100 Books Meme

[rj_anderson]

Gacked from pretty much everybody, by now. The BBC's top 100 books list, with the ones I've read indicated in bold. Books I loved and have read multiple times are marked with an asterisk. I have added comments to some as well.

the alchemist, paulo coelho
alice's adventures in wonderland, lewis carroll*
animal farm, george orwell
anna karenina, leo tolstoy
anne of green gables, lm montgomery*
artemis fowl, eoin colfer -- I don't think this deserves to be on the list. It has its moments, and Artemis himself is an interesting character, but the premise is, I think, fundamentally flawed.
the bfg, roald dahl -- I know I have read this, but it made no impact on me and I can barely recall it. Why is James and the Giant Peach not on this list?
birdsong, sebastian faulks
black beauty, anna sewell
bleak house, charles dickens
brave new world, aldous huxley
brideshead revisited, evelyn waugh
bridget jones's diary, helen fielding
captain corelli's mandolin, louis de bernieres
catch 22, joseph heller
the catcher in the rye, jd salinger
charlie and the chocolate factory, roald dahl*
a christmas carol, charles dickens
the clan of the cave bear, jean m auel
cold comfort farm, stella gibbons
the colour of magic, terry pratchett
the count of monte cristo, alexandre dumas*
crime and punishment, fyodor dostoyevsky*
david copperfield, charles dickens
double act, jacqueline wilson
dune, frank herbert*
emma, jane austen*
far from the madding crowd, thomas hardy
girls in love, jacqueline wilson
the god of small things, arundhati roy
the godfather, mario puzo
gone with the wind, margaret mitchell
good omens, terry pratchett and neil gaiman
goodnight mister tom, michelle magorian
gormenghast, mervyn peake*
the grapes of wrath, john steinbeck
great expectations, charles dickens
the great gatsby, f scott fitzgerald
guards! guards!, terry pratchett
harry potter and the chamber of secrets, jk rowling*
harry potter and the goblet of fire, jk rowling*
harry potter and the philosopher's stone, jk rowling*
harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, jk rowling*
his dark materials trilogy, philip pullman -- I've only read the first book, actually, and then stopped. By choice.
the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, douglas adams*
the hobbit, jrr tolkien*
holes, louis sachar
i capture the castle, dodie smith
jane eyre, charlotte bronte*
kane and abel, jeffrey archer
katherine, anya seton
the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, cs lewis*
little women, louisa may alcott
lord of the flies, william golding*
the lord of the rings, jrr tolkien*
love in the time of cholera, gabriel garcia marquez
the magic faraway tree, enid blyton
magician, raymond e feist -- I love fantasy, I've been reading it all my life, but this sequence bored me. I really did not think Feist was that wonderful a writer.
the magus, john fowles
matilda, roald dahl
memoirs of a geisha, arthur golden
middlemarch, george eliot
midnight's children, salman rushdie
mort, terry pratchett
night watch, terry pratchett
noughts and crosses, malorie blackman
of mice and men, john steinbeck
on the road, jack kerouac
one hundred years of solitude, gabriel garcia marquez
perfume, patrick suskind
persuasion, jane austen*
the pillars of the earth, ken follett
a prayer for owen meany, john irving
pride and prejudice, jane austen*
the princess diaries, meg cabot
the ragged trousered philanthropists, robert tressell
rebecca, daphne du maurier
the secret garden, frances hodgson burnett
the secret history, donna tartt
the shell seekers, rosamunde pilcher
the stand, stephen king
the story of tracy beaker, jacqueline wilson
a suitable boy, vikram seth
swallows and amazons, arthur ransome
a tale of two cities, charles dickens
tess of the d'urbervilles, thomas hardy
the thorn birds, colleen mccollough
to kill a mockingbird, harper lee
a town like alice, nevil shute
treasure island, robert louis stevenson
the twits, roald dahl
ulysses, james joyce
vicky angel, jacqueline wilson
war and peace, leo tolstoy
watership down, richard adams*
the wind in the willows, kenneth grahame*
winnie-the-pooh, aa milne*
the woman in white, wilkie collins
wuthering heights, emily bronte -- I hated this book. Really, really hated it.

So, looks like I've read a bit less than half the books? Not too bad. Especially since some of the books I'm not convinced should be on the list at all, plus there are some odd omissions. And some of the others I've been meaning to read for a long time, so I'll have to make a note and take it with me to the library next time I go...

Comments

Why am I not surprised...

[(Anonymous)]

The Count of Monte Cristo, several times?

The Count reminds me of Snape for some reason, and I've never put my finger on it...but he does.

Kizmet, who will be printing out this list to take to the library

BTW - your blog is malfunctioning...

Micknan@cannet.com

Re: Why am I not surprised...

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Funny, I never thought of the Count and Snape being similar. I guess, in some ways, they are... but I find Snape much more interesting.

TCOMC is really an "ensemble" book for me; some of the sympathetic characters I like more than others, but I don't really have a specific favorite. I guess I'd pick the Count and Valentine, though, if I had to choose just one from each gender.

[bluemoon02.livejournal.com]

Are they listed in any particular order, or is it just random, d'you know?

HURRAH!....I'm not the only person in the world who was bored to tears by Wutherin Heights!

Re:

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I wasn't bored so much as disgusted, myself. The idea of Heathcliff and Catherine's relationships as "romantic" just baffles me: in my estimation the man was a sulky, self-centred slimeball, and she was a vicious little hellcat. Whatever unhealthy obsessions and tangled lusts the two of them had going, it certainly had nothing to do with love.

