A new meme crossed my path last week, and I have been compiling my answers until I had completed them to post them up here. You might have seen it already as it has been going around for a while now. The bibliographical theme is what has drawn my eye, and I was interested to see how I ‘stacked up’.
So, it involves the top 106 (?) books marked ‘unread’ on LibraryThing.com. My understanding of it is that these books are collated from people tagging the books that they one day intend to read, but have not read. Therefore, we are talking the ‘most popular’ books that people intend to read one day. Anyway, the rules are basic: mark the books that you have read; note those that you have read more than once; record those you have started but could not finish; and note those that you either loved or hated. I have also decided to note those that I am unfamiliar with.
I thought that by posting it up, I might be able to aid anyone in choosing future books to read, as well as give you all a guide to my tastes. Feel free to rubbish me and disagree if I have slated an all time favourite of yours. Similarly, if there is something that I haven't heard of that is a must read, let me know. I am always scouting for new things to read.
To the books!
1984: Read and enjoyed maybe three times. I’ve also both studied and taught it as a text at University.
A Clockwork Orange: Read and enjoyed four times. As above, I’ve also both studied and taught it as a text at University.
A confederacy of dunces: Read and enjoyed it.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius: Not familiar with it.
A people’s history of the United States: 1492-present: Not familiar with it.
A portrait of the artist as a young man: Staggered my way through. I didn’t hate it, but didn’t really enjoy it.
A Short History of Nearly Everything: I have dipped in and out, not read from cover to cover though. (I have this as an e-book.)
A Tale of Two Cities: I started, but gave up about a third of the way through due to boredom. I appreciate Charles Dickens, I really do. It’s just that the books are so... well... dull.
American Gods: Not heard of it.
Anansi Boys: Not heard of it.
Angela’s Ashes: Read it and thought that it was overrated.
Angels & Demons: Not heard of it.
Anna Karenina: I tried, I really did...
Atlas shrugged: Doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I don’t really understand the interest in Ayn Rand. Everything I’ve read of hers is actually a little bit embarrassing. They are just so... so badly written.
Beloved: Not read, but it is on my list to read!
Brave new world: I read it and found it interesting enough.
Catch-22: I’ve read this maybe four times. The first time was a bit of a challenge, but a stimulating one (I was maybe 14). Each subsequent time I’ve got something new. Not a stretch to say it is on my all time favourite list.
Cloud Atlas: Not heard of it.
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed: See Ayn Rand. Diamond just makes too many really simple errors on history to make me take him seriously.
Crime and Punishment: I did finish it. I don’t think I need to revisit it.
Cryptonomicon: Not heard of it.
David Copperfield: Dickens!
Don Quixote: I’ve not read it, I’ve generally struggled with anything pre-1800 so that dampens my enthusiasm somewhat.
Dracula: Not really my scene.
Dubliners: I’ve no desire to.
Dune: Sci-fi stuff generally bores me, especially the long ones!
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: I started it just after Henry was born and dipped in and out. Alas, I still haven’t finished it.
Emma: Read and enjoyed.
Foucault’s Pendulum: Read it. I didn’t hate it.
Frankenstein: I really liked this when I didn’t expect to.
Freakonomics: Read and enjoyed very much.
Gravity’s Rainbow: I haven’t read it, but will get around to it one day.
Great Expectations: Dickens!
Gulliver’s Travels: I had a few goes at this, but really struggled each time. I am ashamed of myself.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies: How does such a mediocre thinker get two on this list? I finished this, but was offended at the shoddy research job that let through so many factual errors.
In Cold Blood: Read and enjoyed.
Jane Eyre: Read and enjoyed. I actually enjoyed Wide Sargasso Sea more though.
Jonathan Strange & M. Norrell: I’ve not read it, but am drawn to the cover art. I’m not sure if that will make me get around to read it though!
Les misérables: I’ve not read it, but may well do one day.
Life of Pi: a novel: Not interested.
