Books
Discussing books this Top 100 list was mentioned. Now i'm gonna run through it and comment on them all. I suggest you do likewise in the rest of this thread. I would like to begin by saying that this seems to be a really shitty list with really shitty books. Sadly it seems to be full of "the classics" that people mention all the time. Anyways ...
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Not read. 2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Read it. Didn't like it. Read it again to see if i missed something as people kept on going on about how good it was. It was shit second time round too. 3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Not read. Well not totally true. I read the blurb on the back and kinda zoned out for a minute and then i came too again and decided to put the book back down before i was bored to sleep again. 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Read in school. 5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker Not read. It's about black people isn't it? 6. Ulysses by James Joyce Not read. Have absolutely no intention of ever picking up. 7. Beloved by Toni Morrison Not read. 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding Not read. Apparantly it's a bit shit. I have a feeling of woe that this is like "The catcher in the rye". 9. 1984 by George Orwell Read. Good premise. Shite writing. 10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner Not read. 11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov Red. Quite liked. 12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck I may be confusing this one with "The Grapes of Wrath". I've picked them both up and placed them both back. Not read. 13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Read in school. How in the **** does this make it onto a "literary greats" list? I suspect "Harry Potter" should be here too. 14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce See my response to 6 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller It went on a bit didn't it. Amusing enough. 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Read it. It was OK. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell Not read. 18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Not read. 19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Not read. 20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Not read. 21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Read the first chapter. Heart of Darkness you can **** off! 22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne Still not Harry Potter. Not read. 23. Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston WOW WHAT A GREAT TITLE [/sarcasm]. Not read. 24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Not read. Most likely will never read. 25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Not read. I have a suspicion this might be about black people. 26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Not read but i've seen the movie. Does that count? 27. Native Son by Richard Wright Not read. 28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Not read. Was enjoyable enough (for a book on this list) 29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Read. How in the **** did this book make the list? 30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway Not read. 31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac Read. I ****ing hate stream of conciousness. I ****ing hate this book. 32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Read it in school. This book is shit. It is also one of five books by Hemingway on this list. This list is shit. Hemingway is shit (based on my loathing of this book). 33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London Read. Was OK (i was like 12 or 13 at the time so i quite enjoyed it) 34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Not read. 35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James Not read. 36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin Not read. 37. The World According to Garp by John Irving Not read. 38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren Not read. 39. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster Not read. 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Read it when i was 10 (go me). 41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally Not read. 42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton Not read. 43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand Not read. 44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce See my response to 6. 45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Not read. 46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Not read. 47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum See my response to 26 48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence Not read. 49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Read the first two pages. Anybody who can stand to read this book is a cretin. 50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin Not read. 51. My Antonia by Willa Cather Not read. 52. Howards End by E.M. Forster Not read. 53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Not read. 54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger After the debacle that was "The Catcher in the Rye" there is no way i shall read another of his books. 55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie Uhhh no. 56. Jazz by Toni Morrison I think it's NICE that i've not read this book. 57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron Not read. 58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner Not read. 59. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster Not read. 60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Not read. 61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor And so is a good book. Ohhh zingtastic. Not read. 62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald Not read. 63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf Not read. 64. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence Not read. 65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe I cannot express properly my hate for this book. I kept on giving it "just a little more time" time and time again. I got 160 pages into it and i just couldn't take it any more. DIE WOLFE DIE!!! 66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Not read. 67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles Not read. 68. Light in August by William Faulkner Not read. 69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James Not read. 70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Not read. 71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Not read. 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Not read. 73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs Read the first 20 pages and then decided to stop wasting my life. Woeful. 74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh Not read. 75. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence Not read. 76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe Not read. 77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway Not read. 78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein Not read. 79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Not read. 80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer Got about two thirds the way through it then had to stop as it was so shit. I went back years later and read it all the way through. Why is this book on the list? 81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Not read. 82. White Noise by Don DeLillo Not read. 83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather Not read. 84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller Not read. 85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells Seen the films (thankfully not the most recent one) plenty of times. Not read the book. 86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad Not read. 87. The Bostonians by Henry James Not read. 88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser Not read. 89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Not read. 90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Read it when i was a kid. 91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald Not read. 92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Not read. 93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles Not read. 94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis Not read. 95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling Not read. 96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald Not read. 97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike Not read. 98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster Not read. 99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis Not read. 100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie Not read. So i've read 14 (13 in the top 50) and started to read before discarding another 4. How do you ****ers fare? |
