Reading

Feb. 3rd, 2007 02:24 am
llcoolvad: (Default)
[personal profile] llcoolvad
Spent some time today surfing reading lists — things like the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" and the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list. Out of the 1001, I've only read 144. Out of the 100, I've only read 25 (although the reader's list I've read 45). Out of the All-TIME 100 Novels, I've read 26. From the BBC List I've read 42; that one's a reader's favorites sort of list, so take that one with a grain of salt. I mean, Jean Auel? (BTW — I've made spreadsheets of them all; I can hook you up if you like, just let me know)

This was kind of scary, in a truly geeky cool way: http://www.whatihaveread.net/, where some guy has kept track of what he has read since 1974 (when he was reading books like Hop on Pop and Green Eggs and Ham). I also found Art Garfunkel's list of everything he's read since 1968, a level of obsessiveness that I wouldn't have expected from him. And he reads some real quality, too. Not a claim I can make, despite my English major history.

So basically I'm feeling a little inferior to Art Garfunkel. Never thought I'd be saying that! I got to thinking that even if I add 10 or so "good" books per year, and assuming I live another 30 years or so, I'm never getting to the end of the 1001 books. I'll easily read 1000 books in 10 or 15 years, but I read a lot of lightweight crap that doesn't really involve my brain.

I guess the upshot of all this is from now on I'm going to shoot for an overall improvement in the quality of my reading. I'm going to be more deliberate about how I choose a book, too. Currently it's whatever catches my eye, or whatever is sitting on the shelf in the library. I need to make my choices with more forethought. There are many authors on these lists that I've never read at all. That needs to be rectified. There are other books I've started and put down a couple times that I should try again.

I'm not saying these are the lists of my life. I'm not saying I agree with the selections. I just think that there are many wonderful books out there that I am missing out on, and I need to get busy.
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