Probably shouldn't laugh but...

[firedrake]

this is from the Sunday Telegraph

Not the 50 books you should read (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8408894/Not-the-50-books-you-must-read-before-you-die.html)

Irreverent and, in places, very funny. :D

[mscelina]

*snerk*

I have to admit--as soon as I saw Ulysses topped the list, I was hooked. Especially since I think the exact. same. thing.

[Purple Rose]

Love it, great for laughs. Sadly, I've already invested time in reading at least 15 of those books. Many were good. By the way, I thought McEwan's Saturday was very good and is a must-read if you like his other books.

[Terie]

I started to panic when I got to 25 and my 'read' count was already up to 12. But then things improved and I ended up with only 14 overall. :D

[firedrake]

There's a few on that list that I started to read with the best of intentions, and then abandoned. There's a few I stuck with.

But the writer is spot-on about Ulysses :D

[aruna]

Agree with most of the ones on that list that I've read... very funny! A couple of old favourites there though - (P&P) - and others that are so obvious they needn't be there at all (DVC).

[scarletpeaches]

I've read 13, and am in the middle of reading Lolita.

Maybe it's meant to be funny, but it smacks of reverse snobbery. They mock GWTW for goodness' sake!

[jaksen]

GWTW had its flaws, but it was great story-telling. I read it at age eleven and was fascinated by the scope, the characters, the multiple story-lines AND the length. After I was done I thought, I can do that...

And on a much smaller scale, I have.

[Dr.Gonzo]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? F***ers.

[Sai]

They neatly summed up one of my main issues with 'Girl with a Dragon Tattoo.' Good stuff.

[Alitriona]

I've read 17.

[Eddyz Aquila]

1984... I found that ridiculous. It's an amazing novel, why should it be avoided?

Ulysses, spot on. I didn't even bother going past page 80.

[blacbird]

Ulysses would have topped my list, were it not for the existence of Moby Dick, which unaccountably didn't crack this top 50.

[Xelebes]

I've only read one (Great Gatsby) and two halves (Lolita, Canterbury Tales: both of which I find entertaining enough to intend to finish.) Three or four (Les Miserables, War & Peace, Crime & Punishment, Ulysses) are on to my to-be-read list.

[Xelebes]

1984... I found that ridiculous. It's an amazing novel, why should it be avoided?

Ulysses, spot on. I didn't even bother going past page 80.

I avoid 1984 because you already know the ins and outs of the plot, the characters and the coinages before you even read it.

[jennontheisland]

I've read none of them. I win.

[callalily61]

I've read 12. Does it count against me if some of the 12 were assigned reading in HS and others were because I always read what my kids were reading when they were younger?

No?

[Eddyz Aquila]

I avoid 1984 because you already know the ins and outs of the plot, the characters and the coinages before you even read it.

Because everyone else followed more or less the same formula? That still doesn't justify the place on the list.

[Xelebes]

Because everyone else followed more or less the same formula? That still doesn't justify the place on the list.

Yes and no. People read things for relevance. Current relevance is much more important in determining if the current reader should invest their time reading it. There is always going to be that niche relevance - for philological purposes and for historical curiosity into the literature of the Cold War (along with Sixth Column, Atlas Shrugged and the like.) It's poignant, all right, but it's also trite.

[Ophiucha]

Not only hilarious, but also, this dude has the same surname as me. Having grown up in America where nobody has the last name Hollingshead, it is always nice to see it when I pop over to the British side of the internet. :P

[Zelenka]

As a CSYS French student who was forced to read Camus, I have to say that bit was spot on. I like Kafka though... :(

[BigWords]

Twenty books. And I did enjoy both A Brief History Of Time and Fear And Loathing. My thoughts on the quality (hell, the readability) of the others should probably be left off here - my thoughts on Ulysses and Lolita have already gotten me into trouble...

[BarbaraKE]

I've only read 17. But 1984, Les Miserables, War & Peace, and Crime & Punishment are all wonderful.

[aruna]

I think this is nothing more than a "50 books I dislike" list. We could all do the same, and all our lists would be different.

[Renee Collins]

This guy obviously wants us to "ooo" and "ahh" at his awesome rebelliousness and bad boy iconoclasm.

*YAWN*

[Phaeal]

Yeah, another snarkfest whose writer might be more usefully occupied trying to equal or best the books on his list. But hey, on the whole, whatever.

