Ace of Spades HQ

February 03, 2014

Unread Books
— Ace

The cobloggers are talking about this list from The Federalist of the top ten books people claim to have read but really haven't.

I hope I am not breaking any confidences when I say one cob says he read five of the books, half the list.

So is he just very smart, or is he just really good at lying?

Moby Dick is the book I always think I should read but never do. I "read" it in high school, and by "read it," I mean I did not read it. I read a few parts necessary to do a paper on it.

As I recall, the book was largely about a whale. My memory also informs me there was some mention of a ship.

But a teacher who I respected claimed that was the one book he'd bring to a desert island if he had only one choice (excluding the Bible; he meant only literature/fiction), and I've always thought there must be something really good in there.

Posted by: Ace at 10:25 AM | Comments (751)
Post contains 172 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Call me.

Posted by: Ishmael at February 03, 2014 10:26 AM (kMnHs)

2 heh

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 10:26 AM (/FnUH)

3 Lookit all those racist books....

Posted by: MSNBC at February 03, 2014 10:27 AM (NXg/k)

4 Not to brag, but out of the 11 books in that top 10 list, I've read 8. Very seriously. I've actually read Ulysses twice, once in high school (barely counts if at all) and once after college.

Posted by: David at February 03, 2014 10:27 AM (UtRhK)

5 Pro Tip: Read "Heart of Darkness." It's short, interesting and you can drop it in all kinds of conversations.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 10:28 AM (8ZskC)

6 Moby Dick is the book I always think I should read but never do. I "read" it in high school, and by "read," I mean I did not read it. I read a few parts necessary to do a paper on it.

Do references to the book from movies count?

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 10:28 AM (GQ8sn)

7 Eh, I've read The Prince, The Art of War, 1984, Tale of Two Cities and Atlas Shrugged. Halfway through Les Miserables now. I would add The Federalist Papers to this list, though.

Posted by: Darles Chickens at February 03, 2014 10:28 AM (z4vvZ)

8 I am a veracious reader and I have only read two books on that list.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 03, 2014 10:28 AM (T2V/1)

9 >>Do references to the book from movies count? "I spit at thee." -- Khan Noonian Singh

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 10:28 AM (/FnUH)

10 There you go again. Taking time off by not taking time off.

Posted by: Duke at February 03, 2014 10:29 AM (d3clc)

11 1 Call me.

Posted by: Ishmael at February 03, 2014 02:26 PM (kMnHs)

Maybe

Posted by: Carley Raye Jepson at February 03, 2014 10:29 AM (x3YFz)

12 Moby Dick is an outstanding book. Some of the chapters are difficult and somewhat incomprehensible; but the effort it takes to read it is rewarded imo. His book "The Confidence Man" is much more difficult albeit shorter

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 03, 2014 10:29 AM (zjT4v)

13 I am a veracious reader

Truthful?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 10:29 AM (8ZskC)

14 >>There you go again. Taking time off by not taking time off. ah it's just a link basically. doing some light "churn" (just pitching out a topic) isn't much work.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 10:30 AM (/FnUH)

15 If you say you read all of Ayn Rand's book you are a LIAR!! or a masochist. There is no 50 Shades of Grey there.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 10:30 AM (RJMhd)

16 I agree about Heart of Darkness. And 1984 was not difficult to get through at all.

Posted by: Darles Chickens at February 03, 2014 10:30 AM (z4vvZ)

17 You read "Moby Dick" in high school? That must have been way back when they actually included a few more dead white male authors in the reading list.

Posted by: Fenelon Spoke at February 03, 2014 10:30 AM (7kkQJ)

18 5 Pro Tip: Read "Heart of Darkness." It's short, interesting and you can drop it in all kinds of conversations.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 02:28 PM (8ZskC)

That is the first, and only one of a very few books, that I started and dropped because I thought it was torture to read.

I got an "F" on the book report for that in HS and almost flunked that class because of it.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 03, 2014 10:30 AM (T2V/1)

19 >>>His book "The Confidence Man" is much more difficult albeit shorter i actually liked Bartleby the Scrivener a lot. I don't know if he was *trying* to be funny; I don't get the sense that he was a humorous man. But it actually is pretty funny. And short.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 10:30 AM (/FnUH)

20 I'm a bookworm. Read 5 of those 3 by choice, 2 for school

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:30 AM (x3YFz)

21 "I spit at thee." -- Khan Noonian Singh

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 02:28 PM (/FnUH)

"THE LINE MUST BE DRAWN HERE, NO FURTHER!!!" - Jean-Luc Picard.

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 10:31 AM (GQ8sn)

22 Democracy in America should be required reading for every American citizen. It paints a portrait of American life where 95%+ of the population could read, and speak intelligently about politics. It also shows that the country can operate when the federal government is limited to its enumerate powers. Fantastic read.

Posted by: David at February 03, 2014 10:31 AM (UtRhK)

23 Moby Dick is worth it. It's one of those books that repays multiple readings. It's also a book that you can skip some of the digressions just for the story the first time, and then come back to the digressions on whaling and cetology at your leisure. As they say; "to produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it."

Posted by: amichel at February 03, 2014 10:31 AM (ceoOP)

24 Fun Fact: Capt. Ahab was named after the Hebrew king who was married to Jezebel.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 10:31 AM (8ZskC)

25 Oh, and I've only read 2 of them (1984 and The Prince). After submitting to the water torture of "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce; I've tried picking up Ulysses a few times but have been unable to proceed.

Posted by: Duke at February 03, 2014 10:31 AM (d3clc)

26 "Moby Dick" may be a great book, but if Melville had cut out about half of it, it would've been super-duper great. I wouldn't bother trying to read it again, and I certainly wouldn't assign it to my students.

Posted by: Dr. P at February 03, 2014 10:31 AM (dX1zq)

27 It's shameful you people haven't read these books since I can't read them myself as a person who can not read or write.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (rsudF)

28 I'm pretty well read and I have read only one of those books.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (Hx5uv)

29 Art of War isn't really a book, but just a collection of short little tidbits of strategy and advice. Not a story kind of book.

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (GQ8sn)

30 That 1984 is on that list should strike no one as a surprise.

You don't learn about totalitarian thought policing by hastily scanning Cliffs Notes.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (/29Nl)

31 Do you bit your thumb at me Ahab? I bite my thumb at you sir!

Posted by: I've totally read Moby Dick at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (Aif/5)

32 Nietzsche?

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (6bMeY)

33 >>>Pro Tip: Read "Heart of Darkness." It's short, interesting and you can drop it in all kinds of conversations. I really liked that one, even when I was younger, and tended to dislike reading "real books." It's an adventure/trek up the Congo River into the depths of wild Africa, with a lot of moodiness. Seems like the kind of book that people who don't like "serious literature" could get into.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (/FnUH)

34 Homer's Illiad, bunch of shakespear, all of tolkien and cs lewis' books. Feynamn's books... sheesh there's only so much time!

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:32 AM (x3YFz)

35 I've read 1984 and Art Of War, which are both pretty short. "Art of War" is really, really short, like, 45 pages, slightly less than one of Ace's movie reviews (heh! I keed!). It's usually packaged with a dozen exegesis from later writers discussing what it means, to fill it out. Online word counts say 1984 is closer to 300 pages but my copy is pretty damn thin. Maybe I've only read an edited version? I've read a chapter of "The Prince", which I enjoyed, and which made it clear to me it was a parody. That's about it. I tried to read Joyce once. Ulysses, maybe? I couldn't make it past the first page. Words I didn't know, couldn't look up, and couldn't divine from their use. T'hell with that.

Posted by: moviegique at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (7zeA4)

36 There is no 50 Shades of Grey there.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 02:30 PM (RJMhd)

Hearing the Rifftrax guys scream in horror at the thought of reviewing 50 Shades of Grey was worth buying the Rifftrax for Breaking Dawn Pt 2.

Posted by: pookysgirl at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (kMnHs)

37 "Pro Tip: Read 'Heart of Darkness.' It's short, interesting and you can drop it in all kinds of conversations."

Oh yes!

I periodically mutter, "The horror! The horror!" while talking to people I barely know at cocktail parties. Livens things right up.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (gqT4g)

38 Holes: Ulysses, Tale of Two Cities, and most of Origin of Species.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (659DL)

39 It surprises me that so few have read 1984. It's not in dense prose (lookin' at you, Joe Conrad and Franz Kafka) and it is eternally relevant. Maybe it's just too depressing. "Bloodlands" was like that.

