When the First is the Greatest

The other evening, as is often the case, the conversation turned to favourite books and authors. I mentioned Alistair Maclean's 'HMS Ulysses' and was immediately told, in no uncertain terms, that Maclean was a 'formulaic hack' who sold the same basic story over and over again. Naturally, I argued that 'HMS Ulysses' was completely unlike anything Maclean went on to write later in his career and was, in my opinion, a masterpiece. This led us to thinking about who else could be said to have written their best book (I know all such judgements are subjective, but . . .) a masterpiece, as their first published work and never quite managed to scale the same heights again. James Baldwin's 'Go Tell It On The Mountain,' came up, as did 'Catch 22.' I haven't read 'Go Set A Watchman' yet. It's on the pending' pile in the study.

Any others?

When the First is the Greatest