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1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Not read, on the list of books to read 2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Not read, on the list of books to read 3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Read, superb - one of the best books I've ever read 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Not read, on the list of books to read 5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker Not read 6. Ulysses by James Joyce Not read, on the list of books to read 7. Beloved by Toni Morrison Not read 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding Not read, on the list of books to read 9. 1984 by George Orwell Read, the classic dystopian novel 10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner Not read, don't know much about it 11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov Not read, on the list of books to read 12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Read, simplistic and rated too highly but a good allegory. 13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Hasn't everyone read this? One of the most powerful pieces of children's fiction, well, ever. 14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce Not read 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Not read, on the list of books to read 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Read, incredibly overrated - it spends the first third (or more?) of the book setting the scene, and then the plot is shite. Nod defends the book on the quality of the scene that Huxley envisages, but I don't think that makes up for the terrible plot. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell Read, a great political satire. 18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Not read, but I have a general ambition to read Hemingway 19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Not read, on the list of books to read 20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway See 18 21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Not read 22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne Read, one of the best children's books. 23. Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Not read 24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Not read 25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Not read 26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Not read 27. Native Son by Richard Wright Not read 28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Not read, on the list of books to read 29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Not read 30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway See 18 31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac Not read 32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway See 18 33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London Not read 34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Not read 35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James Not read 36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin Not read 37. The World According to Garp by John Irving Not read 38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren Not read, on the list of books to read 39. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster Not read 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Read, the classic saga. 41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally Not read, on the list of books to read 42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton Not read, sounds intriguing 43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand Read very recently, one of the best books I have ever read. 44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce Not read, on the list of books to read 45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Not read 46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Not read 47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum We've all seen the film.... 48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence Not read, on the list of books to read (in fact, it's waiting on my desk) 49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Not read, on the list of books to read 50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin Not read 51. My Antonia by Willa Cather Not read 52. Howards End by E.M. Forster Not read 53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Not read, on the list of books to read 54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger Not read 55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie Not read, on the list of books to read 56. Jazz by Toni Morrison Not read 57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron Not read, on the list of books to read...at least, I don't think I've read it 58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner Not read 59. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster I've read a passage of it, I'd like to read it all 60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Not read 61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor Not read 62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald Not read 63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf Not read 64. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence Not read 65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe Not read 66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Not read 67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles Not read 68. Light in August by William Faulkner Not read 69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James Not read 70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Not read, but a book that my friends studied for A-Level English... 71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Not read, on the list of books to read 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Read...what more can I say? A science-fiction classic. 73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs Not read 74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh Not read, but one I should read 75. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence Not read 76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe Not read 77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway Not read 78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein Not read 79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Not read 80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer Not read 81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Not read 82. White Noise by Don DeLillo Not read 83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather Not read 84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller Not read 85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells I haven't actually read it :( but I plan to 86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad Not read 87. The Bostonians by Henry James Not read 88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser Not read 89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Not read 90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame We've all read this... 91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald Not read 92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand My current reading material, about halfway through, seems very good so far 93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles Not read 94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis Not read 95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling Not read 96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald Not read 97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike Not read 98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster Not read 99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis Not read 100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie Not read. |
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I just thought a bit of feedback on what you've read (and what you've heard about those books you've not read) would be useful *shrug* |
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I've only read 8 of them.
PS concurring with T&F, I won't scroll down everyone's lists and see who has read what. Let's just make it into a points contest! PPS good list though Dace as I was considering picking up a new book(s) as I've now worked my way through my dad's easy-reading Bill Bryson list. |
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Oh my dad looked through the list and has read quite a few more than me, and he said Ulysses was a load of crap and not worth reading.
And my dad is always right! (except when I correct him!) |
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I'm not sure how useful (or not) it is to post individual lists. Certainly Dace's views have helped me. Whether or not other posters would be similarly helpful is open to debate.