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (iQxYV)

40 I know Animal Farm is not on the list--but hell that is pretty short. If you haven't read that one--it would be a good starting point.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (RJMhd)

41 I have read six of them cover to cover and half of les miserable. I stopped reading les mis, because it sucks.

Posted by: doug at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (QGTBZ)

42 "26 "Moby Dick" may be a great book, but if Melville had cut out about half of it, it would've been super-duper great. I wouldn't bother trying to read it again, and I certainly wouldn't assign it to my students. Posted by: Dr. P at February 03, 2014 02:31 PM (dX1zq) " One of only 2 I've read on the list, but I would think half of the "appeal" of Moby Dick is the incredibly detailed description of everything.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (rsudF)

43 32 Nietzsche?

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 02:32 PM (6bMeY)

pfft. he's a douche. Better of the daycart (misspelling intentional)

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (x3YFz)

44 voracious

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 03, 2014 10:33 AM (T2V/1)

45 Why would Ulysses be worth lying about?

Posted by: grammie winger at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (P6QsQ)

46 Shakespeare sucked. He couldn't write a happy ending for anything.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (6bMeY)

47 36 There is no 50 Shades of Grey there. Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 02:30 PM (RJMhd) Hearing the Rifftrax guys scream in horror at the thought of reviewing 50 Shades of Grey was worth buying the Rifftrax for Breaking Dawn Pt 2. Posted by: pookysgirl at February 03, 2014 02:33 PM (kMnHs) ****** Oooh thanks. I might look into that.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (RJMhd)

48 "Moby Dick" may be a great book, but if Melville had cut out about half of it, it would've been super-duper great.

Also, the merchandising possibilities were for shit. I mean, who's the market for a guy with a peg leg and a plastic white whale?

Posted by: George Lucas at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (8ZskC)

49 Ulysses is the most overated book in history. It's boring as hell and kind of disgusting.

Posted by: irright at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (pMGkg)

50 Has anyone here ever read A Canticle for Liebowitz?

Very strange. But it's good.

Posted by: eleven at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (KXm42)

51 You know you can tell someone here hasn't read Moby Dick? They think "From Hell's heart I stab at thee" is from Star Trek. Read about 5 1/2 books on the list.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (g1DWB)

52 I have a Top Ten list of the wimmen I wanted to bop but alas, never did

books.......no list there.

Posted by: Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (aNgWN)

53 Any list of books without 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' on it is useless.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (AZNLP)

54 Heart Of Darkness is short. That's what makes it possible to finish. A few pages longer and I might not have made it.

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (iQxYV)

55 Les Mis is a great, great book, but Hugo certainly loved to go on long diatribes. You'll learn more than you ever expected (or perhaps wanted) about 19th century France

Posted by: brak at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (NaTky)

56 Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 02:32 PM (x3YFz)

If you can find a good translation of Homer, it is very good reading. I had such a book, but during a catastrophic move it got lost and I cannot recall the name of the translator.

Posted by: Hrothgar at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (o3MSL)

57 Five.... but the author is wrong on a couple of those book... Sun Tzu did say that the best battle is the one you win without having to fight... BUT... the vast majority of the book has to do with War that is forced upon you... that you very seldom have an ideal War... and how to maneuver in those situation... And 'The Prince'? To understand it you also need to read its companion pieces... The Discourses.... and his Art of War....

Posted by: Romeo13 at February 03, 2014 10:34 AM (84gbM)

Most fiction isn't worth the time and effort.

Read it if you enjoy it, but get your education elsewhere.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 10:35 AM (TOk1P)

59 Atlas Shrugged was a long hard slog. It would have been twice as good at half the length.

Posted by: blaster at February 03, 2014 10:35 AM (4+AaH)

60 I think I made it all of twenty pages into A Tale of Two Cities before declaring Fuck This Thing In Particular.

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 03, 2014 10:35 AM (SY2Kh)

61 Nietzsche? Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 02:32 PM (6bMeY) pfft. he's a douche. Better of the daycart (misspelling intentional) That guy is analogous to Alan Sokal's fake postmodernism critique. Not a genuine sentiment in any of it.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (659DL)

62 When Penthouse is not in the top ten, the terrorists have already won.

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (ndIek)

63 i actually liked Bartleby the Scrivener a lot. I don't know if he was *trying* to be funny; I don't get the sense that he was a humorous man. But it actually is pretty funny.

And short.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 02:30 PM (/FnUH)

The Confidence Man is about grifters on a riverboat getting over on marks. The trouble is he spends waaaaay too much time going into the conceptual aspects of getting over on people by meditations on it rather than giving more humorous examples of it. Except one passage where he has a meditation on why people hated ~~Indians~~ ~~Native~~ Aboriginal Americans was pretty fucking funny in an understated way.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (zjT4v)

64 53 Any list of books without 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' on it is useless.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 02:34 PM (AZNLP)

Good catch. I agree. I have my towel.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (x3YFz)

65 I read 1984 in fifth grade. My Mom actually had to sign a permission slip, which I dutifully took home after the librarian refused to let me sign out the book. I took the slip back. The librarian still refused to check it out to me. So Mom came down and very nicely told the librarian to let me have the book and any other book in the school library that I wanted to read. She said, "We are interested in Sherry being a reader. We look at the books she brings home and talk to her about them. IT'S OUR JOB."

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes, think mink. at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (kXoT0)

66 "pfft. he's a douche. Better of the daycart (misspelling intentional) Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 02:33 PM (x3YFz) " I actually read a Neitsche book. It's good to know how idiots think.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (rsudF)

67 "I spit at thee." -- Khan Noonian Singh

Yup.

Everything I know about MD I got from Star Trek quotes.

It's like all the classical music you only know from Looney Tunes.

Posted by: eleven at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (KXm42)

68 1984 and Animal Farm are very short. You could probably read Animal Farm in the time it would take to drop a groundhog.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (6bMeY)

69 Moby Dick . If Melville wanted me to read that behemoth he wouldn't have written so many good short stories.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 10:36 AM (AZNLP)

70 Ace,

Moby Dick sucked ass in high school.

I just reread it last year, and I took my time.

Damn, it was a great book, but still quite dense and difficult.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (QFxY5)

71 BTW, if you are looking for a whaling book that sort of parallels Moby, is a much easier read and has the benefit of being true, try In The Heart of the Sea.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (g1DWB)

72 1984 presents incontrovertible proof that George Orwell was a great essayist and a miserable novelist.

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (KgN8K)

73 I failed at Moby Dick. Also all things Charles Dickens. Also all things Ernest Hemingway, who seemed to have no idea what a period or paragraph break was. Now Steinbeck....Steinbeck I like. Haven't tried Rand yet and the thought of James Joyce makes me queasy.

Posted by: DangerGirl and her Sanity Prod (tm) at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (osdNx)

74 I was just a teenager when I first read hitchikers guide. The whale/flower pot part had me laughing so hard my mom came into the room out of concern.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (x3YFz)

75 Most people haven't read The Three Musketeers even if they've read it.

Most versions are abridged. Check the Gutenberg Project for the full one.

Note that the unabridged Dumas novels are a slog, but there's some worthwhile stuff in there that keeps you going.

(there are 4 Musketeers novels, of various parts, compilations, etc.)

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (/29Nl)

76 I periodically mutter, "The horror! The horror!" while talking to people I barely know at cocktail parties. Livens things right up.

I lined my driveway with human skulls.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (8ZskC)

77 Also, I've always preferred Huxley's Brave New World to 1984. I think it's a far more pointed critique of our current civilization of mass distraction.

Posted by: amichel at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (ceoOP)

78 60 I think I made it all of twenty pages into A Tale of Two Cities before declaring Fuck This Thing In Particular. =========== Same here. I know I should read Dickens but I just can't make myself.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (P6QsQ)

79 I have read Moby Dick (Voluntarily on my own volition, all the way through, in middle school - yeah, I was a seriously weird kid), the Art of War, and the Prince, plus I have looked through Democracy in America.

Posted by: Grey Fox at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (92wnP)

80 I've read the poem Ulysses. Does that count?

Posted by: Adam at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (Aif/5)

81 Read five, but that was back in my reading days. At this point I've forgotten all the details and retain at best a vague recollection of the content.

Posted by: chuck at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (hUPCS)

82 Has anyone here ever read A Canticle for Liebowitz? it's a classic, great read

Posted by: brak at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (NaTky)

83 I know where my towel is.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (6bMeY)

84 "Debbie Does Dallas" has always been one of my favorite forays into classical literature.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 10:37 AM (ZDqnR)

Not going to lie, I've only read two books on that list (Atlas Shrugged and 1984); however, I've read so many excerpts and quotes from Adam Smith, Tocqueville and Sun Tzu over the years that I could probably earn partial credits.

