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Sunday, July 6. 2008
Meme?
When I was younger, I used to read voraciously. Primarily Science Fiction and Fantasy, as well as the material that was part of the classroom curricula. This allowed me to read quite a few of what would be considered "classics" in the literary world, both honing my ability to read and understand what I was reading, but also to allow me write somewhat better than the average moron.
While going through the forums on an old text-based BBS that I've been on since 1995 - ISCA BBS - a posting in the Literature forum there caught my eye. Apparently there is some 'list' of 100 works that everyone should take the time to read. Some of them are absolutely wonderful reads, while others are by authors I cannot personally stand (Bronte, Austen, specifically). Apparently, many claim to have read a large number of the books on this list, when in reality the average adult has read only 6, or so.
Here's my take on the list, which ones I've read, and which ones I haven't (and in the cases of a collection of works, which ones are partially read - like Shakespeare's work).
Before digging into this list, there are definitely some questionable inclusions, especially if one is to consider this a list of Literature worth spending the time and effort to locate and read.
Missing from this particular list are some classics that I firmly believe should be on here - Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, among myriad others. That said, MOST of this list is definitely worthwhile to go after and read. From a purely literary point of view, the Bible is absolutely spectacular. The poetry of 
At any rate! Here's the list, and which I've read, or partially read. If there's nothing in the "Read?" column, then I haven't read it (yet).
Title Author Read?
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien Partially
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series JK Rowling Yep!
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
The Bible (Old Testament mainly) Various Yep!
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte *shudder* Yes...
1984r George Orwell Yep!
His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
Great Expectations Charles Dickens Partially
Little Women Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 Joseph Heller Major Major! Yep!
Complete Works of Shakespeare (all) Shakeaspeare (Various?) Partially
Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit JRR Tolkien Yep!
Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger Yep!
The Time Traveller's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch George Eliot
Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald Yep!
Bleak House Charles Dickens
War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams Yep!
Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishmen Fyodor Dostoyevsky Partially
Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck Yep!
Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll Yep!
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis Yep!
Emma Jane Austen
Persuasion Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe C.S. Lewis Yep!
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh AA Milne
Animal Farm George Orwell Yep!
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meaney John Irving
The Woman in White ilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies William Golding Yep!
Atonement Ian McEwan
Life of Pi Yann Martel
Dune Frank Herbert Yep!
Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities Charles Dickens Partially
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck Yep!
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
On The Road Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones' Diary Helen Fielding
Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick Herman Melville Yep!
Oliver Twist Charles Dickens
Dracula Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson
Ulysses James Joyce
The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
Germinal Emile Zola
Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens Yep!
Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
The Color Purple Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte's Web EB White Yep!
The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection Enid Blyton
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
Watership Down Richard Adams Yep!
A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet William Shakespeare Yep!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl Yep!
Les Miserables Victor Hugo Oui!
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