I score 13, all of which I liked or loved.

I did giggle at #21:

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Eat, pray, love, wallow, whine, travel, indulge, write, check bank account.

[Alpha Echo]

I agreed with many of these as many on this list are books I've started and couldn't get through.

I've read and loved a few though - Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind, 1984, Eat, Pray Love.

I've read and hated a few like the Great Gatsby and Ulyssses. Had to read those in school and hated them both.

And I've read and just forgotten one in particular - The DeVinci Code.

[aruna]

I agreed with many of these as many on this list are books I've started and couldn't get through.

I've read and loved a few though - Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind, 1984, Eat, Pray Love.

I've read and hated a few like the Great Gatsby and Ulyssses. Had to read those in school and hated them both.

And I've read and just forgotten one in particular - The DeVinci Code.


I'm with you on all those except EPL (I'm in the "whinefest" category). And though I haven't read Ulysses, I don't need to in order to know I hate it!

[Purple Rose]

This guy obviously wants us to "ooo" and "ahh" at his awesome rebelliousness and bad boy iconoclasm.

Possibly, but I still found it good for laughs. What was surprising was that it was in The Telegraph, Sunday edition notwithstanding. I thought they were more serious.

As Aruna said it's really a "50 books I dislike" list which any columnist or any of us can compile.

I've read 15 and will probably read another 10 from that list. Ulysses remains a no-go.

[Priene]

And though I haven't read Ulysses, I don't need to in order to know I hate it!

Ulysses is great. You could probably give Finnegans Wake a miss, though.

[Said The Sun]

Really? What's wrong with the Gatsby? Jesus. It's only one of the best pieces ever written. Granted, his other novels didn't live up to the Gatsby (in my opinion), but it really shouldn't be on that list. I read it first when I was eleven because my big sister doesn't like to read so I read it for her and wrote her essay. I've reread it countless times since--out of pleasure. And yes, I leave a green light on my porch to be seen across the bay!

I've read 10 from that list. GWTW and Lolita, plain Lo in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock, shouldn't be on that list either.

[aruna]

Ulysses is great. You could probably give Finnegans Wake a miss, though.
Not my thing at all. I know it!

Really? What's wrong with the Gatsby? Jesus. It's only one of the best pieces ever written. Granted, his other novels didn't live up to the Gatsby (in my opinion), but it really shouldn't be on that list.

That's why the list is really "5 books I hate". I found it dismal from start to finish. People ARE entitled to hate books other people think are great, you know! It certainly wouldn't be on my list of the best books ever written.

[KellyAssauer]

*adds Iain Hollingshead to list of: People I don't want reading my book*

*double checks my list... hopes for population boom*

:D

[Priene]

Not my thing at all. I know it!

I used to think that. I distinctly remember thinking that people who troll around Dublin on Bloomsday need repeato-punching until sanity is resumed. Now I find myself wondering if I could pick up a cheap summer ticket on Ryanair*.


*then I remember it's Ryanair and forget about it



That's why the list is really "5 books I hate". I found it dismal from start to finish. People ARE entitled to hate books other people think are great, you know! It certainly wouldn't be on my list of the best books ever written.

The Great Gatsby is a curiosity because so many love it. I found so little of interest in it I forced myself to reread it, just to check. But no. Different horses and courses and stuff, I guess.

[Alpha Echo]

I'm with you on all those except EPL (I'm in the "whinefest" category). And though I haven't read Ulysses, I don't need to in order to know I hate it!

The funny thing is, if I read it now, I might agree.

But I read that book while in the midst of my separation/divorce. I totally got so much of what she said - especially at the beginning where she says she lost herself in every man she dated. How she turned into whatever they wanted. That's what I did with my ex. I won't get into the details of his emotional abuse or his affairs...but I just totally understood her. She could have been writing about me, pretty much. So I read the book when I needed it.

I'm not sure if I'll feel the same when I reread it one day. Probably not.

And in fact, when I saw the movie, I thought it seemed like so many books that annoy me about the woman rushing off to find herself, falling in love, and denying herself that love for one reason or another.

[aruna]

I used to think that. I distinctly remember thinking that people who troll around Dublin on Bloomsday need repeato-punching until sanity is resumed. Now I find myself wondering if I could pick up a cheap summer ticket on Ryanair*.