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Surely just a "these are the books I've read and one-line about each" would be more useful than 80 or so "Not Read" lines :(
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A few selections that i've actually read
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger This book is quality, tails off a bit towards the end though. A book i'd happily pick up and read again. 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding nothing like catcher in the rye, as it's crap from start to finish. 12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck A joy to read, with some classic lines. 59. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster This is an all out classic and if you want to see the shitness of the british empire in all its glory, this is the one, although it's about more than that. Not really sure how that is a top 100 but meh. |
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I'm just going to go and neg rep you for this opinion. It's people like you who put shitty shitty books in "top books ever" lists. |
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i enjoyed Clockwork Orange. It's more interesting from a linguistic standpoint than anything else, but it's a decent enough read.
(23!) |
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(only read the Norwegian version though, and the writer who translated it, Thorbjørn Egner, was a genious) Besides Winnie-the-pooh, Brave New World was decent, Hitchikers Guide to Galaxy is obviously ace. Tolkien had some qualities as a writer too. Catch 22 was decent. Other than that I've started a fair few of the books on that list, and tossed them all away. Lists like these tend to be just as much 'books which made an impact on me when I was young and impressionable' as anything else though.. toss in a bit 'books who crossed genres and were very exciting at the time, but really quite shit now, especially since everybody moved on except the people* writing these lists' for good measure too. * I hate list-writing people. They're mentally unstable and scary.. and they control society :( |
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On second reading, apparently it was 11, not 8 I've read :confused:
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding I studied it for GCSE. At first glance it's a pleasing enough story. We had to analyse it and it was the only literature I enjoyed analysing at GCSE. The amount of subplots and metaphors in it is ingenius. The intertwining relationships (for instance, noone ever remembers Simon until you purposely read it for his interactions) and roles are fantastic. 9. 1984 by George Orwell Great idea, too short and hardly any character development. I didn't feel anything for any of the main characters - even poor old Winston :( As such, I found it difficult to show any emotion when it came towards the end. This could have been so much better. 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller I've added this to the list but I read it when I was 14 or so (it was my dad's) and I don't think I finished it. 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Fantastic setting, amazing pretext. Terrible plot. This is the kind of book that would make a fantastic TV series, but again, the characters are poorly grafted out (Bernard is a wimpering fool and the Savage is just an idiot, it seems). As such it falls on its face. Still a classic and I love reading it, but so much more could have been done with it. Logan's Run did the idea much better. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell Read when I was 11 or so, then recently also. Brilliant - even if it wasn't based on politics then the eventual corruption and role positioning is fantastic. I cried when Boxer was taken to the glue factory :( :( :( 22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne Mmmmm etc 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Read when I was 10 or so. Still brilliant, although does anyone actually read through those songs and poems? It seemed a bit of a waste to me as surely everyone skim-reads over them? :confused: 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams It's quite good. I'm not sure I'd put it in the top 100 list. The humour is quite ahead of its time though, as it's the sort of thing you expect on the internet today (but didn't expect it in, for example, television then). 85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells The soundtrack is better than the book, in all honesty ("FARWELL THUUUUNDEEEERCHILD!" etc). Still, a pretty good book. 90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame I liked it when the stoats and weasels attacked Toad Hole and Badger OWNED them! 95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling I know I read this when I was younger but I can't remember anything about it. I guess this means I haven't read it though :( A few I'm wondering about (why arent they in there?): Watership Down Birdsong Day of the Triffids anything by Agatha Christie (possible my favourite author) |
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What about The Chrysalids then? |
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Out of those, i've read:
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Read it when I was an angsty teenager and quite liked it then, but only really because of the protagonist. Don't think i'll read it again 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Fantastic book, read it many many times. I recommend it! 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding Did it for GCSE, it wasn't bad. More enjoyable if read as a parallel to Coral Island by Ballantyne. Even the characters have the same names! Amazing! 9. 1984 by George Orwell Not bad, blah blah cant be arsed to say anything about this book. 12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck A decent novel, pretty short so not too strenuous 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Rather funny altho does drag somewhat and gets confusing. Still worth reading. 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Read it a long time ago. Not bad but the main plot was a bit shoddy. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell Yep. Ok. 34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Dear God this book is terrible. Had to read it for my degree. If like me you dislike stream of consciousness, dont go anywhere near it. I find that people who think that this novel is some sort of literary masterpiece tend to be pretentious shits. I'm sure there's exceptions tho, heh. 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Ah, epic! Read some Old English novels and you'll think a lot of it is totally ripped off, but i still like it! 55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie Not too bad, but I hate the way Rushdie butts into the story to point out how clever he is. Yeah, I get it, your symbolism is the stuff of legend - shut up now. 70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe A book I didnt think i'd like, but it is actually rather good. Simple narration paints a good picture of african tribal life. A slightly different angle on colonialist dreck like Heart of Darkness (havent read that but critics pointed this out, so whatever!) 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Funny, an enjoyable read. There's a few there ive started but couldnt bear to carry on reading (hello Ulysses!). |
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I think I've read ten of those books. Of those ten, only three would I say I genuinely enjoyed reading (Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Rings and Hitchhikers). 1984 was definitely worth reading, as was Animal Farm - but I'm not sure how much I enjoyed them.
