Thursday, September 18, 2008

So We Should Watch More TV?

From the TimesOnline (London)


10 Books Not to Read Before You Die


10: Ulysses – James Joyce
9: Lord of the Rings – J R R Tolkien
8: For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
7: À la Recherche du Temps Perdu – Marcel Proust
6: The Dice Man – Luke Reinhart
5: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S Thompson
4: The Beauty Myth – Naomi Wolff
3: War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
2: The Iliad -- Homer
1: Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

I've read 10, 9, 8, 5, and 1 completely, 2 and 3 partially, and have never had an aquaintance with 4, 6, or 7. I can't say that I regret reading any of them. At least Freddy the Pig novels didn't make the list.

Maybe I would take the list a little more seriously if it was not created by a television producer.

4 comments:

CJ said...

I would include Virgil's The Aeneid instead of Homer's The Illiad.

The Aeneid is like Virgil's The Odyssey, but it is told from the side of the losers.

BigPirate said...

If I couldn't sympathize with the losers, I wouldn't have a team to root for.

muhctim said...

My wife, self appointed queen of the Jane Austen fan club, and if there was a fan club similar to the trekies for James Joyce, she would dress in dreary turn of the last century Irish garb to attend, says bollocks to this list!!!

BamBam said...

Just wanted to say thanks for the linkage. Have a great weekend! :)