Posted by: Icedog at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (G0ITZ)

86 I agree with the poster who said this the first time that list was posted: Why would anyone lie about reading "Nineteen-Eighty Four" and "The Prince? "They're easy reads, whereas with "Moby Dick" you have to slog through pages and pages of everything you didn't want to know about whales and whaling and were afraid to ask. I read it. I enjoyed parts of it a lot, but preferred the modern response to it "Ahab's Wife." Didn't you at one time suggest a thread/book group about "Moby Dick" Ace? I guess you really didn't ant to read the whole thing, after all. :^)

Posted by: Fenelon Spoke at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (7kkQJ)

87 Have read: Atlas Shrugged, Les Miserables, The Art of War, The Prince, Ulysses. The last of those was the only one I struggled with. Joyce should have stuck with short stories.

Posted by: kartoffel at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (07vvi)

88 >>>Pro Tip: Read "Heart of Darkness." I'd prefer not to.

Posted by: Bartleby the Scrivener at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (/FnUH)

89 Democracy in America should be required reading for every American citizen.

You'll have to make it a comic book. Then translate it into 170 different languages because English is racist.

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (ZKzrr)

90 Has anyone here ever read A Canticle for Liebowitz? I vote "Eh." George R.R. Martin is decidedly hit an miss in his efforts.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (659DL)

91 Agreed on "Heart of Darkness": Great, and a novella, easy to get through. For bragging rights, I've read the first volume of "Story of Civilization". Well, and a lot of obscure stuff. (I've used HP Lovecraft's essay "History of Horror and the Supernatural" as a reading list.) But I guess that don't get you into the cocktail party circuit.

Posted by: moviegique at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (7zeA4)

92 There's a nice chunk of text in the middle of 1984 that is really Winston reading another book himself while he's spending time with Julia. So, that's like reading two books at once!

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (GQ8sn)

93 Read 1984, then read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, then read Cyteen by CJ Cherryh.

Posted by: Go Home Get Your Frickin Shinebox at February 03, 2014 10:38 AM (5xmd7)

94 Sun Tzu did naught but prepare the way for the coming of the master, George B. Custer, who codified all things martial in his comprehensive work, "Indian Fighter."

It is unfortunately incomplete. I don't think he had time to finish it.

Posted by: Rick Wilson, GOP Media Person AKA cognitive engineer AKA journalists' cum bucket at February 03, 2014 10:39 AM (Q9qpj)

95 90 Yes. Given what's happened since Roe, quite prophetic.

Posted by: Chris Balsz at February 03, 2014 10:39 AM (5xmd7)

96 The Prince, 1984 and A Tale of Two Cities. I've heard Led Zeppelin's Moby Dick. Does that count?

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 10:39 AM (1Jaio)

97 Even though I am a voracious reader (over 100books a year) the only one on that list I have read is 1984. I prefer zombie prose.

Posted by: DangerGirl and her Sanity Prod (tm) at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (osdNx)

98 I made it all of twenty pages into A Tale of Two Cities before declaring Fuck This Thing In Particular. ====================== It is not a book to be put aside lightly, but one that must be thrown forcefully across the room.

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (KgN8K)

99 Canticle for Liebowitz is a classic but it is very much a product of its age.

Posted by: blaster at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (4+AaH)

100 I've read 7 of the 11. Hell, I read War and Peace a few years ago just because it seemed like one of those books people should read.

I struggled with it though. Every single character's name rhymed with 'son-of-a-bitch' so I had a hard time keeping them straight in my head.

Posted by: Washington Nearsider at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (fwARV)

101 How can you not read Art of War? It's actually pretty short and absolutely fascinating. The theories he espoused are mimicked throughout society.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (g1DWB)

102 I'd also add Animal Farm to this list.

Posted by: Icedog at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (r5sZy)

103 MOBY DICK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGZxzxaYb8I

Posted by: LED ZEPPELIN at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (AZNLP)

104 Ace, read The Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex. It's the story that inspired Moby Dick and it's true and a lot less wordy.

Posted by: Dang at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (MNq6o)

105 We need a Crappy Famous Book list.

I nominate The Brothers Karmiozov by Dostievsky as #1

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (x3YFz)

106 >>I actually read a Neitsche book. It's good to know how idiots think.

Stahp

Posted by: kartoffel at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (07vvi)

107 Ace-
Just so you know, we covered this in the weekend book thread a week or two ago. It was a good one, and so is worth a reprise. I've read all but Ulysses, Sun Tzu, and OofS. Ulysses is self-indulgent twaddle. Wealth of Nations is a slog, but worth it in the end.

You read "Moby Dick" in high school? That must have been way back when they actually included a few more dead white male authors in the reading list.

Yup, now it's Tony Morrison, Alice Walker, and other PC favorites, none of whom can write worth a damn (IMO).

I definitely agree with Heart of Darkness.

Posted by: pep at February 03, 2014 10:40 AM (6TB1Z)

108 I've read several books about The Iliad but I've never actually tried to read The Iliad. (Spoiler Alert: The Greeks win.)

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (8ZskC)

109 We need a Crappy Famous Book list.

Madame Bovary. (forced upon me by my feminist lit prof)

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (GQ8sn)

110 "96 The Prince, 1984 and A Tale of Two Cities. I've heard Led Zeppelin's Moby Dick. Does that count? Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 02:39 PM (1Jaio) " I think the only words in that song are the title, and they aren't actually sung. So that's some impressive reading. Stop making us feel inadequate.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (rsudF)

111 I would add to that list any book that was later turned into a movie.

Posted by: Dang at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (MNq6o)

112 TALES OF BRAVE ULYSSES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BGlFsf9DM8

Posted by: CREAM at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (AZNLP)

113

I've read three and an eighth and an eighth and an eighth.

Can I substitute the Old Man and the Sea for Moby Dick?

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (m2CN7)

114 I've read 3 out of 10 and started but never finished 3 of the others. Two out of these 3, I read several times (Atlas Shrugged and Art of War, though I admit that I generally skim though Galt's speech after the first 10 pages or so)

Posted by: Damiano at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (j0wOO)

115 I've read A Tale Of Two Cities for high school. I own 1984 but haven't read it.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (/Crba)

116 >>>Just so you know, we covered this in the weekend book thread a week or two ago. darn... yeah now I remember seeing that.

Posted by: Bartleby the Scrivener at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (/FnUH)

117 105 We need a Crappy Famous Book list. I nominate The Brothers Karmiozov by Dostievsky as #1 =============== Catcher in the Rye.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (P6QsQ)

118 Everyone always lies about reading that tripe by Russian suicidal poets. Douchiestsky.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 10:41 AM (6bMeY)

119 If you have the chance to force someone to read one Ayn Rand work, make it Anthem.

Short and to the point. And you can't miss the point. It's a 2x4 with spikes in it.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (/29Nl)

120 "A Tale of Two Cities" is actually one of the more accessible Dickens works. If you like the time period, give it another shot.

Posted by: brak at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (NaTky)

121 OT: Maybe someone already wrote this but I heard Amish Dude mentioned on Rush's show today regarding his feelings on why the Republicans fear and loathe the Tea Party - pretty awesome.

Posted by: Cheri at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (G+Wff)

122 I have never finished moby dick, it is a great story but told in a really boring way.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (rDidD)

123 Moby Dick sucked ass in high school.

I just reread it last year, and I took my time.

Damn, it was a great book, but still quite dense and difficult.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 02:37 PM (QFxY5)

Giving high school students Moby Dick to read is borderline cruel and unusual punishment and almost guarantees turning off many young student to reading literature for enjoyment. I had a high school teacher assign Dracula which was much more effective imo.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (zjT4v)

124 How can you not read Art of War? It's actually pretty short and absolutely fascinating. The theories he espoused are mimicked throughout society. I especially liked the chapter : How to Drive Fast on Drugs While Getting Your Wing-Wang Squeezed and Not Spill Your Drink I could have Sun Tzu confused with someone else there.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (659DL)

125 Moby Dick is the book I always think I should read but never do. I "read" it in high school, and by "read it," I mean I did not read it. I read a few parts necessary to do a paper on it.
----
I watched Age of the Dragons on Syfy a couple months back, does that count?

Posted by: Methos at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (hO9ad)

126 I never finished Catcher in the Rye because it sucked.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (6bMeY)

127 George B. Custer, who codified all things martial in his comprehensive work, "Indian Fighter."

It is unfortunately incomplete. I don't think he had time to finish it.

Posted by: Rick Wilson, GOP Media Person AKA cognitive engineer AKA journalists' cum bucket at February 03, 2014 02:39 PM (Q9qpj)

Um. Should that be "George A. Custer"?