Lolita: Like Catch-22, I’ve read it a number of times and enjoyed it immensely. One of the all time favourites.
Love in the time of cholera: Read it, but will admit that the whole ‘magical realism’ thing leaves me a little cold.
Madame Bovary: I’ve not read it. Probably won’t.
Mansfield Park: It’s passed me by. Maybe one day if I’m in the mood.
Memoirs of a Geisha: Haven’t read it. I would consider it...
Middlemarch: No. I’d need a reason to be honest.
Middlesex: I regret to say that I haven’t heard of it.
Moby Dick: I finished it! Is that not enough! It took me a long time to get through the opening but I managed. Hated it, of course, as any sensible person should.
Mrs. Dalloway: Not read it.
Neverwhere: Never heard of it.
Northanger Abbey: It really has to be on a course list for me to read it.
Oliver Twist: Dickens!
On the Road: I enjoyed it first time around (aged 17), thought that it was rubbish second time through (aged 23). Don’t think I will have a third go, maybe one day!
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest: I liked it.
One hundred years of solitude: I read it right through, magical realism you see, It just doesn’t do anything for me, sorry. Still better than Calvino!
Oryx and Crake: We’ve got it at home, but it hasn’t drawn me any closer to reading it.
Persuasion: I haven’t read it, but might.
Pride and Prejudice: Read it for school. Didn’t hate it too much.
Quicksilver: Never heard of it.
Reading Lolita in Tehran: Maybe one day.
Sense and sensibility: Read it and liked it, much to my surprise as I didn’t expect to.
Slaughterhouse-five: One of the all time favourites. Read it the first time in one single sitting. I’ve maybe read it four or five times, and expect to do so again.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles: I own it, and did study it at uni, but I didn’t actually get around to reading it. Oops.
The Aeneid: No. I think that I’d struggle.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay: Not heard of it.
The Blind Assassin: We have a copy at home, but I haven’t read it. Maybe one day.
The Brothers Karamazov: I started it, but the Russians are a real chore for me. Sorry Russians, I do like you though!
The Canterbury tales: Unfortunately I’ve read it. Had to at Uni. Hated it.
The Catcher in the Rye: Read it once. Can’t see what the big deal is, Holden Caulfield is such a wanker and all that I really wanted to see was him hit by a bus. Didn’t enjoy it.
The Confusion: Not heard of it.
The Corrections: People have told me that I have to read this, which is never the correct way about getting me to read something. I don’t HAVE to do anything! Maybe one day.
The Count of Monte Cristo: Not read it, can’t see myself reading it.
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time: I like the cover art, but have heard it is aimed at ‘young readers’, which is a turn off.
The Fountainhead: I didn’t make it very far. Don’t get the Ayn Rand thing at all.
The God of Small Things: I’ve picked it up a few times, but not read it. I think that I will eventually.
The Grapes of Wrath: I enjoyed it very much.
The Historian: I’d not heard of it, but like the sound of it.
The Hobbit: Read it when very young (10?). Not my thing, elves, fairies and journeys pretty much leave me cold.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Not read it. I’m realising that I seem to be avoiding the French. I’ve read all the Germans though!
The Iliad: No. I think that I’d struggle.
The Inferno: As in Dante? I had a crack once, but didn’t ‘click’ with it. I know someone who claimed to have read the entire Divine Comedy in Italian though!
The Kite Runner: I know that they made a movie!
The mists of Avalon: Not heard of it.
The Name of the Rose: I quite liked this, much to my surprise.
The Odyssey: No, sorry, too much.
The Once and Future King: Not heard of it.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: I tried, but it is just so, ‘twee’. Didn’t finish it.
The Poisonwood Bible: I have thought about it, I might like it.
The Prince: Machiavelli? Of course! Read it and taught it for a good seven years. A good read that has held up well over such a long time. Thatcher should have paid closer attention...
The Satanic Verses: No. I’ve heard it is very dull.
The Scarlet Letter: Haven’t read it. Maybe one day.