I don't usually like discussions about what's overrated (as that seems a strange way to approach "art") but I fail to see how anyone could start reading The Catcher in the Rye thinking it was the second best book ever written without being disappointed by the end. Also, isn't this just modern novels? I can't be bother to read the list again but I don't recall seeing many books published more than 100 or so years ago. |
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Hitchhiker's (or something by Adams) deserves a spot if we're going by quality of writing. His general approach to prose and humour construction was second to few, as it were. Quote:
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Part of the problem with this list is that it is inconsistent in terms of what it picks out as "good works". It appears to be constructed of "high minded" literary fiction coupled with a few books tossed in as representatives of genres that generally don't appear in that style, as well as several books that are highly regarded because they're highly regarded. I could name any number of books which are better written than The Maltese Falcon, for example, whilst some of the books on the list are clearly only there for the quality of their prose, which can be arguable. |
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I've read about 10 of those. About half of those I was forced to read at school or University. I can't imagine ever reading 'Portrait of a Lady' through choice, although it wasn't that bad :| Also I agree with Dace - Charlotte's Web?!!????
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2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
I liked this book, and although I wasn't completely bowled over by it I think I might have been had I read it when I was 16 instead of 21. 3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck I read this one a month or two ago, it was really very good, although not exactly the most optimistic book ever. It also has the most random ending I think I've ever seen (OK it's not actually random if you think about it but it's still :wtf:). 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Read this one about a year and a half ago, I liked it too. Nice, easy, clever, book. Everyone should read it. 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding Read it in school, didn't really like it. 9. 1984 by George Orwell Read it. Legendary. 12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Read it in school, didn't really like it, although considering i like grapes i might do if I read it now. 14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce Read this this year. It's pretty amazing, the stream of consciousness stuff and the evolution of the language is ace. 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Read it. Legendary. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell Read it in school, 3 or 4 times :) 21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Read it in school, didn't like it. 39. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster This is the last book I read, it's pretty amazing, the analysis of the social relationships (i think) was ****ing ace. 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Everyone knows everything about this book already. 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams see above 74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh Read it last year, it's not my favourite book by him though so I don't think it should be here :( |
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I've read 16. I've seen it before, and I agree: it's a crap list. My favourites on it are The Great Gatsby, Grapes of Wrath, 1984, Lord of the Rings and Heart of Darkness. Call of the Wild gets an honourary mention because it's a children's book that is much more substantial than a lot of adult fiction.
Conrad, Steinback and Orwell are much better than you give them credit for, Dace. |
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The list would have been more accurate if they had titled it "The 100 most shallow faux-intellectual books aimed at middle class english teachers to read if you want to think of yourself as clever/cultured".
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I agree about the sci-fi think Darkmage, although are all the authors you mentioned from the last 100 years? Tolstoy at least wrote his great works in the 19th century.