Posted by: Washington Nearsider at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (fwARV)

128 94 Sun Tzu did naught but prepare the way for the coming of the master, George B. Custer, who codified all things martial in his comprehensive work, "Indian Fighter." It is unfortunately incomplete. I don't think he had time to finish it. Posted by: Rick Wilson, GOP Media Person AKA cognitive engineer AKA journalists' cum bucket at February 03, 2014 02:39 PM (Q9qpj) Because NO ONE expects the attack without mercy...

Posted by: Custer, as quoted by a Mule Skiner Snake Eyed Gunfighter at February 03, 2014 10:42 AM (84gbM)

129 Most people haven't read The Three Musketeers even if they've read it.

Most versions are abridged. Check the Gutenberg Project for the full one.

Yeah, I went out of the way to get the unabridged versions of both.

I suppose there are parts that could've been done away with, but I didn't find either to be the painful slog that Crime and Punishment was.

Russian bastard.

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (SY2Kh)

130 110 "96 The Prince, 1984 and A Tale of Two Cities. I've heard Led Zeppelin's Moby Dick. Does that count? Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 02:39 PM (1Jaio) " I think the only words in that song are the title, and they aren't actually sung. So that's some impressive reading. Stop making us feel inadequate. --- Can I count "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" because I've listened to the Powerslave album by Iron Maiden repeatedly?

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (/Crba)

131

Well I read the Mobe of Dickless and a Fart in War, but thats about it....

Posted by: maddogg at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (xWW96)

132
Personally, six of them. [humblebrag]

9. On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin
7. 1984, George Orwell
6. Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville
5. The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
3. The Art of War, Sun Tzu
2. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli

Read the eff out The Prince. My term paper extending Machiavelli's criticism of the Italian Condottiere mercenaries into a discussion of the reliability and effectiveness of business consultants made the teacher positively kvel with admiration.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (kdS6q)

133 Crappy Famous Book list. 'Things Fall Apart'

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (AZNLP)

134 Well done, No. 1.

My copy of the Federalist papers and De Toqueville are gathering dust. The language is daunting. Anyone know of a good free podcast that will walk us through them?

Posted by: PJ at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (ZWaLo)

135 I've read 7 of those, but I was forced to. I didn't want to flunk out of college. I have tried to read Atlas Shrugged so many times and just can't. I've always wanted to read Les Mis. Maybe I will finally do it. I had to do so much reading in college that I really have a hard time reading for pleasure now. Interesting piece. Good post.

Posted by: L, elle at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (WnGDS)

136 We need a Crappy Famous Book list.

I nominate The Brothers Karmiozov by Dostievsky as #1

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 02:40 PM (x3YFz)

--------------------------------------------------

I nominate all of Harry Reid's books.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (ZDqnR)

137 I'm still shocked we read "Anthem" in high school. I'm sure it's been replaced by now.

Posted by: brak at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (NaTky)

138 I struggled with it though. Every single character's name rhymed with 'son-of-a-bitch' so I had a hard time keeping them straight in my head. - I just finished The Dinosaur Feather, a Scandi mystery. Same deal. Everybody's name has a bunch of "J" and "O" with lines through them. Had a hard time telling who was who.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (Hx5uv)

139 The list is incomplete. It doesn't have The Devil and Monty Markham (which I read from Playboy decades ago.

http://tinyurl.com/29who3o

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (T2V/1)

140 Not a big fan of all the Nietzsche bashing. I don't subscribe to his worldview, but it's an important contribution to modern thought. I think we would have been better off without the idea of the uber-mensch, but as long as we had to have the idea, I'm glad it came from someone so tortured by the idea of losing God. He didn't celebrate it. I think that it terrified him, and he just grew to accept it. Where Nietzsche gets dangerous is completely outside of his control. The way that people twist it (not too much, but twisting does occur) to justify totalitarian leanings and actions by striving for something that I'm not sure Nietzsche ever meant to say: that we could all become the uber-mensch. I read it as he was saying that there were those of us who existed outside of morality, not that they had the right to conquer and subjugate. Look at Zarathustra and how he was the closest to the uber-mensch and he lived as a hermit. I think his point was that the uber-mensch was a being of great power, but the world of human civilization was beneath him and that he should go and be alone, which is why Zarathustra first leaves civilization, and then why those of the civilized world must go to find him.

Posted by: David at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (UtRhK)

141 When we were studying sexually transmitted diseases in medical school we had a practical lab session on "Moby Dick"

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 10:43 AM (g4TxM)

142 I've sorta been waiting for the Time/Life "The Top Ten Books People Lie About Reading" infomercial for the mp3 ones.

Posted by: LC LaWedgie at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (KQp38)

143 101 How can you not read Art of War? It's actually pretty short and absolutely fascinating. The theories he espoused are mimicked throughout society.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 02:40 PM (g1DWB)

and the other one by the German guy. (so lazy today). Clausewitz: On War.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (x3YFz)

144 Moby Dick is the book I always think I should read but never do. I "read" it in high school, and by "read it," I mean I did not read it. I read a few parts necessary to do a paper on it. He tasks me... Ace tasks me and I shall have him. I'll chase him round the maelstroms of Twitter and Hot Air's volcano before I give him up!

Posted by: Khan Noonien Erg at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (aTXUx)

145 Posted by: irright at February 03, 2014 02:34 PM (pMGkg)

I had a tough enough time with Portrait of The Artist. There is no way I would even try to read Ulysses.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (QFxY5)

146 Can I count "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" because I've listened to the Powerslave album by Iron Maiden repeatedly?

I learned everything about the Crimean War from Iron Maiden too!

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (GQ8sn)

147 I've read 3: Atlas Shrugged, Moby Dick and 1984. I read the Cliff Notes for A Tale of Two Cities, does that count? How about if I saw the prOn version, A Tale of Two Clitties?

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (7ObY1)

148 I'm still shocked we read "Anthem" in high school. I'm sure it's been replaced by now. - My daughter had to read it for high school last year.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (Hx5uv)

149 The Irish Tank Battalions use Ullysses for their armor components becoz nobody can get through it. True story.

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (KgN8K)

150 We need a Crappy Famous Book list.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 02:40 PM (x3YFz)

The Charterhouse of Parma

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (zjT4v)

151 I've read all of those. *buffs nails* It's because I'm smrt. Or, you know, I had a really harsh high school lit teacher who made us read all the literature stuff and the rest of the science/political books I had to read because my undergrad degree is a combo political science, history and philosophy degree. FUCK YOU DICKENS! FUCK YOU AND YOUR PAID PER WORD YOU NICKELFUCKER*! *I know, I know, he was paid by installment but not word but whatevs. Also, sekrit to chique. Of course you get a dispensation. It's because of The Awesome.

Posted by: alexthechick - Come to us, oh mighty SMOD at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (VtjlW)

152 I nominate The Brothers Karmiozov by Dostievsky as #1

I got as far as a rich kid torturing a poor kid's dog and decided I didn't need to finish.

Madame Bovary.

Not as dirty as I was let to believe. *pffft* Neither was Lady Chatterly.

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 10:44 AM (ZKzrr)

153 He tasks me... Ace tasks me and I shall have him. I'll chase him round the maelstroms of Twitter and Hot Air's volcano before I give him up!

Posted by: Khan Noonien Erg at February 03, 2014 02:44 PM (aTXUx)

Why sir? We have the blog! We can write anything we want here!

Posted by: Joachim at February 03, 2014 10:45 AM (GQ8sn)

154 126 I never finished Catcher in the Rye because it sucked. --- I read it and hated it. The reason I love the South Park episode "Scrotie McBoogerballs" so much is how they completely send up Catcher In The Rye and the treatment of JD Salinger by the public and critics, amongst other things.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at February 03, 2014 10:45 AM (/Crba)

155 I've read three off the list. Atlas Shrugged, On the Origin of Species, and 1984. I've also read the Federalist Papers (I was laughed at by many a co-worker back in the day for bringing in my well-worn copy to read through on lunch break) and the Constitution as well. Those aren't technically on the list, but the author mentions them in his blurb about De Tocqueville.

Posted by: Mandy P., lurking lurker who lurks at February 03, 2014 10:45 AM (qFpRI)

156 Um. Should that be "George A. Custer"?

Posted by: Washington Nearsider at February 03, 2014 02:42 PM (fwARV)

That has nothing to do with Obamacare. Stay on topic.