The Silmarillion: Tolkien? Can’t stand him. Not interested. As Californian Teen Vince would say, ‘dullsville’.
The Sound and the Fury: One day. I’ve had my eye on Faulkner, but not actually read any.
The Three Musketeers: French, haven’t read it.
The Time Traveller’s Wife: Not heard of it.
The unbearable lightness of being: Loved it. One of the all time favourites. Turned me right onto Kundera and a whole world of Eastern European literature. Read it maybe three times. i probably like the Book of Laughter and Forgetting more though.
To the Lighthouse: I finished it, but it didn’t ‘do it’ for me.
Treasure Island: I started it, but was bored out of my mind.
Ulysses: Like a trooper I worked long and hard all the way through. I sometimes wonder if it was all worth it.
Vanity Fair: Not read it. I have seen the magazine though, does that count?
War and Peace: I very stupidly first attempted to read this at age 11, only to not make it very far. I tried again at maybe 19, and made it a little further, but quit again. Maybe third time will be a charm!
Watership Down: I liked this very much. I also enjoyed the movie, which I saw first and convinced me to read it.
White teeth: We have a copy at home that I might read one day.
Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West: I’ve not heard of it, and am sort of glad about that.
Wuthering Heights: Read it and studied it both at high school and university. I did actually read it twice, and enjoyed it very much both times. Top song, too.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Started it, but thought that it was rubbish.
So there we have it! I am surprised by how many I have read, or at least heard of. There seems to be a bias against sci-fi and fantasy revealing itself, but I could have told you that up front.
How many have you read? How many have your read multiple times? I'd love to know.
UPDATE:
I had an urge to crunch the numbers this morning, and assess the results. The breakdown tells me that I have completed 34 of these books (and not enjoyed them all). I have also no fear of leaving a book unfinished, as 14 of them have been put down never to be picked up again. That leaves a whopping 42 that I have not read, most of which I expect not to, and 16 titles that I was not familiar with. Looking at those, they appear to be (in the majority) sci-fi or fantasy. Those kinds of books just do not rock my boat, I am sorry to say.
I am wondering if 14 seems a high number to leave unfinished. Are people as willing as I appear to be in stopping reading something if it does not stimulate? Unless I am insanely focused on ‘completing’ a text – Ulysses and Moby Dick are the prime examples of this for me – I am not too fussed to leave it unfinished. What do people think? Am I betraying the author or is life too short to waste reading something that you are not interested in?
Similarly, there were a couple of books on here that have actually been on my personal ‘to read’ list for a few years – Beloved and The God of Small Things – as well as a few other that I can think of. Blood Meridian; Closely Observed Trains; The Good Soldier Svejk and Underworld have all been prominent on my ‘to do’ list for a few years now. So I will ask you, what books have you been putting off? Do you have any ‘must read’ recommendations (bearing in mind what the above list says about my tastes)?
So, it involves the top 106 (?) books marked ‘unread’ on LibraryThing.com. My understanding of it is that these books are collated from people tagging the books that they one day intend to read, but have not read. Therefore, we are talking the ‘most popular’ books that people intend to read one day. Anyway, the rules are basic: mark the books that you have read; note those that you have read more than once; record those you have started but could not finish; and note those that you either loved or hated. I have also decided to note those that I am unfamiliar with.
I thought that by posting it up, I might be able to aid anyone in choosing future books to read, as well as give you all a guide to my tastes. Feel free to rubbish me and disagree if I have slated an all time favourite of yours. Similarly, if there is something that I haven't heard of that is a must read, let me know. I am always scouting for new things to read.
To the books!
1984: Read and enjoyed maybe three times. I’ve also both studied and taught it as a text at University.
A Clockwork Orange: Read and enjoyed four times. As above, I’ve also both studied and taught it as a text at University.
A confederacy of dunces: Read and enjoyed it.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius: Not familiar with it.
A people’s history of the United States: 1492-present: Not familiar with it.
A portrait of the artist as a young man: Staggered my way through. I didn’t hate it, but didn’t really enjoy it.
