The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hi everyone! I'm in the mood for a book featuring either some complex characters or characters with an interesting development (I just caught up with George R.R. Martin's ASoIaF series so I'm thinking that's where this urge is coming from xD). Doesn't matter what genre, I'm up for anything at the moment =) Thanks in advance!

I'm going to recommend Fifth Businessby Robertson Davies. But I must tell you I have never read any of the ASoIaF series. However, this book is about a man who is offended when he reads an article about himself as he is about to retire from teaching. In the article he comes off as a dull and boring professor, but he then goes on to explain his entire life. An excellent read and by a Canadian author too!

Thanks for the recommendation! I think I remember that book floating around in the news a few years ago but never gave it a second look. Sounds intriguing though =)

The entire Deptford Trilogy was good, so if you enjoy Fifth Business, I'd recommend the other two books, too.
I also haven't read any of the ASoIaF series and don't know if these books fit your requirement but I'd recommend them for their characters:

The Swan Thieves - the character of Robert Oliver is mysterious and complex.

The Children's Book - a complex story with interesting characters.

Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls - a look at split-personality disorder. The main character has various personalities which have to all live in one body and one world. Nothing gets more complex than a lot of people in one body. ;)

I really enjoy Toni Morrison's work. I think Beloved is her most well-known book, and it really is incredible. It's also very dark and violent and ugly, as it should be. The characters are just wonderful and extremely complex people. I would also recommend Paradise. This was the first book of hers I read, and it absolutely blew my mind. I might even like it more than Beloved. The characters are really great and the plot and ideas are complex as well. Her writing is just incredible all the time, so if you haven't read her I would really suggest it.

(I already posted this in the other group that you made this topic, but I'll post it again in case people here are interested.) Another great author is A.S. Byatt. Possession was the first novel I've read of hers, and though it's slow in the beginning it really picks up. The characters are very realistic, though they're mostly academics and poets. It's really a good story, and once you get past the beginning the ending is really quite fabulous.
The other book of hers I've read is The Children's Book. It's one of the best books I've ever read. It's very dense, and there are lots of characters, but they are all painfully wonderfully realistic. This book has a lot of character development because it spans over 20 years and you get to watch most of the characters grow up. If you're up for a relatively long book, I would absolutely recommend it.

Emily wrote: "I really enjoy Toni Morrison's work. I think Beloved is her most well-known book, and it really is incredible. It's also very dark and violent and ugly, as it should be. The characters ..."

Thanks for the recommendation for Morrison's works, they sound intriguing!

Petra wrote: "The entire Deptford Trilogy was good, so if you enjoy Fifth Business, I'd recommend the other two books, too.
I also haven't read any of the ASoIaF series and don't know if these books fit your r..."

Thanks for the recommendations! =) I'm glad to hear that The Swan Thieves was good; I've been on the fence whether to pick it up after feeling rather lukewarm about The Historian.

I've found Wally Lamb's characters to be very complex. So far I've read "She's Come Undone" and "I Know This Much is True." I actually had to put down "I Know This Much is True" for a couple of months and come back to it because the main character and his complex childhood kept hitting emotional nerves (in a good, thoughtful way).

Anything by Dorothy Dunnett, or if you prefer fantasy, Carol Berg, off the cuff.

Thanks for the recommendations everyone!

Janny wrote: "Anything by Dorothy Dunnett, or if you prefer fantasy, Carol Berg, off the cuff."

I've been meaning to read other books by Carol Berg, I read her Lighthouse duology and absolutely loved it =)