Posted by: Rick Wilson, GOP Media Person AKA cognitive engineer AKA journalists' cum bucket at February 03, 2014 10:45 AM (Q9qpj)

157 Ace, have you read A Brave New World yet? It's like a novella man.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 10:45 AM (tVTLU)

158 "118 Everyone always lies about reading that tripe by Russian suicidal poets. Douchiestsky. Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 02:41 PM (6bMeY) " OK, those are books I've actually read, one of them twice (Crime and Punishment). Also read The Brothers Karamazov, and even Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Never read any Chekhov, though.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (rsudF)

159 Only read 5 of them. Atlas shrugged, Tale of Two Cities, 1984, Wealth of Nations. /humblebrag

Posted by: Echo Whiskey at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (yyko3)

160 Tried to read Dickins once. I thought he was a bore. And Whitman was too faggy and long winded. Worst poet I ever read.

Posted by: maddogg at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (xWW96)

161 I've only read 1984 and Moby Dick from that list, but at least I haven't lied about the others. Moby Dick didn't do it for me. Heavy-handed symbology and I wasn't interested in the setting. Perhaps if I'd visited some maritime museums first, it might've held my interest. Since you're learning French, ace, you might want to try Madame Bauvery. I read it in French tears ago and I recall really enjoying it.

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (zDsvJ)

162 I learned everything about the Crimean War from Iron Maiden too! I love those guys.

Posted by: Charlotte the Harlot at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (AZNLP)

163 I found small hardback editions of Moby Dick and Canterbury Tales at a remainder store. For the next few years they were my travel books, stuff to read when most of my books were far away. And Moby Dick was great. Starts slow, sure, but hang in there.

Posted by: Surellin at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (DWuhs)

164 I skipped through Moby Dick a whole lot when I was forced to read it. I've never tried to go back. I've discovered that one of the side effects of programming a lot is that I have quite a bit less tolerance for florid prose and incomplete thoughts. When I see a "type" that's supposed to call to mind a lot of emotions and a sly sliver of a thought that may call to mind some bit of trivial archanery regarding the politics of the time, I get frustrated. Why not be clear? I did read 1984, Tale of Two Cities, and On the Origin of Species. I mean to read Wealth of Nations and Democracy in America.

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/i][/b][/s][/s] at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (2hTlI)

165 I'm reading one of Vince Flynn's books right now. Main character (bad ass counterterrorism guy) meets a Senator at a bar and notices he's reading 1984. Main character says he's impressed. Senator says, sarcastically, he's reading it so he can better understand his (main character's) kind. Main character responds that after reading 1984, the Senator should pick up Animal Farm so he can better understand his own kind.

Posted by: Mainah at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (659DL)

166 I nominate all of Harry Reid's books.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 02:43 PM (ZDqnR)

he wrote a book? Or vomited his brain onto Word? Difference.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (x3YFz)

167 Oh, and get well soon!

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (zDsvJ)

168

Read:

Atlas Shrugged (preferred We, the Living)

A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens does not age well, but worthwhile)

Moby Dick (liked it very much)

Democracy in America (ok)

1984 (it's NOT a user's manual, dammit!)

Ulysses (ugh)

Have The Prince on my shelf...

Heart of Darkness - liked it very much

Posted by: Glenmore at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (Lw8s7)

169 Hmmm.... interesting thought.... I wonder how many 'Art of War' Books by different authors I have read... Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Jomini... Napoleons Maxims of War (not art, but close..)...

Posted by: Custer, as quoted by a Mule Skiner Snake Eyed Gunfighter at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (84gbM)

170 148 I'm still shocked we read "Anthem" in high school. I'm sure it's been replaced by now. - Every teenaged RUSH fan read it in the 70s since it was the basis for the 2112 album. Still my favorite Rand book. Concise and to the point. Something she normally did not do well.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 10:46 AM (7ObY1)

171 (Spoiler Alert: The Greeks win.)

Hah, that's the thing, they don't even. I just read that thing, and was a little surprised to find it ends with Troy still standing and the siege still going on. Was Homer leaving the Trojan Horse for the sequel?

Posted by: Waterhouse at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (RUvjp)

172

Good Gawd, forcing somebody through Moby Dick is flat assed inhumane.

// The Bataan Death March

Posted by: ScoggDog at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (Z9EFN)

173 Moby Dick is the book I always think I should read but never do. I "read" it in high school, and by "read it," I mean I did not read it. I read a few parts necessary to do a paper on it. From Hell's volcano I stab at thee.. To the last I will grapple with thee... For Hate's sake, I spit my last at thee

Posted by: Khan Noonien Erg at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (aTXUx)

174 I never finished Catcher in the Rye because it sucked. ============== Phoney

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (KgN8K)

175 My copy of the Federalist papers and De Toqueville are gathering dust. The language is daunting. Anyone know of a good free podcast that will walk us through them?

Posted by: PJ at February 03, 2014 02:43 PM (ZWaLo)

----------------------------------------------------

Glenn Beck put out a good book on the Federalist Papers. There's explanations to the texts and the letters themselves are worded in contemporary language. I had my doubts at first, but after comparing the re-worded letters with the original, I found it to be pretty damned accurate.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (ZDqnR)

176 144 Moby Dick is the book I always think I should read but never do. I "read" it in high school, and by "read it," I mean I did not read it. I read a few parts necessary to do a paper on it. He tasks me... Ace tasks me and I shall have him. I'll chase him round the maelstroms of Twitter and Hot Air's volcano before I give him up! Posted by: Khan Noonien Erg at February 03, 2014 02:44 PM (aTXUx) ******* Na you have that backwards. The whale is ChicoDelahny--and Ace is Ishmael.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (RJMhd)

177 I had to put Ulysses down when I discovered it was written in another language.

The dude was a fookin' madman.

Posted by: Fritz at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (UzPAd)

178 We need a Crappy Famous Book list. I nominate The Brothers Karmiozov by Dostievsky as #1 =============== Catcher in the Rye. - On the Road.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (Hx5uv)

179 Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!

Posted by: George S. Patton at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (AZNLP)

180 I never finished Catcher in the Rye because it sucked. --- I read it and hated it. The reason I love the South Park episode "Scrotie McBoogerballs" so much is how they completely send up Catcher In The Rye and the treatment of JD Salinger by the public and critics, amongst other things. As the years have gone by, I have come to realize that Holden Caulfield needs the shit beat out him.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (659DL)

181 39 It surprises me that so few have read 1984. It's not in dense prose (lookin' at you, Joe Conrad and Franz Kafka) and it is eternally relevant. Maybe it's just too depressing. "Bloodlands" was like that. Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 03, 2014 02:33 PM I think you hit it on the head. I can't say I enjoyed 1984, any more than Animal Farm, but I think they are both important books that should be read. Bloodlands too, but it is heart-rending to get through-especially after living in Poland and seeing the physical results of the madness of those years.

Posted by: moki at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (EvHC8)

182 160 Tried to read Dickins once. I thought he was a bore. And Whitman was too faggy and long winded. Worst poet I ever read. WALT WHITMAN?!? I hate you Walt freaking Whitman!!! Leaves Of Grass, my ass!

Posted by: Homer J. Simpson at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (/Crba)

183 158 "118 Everyone always lies about reading that tripe by Russian suicidal poets. Douchiestsky.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 02:41 PM (6bMeY) "

Had to read it for a law and literature class. Oh, the horror.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:47 AM (x3YFz)

184 This is why I love my Kindle. Makes it so easy to buy a book, and the "classics" are always reasonably priced. Has anyone read "A Confederacy of Dunces"? Now there's a book that should be mandatory school reading. I laughed so hard I thought I had ruptured a major bodily organ by the time I was finished.

Posted by: Hobbitopoly at February 03, 2014 10:48 AM (fk1A8)

185 Playing Bioshock can be substituted for reading Atlas Shrugged, right?

Posted by: RWC at February 03, 2014 10:48 AM (fWAjv)

186

105:

You uncouth kulak. The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor is all you need to know. Move on, you illiterate bastard!

Sincerely,

Feodor.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 10:48 AM (tVTLU)

187 >>>Since you're learning French, ace, you might want to try Madame Bauvery. I read it in French tears ago and I recall really enjoying it. someone upthread also recommended fall of the third republic. I'm really not up to that level. Newspaper articles are far easier to read than literature; they're more straightforward, and you have a lot of background and context to help you guess at the meanings of unknown phrases or less-well-known uses of words. I'm currently trying, and failing, to read The Three Musketeers in the original french. While I can read some of it, it is very slow-going, and I have to do so much homework looking things up I lose the plot a lot.

Posted by: Bartleby the Scrivener at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (/FnUH)

188 Two: 1984 and Art of War. Atlas Shrugged, I have started.

Posted by: flounder at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (Kkt/i)

189 darn... yeah now I remember seeing that. Posted by: Bartleby the Scrivener at February 03, 2014 02:41 PM (/FnUH) Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!

