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The Iliad, Wuthering Heights and Canterbury Tales should really be higher on the list. Rand should not be on it. Don't think I would put Gatsby that high. Thucydides and Herodotus ought to be on there somewhere. Same with Stendhal. Other than that the list is pretty decent. Happy to see Marquez and Camus in the top 20.
For me number 1 is "Wuthering Heights". I am reading now. It`s my 5 time:)
If it comes to "Great Gatsby", I am going to see the film today.
The absence of D.H. Lawrence depresses me.
what did you guys get out of war and peace, and how difficult a read is it?
To me, War and Peace is a very fun, light read with a tendency to meander. It isn't entirely deserving of its length, but if you're curious, by all means read it. I would put Anna Karenina ahead of it, however.Quote:
Originally Posted by hypatia_
I'm finding it a bit of a slog, honestly, but I'm not a great ways into it. Before reading it, I watched several movie versions to help me retain the characters, and that has worked like a charm. The book opens at a society party and throws many people at you right off the bat, and I already knew who was who and what they were about, so I could carry on reading without having to refer to outside notes.Quote:
Originally Posted by hypatia_
Also, thanks to the movies, I know good stuff is coming up (the war part; too much peace right now), which is enabling me to keep reading.
Interesting. I found the peace fascinating, the war boring.Quote:
Originally Posted by Calidore
Me too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lykren
"what did you guys get out of war and peace, and how difficult a read is it?"
I thought it was great and not difficult at all to read (I am finding Moby Dick more difficult). Contrary to what others are saying I thought the peace was boring. The first third to half is so slow but once you get to the war you realize that Tolstoy had to set everything up to put the war in context. The "peace" gives a great description of Russian culture at the time. But the description of the French invasion, the Russian tactics in response to the invasion, the sacking and burning of Moscow, and the slow, disastrous retreat of the French and their cohorts as they tried to get out of Russia in the winter while the Russians slowly picked them off was great. It took me six months to read through the boring crap about the parties and social life of the Russian aristocracy but once the invasion started I found it so fascinating I couldn't put it down.
That's what I'm waiting on. I know what's coming up; it's just the getting there.Quote:
Originally Posted by papillondemai
LOL. It's worth it, though. A great read. And afterwards you can say you read War and Peace; Mere mortals will be impressed and beautiful women or handsome men (whichever is applicable) will want to sleep with you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Calidore
You guys are so funny! I've always felt that love, as something beautiful, was inherently fascinating, and that war, as something stupid, was usually pretty dull. War and Peace pretty much bore out my expectations, though I can't say I was ever REALLY bored while reading it - Tolstoy is simply a great writer.
No-one will ever convince me that The Great Gatsby is better than King Lear!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Corona
Well I've read 31 and loved 26 of those. There is another dozen or so that I tried to read but couldn't finish. A bit surprised at no Rushdie, Pynchon or Barth, but it seems that 'a light touch' is something I value more than most. Great list though, and more than a few I've been meaning to get to. Thanks!
It that is helpful makes a situation more pleasant or more easy