Sunday 21 April 2013

I think it's time for some bread-and-butter reading

I have started to compile a list of 60 books I should read before I am 60 and have come up with some rules.

I want this list to include ought-to-read books so I'm inclining towards the classics here. The sort of books that have enhanced people's lives, or are regularly selected as all-time favourites, or are acknowledged masterpieces. The sort of books, in many cases, that I feel I have read because the stories are so well known but that I have inexplicably never got round to reading.  I'm only going to include fiction, so no poetry, plays or biographies; only one book per author; only books I have never read in their entirety before (regrettably this means I will be revisiting various books studied in my youth which I only skimmed - my O'level essay on Oliver Twist owed more to the musical than to Dickens and I think Kate Bush was as much of an influence as Emily Bronte when I thought about Wuthering Heights). I am thinking only adult fiction as I feel I probably have read the majority of the children's classics. I would like to include some more recent books - I am thinking about 25% should have been published in my lifetime, but I also need to expand my pre-Victorian horizons.

Having said that I am reasonably well read - by the time I got to university I had got the hang of actually reading my set books.  But there are gaps. Books I have just always thought I wouldn't enjoy. Books I have been put off by being told too many times that I must read them because I will love them, which makes me feel stubborn and resistive. Books I have ignored because they are written in the present tense and it gets on my nerves (I am calling this Wolf Hall syndrome). The time has come to embrace them all.

I would love a bit of help with this. I do want to stretch myself but equally I would like there to be a fighting chance of enjoying the book and it not feeling like a total and utter chore. I have come up with the first ten, which should give you an idea of the sort of thing I had in mind, but I would love some recommendations.

1. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
2. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
3. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
4. Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe
5. Zuleika Dobson - Max Beerbohm
6. The Heart of Midlothian - Walter Scott
7. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
8. Casino Royale - Ian Fleming
9. Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope
10. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

So. What else should I be reading?
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25 comments:

  1. pat175521 April 2013 at 08:30

    Hi, Cronopio here!

    Oh, my...

    let's see, so many things I'd love for you to read.

    Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier
    Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance -- this is probably my favorite book of all time. It will break your heart, though.
    Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible

    I'll see what else comes to mind!

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    1. debodiddley21 April 2013 at 09:45

      Thank you for this. I hadn't heard of the Mistry so will check that out. I had been wondering about The Poisonwood Bible so thank you for the recommendation.

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  2. Dorian21 April 2013 at 09:22

    Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is the obvious one, and my favourite. If you've already read it, Persuasion or Emma.
    L. M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle.
    Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night.
    Terry Pratchett, Night Watch.
    Lois McMaster Bujold, Cordelia's Honour (This is kind of cheating because it's an omnibus edition of two novels, but once you've finished the first you'll want to read the second anyway. And they do tell a complete story together.)
    Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
    Georgette Heyer, The Unknown Ajax
    Bram Stoker, Dracula

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    1. debodiddley21 April 2013 at 09:51

      Thank you - great suggestions. I have read some (Jane Austen is my favourite author and I've also read most of Heyer and all of Dorothy L Sayers) but haven't ever read Dracula, and Lois McMaster Bujold is just a name to me so I will investigate her books. I maybe should revisit Pratchett - I didn't particularly enjoy The Colour of Magic so haven't read anything else by him.

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    2. Anonymous21 April 2013 at 11:58

      Definitely revisit Pratchett as his first are NOT his best. I would pick Small Gods as a standalone, though.

      I am going to Read All The Dickens this year. I never have...

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    3. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 13:48

      I keep meaning to read All Of The Dickens too. One day ... . I will have another look at Pratchett - I want to like his books because I like him so he's worth another go.

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  3. Ankaret Wells21 April 2013 at 10:01

    This reminds me of the teacher who suggested I read Zuleika Dobson in order to experience what Oxford was like before applying there. I'm still a bit boggled by that.

    I know exactly what you mean about books that you are put off because of all the enthusiastic recommendations. It's the reason I haven't read Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norell.

    If you haven't read EF Benson's Lucia novels, I heartily recommend those.

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    1. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 13:50

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 13:52

      I adore E F Benson - I think the Lucia books might be Desert Island Reads.

      Did you read Zuleika Dobson in the end? Or just decide to go to another university?

