An attempt to read 37 great books in a year. Well, it was...I only read 29 in 2008. Now I just write about whatever I'm reading. Deal with it.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Two more new entries
New additions (as opposed to New Edition):
Night by Elie Wiesel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Just got back to your blog and response to my earlier comments. I suspected you had read many of the books I suggested. Silly me recommending books to a librarian!
As to Shakespeare, if you've knocked off the classic tragedies (Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth etc.), I would recommend one of the comedies. There is some great material in the histories (Richard III etc.), but they can be a little tough to sift through. The comedies are a little shorter and more accessible. I suppose what I'm saying is that if you hate them, you won't be quite as mad at me for diverting you from the list at hand.
So, my pick would be "The Tempest." It's also got important historical themes mixed in (i.e., discovering the New World), and I know as a historian you're always interested in that. Twelfth Night and As You Like It are also enjoyable, but you've probably only got room for one on the list.
As to the list itself, it's getting tougher to question any of the decisions, other than to make mild suggestions for possibilities. Perhaps you should start compiling next year's list!
Night is a great addition.
Same with On the Road.
For Rushdie, why not Satanic Verses instead of Midnight's Children? I say this as an utter layman on his writing, but I certainly recall the fracas over Satanic Verses. I read a bit of it. I have hazy recollections of a man jumping from a plane, and some sort of debate over Islam. Clever ploy, really. That said, I didn't get through the rest of the book. So Midnight's Children might be the way to go. (I assume it's gotten greater critical acclaim?)
I picked Midnight's Children mainly because it rang in at #90 on Modern Library's Top 100 of the 20th Century. Then I happened to read the back cover of the book when I was at Border's, and found out it was about India (and to some extent Pakistan), I decided I'd read it. I find my knowledge of that area of the world to be woefully deficient. Yes, I could just read a history, but I think a bit of historical fiction couldn't hurt, especially when it's so highly regarded.
3 comments:
Just got back to your blog and response to my earlier comments. I suspected you had read many of the books I suggested. Silly me recommending books to a librarian!
As to Shakespeare, if you've knocked off the classic tragedies (Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth etc.), I would recommend one of the comedies. There is some great material in the histories (Richard III etc.), but they can be a little tough to sift through. The comedies are a little shorter and more accessible. I suppose what I'm saying is that if you hate them, you won't be quite as mad at me for diverting you from the list at hand.
So, my pick would be "The Tempest." It's also got important historical themes mixed in (i.e., discovering the New World), and I know as a historian you're always interested in that. Twelfth Night and As You Like It are also enjoyable, but you've probably only got room for one on the list.
Read on!
As to the list itself, it's getting tougher to question any of the decisions, other than to make mild suggestions for possibilities. Perhaps you should start compiling next year's list!
Night is a great addition.
Same with On the Road.
For Rushdie, why not Satanic Verses instead of Midnight's Children? I say this as an utter layman on his writing, but I certainly recall the fracas over Satanic Verses. I read a bit of it. I have hazy recollections of a man jumping from a plane, and some sort of debate over Islam. Clever ploy, really. That said, I didn't get through the rest of the book. So Midnight's Children might be the way to go. (I assume it's gotten greater critical acclaim?)
I picked Midnight's Children mainly because it rang in at #90 on Modern Library's Top 100 of the 20th Century. Then I happened to read the back cover of the book when I was at Border's, and found out it was about India (and to some extent Pakistan), I decided I'd read it. I find my knowledge of that area of the world to be woefully deficient. Yes, I could just read a history, but I think a bit of historical fiction couldn't hurt, especially when it's so highly regarded.
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