This will certainly be a mission. As phrased perfectly by Mark Twain “Classic is a book that people praise but don’t read.” A lovely and horribly accurate sentiment. Unlike these people he sweepingly refers to I do not wish to be aware of “the great classics” and yet know nothing notable of them, which is my current position.
With this in mind I then sought to find a pre-assembled list of great “must read” books. The one that caught my eye long enough for me to decide that this was the one to embark on was compiled by Time Magazine and appropriately called ALL TIME 100 Book List.
The chosen list is both exciting and daunting. Exciting because it featured a whole heap of books which I had heard mentioned with acclaim, you know the type that are featured in pub quizzes or on game shows. Daunting comes from the fact that a few of those familiar titles are familiar due to the fact that in the past I have attempted to read them but failed. GULP. It’s ok, this TIME around (do you see what I did there?) I feel confident that I can plough through the more difficult titles and breeze through those that are son entitled ‘one of the best’ for a reason.
It should be noted that I do not anticipate to enjoy all of the books on the list. As previously mentioned I am apprehensive about those books I’ve only managed to read of portion of before. I am also very aware that I have a certain genre that I lean towards as my preference, and that is Mystery. A ‘who done it?’ is certainly the type of book I look for, yet there comes a point where you get sick of the incredibly similar and increasingly predictable format and outcomes of these novels, another great reason to read from a list which truly features a mixed bunch.
If anyone is looking for inspiration of titles to read I really do recommend checking out the website below. OR even better join me and challenge yourself to read the whole list!
http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/
Feel free to follow my journey through the list and tell me whether you agree or disagree with my viewpoints, I promise I am interested to hear any comments!
I am excited to read and vicariously be a part of your reading journey. I have read only a few of the books on the list, and like you, hope to someday read the books that are so important to our society.
Hey that’s awesome! Which ones have you read? Got a recommendation for which one I should start with?
PS: Thanks for the comment!
Okay, get ready for my long answer…
I wish I could say I read a greater number, but by a few a truly meant only a few.
To start off, I’ve read “The Catcher in the Rye”. Generally people have very strong feelings about this book. They either love it or hate it. I am a person of the latter. Although it wasn’t a bad read, nor was it poorly written, it did not seem to me that it was important or notable in any way. (Just my opinion) I know that some people absolutely loved it, and found it inspiring. I did not, and I don’t recommend starting with that one, because if you end up hating it, you may be disheartened and not continue your quest to finish the 100.
Next, I read “The Great Gatsby”. I personally enjoyed this one immensely. I am a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I think he is a great writer and the book was thrilling, interesting, and emotional; all things I look for in a good novel. Bonus: The Great Gatsby is going to be created yet again on film, and who doesn’t like to read the book before the movie?
Finally, I have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the prelude, the Hobbit. Although my favorite of the four books is The Hobbit, I did enjoy all of them. They are very slow at points, but are interesting, funny, and surprising at other points. Like Catcher in the Rye, it really is a certain taste. I enjoyed them, I also enjoy the movies, so that may be a large part of it.
I’ll let you know if I read any of the other books on the list in the future. I am currently reading Les Miserables, and enjoying it. It is a large and dense story to take on, but I think the themes and morals within it are worth the length of the book and time consumed reading it.
Good luck with your reading journey. And I hope you find new favorite books, and make memories within them.
You seem to have covered quite a few of the classics congrats! I, like you, have read the Hobbit and loved it and have now started on the Fellowship (LOTR) which admittedly I am struggling with, just finding it quite slow paced, there is a lot of walking happening at the moment! Good luck with reading Les Mis, I saw it in the book store the other day and it looked very dense although having just seen the film and really enjoyed it, reading the book with the raw plot should could be interesting. Let me know if it’s any good!
I definitely keep you in the loop!