Posted by: DangerGirl and her Sanity Prod (tm) at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (osdNx)

190 I nominate all of Harry Reid's books. - Pederasty for Dummies?

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (Hx5uv)

191 Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 02:41 PM (8ZskC)

It is vitally important that you read a good translation. Some of them are Victorian and boring.

One in particular is fucking awesome. Robert Fagles did The Iliad and The Odyssey and they are fantastic.

Screwing and swordplay and monsters and blood and guts.

Great stuff.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (QFxY5)

192 all the same, who lies about reading a book? how embarrassing would it be to be caught lying?

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (rDidD)

193 I'm still shocked we read "Anthem" in high school. I'm sure it's been replaced by now.
-
My daughter had to read it for high school last year.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 02:44 PM (Hx5uv)

Small miracle. Depending on how it is taught. Just reading it and absorbing it is fine. I suspect it was assigned just to discredit it.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (/29Nl)

194 I can not stand 99% of the New England and English authors of the 1800s. Jules Vern is one exception. I can't stand 100% of all Russian writers. I choked through Atlas Shrugged one time and it is still on my shelf.

If she had cut about half of the book out it would have been much better. She is just like all Russian writers, she has diarrhea of the pen and thinks she gets paid per word.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 03, 2014 10:49 AM (T2V/1)

195 Every teenaged RUSH fan read it in the 70s since it was the basis for the 2112 album. --- Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation Attention all Planets of the Solar Federation We have assumed control We have assumed control We have assumed control

Posted by: Geddy Lee at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (/Crba)

196 "A Tale of Two Cities" is actually one of the more accessible Dickens works. If you like the time period, give it another shot.

The book convinced me that I don't like Dickens.

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (SY2Kh)

197 Thanks for your reccos, though. I'll bear them in mind. I'm just saying, I'm not there yet.

Posted by: Bartleby the Scrivener at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (/FnUH)

198 I never finished Catcher in the Rye because it sucked.

Also not as dirty as I was led to believe.

Nor was anything by Judy Bloom.

Oh, shit, I just realized people get crappy books banned from schools to encourage kids to read them. Gak.

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (ZKzrr)

199 Who wrote the crunchy fig ape fucking poem? That guy really sucked.

Posted by: maddogg at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (xWW96)

200 The books I was assigned to read, I never did. I read a lot of the classics because I saw them while in In School Suspension and smurfed them. I read a lot of Vonnegut.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (6bMeY)

201

Some of the "classics" are a little challenging to read. I read Cooper's Last of the Mohicans (Greatest movie in the universe or greatest movie on Earth?) and realized apparently no one in the 19th century had an imagination.

The constant "let me describe what you should be seeing in your head" story breaks - with comments that were basically stage and set directions - were a bit annoying.

Posted by: Icedog at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (and2K)

202 We need a Crappy Famous Book list. **** Ulysses no contest.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (g4TxM)

203 >>Moby Dick didn't do it for me. Heavy-handed symbology and I wasn't interested in the setting. Perhaps if I'd visited some maritime museums first, it might've held my interest. As I and someone else upthread mentioned (to lazy to scroll, you know who you are) try In the Heart of the Sea first. It is the basis for Moby Dick and a much easier read. And it has some fun facts such as at the height of the whaling era, Nantucket was one of the richest places in America as it was one of the whaling capitals of America. And Nantucket has a really cool whaling museum. I hear New Bedford does as well but never been to that one. Heart of the Sea was set in Nantucket, Moby started from New Bedford.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 10:50 AM (g1DWB)

204 We're actually going to become a combination of "1984" and "Brave New World" it seems, with the worst of both.

Posted by: brak at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (NaTky)

205 Moby Dick would have been a lot better with some detailed descriptions of the Whale's penis.

Posted by: George RR Martin at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (AZNLP)

206 I've read 5/11 and have 3 others on my bookshelf in the queue to be read.

I keep meaning to reread Moby Dick because I hated it the first time. Anyone keen on that chapter about the kinds of whales, including "dolphin whales"? If so, you need to cut down on the Val-U-Rite.

Tried to read Ulysses, but couldn't get into it. And I'd add Faulkner to the list, The Sound and the Fury. A challenging read, but well worth it.

Posted by: physics geek at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (MT22W)

207
You uncouth kulak. The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor is all you need to know. Move on, you illiterate bastard!

Sincerely,
Feodor.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 02:48 PM (tVTLU)

heh. well played. very inside baseball joke... most people wont' get it.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (x3YFz)

208

I went through Ulysses a few years back, aided by a 700pp, chapter-by-chapter guide/annotation, and I got so little out of it that claiming to have actually read it feels like cheating.

Posted by: Croaker at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (uHiz2)

209 As the years have gone by, I have come to realize that Holden Caulfield needs the shit beat out him.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 02:47 PM (659DL)

Phony.

Posted by: flounder at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (Kkt/i)

210 I read War and Peace. Twice. In Pig Latin. And backwards.

Posted by: The Governor at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (Tlix5)

211 Well I actually read-- The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham-- and-- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller when I was pretty young--but don't quiz me on them. I just remember being assigned to read them and actually reading them instead of faking it.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (RJMhd)

212 the prince is not something you put in the shelves, it is for the nightstand.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (rDidD)

213 105 We need a Crappy Famous Book list.

I nominate The Brothers Karmiozov by Dostievsky as #1

===============

Catcher in the Rye.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 03, 2014 02:41 PM (P6QsQ)

Green Mansions

Scarlet Letter

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes, think mink. at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (kXoT0)

214 I nominate all of Harry Reid's books.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 02:43 PM (ZDqnR)

Small Boys and the Majority Leader who Loved Them
Bills Become Laws :: My Junk Becomes Hard: A Tweener Romance
I Wield my Gavel for the Children
Searchlight: The Official Autobiography

Posted by: Washington Nearsider at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (fwARV)

215 "As the years have gone by, I have come to realize that Holden Caulfield needs the shit beat out him."

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 02:47 PM (659DL)

A better review of Catcher In The Rye I have never read.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (QFxY5)

216 "I nominate all of Harry Reid's books.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 02:43 PM (ZDqnR)"

"Confessions of a Searchlight Strangler"

"Have Boy, Will Travel"

Both classics of American postmodernist molestation prose.

Posted by: Sweaty Guy in a Trenchcoat at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (Q9qpj)

217 Anyone care to guess what the Rime is in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner?

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 10:51 AM (m2CN7)

218 >>> all the same, who lies about reading a book? how embarrassing would it be to be caught lying? well, there are books called "The Bluffer's Guide to..." various things, and other books like that, that give you a cocktail-party rundown of various books and pieces of art so you can pose as a connoisseur. It's also a well-known thing that people will sort of suggest they've read the book when in fact they've only read the New York Times Book Review of it.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (/FnUH)

219 Sorry

Green Mansions.

Scarlet Letter.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes, think mink. at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (kXoT0)

220 Read Moby Dick? I would prefer not to.

Posted by: Bartleby The Scrivener at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (7kkQJ)

221 I never finished Catcher in the Rye because it sucked.

---

I read it and hated it.

The reason I love the South Park episode "Scrotie McBoogerballs" so much is how they completely send up Catcher In The Rye and the treatment of JD Salinger by the public and critics, amongst other things.

As the years have gone by, I have come to realize that Holden Caulfield needs the shit beat out him.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at February 03, 2014 02:47 PM (659DL)

When I read it at 15 it was a great book. I read it a second time years after that and was wondering where that great book went to. It is vastly over rated. You're right about Caulfield needing a beating. Same goes for James Dean's whiny character in Rebel Without Cause

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (1Jaio)

222 and the other one by the German guy. (so lazy today). Clausewitz: On War.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 02:44 PM (x3YFz)

I actually read that.

All of it. ::: headdesk :::

Thank God I had a teacher who could make sense of it (http://tinyurl.com/cbns5ze), because Clausewitz isn't as "easy" as some people seem to think he is.

Posted by: Sean Bannion[/i][/s][/u][/b] at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (6T8Ay)

223 105 We need a Crappy Famous Book list.

I nominate The Brothers Karmiozov by Dostievsky as #1

===============

Silas Marner.

Posted by: physics geek at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (MT22W)

224 107 Ace-
Just so you know, we covered this in the weekend book thread a week or two ago.

Heh.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (JAD5c)

225

Have gone through Art of War, Atlas Shrugged, and 1984. 1984 is a good read that, although depressing, moves at a good clip with a suspenseful tale and compelling charaacters, and is not overly long. Well worth the time if someone is looking for a place to jump in on this list. Have read Atlas Shrugged several times, but I confess I have really skimmed portions of some of the long, long expositions like Galt's radio address. I know, I know. But it does me good to read about the "men of integrity and honor". I don't know any Francisco D'Anconias, Ellis Wyatts, Dagny Taggarts, or Henry Reardons, but I do know a few people of high achievement and honor who generally operate that way.