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  4. .21 April 2013 at 11:45

    Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
    Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
    Fire and Hemlock, Diana Wynne Jones
    Sea Glass, Anita Shreve
    Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne
    Divorcing Jack, Colin Bateman
    The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O'Farrell
    Possession, A S Byatt
    The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureshi
    This Sporting Life, David Storey
    A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

    11 suggestions, given for varying reasons. I'm not holding any one of them up as The Best Book, just ones I think people should read. :)

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    1. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 13:54

      Thank you - I have read (and like) several of those but a couple are completely new to me so I will investigate forthwith.

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  5. Anonymous21 April 2013 at 11:48

    Going for the more modern ones as I suspect you've read far more of the classics than I have.

    A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
    Fugitive Pieces - Anne Michaels
    The Girl With the Pearl Earring - Tracey Chevalier
    Possession - AS Byatt
    Enduring Love - Ian McEwan

    Most of these books have made me have that moment. You know the one, where you look up and realise with a shock you are not after all in 17th century Delft or similar. I know everyone reckons Amsterdam is McEwan's best but I much preferred Enduring Love (and Saturday but that was more personal for me due to its setting - one of those books where the setting becomes another character and as I know the setting so well it was like meeting an old friend by reading about it). I also loved An Equal Music by Seth but one for a bucket list is definitely A Suitable Boy just to say you got through it! That said, I really loved it. Have you read much DuMaurier? Rebecca is a great one for the list but I loved so many of her books - maybe you should have a "Complete Works of..."

    I didn't read much of the classics when I was younger and I didn't like Wuthering Heights when I did read it in my late 20's. I did discover I loved both of Anne's novels. I also loved many of Gaskell's novels - someone else has recommended North and South but I would also recommend Mary Barton.

    I'm *sure* there was something else so I'll return.

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    1. Anonymous22 April 2013 at 13:08

      Oh, I remembered my something else! It's The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas which is one of my favourite books so I can't believe I forgot it. Huge recommendation for the list.

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    2. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 13:59

      I am very fond of Mrs Gaskell too. I think I have read all of her novels and all of Daphne du Maurier too.

      I like your suggestions - several votes now for Possession so that's definitely going in. I am also planning to read the suggestions that don't make it into the official list but without a deadline!

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    3. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 14:01

      I was wondering about The Three Musketeers but perhaps I should go for The Count of Monte Cristo instead.

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  6. Anonymous22 April 2013 at 05:42

    Wyrd Sisters - Pratchett (it stands alone, the universe is far better developed than in TCOM and if you know Macbeth you're ready for the plot)

    The Little World Of Don Camillo - Giovanni Guareschi, just because I've always enjoyed the stories and they're short!

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    1. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 14:04

      Thanks for the Pratchett advice. I like the Don Camillo stories too.

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  7. Elanor22 April 2013 at 10:18

    I take it you have read Cold Comfort Farm, yes? If not, OMG READ IT!

    One book I love and keep coming back to, is Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things. Booker Prize winner, very beautiful words, and a horribly painful and yet beautiful story.

    I second the Du Maurier suggestion if you haven't read any - Rebecca of course, but also Jamaica Inn... or well, any of them.

    If you're doing classics, you maybe need a John Wyndham too, if you haven't read any. Day of the Triffids, or Trouble with Lichen are my favourites.

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    1. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 14:06

      Thank you - I love Cold Comfort Farm, and I think I have read all of du Maurier and John Wyndham. Sounds like you have similar tastes to me so I will check out The God of Small Things.

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    2. Elanor26 April 2013 at 11:46

      Have you read I Capture the Castle?

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    3. Elanor26 April 2013 at 11:47

      Ooooh ooh and Tove Jansson's The Summer Book.

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    4. debodiddley26 April 2013 at 12:20

      I Capture the Castle is my very favourite book of all time. The Tove Jansson is a great idea thank you xx

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    5. Elanor26 April 2013 at 13:01

      The Summer Book is just beautiful. I think you'll love it.

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  8. Graham Ruddick23 April 2013 at 02:52

    The Crow Road - Iain Banks
    The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

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    1. debodiddley23 April 2013 at 14:07

      Thank you for the suggestions - a couple of people have suggested The Crow Road so that should probably go in the list.

      Have you been too busy reading for Words with Friends lol?

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