A Short History of Nearly Everything: I have dipped in and out, not read from cover to cover though. (I have this as an e-book.)
A Tale of Two Cities: I started, but gave up about a third of the way through due to boredom. I appreciate Charles Dickens, I really do. It’s just that the books are so... well... dull.
American Gods: Not heard of it.
Anansi Boys: Not heard of it.
Angela’s Ashes: Read it and thought that it was overrated.
Angels & Demons: Not heard of it.
Anna Karenina: I tried, I really did...
Atlas shrugged: Doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I don’t really understand the interest in Ayn Rand. Everything I’ve read of hers is actually a little bit embarrassing. They are just so... so badly written.
Beloved: Not read, but it is on my list to read!
Brave new world: I read it and found it interesting enough.
Catch-22: I’ve read this maybe four times. The first time was a bit of a challenge, but a stimulating one (I was maybe 14). Each subsequent time I’ve got something new. Not a stretch to say it is on my all time favourite list.
Cloud Atlas: Not heard of it.
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed: See Ayn Rand. Diamond just makes too many really simple errors on history to make me take him seriously.
Crime and Punishment: I did finish it. I don’t think I need to revisit it.
Cryptonomicon: Not heard of it.
David Copperfield: Dickens!
Don Quixote: I’ve not read it, I’ve generally struggled with anything pre-1800 so that dampens my enthusiasm somewhat.
Dracula: Not really my scene.
Dubliners: I’ve no desire to.
Dune: Sci-fi stuff generally bores me, especially the long ones!
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: I started it just after Henry was born and dipped in and out. Alas, I still haven’t finished it.
Emma: Read and enjoyed.
Foucault’s Pendulum: Read it. I didn’t hate it.
Frankenstein: I really liked this when I didn’t expect to.
Freakonomics: Read and enjoyed very much.
Gravity’s Rainbow: I haven’t read it, but will get around to it one day.
Great Expectations: Dickens!
Gulliver’s Travels: I had a few goes at this, but really struggled each time. I am ashamed of myself.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies: How does such a mediocre thinker get two on this list? I finished this, but was offended at the shoddy research job that let through so many factual errors.
In Cold Blood: Read and enjoyed.
Jane Eyre: Read and enjoyed. I actually enjoyed Wide Sargasso Sea more though.
Jonathan Strange & M. Norrell: I’ve not read it, but am drawn to the cover art. I’m not sure if that will make me get around to read it though!
Les misérables: I’ve not read it, but may well do one day.
Life of Pi: a novel: Not interested.
Lolita: Like Catch-22, I’ve read it a number of times and enjoyed it immensely. One of the all time favourites.
Love in the time of cholera: Read it, but will admit that the whole ‘magical realism’ thing leaves me a little cold.
Madame Bovary: I’ve not read it. Probably won’t.
Mansfield Park: It’s passed me by. Maybe one day if I’m in the mood.
Memoirs of a Geisha: Haven’t read it. I would consider it...
Middlemarch: No. I’d need a reason to be honest.
Middlesex: I regret to say that I haven’t heard of it.
Moby Dick: I finished it! Is that not enough! It took me a long time to get through the opening but I managed. Hated it, of course, as any sensible person should.
Mrs. Dalloway: Not read it.
Neverwhere: Never heard of it.
Northanger Abbey: It really has to be on a course list for me to read it.
Oliver Twist: Dickens!
On the Road: I enjoyed it first time around (aged 17), thought that it was rubbish second time through (aged 23). Don’t think I will have a third go, maybe one day!
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest: I liked it.
One hundred years of solitude: I read it right through, magical realism you see, It just doesn’t do anything for me, sorry. Still better than Calvino!
Oryx and Crake: We’ve got it at home, but it hasn’t drawn me any closer to reading it.
Persuasion: I haven’t read it, but might.
Pride and Prejudice: Read it for school. Didn’t hate it too much.
Quicksilver: Never heard of it.
Reading Lolita in Tehran: Maybe one day.