I think Sci-fi is becoming more respected as a literary genre, but it's not there yet :( edit: o look nod's on his period |
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This book is the litimus test for how shit and pretentious a book list is. Infact id say anyone who claims to have read it is a liar. btw daces post made me giggle till i hurt Not read. Well not totally true. I read the blurb on the back and kinda zoned out for a minute and then i came too again and decided to put the book back down before i was bored to sleep again. Read the first chapter. Heart of Darkness you can **** off! Not read but i've seen the movie. Does that count? I cannot express properly my hate for this book. I kept on giving it "just a little more time" time and time again. I got 160 pages into it and i just couldn't take it any more. DIE WOLFE DIE!!! Read it in school. This book is shit. It is also one of five books by Hemingway on this list. This list is shit. Hemingway is shit (based on my loathing of this book). 11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov Red. Quite liked. <3 <3 <3 |
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books i skip over i have not read, have not seen the movie, and never intend to read or see the movie.
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald i read it, thought it was okay. i've heard very good things about it, so maybe i'll reread. 2. catcher in the rye i'll read eventually. 3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck very good. 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee i think i read this. i think it was good. 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding i liked it. die fatty, die (german for "the fatty, the"). 9. 1984 by George Orwell i started it but didn't finish. when i was 8 or somesuch. i'll get back to it eventually. 10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner probably qualifies as the strangest book i've ever read. not sure if i liked it or hated it. 12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck gave my wife a copy, two hours later she gave it back "that was really sad". yeah. it was. 13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White may have read it; saw the movie. 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller superb. 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley will read it. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell worth reading. i liked it. 22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne i think i read it. 28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey will read it. 29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut will read it. 33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London from what i remember i kinder liked it. 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 'good' 43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand reading about frank lloyd wright (as well as visiting some of his buildings) is much more interesting after reading this. 45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair will read it. 47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum i saw the movie. i may have read it as well. 49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess i saw the movie. that counts. 51. My Antonia by Willa Cather bad, but nowhere near as bad as... 60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton ...which really has to be my least favorite of all time. 65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe i thought this was a perfectly good book, though the ending left much to be desired. 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams good. 79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett i will read this. 85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells i will read this. 90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame i think i read it when i was young. 92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand read it. long but an easy read. 95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling i've read a lot of kipling, but not this. odd. 98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster has a cool name, so i might try to read it. so maybe 15-20? i don't think anyone on this forum has argued that this is a good list of 'top books from the 20th century', so i'm unclear on why every other post in this thread has to point that out. |
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Ive read quite alot of books in my time although very few of them are on that list. Ive seen the movieversion of some of the books though, and it hasnt exactly made me want to read them.
Tbh im quite glad i dont go to school in england and have to plough through all those drab old books that clearly were important and well written in their time but now is just drab and 'old news'. |
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1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Supposed to have read in school, and don’t know how this book is #1, it’s totally boring. I bought it recently to read it all the way through this time to see what all the hype was about, and came back to it's still incredibly boring. 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee One of the best books I’ve ever read. 13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Read in school, it's a good children's book. 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Read it. It was OK. 32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Read it in school. Not getting why on list. 37. The World According to Garp by John Irving I’ve seen the movie, it was good. 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Read after seeing first movie, took me ages. 65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe I liked the movie with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis. 67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles Another very boring book I was made to read in school. 83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather Forced to read in school, so bad I don’t even remember it, nor want to. Not bad 10 of them I’ve read. |
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There's no Wodehouse. There's no Mitford. There's no MacDonnell.
