"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." -Joseph Brodsky
I haven't finished a single book in 6 months, but once I started to read Peter Boxall's list, I feel inspired to finish up the 5 or so half read or almost finished novels I've been savoring during my little sabbatical. I'll quote the actress Rachel Weisz from this months "O" magazine. "I sometimes don't finish a book because the story never ends" I can relate to that completely. One of books I have been reading, especially in the early months of my unemployment was or rather, is, part of a series; The Dance Of Death by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston. Sure, this is no literary dandy, some may even call it pulp, but I love FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast (paging Kevin Spacey, you'd be a perfect Pendergast!) a quirky and strange fellow that first appeared in the authors book The Relic. They're fun books with great mysteries, odd characters and I read about a page or two a day, not wanting it to end, milking it until the next book is in paperback or perhaps it's that if I finish it, it will mark the end of my time away from work. Whatever the case, this book and the others that I haven't completely committed to will soon be finished, because this Boxall's list has reminded that I already own a massive chunk of the list, shelved in the "to be read, eventually" section of my library.
Reading habits change, and I'm certain that I'll start devouring books at warp speed now that fall has um...fallen upon us once again. Honestly, what is better than curling up by the fire with a terrific book?
After reviewing the list of "1001 Books" that I must read before my tits point upward forever (well, after you fish them out of my armpits that is), I can say I've only dented this list:
I haven't finished a single book in 6 months, but once I started to read Peter Boxall's list, I feel inspired to finish up the 5 or so half read or almost finished novels I've been savoring during my little sabbatical. I'll quote the actress Rachel Weisz from this months "O" magazine. "I sometimes don't finish a book because the story never ends" I can relate to that completely. One of books I have been reading, especially in the early months of my unemployment was or rather, is, part of a series; The Dance Of Death by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston. Sure, this is no literary dandy, some may even call it pulp, but I love FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast (paging Kevin Spacey, you'd be a perfect Pendergast!) a quirky and strange fellow that first appeared in the authors book The Relic. They're fun books with great mysteries, odd characters and I read about a page or two a day, not wanting it to end, milking it until the next book is in paperback or perhaps it's that if I finish it, it will mark the end of my time away from work. Whatever the case, this book and the others that I haven't completely committed to will soon be finished, because this Boxall's list has reminded that I already own a massive chunk of the list, shelved in the "to be read, eventually" section of my library.
Reading habits change, and I'm certain that I'll start devouring books at warp speed now that fall has um...fallen upon us once again. Honestly, what is better than curling up by the fire with a terrific book?
After reviewing the list of "1001 Books" that I must read before my tits point upward forever (well, after you fish them out of my armpits that is), I can say I've only dented this list:
- Everything is Illuminated
- The Robber Bride
- The Secret History
- Written on the Body
- Sexing the Cherry
- Like Water for Chocolate
- Cat's Eye
- Foucault's Pendulum
- The Black Dahlia
- The Passion
- The Cider House Rules
- Less Than Zero
- Contact
- The Handmaid's Tale
- The Lover
- The Color Purple
- Confederacy of Dunces
- Delta of Venus
- Interview With the Vampire
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Slaughterhouse-five
- The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
- In Cold Blood
- Cat's Cradle
- The Bell Jar
- A Clockwork Orange
- Catch-22
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Naked Lunch
- The Once and Future King
- Lolita
- The Story of O
- Invisible Man
- The Catcher in the Rye
- Nineteen Eighty-Four
- The Little Prince
- Tropic of Capricorn
- Of Mice and Men
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Gone With the Wind
- Orlando
- Lady Chatterley's Love
- The Great Gatsby
- Siddhartha
- The Wings of the Dove
- Heart of Darkness
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
- Dracula
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- Little Women
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- The Water-Babies
- Great Expectations
- Walden
- Madame Bovary
- The House of the Seven Gables
- The Scarlett Letter
- Jane Eyre
- The Count of Monte-Cristo
- The Three Musketeers
- A Christmas Carol
- Frankenstein
- Pride and Prejudice
- Aesop's Fables
Holy mudder of gawd, it's only 63 out of 1001! This list is actually a book and Jessa Crispin (she's read 96) interviews the author/editor of the list and book of the same name at The Book Standard and Boxall states "the book will continue to be an organic thing, changing with each printing and the continuation of the debate." as it should, I say. My list would differ greatly from Boxall's because I go through serious bouts of non-fiction folly, and my love of satire would probably take over half the list. But, honestly, making time to make a list is something I don't want to do, I'm lazy like that, perhaps one day, until then, I'll continue to scan Boxall's list for inspiration, save myself a small chunk o' change and shake the dust off books I intended to read, but forgot I owned. [listology link via Book Slut]