Sense and sensibility: Read it and liked it, much to my surprise as I didn’t expect to.
Slaughterhouse-five: One of the all time favourites. Read it the first time in one single sitting. I’ve maybe read it four or five times, and expect to do so again.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles: I own it, and did study it at uni, but I didn’t actually get around to reading it. Oops.
The Aeneid: No. I think that I’d struggle.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay: Not heard of it.
The Blind Assassin: We have a copy at home, but I haven’t read it. Maybe one day.
The Brothers Karamazov: I started it, but the Russians are a real chore for me. Sorry Russians, I do like you though!
The Canterbury tales: Unfortunately I’ve read it. Had to at Uni. Hated it.
The Catcher in the Rye: Read it once. Can’t see what the big deal is, Holden Caulfield is such a wanker and all that I really wanted to see was him hit by a bus. Didn’t enjoy it.
The Confusion: Not heard of it.
The Corrections: People have told me that I have to read this, which is never the correct way about getting me to read something. I don’t HAVE to do anything! Maybe one day.
The Count of Monte Cristo: Not read it, can’t see myself reading it.
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time: I like the cover art, but have heard it is aimed at ‘young readers’, which is a turn off.
The Fountainhead: I didn’t make it very far. Don’t get the Ayn Rand thing at all.
The God of Small Things: I’ve picked it up a few times, but not read it. I think that I will eventually.
The Grapes of Wrath: I enjoyed it very much.
The Historian: I’d not heard of it, but like the sound of it.
The Hobbit: Read it when very young (10?). Not my thing, elves, fairies and journeys pretty much leave me cold.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Not read it. I’m realising that I seem to be avoiding the French. I’ve read all the Germans though!
The Iliad: No. I think that I’d struggle.
The Inferno: As in Dante? I had a crack once, but didn’t ‘click’ with it. I know someone who claimed to have read the entire Divine Comedy in Italian though!
The Kite Runner: I know that they made a movie!
The mists of Avalon: Not heard of it.
The Name of the Rose: I quite liked this, much to my surprise.
The Odyssey: No, sorry, too much.
The Once and Future King: Not heard of it.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: I tried, but it is just so, ‘twee’. Didn’t finish it.
The Poisonwood Bible: I have thought about it, I might like it.
The Prince: Machiavelli? Of course! Read it and taught it for a good seven years. A good read that has held up well over such a long time. Thatcher should have paid closer attention...
The Satanic Verses: No. I’ve heard it is very dull.
The Scarlet Letter: Haven’t read it. Maybe one day.
The Silmarillion: Tolkien? Can’t stand him. Not interested. As Californian Teen Vince would say, ‘dullsville’.
The Sound and the Fury: One day. I’ve had my eye on Faulkner, but not actually read any.
The Three Musketeers: French, haven’t read it.
The Time Traveller’s Wife: Not heard of it.
The unbearable lightness of being: Loved it. One of the all time favourites. Turned me right onto Kundera and a whole world of Eastern European literature. Read it maybe three times. i probably like the Book of Laughter and Forgetting more though.
To the Lighthouse: I finished it, but it didn’t ‘do it’ for me.
Treasure Island: I started it, but was bored out of my mind.
Ulysses: Like a trooper I worked long and hard all the way through. I sometimes wonder if it was all worth it.
Vanity Fair: Not read it. I have seen the magazine though, does that count?
War and Peace: I very stupidly first attempted to read this at age 11, only to not make it very far. I tried again at maybe 19, and made it a little further, but quit again. Maybe third time will be a charm!
Watership Down: I liked this very much. I also enjoyed the movie, which I saw first and convinced me to read it.
White teeth: We have a copy at home that I might read one day.
Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West: I’ve not heard of it, and am sort of glad about that.
Wuthering Heights: Read it and studied it both at high school and university. I did actually read it twice, and enjoyed it very much both times. Top song, too.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Started it, but thought that it was rubbish.
