books, books, books

This is for all non-EC or peripheral-EC topics. We all know how much we love talking about 'The Man' but sometimes we have other interests.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I'm around 125. Hard to remember with some of those, especially pre-20th C whether I actually read them. Lots were university texts so may have involved some speed-reading. I'm tempted to print it off and see how many I have in the house. Quite a lot, I think, as there were lots in the 'not quite there yet' category. there are also many where they form part of your cultural consciousness through film, TV and other retellings but I've never actually read. there were also quite a lot where other books by the same author weren't listed but I have read. I feel I should have read 2 to 3 times the ones I have.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by RedShoes »

I'm at 31.

Still pretty pathetic, but at least I beat Blue :lol:
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miss buenos aires
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Re: books, books, books

Post by miss buenos aires »

I can't believe I beat Otis! I am at 204...
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Re: books, books, books

Post by pophead2k »

31 for me too. I have read quite a few that aren't on the list but whose author's are represented by a different title. I need to get on it! Actually, this was quite inspiring.........
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

104 or thereabouts, but I was pretty conservative in my estimate and my memory is poor. Fiction from the 1990s and 2000s is definitely not my strength. I've read a lot of those 19th century works.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by ReadyToHearTheWorst »

55 for definite though, of course, I've seen many more (and also read some film versions).
Suspiciously, recent readings of mine aren't listed, which leads me to think that either I compiled this list some time ago (and left it in a dusty pigeon hole in Sussex Uni), or else I'm now well out of the loop.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Boy With A Problem »

In the 70's somewhere - but I agree some of these author's best works aren't represented - Dreiser is a favorite and I saw Sister Carrie on the list - but An American Tragedy is epic, could be my favorite novel of all time and Jennie Gerhardt kicks the shit out of a lot the more recent things I've read. And Jerzey Kosinsky - where's The Painted Bird (perhaps too controversial for the list)?
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Goody2Shoes »

117. That averages out to 2.6 per year, but admittedly, I was reading other things the first 9 or 10 years. At my curret rate, it will take me 340 years to finish the list. I hope my library card doesn't expire, or I'm screwed.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by invisible Pole »

I'm around 110, though memory may fail me with regards to a few titles (e.g. not sure if I actually have read Tristram Shandy).

Sadly, I have pretty much read no books selected from late 20th and 21st century. Will have to catch up.

The more user-friendly spreadsheet of the list can be downloaded here : http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?page_id=42
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I like it - with a ready reckoner for how many books a year you have to read to complete the list!

That list is really handy. I started putting the text, copied as a continuous paragraph into a proper list in Word, and colour coding:

Bold = ‘I’ve read it’
Blue = ‘I’ve got it, but haven’t read it yet’
Red = ‘I’ve not got this one, but have read or at least own others by this person’
Green = ‘No books by them in the house, but am aware of this writer and know something of what they’re about’
Purple = ‘Who’s this?’

I only got as far as the 90s, but was surprised by how many purples popped up. Would be easier to explain if it was a non-British sourced list!
miss buenos aires wrote:I can't believe I beat Otis! I am at 204...
Ha! You see, I'm exposed as a charlatan. I'm not too surprised you've read so many more than me, despite my huge advantage of years, because I've read relatively little in recent years. I did read about 4 Ian MacEwan's on the trot recently, that helped my quota, but I do find it hard to read enough. If I had more free daytime, yes, but I don't. At least I can safely say I've read more Thomas Pynchon than you!

It's a handy list to have for ref to see if you can tick them off, but by no means all the books I am most keen to read appear on it.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

invisible Pole wrote:not sure if I actually have read Tristram Shandy).
I could understand that with others from that century, but I can't believe anyone would forget if they'd read Tristram Shandy or not! One of the books I read at university that most made me laugh, and one of the most experimental of its time. Perhaps its most unforgettable page is the black one, in which the narrator expresses his grief through black. Brilliant, and one to read again, for sure.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by invisible Pole »

Otis, you made me look up Tristram Shandy entry on Wiki, and I am now more sure I HAVE read it, but I still can't remember the laughing. :lol:
Will definitely have to look for it in bookshops or in the library.

Quickly counted those which I own but have not read yet and came up with 20, some of which I bought a few years ago :shock: (e.g. McEwan's Saturday or Zadie Smith's White Teeth). No chance I will read them all unless I improve my free time management.

And one more question : how come Dicken's Pickwick Papers are not on the list ?!!
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Re: books, books, books

Post by miss buenos aires »

Otis Westinghouse wrote:I like it - with a ready reckoner for how many books a year you have to read to complete the list!

