Favorite piece of writing.

My number one favorite "piece" of writing is the explanation by the flight surgeon to Yossarian of the meaning of Catch-22.

Heller also claims in his book that there is only one catch and that one catch is Catch-22. I liked that.

Tough question. I don't think I've read either of the ones you cited.
If forced to choose, I might pick the final page of All Quiet on the Western Front. Remarque did an amazing job of expressing the difficulty faced by young combat soldiers returning home when they have no past to return to.

My favorite novel is The Lord of the Rings.

Quote :

[i]All Quiet on the Western Front

I, badly, wanted to be in the military and that book convinced me to join the Navy. It made my skin crawl to read of the filth those soldiers lived and died in. A great book. I don't remember the last page, I'll have to read it again.

9/3/2009


" A Tale Of Two Cities" , " It Was The Best Of Times,
It Was The Worst Of Times."


Cheers...Joe..

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is a powerful novel. My favorite writing usually has nothing to do with war, but within the area of combat, Philip Lee Williams "Distant Flame" and Michael Shaara's "Killer Angels" top my list.

Malcolm

For sheer beauty of the language, the opening of the 2nd chapter of The Great Gatsby can't be beat, IMO. The descriptions of the "Valley of Ashes" and "The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg stand among the greatest passages of description in the English language.

http://www.readprint.com/chapter-4568/The-Great-Gatsby-F-Scott-Fitzgerald

But when you ask about those life-shattering moments like those already mentioned in Catch-22 and All Quiet on the Western Front ( I agree with both), my moment came about half-way through an obscure sci-fi novel I picked up on a paperback rack during the mid 80's. The book was called The Flying Torch. the author was a Lithuanian named Algis Budrys, and the work was probably aimed at the treatment of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. I didn't know any of that when I read the book - and since I read it during the 80's, it must have been the earlier, shorter version, but the following site describes it pretty well:

http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/budrys.html

What the review doesn't mention was a little scene where Michael has coerced an elderly woman into helping him. The woman is very frightened, and has no idea what she should do in their very precarious circumstances. Michael, who has never thought very well of himself, looks at the woman an suddenly realizes, "Why, everyone else is just like me." In other words, we are all afraid, all feel incompetent to the tasks put before us, and none of us feels that we are good enough, no matter how important and grandiose we might seem to others. As I read that passage, I realized that I, too, was just like Michael.

He went on to save Earth from the invaders. Once he realized that he didn't have to be some grand hero, or believe that he was invincible, and that even the most courageous and brave natural born leaders (like his own father) were scared and insecure inside, he stopped believing he was incapable of winning.

We are, all of us, just like Michael Wireman in The Falling Torch.

Ann

Thanks for reminding me of Gatsby, Ann. I can see those eyes staring over the ashes. Now I have to get the book down from the shelf and read the whole thing again. Fitzgerald had a wonderful way with words.

Malcolm,
I just finished "Killer Angels." It's a good read about the battle at Gettysburg. The movie follows the book very well.
Lee doesn't come out looking too good. I guess truth has a way of upsetting folk lore.

My favorite writer of all time is Arthur C. Clarke. His SciFi novels "Rendezvous with Rama" and "2001 Space Odyssey" remain a classic! We lost him recently. He died last year in Shr Lanka. Someone is going to make the movie Rama someday, I'm sure of it. Simply Mind Bending material!

The Big Fat Lummox

There are words that I read that connect me to some place that I can see even though I have never been there.

I put here the words that begin a great story by a great author. Cry The Beloved Country, Alan Paton.

There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa.

Love,
Betty

My favorite is my resignation letter from my last job.
Oh what a joy that was to write.

Ann

David.

It sounds deliciousy wicked and fun.

I missed out on Arthur C. Clarke. Maybe it's because I have seldom read science fiction.