Oddly, I'm in agreement with about 75% of you. Most of the books listed so far I've really disliked (with the exception of Faulkner and a couple others).
Of the ones that haven't been mentioned so far:
Mists of Avalon. I think I've ranted about this before. It was supposed to be this total pro-feminist retelling of the Arthurian story. The characters (at least the female ones) were interesting; the plot was really starting to move; and the story was beginning to take a really new and interesting direction.
Buuuut... oh wait. The story is pulling away from Der Traditional Storyline. Oh no; we must hogtie these characters and shove them back into their Traditional Roles!!! So she uses the oldest, lamest trick in the book: "And then some time passed, and the characters all decided to do ABC instead of XYZ, for no apparent reason, no motivation given."
I threw it against the wall and swore like a sailor on leave. (I was in the hospital at the time; so, probably not the best idea.) I deliberately chose TV over finishing that book -- in the hospital, bored out of my skull, and I hate TV. Tells you something right there.