Bartleby the Scrivener was sort of a "cult" thing in HS. We had to read it and everyone thought Bartleby was sort of rebellious and cool, and people went around for a while quoting "I would prefer not to" when asked to do something.

Posted by: RM at February 03, 2014 10:52 AM (fRppw)

226 For lovers of real literature, The Utterly Monstrous, Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs appeared in National Lampoon years ago. You can find it here. http://www.christyanity.com/pdf/OCStiggs

It's a sociological study of the Moron lifestyle and its mostly hilarious.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (8ZskC)

227

152 -

I read Madame Bovary recently, a newer translation because apparently most of the previous translations were tripe.

Anyhoo, it's plenty dirty alright. You have to supply much of the dirt yourself though, so.....

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (TOk1P)

228

Listen, for all you pussies unable to read more than 300 pages at a time, I prescribe to you three books:

1) 1984 (leftists that impose their will with the boot)

2) A Brave New World (leftists that impose their will with soma + tearing down all normal meanings of life)

3) Notes from Underground (a vicious attack on Godless atheist nihilists that exposes the bullshit inevitable conclusions to their purely "rational" and physiognamy egoism)

This literally will take you one weekend to read. And is all you need to know from a philosophical point of view, imho.

And for all of those you who would rather read that pussy landed gentry writer Tolstoy, I would humbly suggest that you rot in hell. Best, Feodor D.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (tVTLU)

229 I did not read "Moby Dick" but I read "In the Heart of the Sea" about the whaling ship Essex, on which Melville based his story. Excellent read about its sinking by a pissed off whale in the South Pacific and the survival and non-survival of its crew and the many mistakes they made in trying to return to South America instead of heading for the Marquesas, which were closer and would have been an easier trip. Death and cannibalism and all sorts of adventures abounded.

Posted by: huerfano at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (bAGA/)

230 >>The book convinced me that I don't like Dickens. How can you not like A Christmas Carol? Scrooge.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (g1DWB)

231 Nobody shitting on Ulysses has attempted to read Finnegan's Wake, apparently. That one's too out there for even some of the highbrow lit types.

Posted by: kartoffel at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (07vvi)

232
It surprises me that so few have read 1984.
Posted by: boulder toilet hobo

Animal Farm
Posted by: moki

I'm willing to bet that's a generational thing. If you grew up before 1990 or so, you read those books as a critique of socialism/communism. After that, the so-commies actually won the cultural war and took over the educational system, so off the required reading list they go.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (kdS6q)

233 I had to put Ulysses down when I discovered it was written in another language. The dude was a fookin' madman. Posted by: Fritz at February 03, 2014 02:47 PM (UzPAd) Ulysses, oh Ulysses. Intellectually, I appreciate what he's trying to do. But, honey, no. No, no, no. House of Leaves actually pulled off what Joyce was trying to do but, get this, there's an actually comprehensible story there. Sort of. Annnnnnd now I have to go listen to 5 (ampersand) 1/2 Minute Hallway. I repeat my earlier nomination of any of Stephen Hawking's pop science book as bought but unread by most people.

Posted by: alexthechick - Come to us, oh mighty SMOD at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (VtjlW)

234 >>>Well I actually read-- The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham-- and-- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller when I was pretty young--but don't quiz me on them. ... hey I read those! I've read Catch-22 about ten times. It's my favorite "real book." It's hilarious.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (/FnUH)

235 204 We're actually going to become a combination of "1984" and "Brave New World" it seems, with the worst of both. Posted by: brak at February 03, 2014 02:51 PM (NaTky) ******* More like Walden Two. IIRC George Orwell's 1984 is in response to that.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 10:53 AM (RJMhd)

236 Atlas Shrugged was a difficult read. Several attempts over the course of a few years. I finally finished. Boy was it ever depressing. Moby Dick and 1984 were good books. Ulysses I never finished. So I've read 3.5 of the 10.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at February 03, 2014 10:54 AM (jucos)

237 Never read any Chekhov, though Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 02:46 PM (rsudF) Pedestrian dreck. But he did like to move his lips as he wrote. Very desirable in a quarters with 2 officers and one bunk

Posted by: Sulu at February 03, 2014 10:54 AM (aTXUx)

238 hey I read those! I've read Catch-22 about ten times. It's my favorite "real book." It's hilarious. Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 02:53 PM (/FnUH) ********* I loved that book. Jeebus might be worth a re-reading.

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 10:54 AM (RJMhd)

239 Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink. Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink. Hey, that rimes!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 10:54 AM (g4TxM)

240 As for the list, I have read: Atlas Shrugged (several times, but I too prefer We, the Living) The Prince A Tale of Two Cities (and a number of Dickens-I actually liked Dombey and Sons best of his work) 1984 The Art of War Les Miserables Ulysses (my high school english teacher had a PhD in Brit Lit, and forced Thomas Hardy and James Joyce upon us until we begged for mercy. She did not give it.) I have partially read Wealth of Nations, and Moby Dick. After the hundred or so other books I "need" to read, I may revisit those.

Posted by: moki at February 03, 2014 10:54 AM (EvHC8)

241 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller when I was pretty young--but don't quiz me on them. - I think that is a very good book. Organized chaos about chaotic organization.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (Hx5uv)

242 The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk should be on everyone's great books list. Plus the two volumes give you an excellent history of WWII without reading dry history (although there are some excellent and very readable histories of the war). Can't beat that.

Posted by: Hurricane LaFawnduh at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (pginn)

243 Over-rated books I've suffered through: Anna Karenina Chick cheats on her husband, feels real bad about it, then doesn't, eventually dies. In between, a gazillion pages filled with a bazillion characters with Russian names you can't remember, all talking about how this chick cheated on her husband and feels real bad about it, then doesn't, and eventually dies.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (7ObY1)

244 I've read 1984 and The Prince, which is actually basically a sarcastic long-form blogpost from the 1400s. It's a manual on how to be dick, dedicated to the man who had the author imprisoned and tortured.

Posted by: Paul at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (9qDRl)

245

My preferred sea novel as a kid was Captains Courageous .

Loved that book.

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (m2CN7)

246 Do comic book/graphic novel versions count?

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (GQ8sn)

247 the prince is not something you put in the shelves, it is for the nightstand. =============== Its a parenting guide

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (KgN8K)

248 Ulysses in the original Greek. Sniff.

Posted by: Mesquito at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (QVQyR)

249 219 Scarlet Letter.

Posted by: Sherry McEvil, Stiletto Corsettes, think mink. at February 03, 2014 02:52 PM (kXoT0)

I thought that was another suck book, I was forced to read it up I did finish it. When the teacher asked what the lesson was I said that all political leadership were (almost said assholes) dishonest liars and hypocrites.

I was already becoming a curmudgeon.

Posted by: Vic[/i] at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (T2V/1)

250

218 -

Apparently people always say they read Hawking's book, when they had not. I actually did read it, years ago. I remember thinking at the time that it was interesting enough, if somewhat over my head, but since I cannot remember anything about it now, I'm going to assume it's really not worth remembering.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 10:55 AM (TOk1P)

251 RE: Moby Dick I can't believe you missed the part with the virgin and the volcano. It really was central to the plot.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (eHIJJ)

252 You people who are saying Ulysses sucks are cray cray. That book is heartbreaking and absolutely fantastic. It takes a lot of work on the part of the reader, but reading isn't supposed to be a passive art form. It's a dialogue between author and audience, and Joyce wanted to challenge his audience. Once you learn how to navigate his use of stream of consciousness, it becomes fairly easy to read. It takes a lot of concentration, but it's worth it. Finnegan's Wake is a piece of torrid shit, though. I won't touch that book again.

Posted by: David at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (UtRhK)

253 Had to read Catcher in the Rye in high school English class That's two weeks of adolescence I'll never get back

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (aTXUx)

254 When the teacher asked what the lesson was I said that all political leadership were (almost said assholes) dishonest liars and hypocrites.

I was already becoming a curmudgeon.

Posted by: Vic at February 03, 2014 02:55 PM (T2V/1)

Which is why you were never able to land that date with Laura Ingles.

Posted by: Washington Nearsider at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (fwARV)

255 "...Stephen Hawking's pop science book..."

Posted by: alexthechick - Come to us, oh mighty SMOD at February 03, 2014 02:53 PM (VtjlW)

A buddy and I read it when it first came out (he is a PhD in a science).

