Books
One of those "100 books you should feel guilty about not having read" things was going around a little while ago. Or is it "100 books you should feel smug about having read more of than the average person"? Or is it an attempt to create a modern canon?
Actually, a little googling reveals that this particular list is none of them. It's simply the results of a poll to find the UK's current favourites. Yet people send it around, counting up how many they've read, comparing, competing.
I'm not counting. I see some on there that I have read, some that I haven't but would like to, and some that I don't care about. I have also read many excellent books that I have never seen on any list.
It isn't possible to create a list of all of the books that an educated person should read. It's even less possible to create a list of all Great Books. There are just too many. On the other hand, it's good to have a bit of outside influence now and then. I would have missed some valuable experiences if I hadn't listened to large groups of anonymous people saying "this is worth reading". So that's what I intend to get out of these lists.
A theory, slightly related: If you have a one-volume Complete Works of Shakespeare, you will never read it. If you have the plays as individual volumes, there's a good chance that you'll eventually get through most of them (if you're me, you will probably never read the poetry in any form). I'm now off to Amazon to test the theory.
Actually, a little googling reveals that this particular list is none of them. It's simply the results of a poll to find the UK's current favourites. Yet people send it around, counting up how many they've read, comparing, competing.
I'm not counting. I see some on there that I have read, some that I haven't but would like to, and some that I don't care about. I have also read many excellent books that I have never seen on any list.
It isn't possible to create a list of all of the books that an educated person should read. It's even less possible to create a list of all Great Books. There are just too many. On the other hand, it's good to have a bit of outside influence now and then. I would have missed some valuable experiences if I hadn't listened to large groups of anonymous people saying "this is worth reading". So that's what I intend to get out of these lists.
A theory, slightly related: If you have a one-volume Complete Works of Shakespeare, you will never read it. If you have the plays as individual volumes, there's a good chance that you'll eventually get through most of them (if you're me, you will probably never read the poetry in any form). I'm now off to Amazon to test the theory.