That list is really handy. I started putting the text, copied as a continuous paragraph into a proper list in Word, and colour coding:

Bold = ‘I’ve read it’
Blue = ‘I’ve got it, but haven’t read it yet’
Red = ‘I’ve not got this one, but have read or at least own others by this person’
Green = ‘No books by them in the house, but am aware of this writer and know something of what they’re about’
Purple = ‘Who’s this?’
You should have colors for "I started it but couldn't finish it" and "I already know I would hate it, so I'm pretending it doesn't exist."

It is a great advantage to have a subway commute for this kind of thing... an hour a day during which you can really do nothing but read...
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Re: books, books, books

Post by BlueChair »

I wish I could read on the subway, but I have too many transfers and always get distracted by noises around me.

love the spreadsheet, btw!
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Re: books, books, books

Post by mood swung »

76. I have forgotten A LOT, however. Old Timer's disease.

Has ANYONE actually finished Infinite Jest???????
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Re: books, books, books

Post by miss buenos aires »

mood swung wrote:Has ANYONE actually finished Infinite Jest???????
I have. But I think David Foster Wallace forgot to.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

miss buenos aires wrote:You should have colors for "I started it but couldn't finish it" and "I already know I would hate it, so I'm pretending it doesn't exist."
I tend to refuse to stop reading books because I always think it may redeem itself or I may get it. If it's on a list like this, I'm more or less convinced there will be something worth read it for, even if I hate it in other ways. Sometimes I'm convinced I'll love it and just don't (Patrick McCabe's 'Breakfast On Pluto' was a very big recent example), and yes, some things I discount over expectation of hating it, but probably very little on this list. One intriguing one would be Ishiguro's 'The Unconsoled'. A friend who has probably read 400+ of these books dismissed it as absolute unreadable drivel, another raved. I've enjoyed his others in general, but am tempted to read this just to see.
miss buenos aires wrote:It is a great advantage to have a subway commute for this kind of thing... an hour a day during which you can really do nothing but read...
I love my 20 minute cycle ride across Cambridge, a fair bit of which is on car-free green spaces, but I am a bit jealous of that, cos I would read like crazy. Sometimes on an aeroplane I'll tear through a book, though I am generally a slow and easily tired reader.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by StrictTime »

29, and I own some of those and haven't gotten around to reading them. Not bad for my age.

And, through the magic of library and thrift store shopping, I got 9 books for 4 dollars yesterday. Where else can you get a hardback book for a dollar? :)
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Re: books, books, books

Post by strangerinthehouse »

Okay this is kind of embarrassing. I've read 19 out of the list and I had to keep asking myself If I saw the movie or the book.

19 sounds about right. I haven't really read any new fiction, the last of which was A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini but nothing that is in the list.

I've just started reading Camus' the Plague, which is on the list, yet it's weird that the Stranger is not in the list. Also if I've read The Threepenny Opera couldn't it count for the Threepenny Novel? I might have to read that now.

Sinclair Lewis is one of my favorite authors but I haven't read Main Street, Babbit and Elmer Gantry are great.

The difference between "western male" and "western female" is interesting- does any body have any possible explanations?
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Re: books, books, books

Post by StrictTime »

I believe it's because the expectant lifespan of a female is longer than that of a male, which means she'd have more years to read. :)

And I think The Outsider by Camus that's on the list is The Stranger. I believe it's sometimes translated that way. If I'm wrong, knock one off my count. :lol:
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Re: books, books, books

Post by mood swung »

Longevity's my guess too. And sad, grasping soul that I am, I re-read the list and came up with a few more. I took one off, too, so there. 81 now. I thought The Outsider was The Outsiders, and I was ready to check that one off, but no. I think it should be on there though, so I get a bonus point. :lol:

I want to state for the record that I am SHOCKED! that nothing by Stephen King is on there. No 'Salem's Lot, no Carrie.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by StrictTime »

The Shining is on there; I remember checking it off.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by mood swung »

Well, damn, I missed another one! At this rate I must have over 300 now. :lol:
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Re: books, books, books

Post by miss buenos aires »

Does anybody here do BookMooch.com? I'm going there to flesh out my list a little.

Otis--the first time I read The Unconsoled, I loved it. I thought it was so well-done, it was just like having a dream. Then I tried to read it again and I was like, "oookay... I remember liking this... I'm hungry... I wonder what's on tv tonight?... Should I cut my hair?" So I can understand both your friends' points of view.
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Re: books, books, books

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Hope you didn't count it twice for a double read! Do you normally read twice? I revisit bits, etc., but almost never read twice, though I did read The Unbearable Lightness of Being about 5 times. Some books are so much better known as films that it's odd to see them here, e.g. Morvern Callar.
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