5 Best Books is a weekly meme hosted by Cassandra at IndieReaderhouston where one has to list five books on a particular topic. This week the topic is the rather oxymoronic 5 best books with horrible titles.
Here is my take:
The Great Gatsby: It’s better than Trimalchio in West Egg but it is too prosaic for a beautiful novel. Fitzgerald could come up with such poetic titles as This Side of Paradise. What happened here?
A Male Child and The Chinese Love Pavilion: Paul Scott’s books are extremely moving. Yet, the titles are anything but… Yes, the first book is about a mother’s obsession with her dead son but the title could have been better thought of. As for the latter, it conjures up in my mind the image of hot baths, slinky young things in red silk gowns giving massages to overweight oldies. It is just too sleazy.
The Go-Between: The title is no doubt appropriate about a story that involves a child being unwittingly used as a conduit. But a novel that begins with the immortal line: The past is a different country could have used a more imaginative title.
Lord Jim: Conrad could come up with a profound title as Heart of Darkness. Over here, he simply flounders.
To read the list of others, go here:
http://indiereaderhouston.com/blog/2011/07/5-best-books-horrible-titles/
a hot cup of pleasure 