But then, I find GONE WITH THE WIND (the movie -- I've never had the slightest desire to open the book) intolerable as well. I just want to smack Scarlett upside the head.

[metal-tiara.livejournal.com]

I had to read this books last year for my High School Lit course. I suppose you already know this but Romantic literature is divided by time periods. In medieval Europe, Romantic literature was more or less about chivalry, Quests and placing women on pedestals (But don't assume all these stories/poems/ballads were about marriage, many of them has virgin males who quested to become virtuous).
During the Romantic period (1780 - 1830), you had Wordsworth and Coleridge who wrote more about returning to nature and god (wordsworth) and the mystical and supernatural (Coleridge). It was about the beauty and love of nature and god rather than of the opposite sex.
The Victorian Period (1830 - 1914) saw a return to the Chivalric values of the medieval period.
Overall, the romanticism of the Modern lit is about seeing the world through rose tinted glasses and viewing it in a way that is different from other.

The reason why Wuthering Heights is considered Romantic is because of the technical definition of Romantic literature, not because it's suppose to be like a Harlequinn romance. The CHaracter of Heathcliff is considered to be THE romantic hero because he searched for his ideal. While love is involved, His quest is a throwback to those tomes of medieval literature. Heathcliff may not be nice about it, but he searches for his ideal and fights for it. When he dies, he finally attains his ideal. It doesn't make sense in this short form, but it makes more sense when yo9u understand what romantic literature is actually about.

Re:

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

The reason why Wuthering Heights is considered Romantic is because of the technical definition of Romantic literature, not because it's suppose to be like a Harlequinn romance.

Yes, I'm aware of the literary definition of romance, as opposed to the popular definition. What I actually meant, however, is that before I read the book (and to some extent afterward) I heard some women claim that Wuthering Heights was romantic in the popular, not literary, sense -- i.e. Heathcliff was terribly sexy in their estimation and the passion between Heathcliff and Cathy was something to be swooned over. And that's an opinion with which I simply can't agree.

[rose-in-shadow.livejournal.com]

"Wuthering Heights"-- *shudder*

I started that book with excitment because one of my favorite teachers recommended it to me. I was sorely disappointed through. I'm glad I'm not the only one who dislikes it. :-D

[(Anonymous)]

These lists are always useless, except in the sense you mention of reminding you that you always meant to read so-and-so. There were quite a few inclusions that made me go "huh?" and I haven't even bothered to try to list exclusions. But I do seem to have read 55 of them. (I think. There were a few where I couldn't remember. Which is sad.)

You've never read Treasure Island?

( Comments like that is why I don't post my list.)

Erica

Re:

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

LOL. I keep meaning to read Treasure Island, but I keep forgetting that whenever I get to the library... I'm always thinking about *new* books, then.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

Eh, I liked Kidnapped better... ;)

[ymfaery]

...

Raymond E. Feist made the list?!? I liked David Eddings much better--well, before he got repetitive.

Wuthering Heights

[taiamu.livejournal.com]

I didn't like it, either. Much prefer Jane Eyre. With Wuthering, I kept thinking: "This is the book that's held up as one of the greatest romance novels of all time?" Uh, no. Obsessive, yes. Romantic? Absolutely not. I think Heathcliff holds a knife to Catherine's throat at one point, if I'm remembering correctly.

Yep, that's true love! ::Rolls eyes::

[(Anonymous)]

Glad to see the Dune love! *promotes*

Though, there seems to be a disturbing lack of the Thomas Hardy love. Every single list of these I've read, no one has read either of his books mentioned. Alas.

I also find Jane Eyre superior to Wuthering Heights, and I was very surprised when I read WH, like the above commenters, that it was supposed to be a great romance. I loathed Heathcliff and Catherine, not so much for themselves than the fact that they destroyed the lives of all the people around them, who, because they were relatively normal and couldn't understand The Great Passion, were characterized as hopeless and simpering. But I liked the style of the book - and I liked little Catherine and the narrator, who was the only one of them with the slightest bit of sense.

~Chresimos

Re:

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Dune love, yes, but not past the third book. After that it just went pffffffft, in my estimation. I hated and despised God Emperor of Dune -- I'd say almost as much as I hated the fourth book of the Earthsea trilogy, but I don't think anything compares to my utter and complete loathing for that...

I've read Hardy, but only The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Return of the Native (the latter made easier by having it read aloud to me on twelve tapes by Alan Rickman).

And word to you and everybody else who's spoken out about Wuthering Heights. My sentiments exactly.

[(Anonymous)]

Ha! I agree with you! I cringed my way through the end of Children, and I really, really disliked God Emperor, and was bitter and disappointed and almost gave up on the series. Then I read Heretics, and I liked it, because it sort of went back to the original Dune(by that I mean, there was a plot. Ha.). And Chapterhouse went back to the pages of endless annoying rambling of GEoD. And the prequels....aie. *laments*

I only ever read the first Earthsea book, because I didn't like it at the time. I love Left Hand of Darkness, though.

~Chresimos

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I loved the first two Earthsea books -- actually, I think the second book, The Tombs of Atuan, is my favorite -- but was meh on the third one, The Farthest Shore. Then the fourth book came along and destroyed all the pleasure I'd taken in the first three. I'm told that the fifth book, which is made up of short stories, probably won't make me want to smash things the way Tehanu did. But you know, once bitten...

And it was very kind of you and everybody else not to point out my utter stupidity when I referred to "the fourth book of the Earthsea trilogy" in my earlier post. Man, I need to get to bed earlier...