Fowles should be there for 'The Magus' not 'The French Leuitenant's Woman'. Waugh should be there for 'The Loved One' or 'Vile Bodies'. Both of these authors deserve to be there but it is a DISGRACE to see them there for their better known books rather than just their better books. And above all. Where is Gogol. |
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I found an Observer list today. No Steinbeck and no Rand, and loads of shitty female romance authors - Virginia Woolf being a particular culprit with 4-5 books on their list :(
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I have read the following:
1984---enjoyed it Catch 22---loved it, hurt myself laughing Brave New World---liked it a lot Animal Farm---enjoyed it (oddly an old lady gave it to my mother to read to me when I was 3 years old, 1949) Native Son---very depressing but I thought I was cool for reading it at the time. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest---I like big Indians Slaughterhouse Five---liked a lot The World According to Garp---bored shitless The Lord of the Rings---loved it (them) The Wizard of Oz---the movie was better Cat's Cradle---very enjoyable A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy---extremely funny Topic of Cancer---porn ftw Babbitt---ugly Americans Main Stree---more ugly Americans I MAY have read the following but didn't like them well enough to even remember: The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the Sea (no wonder he blew his brains out) and The Call of the Wild. I saw the movie but didn't read the book: The Great Gatsby---nothing like a good suicide to perk you up Grapes of Wrath---this is about my "peeps" To Kill a Mockingbird---rooted for the DA Charlottes Web---pork is "Amazing" Invisible Man---I just couldn't see him Gone with the Wind---learned everything I needed to know about race relations and carpetbagers and damned Yankees All the King's Men---very interesting, partially filmed where I am sitting to type this Schinlers List---Amadimijon's handbook for how to treat the Jews Clockwork Orange---made my head hurt The French Lieutenant's Woman---chick flick I would like to read: A Passage to India An Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas---haven't read but ate some of her brownies |
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aimed? Perhaps they fulfil that purpose for certain people, but to say that is why they were written is absurd. Joyce didn't write Finnegan's wake so people could pretend they were clever, that would have been a quite ridiculous effort/reward relationship right there. |
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No de Berniere or Asimov? :(
Oh and read 14 of them and half-read 2. |
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Joyce didnt write Finnegan's Wake for middle class English teachers to analyse? Who do you think his target audience was, plumbers?
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You missed out the bit where you said they read it to feel cultured/clever. When in fact they enjoyed it (I have heard of people enjoying Finnegans wake, although you will probably insist they are all lying). I can see your point if they are only pretending to read it, or having it as a cover over their latest pulp romance book on the train. But if people actually read the book, cover to cover, through choice, I can only assume they're either masochistic or they enjoy it. It's just far too long and too difficult to make it worthwhile if someone wants to look clever. Not to mention the fact that people can say they've read it and unless one of the people they say it to has read it too they will never be contradicted. I could simply tell everyone on this forum that I was reading Finnegans Wake whenever the subject came up, for a month or so, and after that in every book thread claim I'd read it; but I don't. |
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I was meaning that there were few on that list (especially high up) that had any real philosophical/psychological depth. Its more just pretty, unchalleneging stories that will be enjoyed by average Sunday afternoon readers - there's nothing there that's likely to shake up a person's world, or give him real cause for reflection. I mean yeah, Catcher in the Rye is a cute little story, but to say that its got the same philosophical depth as something by Rand/Doestoyvsky/Hesse/Kafka etc is just silly. Yeah, you can go through that list and pick out individual books that are obvious exceptions to this, but I'm talking about the general tone. Catcher in the Rye at #2 pretty much sums it up. |
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The problem is that the list is only supposed to be "top 100 novels", not "100 most important novels", not "100 most enjoyable novels" not "100 most influential novels" or any number of different criteria all of which would have produced different lists.
This leads to a list which has a hodge-podge of different styles and different kinds of books that people think are "top" (whatever that even means!). Your point about being able to think of exceptions to this sums it up well, it's true, you can find books in there with philosophical depth (probably, I've only read 14 of them remember, and nearly all of those are in the top 20), but you can find books in there that will be a paradigm example of pretty much any other genre you care to mention. Which is why I took exception at you originally saying what you did and pushing them into a very narrow definition of your own choosing when they're actually all but entirely random and certainly extremely varied. |
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4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Read this in school, not a thrilling read, but I certainly enjoyed it. 5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker A-Level book - absolute shite. It's just some bird whining for an entire book, occasionally getting it on with another woman. 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding One of my personal favourites - everyone should read this, although people who were forced to read it in school tend to hate it for some reason. 9. 1984 by George Orwell The only bad thing about this book, is that it gave the inspiration for the Big Brother series. 11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov Very heavy reading, but I'd say it's worth it. A Little freaky in places.... 13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White Is that the one with the pig on the cover? If it is, I think I may have pretended to read it as a child.... 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller It's OK, nothing spectacular in my opinion. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell Fab book which hits the right note politically - for lazy people the animated thingy sticks to the plot, and the pigs are ace. 22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne It's Winnie The Pooh ffs - obviously great 28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Not really the kind of book I go for, but it's OK. 33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London Total pile of shit. Who cares about wolves? 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Still have only got halfway through return of the King - although everyone loves these books, far too little goes on in the first couple of hundred pages imo, but if you stick with it then you'll eventually get there. Tom Bombadil is a winner. 47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum Pretty much the same as the film, very light reading. 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The film really doesn't do it justice, anyone who hasn't read it needs it right now. 90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame I should probably read this again, can't remember much of the book. 15 in total :/ |
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The problem with democratic lists like this is that mediocrity will generally be pushed to the top. You see the same sort of thing in lists of the"100 Best Music Albums Ever" - if you asked 50 people who had listened to a lot of 20th century music to vote for their favourite 10 albums, you'd probably end up with 50 very very different lists. And when you tried to combine these to give the final list, youd most likely find that everyone loved completely different things, and that the majority of albums only had 1 or 2 votes for them . And the only albums that are likely to have lots of multiple votes would be the cliched 'safe' choices like the Beatles/Pink Floyd/Bob Dylan that everyone had heard, and your final list would hence be filled by these sort of bands, even though very few of your 50 voters will have actually had them in their top 3. So the result is a list of inoffensive albums that everyone can tolerate, but very few people really love - I mean hey, noone hates the Beatles right? And this looks like what has happened with the book list - is there anyone out there who is really going to say that Catcher in the Rye or Of Mice and Men is one of the best books theyve ever read? Probably not, but most people will agree that theyre 'decent', which is why they come so highly placed. |
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How can you say something is the best unless a very large amount of people like it? Democracy always leads to this kind of thing but it's also the only "fair" way to do it.
An alternative way would be to get the people who give the booker prize every year (just as an example of literary experts) to compile their lists: i.e expert opinion. This is fine, but most people won't have heard of a lot of the books they nominate and who wants to read a list of books that they have never heard of? That's only going to make people feel stupid. Also I know a few people who say Catcher in the Rye is one of the best books (even the best book) they have ever read. The same goes for a lot of the books in there (1984*, HHGTTG, LOTR alone has millions who say it's the best book they have ever read and plenty of fans who read it every year or something, didn't it also win the BBC's best book ever competition a couple of years ago? But it only got #41 here :confused:). *I was of this opinion for a number of years. |
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Stop talking to these people. Cease all contact. It's for the best. |
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The best bet would just be to accept that compiling lists of the Best Books Of All Time is a hilariously silly thing to do. A more interesting idea imo would be to get people to give their own personal lists of their 10 favourite books along with their reasons why. Restrict it to people who've actually read quite a lot of books obviously so you get some context for evaluation. Quote:
To turn your question round, why would anyone prefer reading a list of stuff they already know about than a list which might introduce them to new, perhaps more obscure, things which may sound more interesting? |
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Other than that, books like Kafka's 'The Trial', Zweig's 'The Royal Game', Tolstoy's 'The Kreutzer Sonata', Dostoevsky's 'The Gamber' or Dürrenmatt's 'The Physicists' should definitely be included if the list has the intention to reflect good 'modern' literature. |
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It's channel 4 dude. The channel the brought us Big Brother. Books are regarded as "intellectual". Take a guess. |
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2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Read but wasn't a fan. 4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee I vaguely remember reading this, I can't have enjoyed it that much if I remember so little. 7. Beloved by Toni Morrison My mother seems to like her books but after listening to her talk at the Hay-on-Wye festival I have no intention of ever reading one of her books 8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding Read this in school, was okay but not brilliant. Wasn't helped by someone ruining parts by telling the class what happened. 9. 1984 by George Orwell Enjoyed this book. 12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck I absoloutely despised this book. We did it in school and it just bored the hell out of me. This is what has stopped me reading The Grapes of Wrath. 15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Good book. 16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Read it. It was OK. 17. Animal Farm by George Orwell Enjoyed this but wish I hadn't read it so young as I missed most of the meaning. 21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Not brilliant but enjoyable enough. 22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne Why is this here :( 33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London Read when I was quite young. Enjoyed this. 40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Great book. 72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Haven't read the entire series but really enjoyed the first couple of books. 85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells An okay book. 90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Read it when i was a kid. I assume I enjoyed it 92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Enjoyed this So I've read 16 of them but actually own a few more which I have just never got round to reading. |
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