I have my own list of 'personal classics', some of which are recognised traditional classics, and some of which aren't. My personal classics are books that have taught me something so important or provoked such a primal emotional reaction that I read them over and over again.
I loved Tolkien when I was fourteen. I tried rereading it the other day and got about 100 pages in before I gave up. Didn't Terry Pratchett once say that 'If you don't think that "Lord of the Rings" is the best book ever written when you are fourteen, there's something wrong with you. If you still think it's the best book ever written when you are thirty, there's something wrong with you, too.'
*joins you in the Dickens hate* I think I've managed to finish one of his books ("Great Expectations"), but the wordiness drove me nuts. I was so disappointed. People had raved on at me about Dickens for years.
As with all lists of "top 100" books, I find myself boggling at what's been put in, and boggling at what's been left out. I've read about 30 of those books, liked about 10, and find it interesting that Douglas Adams is "required reading" and Terry Pratchett is, as yet, not.
And when did "His Dark Materials" become a classic? Before or after that overpublicised movie? Bah. I picked it up in the bookstore, it didn't look particularly "classic" to me. ("Oh, look, another damn book with an underprivileged yet exceptional little girl as the heroine...and talking spirit-bonded animals, bravo, we've never seen anything like that before....")
Tolkien needed some major editing, yes. It's still a nostalgia piece, though, and worth a skim (but not a read -- my god, songs every third page...) My nemesis? "Wuthering Heights" by Bronte...what a painful effing slog through reams and reams of useless bloody words, surrounding some love affair between two useless bloody people. Heathcliffe! Bah! Those books were written back in the day
( ... )
The original Big Read list was compiled in 2003, and was actually the result of a BBC poll to find the top 100 most popular books in Britain at the time - the nation's favourite book. It had nothing to do with required or recommended reading.
This list has been modified however, most notably to include the bible and Shakespeare - I don't know by whom or to what purpose.
Terry Pratchett should have beenb on there, really he should. And most of those on there I haven't read don't reach to me - I don't WANT to read them. And a lot of the ones I have read I didn't like.
Aye, i can only skim Tolkein, actually trying to read it is just too boring (and I can never manage a Bronte)
Oh thank goddess. I'm not the only one who despises Tolkien. AND Dickens. Oh, how I loathe them. Three fucking chapters to describe a tree? I think not.
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And I also hate Dickens and Tolkein.
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Didn't Terry Pratchett once say that 'If you don't think that "Lord of the Rings" is the best book ever written when you are fourteen, there's something wrong with you. If you still think it's the best book ever written when you are thirty, there's something wrong with you, too.'
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Wordiness and bumf! Gah!
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I think I've managed to finish one of his books ("Great Expectations"), but the wordiness drove me nuts.
I was so disappointed. People had raved on at me about Dickens for years.
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And when did "His Dark Materials" become a classic? Before or after that overpublicised movie? Bah. I picked it up in the bookstore, it didn't look particularly "classic" to me. ("Oh, look, another damn book with an underprivileged yet exceptional little girl as the heroine...and talking spirit-bonded animals, bravo, we've never seen anything like that before....")
Tolkien needed some major editing, yes. It's still a nostalgia piece, though, and worth a skim (but not a read -- my god, songs every third page...) My nemesis? "Wuthering Heights" by Bronte...what a painful effing slog through reams and reams of useless bloody words, surrounding some love affair between two useless bloody people. Heathcliffe! Bah! Those books were written back in the day ( ... )
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This list has been modified however, most notably to include the bible and Shakespeare - I don't know by whom or to what purpose.
The original list can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
You'll see that Terry Pratchett is included.
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Aye, i can only skim Tolkein, actually trying to read it is just too boring (and I can never manage a Bronte)
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We need some kind of coming out ceremony - I admit it, i hate Tolkein and dickens! Now stop calling them classics already!
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