I was reading a whole lot while I was sick ( I really still am, but I can function now), and managed to work my way through a few books. I had started E.M. Forster’s “A Passage to
The list I’ve been reading off of was one I got in ninth grade. My ninth grade teacher (one of my favorite teachers ever, who formerly taught at a private school and would strike you 30 points for a comma splice) passed this list out from a copy of the New York Times, where it first appeared. It’s now on the Random House website, and I thought I’d list it. All the readers (all three of them) have a copy of this list I think, but it still makes me feel important to post it here, so here it is: http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html
I’ve read about 26 or 27 on the list now, and have been impressed by most of them, and have started some others that I have NOT been able to finish (and I obviously didn’t count those). Anyway, here it is, and let me know your preference. Oh, there’s also a “reader’s list” next to it, which was just based on votes and it’s interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two. Enjoy.
7 comments:
Yea! I have had that list tucked away on my bookshelf ever since you gave it to me a few years ago. The print quality was so bad I had to guess at most of the titles. I am very happy to have it again. I think I just found a new goal to set.
I think I have read 7 on the list:
2, 6, 10, 35, 37, 41, 45 and 67.
I've seen the movies for:
2, 25, 26, 38, 41, 66, 69, 79 and 98.
I can't say I'm a fan of any of them. In fact, I despise with my whole heart #35 "As I Lay Dying." Dumbest. Book. Ever.
I guess I'm a much bigger fan of biographies and historical fiction than any of this "classic" stuff.
Well, bottom level, i have around half of the books on the list, so if you are interested in reading one, let me know, and i may be able to hook you up.
I'm not so good at math, but I think I've read 20 on the esoteric list. On the plebe list, I've probably read that many and am just tickled pink that Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy made it!! Creative, clever, amusing. love it.
If any of you has made it through a Henry James novel, please tell me how you did it. I've tried to read one and severe headaches followed.
so "if any of you have"--sheesh!
Interesting. I just saw The Wings of a Dove on tv recently. It wasn't fabulous, but it held my interest. I am dying to see Portrait of a Lady because Christian Bale is in it. It's funny that I would probably choose to begin with Henry James if I were to attack this list. I'll let you know if I ever get around to it.
My exact count is 27. After I finish "A Passage to India," I'm going to read "An American Tragedy," which was also turned into a movie by the name of A Place in the Sun, and starred Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift
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