I was forced to read The Portrait of an Artist etc in school. Since then I have a visceral hatred of all things James Joyce. I won't touch any of his stuff with a barge pole... and I know it's irrational and don't care.
I would love to go to Dublin, though. Ireland is on my European countries of places to see before I die -- along with Italy and Portugal. (I won't even mention the non-European countries)

The funny thing is, if I read it now, I might agree.

But I read that book while in the midst of my separation/divorce. I totally got so much of what she said - especially at the beginning where she says she lost herself in every man she dated. How she turned into whatever they wanted. That's what I did with my ex. I won't get into the details of his emotional abuse or his affairs...but I just totally understood her. She could have been writing about me, pretty much. So I read the book when I needed it.

I read it mostly for the India part and it made me mad -- to think that this is what millions of people are swallowing as ashram life. In short: it was an AMERICAN ashram, not an Indian, one.

I have to say though, that she's a good writer. I kept turning the pages in spite of myself, in spite of thinking "what a whiner". And I kind of fell in love with her Brazilian, too. :e2coffee:

[scarletpeaches]

News just in: I've read Tender is the Night and can confirm it is, in fact, a load of old wank.

[Priene]

News just in: I've read Tender is the Night and can confirm it is, in fact, a load of old wank.

Can't remember much about it. Seems to be a regular problem I have with F Scott.

[Said The Sun]

News just in: I've read Tender is the Night and can confirm it is, in fact, a load of old wank.

True. And so is The Last Tycoon. (Sorry Scott!)

[Lyra Jean]

I've read 5 of the books.

1984
Gone with the Wind
Twilight
Harry Potter
The Canterbury Tales (in high school)

[Kitty Pryde]

I LOLed. But one of the books on the list is one of my all-time favorites: Candide! That book is hilarious.

[Renee Collins]

lalalala-can'thearyou-lalalalala

(*is a HUGE Fitzgerald fan*)

[FictionChick]

Pretty funny, even if you don't agree with all his choices. For some reason, this one made me LOL:

"11 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Like trying to get to grips with seven generations of your Colombian exchange student’s family tree."

[hitchhiker]

I think I'd read about ten of them. Some were good and others not so much. Common sense or not, I really liked Outliers.

[Becky Black]

Some made me chuckle, some made me splutter in outrage.

I read War and Peace about 18 months ago and loved it. It was far more accessible that I expected. Tolstoy didn't think very highly of people did he?

So take that out and substitute Tess of the Durbervilles. I should not have read that when I was 14. I still froth at the mouth and fall off my seat at the mention of Angel Clare.

[Jake.C]

I really don't think he's saying he strictly dislikes all of these. He's just trying to be funny.

[Eumenides]

I've read:

Ulysses
1984
The Great Gatsby
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Outsider
Candide
The Metamorphosis
Crime and Punishment
A Short History of Nearly Everything
The Da Vinci Code

Ulysses and Fiztgerald twice listed made my day! But the guy's obviously trying to be edgy and controversial. I loved most of the books mentioned listed above.

[shelleyo]

The article says it's tongue-in-cheek literary advice right in the beginning. It's not supposed to be taken seriously.

I've read several of them, and loved a few of those, with 1984 one of my lifelong favorites. I think everyone should read it, and Orwell's Animal Farm. But what he says about 1984 is still funny (IMO, of course).

He seemed to peter out on down the list though. Funny, but shorter, as if he really didn't know what he was riffing on.

Shelley

[missouridalton]

Wow, I've only read three of those.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Great Gatsby
Harry Potter

To be honest, I liked the first five/ish HP but was then disappointed. The Great Gatsby was school reading alongside Of Mice and Men, and neither was my cup of tea. GWDT was interesting. Slow to start and yes, descended into sex and violence. It's also a brick and could be used in self defense (if you have the hardback you could probably kill someone with it).

[Rhoda Nightingale]

I've read six of those. And then there are several that I've "almost" read. I was assigned Gatsby three times, due to changing schools at inopportune times, and gave up before the end, all three times. I tried to read Pride and Prejudice, and got bored very quickly. Same with Lady Chatterly--although it was okay until the main character's bedridden husband actually suggested she have an affair. Then it annoyed me. How is it an affair if it's the other party's idea?

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is up there on my List, but I haven't finished it....yet.