So there we have it! I am surprised by how many I have read, or at least heard of. There seems to be a bias against sci-fi and fantasy revealing itself, but I could have told you that up front.
How many have you read? How many have your read multiple times? I'd love to know.
UPDATE:
I had an urge to crunch the numbers this morning, and assess the results. The breakdown tells me that I have completed 34 of these books (and not enjoyed them all). I have also no fear of leaving a book unfinished, as 14 of them have been put down never to be picked up again. That leaves a whopping 42 that I have not read, most of which I expect not to, and 16 titles that I was not familiar with. Looking at those, they appear to be (in the majority) sci-fi or fantasy. Those kinds of books just do not rock my boat, I am sorry to say.
I am wondering if 14 seems a high number to leave unfinished. Are people as willing as I appear to be in stopping reading something if it does not stimulate? Unless I am insanely focused on ‘completing’ a text – Ulysses and Moby Dick are the prime examples of this for me – I am not too fussed to leave it unfinished. What do people think? Am I betraying the author or is life too short to waste reading something that you are not interested in?
Similarly, there were a couple of books on here that have actually been on my personal ‘to read’ list for a few years – Beloved and The God of Small Things – as well as a few other that I can think of. Blood Meridian; Closely Observed Trains; The Good Soldier Svejk and Underworld have all been prominent on my ‘to do’ list for a few years now. So I will ask you, what books have you been putting off? Do you have any ‘must read’ recommendations (bearing in mind what the above list says about my tastes)?
Comments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steffe/sets/72157604130321756/
You've read Slaughterhouse Five, five times?!
I couldn't even read it once!
Maybe my expectations got in the way.
I thought it was going to be something like Solzhenitsyn and his gulag stuff.
Mind you, I couldn't read Catch-22 or Clockwork Orange, either.
I did enjoy Vonnegut's Timequake.
I've read about 30 out of the list.
Or STARTED about 30.
Once upon a time, I used to persevere with what appeared to be boring - now I put it aside for another time - maybe when I'm more "grown-up".
Oryx and Crake is odd - I'll never get that word "pigoon" out of my mind.
I like the Russians and I like the whole magical realism thing - it's kinda like the way my Italian parents-in-law, think.
Kavalier and Clay - eh.
Have you read Peter Carey's Ned Kelly book?
What about V.S. Naipul - read any of his?
Jen has that Ned Kelly book, but I haven’t read it. I can’t say that I am a fan of Carey’s, but then again, I haven’t really given him a proper go. I am a big fan of Vonnegut though, and have enjoyed most of his stuff. Mother Night and Cat’s Cradle are particular favourites.
Benjamin, did you finish Bleak House? I am interested to know, as I’ve met plenty who have started but none that can tell me they made it all the way through! From a historical and social point of view, I think Dickens is amazing, but I just find it all so dull. It’s cruel, because I do want to like them.
Steffe, I’m wondering if you can recommend any Swedish authors. I’ve read Hjalmar Söderberg’s Doktor Glas, and a couple of Henning Mankell’s books, and quite liked them. If you can point me in the direction of anything at all, it would be much appreciated. One of the reasons that my ‘to do’ list is piling up is that I for a long time was targeting areas I hadn’t read: Caribbean literature, African, Asian etc. I’m also looking for some Finns to read!
I don't see any issue with not reading a book through. It does kind of disqualify you from giving a fair dinkum assessment of it though - although you can say, "It was that bad I couldn't finish it."
Am with you on Watership Down Kirs. I do hope to revisit Crime and Punishment, however. I reckon leave Oryx and Crake on the shelf or better still, stoke the combustion heater with it - sorry araratdailyphoto! But follow through with "The God of Small Things" intention.
Recently, I enjoyed "The Best Australian Essays of 2007" , "The Stornoway Way" by a Scot called Kevin McNeill and "All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren. And a while back, the outback thriller "Wake in Fright", although I'm a bit parochial with that one.
A fellow with Broken Hill connections directed me to “Wake in Fright”, and I heartily endorse it as a good read.