman's Library Classics)
5.  Rabbit Angstrom A Tetralogy: (Rabbit Run,Rabbit Redux,Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest): A Tetralogy - "Rabbit, Run", "Rabbit Redux", "Rabbit Is Rich", "Rabbit at Rest" (Everyman's Library Classics) by John Updike
The list author says:
  "An unsentimental account of a man coping with adulthood and the realisation that he is not brilliant or special. Rabbit is selfish, dissatisfied, confused, immature, and human (all too human)"
Used & New from: £18.96
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Austerlitz
6.  Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald
The list author says:
  "An author with a Proustian ability to conjure beauty out of the minutiae of human experience, as well as being able to skillfully tackle the 'bigger' issues"
Used & New from: £0.01
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews) | 1 customer discussion

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The Trial (Penguin Modern Classics)
7.  The Trial (Penguin Modern Classics) by Franz Kafka
The list author says:
  "The absurdity of human existence exposed. Horrifying, laughable and inescapable. A book that no doubt adorns Larry David's bedside table"
£6.29   Used & New from: £1.73
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)

Independent People
8.  Independent People by Halldor Laxness
The list author says:
  "A most grim fairytale about the perils of sheep farming. The narrative incorporates mythology, local legends, and lots of black humour. The end had me damp about the eyes, which is no mean feat"
£6.99   Used & New from: £3.49
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)

The Age of Innocence (Vintage Classics)
9.  The Age of Innocence (Vintage Classics) by Edith Wharton
The list author says:
  "The usually cynical Ms Wharton acknowledges that security and conventionality are not always a straightjacket and that it isn't necessary to forsake all for the beautiful, glittering and exotic"
£7.19   Used & New from: £0.01
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Sons And Lovers (Everyman's Library classics)
10.  Sons And Lovers (Everyman's Library classics) by D H Lawrence
The list author says:
  "Seemingly considered to be dated and mysogynistic these days. This is, in fact, the real portrait of an artist. The sexual and intellectual awakening of a young working class man"
£8.99   Used & New from: £1.16
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

The Ambassadors (Penguin Classics)
11.  The Ambassadors (Penguin Classics) by Henry James
The list author says:
  "I can't decide whether i think this is the greatest novel ever written or the most maddening. Or both. A subtle (really subtle) and moving, often amusing, account of regret and missed opportunities."
£6.99   Used & New from: £2.55
3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

The Magic Mountain
12.  The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
The list author says:
  "I recommend the Woods translation of this vast, eerie, novel"
£6.99   Used & New from: £3.40
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

The Leopard: Revised and with new material (Vintage Classics)
13.  The Leopard: Revised and with new material (Vintage Classics) by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa
The list author says:
  "Melancholic. It's the end of a life and the end of an era for Don Fabrizio, who bears both with resigned humour"
£5.89   Used & New from: £1.35
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)

Kristin Lavransdatter (Penguin Classics)
14.  Kristin Lavransdatter (Penguin Classics) by Sigrid Undset
The list author says:
  "The most insightful novel about human relationships i have read since Middlemarch"
Used & New from: £14.94
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Journey to the End of the Night
15.  Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celine
The list author says:
  "The worlds last coward staggers from one disaster to the next"
Used & New from: £11.49
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Ulysses (Penguin Modern Classics)
16.  Ulysses (Penguin Modern Classics) by James Joyce
The list author says:
  "Thank you Jim, i never knew that a man looking up a girl's skirt could be rendered so beautifully. Here Joyce immortalises the mundane and the dirty, but fortunately wraps them, tinsel-like, in poetry"
£6.99   Used & New from: £0.01
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)

The Red and the Black (Penguin Classics)
17.  The Red and the Black (Penguin Classics) by Stendhal
The list author says:
  "The hilarious tale of the Machiavellian Julien Sorel, who, due to a raging ego and working class guilt, attempts to raise himself up from poverty by manipulating half of France and their daughters"
£6.99   Used & New from: £1.69
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

The Tin Drum (Vintage Classics)
18.  The Tin Drum (Vintage Classics) by Gunter Grass
The list author says:
  "Immortalised by Bowie and Bing, although i think they left out the bit about the kid throwing himself down the stairs...pa-rum-pum-pum-pum a-rum-pum-pum-pum"
£7.69   Used & New from: £0.88
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

The Unconsoled
19.  The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
The list author says:
  "Unfairly dismissed by some as his weakest novel, when, for me, it is his masterpiece. A brave, moving, and surreal work"
£4.76   Used & New from: £0.01
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)

Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics)
20.  Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics) by Gustave Flaubert
The list author says:
  "The French Don Quixote, albeit more stylish and easier to read. The last 30 or so pages are amongst the most shocking ever penned"
£6.29   Used & New from: £0.01
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews) | 1 customer discussion

War and Peace (Vintage Classics)
21.  War and Peace (Vintage Classics) by Leo Tolstoy
The list author says:
  "A man so in tune with the universal and ageless aspects of the human condition that reading Tolstoy is actually a comforting experience."
£6.99   Used & New from: £5.08
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews) | 2 customer discussions

The Story of the Stone: a Chinese Novel: Vol 1, The Golden Days (Penguin Classics)
22.  The Story of the Stone: a Chinese Novel: Vol 1, The Golden Days (Penguin Classics) by Cao Xueqin
The list author says:
  "Magical. Studio Ghibli in novel form. The charming, and tragic, story of the stone. An unutilized piece of Heaven is reincarnated on earth in the form of the precocious Bao-yu"
£10.49   Used & New from: £1.25
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Candide or, Optimism (Modern Library)
23.  Candide or, Optimism (Modern Library) by Voltaire
The list author says:
  "Follow the adventures of poor unfortunate Candide as he attempts to maintain a positive attitude in the face of every possible kind of brutal act, tragedy and disaster"
Used & New from: £5.36
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Germinal (Penguin Classics)
24.  Germinal (Penguin Classics) by Émile Zola
The list author says:
  "Read this at your peril. A book so bleak, with characters so worthy of empathy, that it is absolutely devastating. I was almost in pain reading it."
£6.99   Used & New from: £1.71
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Demons: A Novel in Three Parts
25.  Demons: A Novel in Three Parts by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The list author says:
  "Plays with the reader, and the characters, like a cat with a spider. Written as though in a fever, this is an almost incomprehensible mess at times, but is also a mesmeric sardonic masterpiece"
£6.74   Used & New from: £2.90
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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P. J. Walker (Sheffield)
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Last updated: 13/11/2011
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