Comments on: The Big Read

By: John

John — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:54:01 +0000

Underlines are supposed to indicate the ones I really liked.

By: Glacia

Glacia — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:22:55 +0000

I got ot ask…why the underlines? I assume the underlines were for books you want to read, but then you have the bolded books underlined.

By: The Necromancer

The Necromancer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:44:31 +0000

That Dan Brown book worms its way onto a lot of these lists. Diabolical. And for some reason Shakespeare is mentioned twice. With a couple of minor variations, I’ve read most of the books you’ve highlighted. As to most of the rest, they belong on another list: 100 Classics Everybody Knows the Title and Story of But Rarely Ever Reads. ‘Nuff said.

By: Mare

Mare — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:49:40 +0000

That would be because The Da Vinci Code was shite. You know that there are Da Vinci Code tours of Paris now, right? SO LAME.

By: John

John — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:13:09 +0000

The list was defintitely drawn up by popular vote and is not considered in any way authoritative. I don’t know what it means, other than it concludes positively that I have read a lot of stuff that other people have read but I have not read some other stuff that other people have also read.

Oh, and I hated the Da Vinci Code.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:17:01 +0000

I haven’t tabulated yet, so I don’t know my score, but oh, I so agree about your Dan Brown comments. It is also beyond me why “The Time Traveler’s Wife” is on the list. I don’t know if they decided it was artistic on the merits of how bizarre it was, or what. But I’m not really convinced that the mere fact of being inaccessibly strange should really mean anything.

Now, “Count of Monte Cristo.” That’s quality.

Hi, by the way! I found you linked from Lambic.

By: Mare

Mare — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:19:51 +0000

Yeah, I scored 71 on the strength of an English degree and a childhood with my nose in a book. I’d like to say I’m going to get through the 29 I’m short, but they include the Complete Works of Shakespeare (though I have read a bit, I have not read all – Troilus and Cressida, for instance, or The Two Gentlemen of Verona, or most of the Histories); and Ulysses. The thought of tackling Ulysses fills me with anxiety. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was hard enough. And so… and so.

I was very surprised not to see The English Patient or In the Skin of a Lion; or Life of Pi.

Additionally, Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind is an excellent read if you’re looking for something gothic. Also recommend The Thirteenth Tale for the same purpose.