We got together and laughed about the reviews that claimed the book made cosmology accessible to middle schoolers.

Neither of us had any fucking idea what Hawking was talking about.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (QFxY5)

256 Clausewitz required several readings. I read it next to "Of Arms and Men"

As NCOs, some of us do do our research and snatch up every book that gets our troops home alive.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (x3YFz)

257 Just so you know, we covered this in the weekend book thread a week or two ago. - And you still haven't read them all?

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (Hx5uv)

258 Chick cheats on her husband, feels real bad about it, then doesn't, eventually dies.

In between, a gazillion pages filled with a bazillion characters with Russian names you can't remember, all talking about how this chick cheated on her husband and feels real bad about it, then doesn't, and eventually dies.

The only thing that would have improved that review is if you ended it with "Fin."

Posted by: Sean Bannion[/i][/s][/u][/b] at February 03, 2014 10:56 AM (6T8Ay)

259 The moment of Anna Kareina's death is beatiful. The rest of the book is fairly overrated dreck.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 10:57 AM (tVTLU)

260 The Art of War is a really quick read. No excuse for claiming you read it and not reading it. Now, Clausewitz...that's a long hard slog.

Posted by: Donald Rumsfeld at February 03, 2014 10:57 AM (pginn)

261 Overheard in a 1950's literature exam room: Student #1: "Great Scott, I've forgotten who wrote "Ivanhoe"! Student #2: "I'll tell you that if you can tell me who in the dickens wrote "Oliver Twist".

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 10:57 AM (g4TxM)

262 I think Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville were both better short story writers than novelists.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 10:57 AM (7kkQJ)

263 (there are 4 Musketeers novels, of various parts, compilations, etc.)

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 02:37 PM (/29Nl)

There are 5 (in order):

The Three Musketeers

Twenty Years After

Ten Years After

Louise De La Valliere

The Man in the Iron Mask

Posted by: StPatrick_TN at February 03, 2014 10:57 AM (ND9u8)

264 ""I could hardly breathe. Gulping for air, I started crying and yelling at him, 'What do you mean? What are you saying? Why did you lie to me?'"

Posted by: Baldy at February 03, 2014 10:57 AM (2bql3)

265 I'm willing to bet that's a generational thing. If you grew up before 1990 or so, you read those books as a critique of socialism/communism. After that, the so-commies actually won the cultural war and took over the educational system, so off the required reading list they go. Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 02:53 PM (kdS6q) You have a point. My headmaster was part of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and lost his sister to Soviet soldiers. Every one who went through his school was well versed in the evils of communism. But since he retired, I am fairly certain that my high school alma mater has not continued his world view.

Posted by: moki at February 03, 2014 10:57 AM (EvHC8)

266 As NCOs, some of us do do our research and snatch up every book that gets our troops home alive. Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 02:56 PM (x3YFz)

Sometimes.

But mostly my guys were reading Louis L'Amour novels in the field.

Oh, and Hustler.

"For the articles"

Posted by: Sean Bannion[/i][/s][/u][/b] at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (6T8Ay)

267 I've read Finnegan's Wake in the original Gibberish.

Posted by: somebody else, not me at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (29vnO)

268 The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk should be on everyone's great books list. - The Caine Mutiny is his best.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (Hx5uv)

269 I've read Catch-22 about ten times. It's my favorite "real book." It's hilarious. ..and one of the few books that wasn't destroyed for re-reading by its movie.

Posted by: Nately's Whore at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (hmCj2)

270

And let me say something else:

Last of the Fucking Mohicans is literally 300 pages on trees and the surroundings.

Useful when you've never traveled to the frontier, but fairly unbearably when you were raised in the woods of Arkansas...

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (tVTLU)

271 We had to read Moby Dick in high school. There was one chapter where they are all squeezing blubber or sperm oil and it's homoerotic, or so the teacher said. Definitely a turn off. The class had a revolt over reading the book because we believed it was so boring. Teacher said we would understand why we had to read it when we were older. She was right. You have to learn and discipline yourself to read long boring shit.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (NRYdU)

272 I never finished Catcher in the Rye because it sucked. Also not as dirty as I was led to believe. Nor was anything by Judy Bloom. Oh, shit, I just realized people get crappy books banned from schools to encourage kids to read them. Gak. Posted by: HR Yeah. Wish I'd have figured it out back then.....

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (ndIek)

273 I can't stand 100% of all Russian writers. "I only here fixing the stove," said the cat. The Master and Margarita - but not sure which translation ...

Posted by: Adriane... at February 03, 2014 10:58 AM (qoKTg)

274 PJ O'Rourke has a pretty good tome explaning "The Wealth of Nations"

Posted by: Hurricane LaFawnduh at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (pginn)

275 Dildo's Rules For Russian Writers

If the option exists to read the author's short stories instead of his novels...take it!

The Russians hit about 50 pages and there are just too many damned people and names to keep straight.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (QFxY5)

276 Silas Marner.

Posted by: physics geek at February 03, 2014 02:52 PM (MT22W)

I liked Silas Marner. At least I liked the modern film version of it with Steve Martin.

That was 10th grade required reading .

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (m2CN7)

277 well, there are books called "The Bluffer's Guide to..." various things, and other books like that, that give you a cocktail-party rundown of various books and pieces of art so you can pose as a connoisseur. It's also a well-known thing that people will sort of suggest they've read the book when in fact they've only read the New York Times Book Review of it. Posted by: ace not saying it is not something that happens , even regularly. my comment was more of a thinking aloud sorta thing. I would much rather say "you know I have never made to read that, do you really recommend it" than get exposed as not well read and a liar, especially in a social setting / cocktail party. besides, I have to have read a few things that are good as a counter' "well no I have not read ulysses but have you seen the articles in this month's bigg uns?" I had a friend who lied about having owned a certain variety of italian sports car; at a cocktail party. he was unaware the doors opened upwards. awkward.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (rDidD)

278 Catch-22 was a book I got about 3 pages in to and just said "nerp".

That and Gravity's Rainbow.

Posted by: eleven at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (KXm42)

279 I have, however, read everything Shakespeare ever wrote. Most of them several times over. Even the disputed ones. Even the epic poems. Even all 3 endless, boring-as-dirt parts of Henry VI. Best comedy: A Midsummer Night's Dream (that play within a play at the end is some of the funniest shit ever written.) Best History: Henry IV, both parts. Falstaff WAS livin' the moron lifestyle Best tragedy: Macbeth Best Romance: The Tempest

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (7ObY1)

280

Great Books List ... and not one title by David Sklansky ?

I Call Bullshit.

Posted by: ScoggDog at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (Z9EFN)

281 I've never been able to get past about a third of Moby Dick. The pedantic descriptions of every little thing drove me away, even though it has one of my top ten first lines of all times (Tale of Two Cities has another).

Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (F58x4)

282 For pure enjoyment of the English language and light reading, Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories are a favorite of mine.

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 10:59 AM (zDsvJ)

283 Books that will revoke your Man Card if you ever tell anyone you read them... Jane Eyre Wuthering Heights Pride and Prejudice Sense and Sensibility Little Women I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them.

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 11:00 AM (aTXUx)

284 I've also heard Cream's, 'Tales of Braves Ulysses'.

How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 11:00 AM (1Jaio)

285 I liked Moby Dick better when they made it into a movie called Star Trek II.

Posted by: deadrody at February 03, 2014 11:00 AM (aT8Zk)

286 It's also a well-known thing that people will sort of suggest they've read the book when in fact they've only read the New York Times Book Review of it.

57% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

Posted by: Sean Bannion[/i][/s][/u][/b] at February 03, 2014 11:00 AM (6T8Ay)

287 Agree that Russian writing is unbearable.

Posted by: eleven at February 03, 2014 11:00 AM (KXm42)

288 I don't know how you can not like Catch-22.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:00 AM (hmCj2)

289 The Russians hit about 50 pages and there are just too many damned people and names to keep straight.

Yeah, I even had trouble with a short novel like Master and Margarita, which I otherwise really enjoyed. Friggin' patronymics.

Posted by: Waterhouse at February 03, 2014 11:01 AM (RUvjp)

290

274 -

I tried reading that one. Got bored.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 11:01 AM (TOk1P)

291 Let's talk about heroin. If you are a heroin addict, what do you do? I always imagine you would fall asleep and then after a certain length of time you would be able to move around but be very high. How do you get shit done? It seems like you would be a total couch potato. One can do that with out drugs. But seriously, when is that optimum time period for junkies and how long does it last?

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (NRYdU)

292 Books that will revoke your Man Card if you ever tell anyone you read them...

Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Little Women

I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them.

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 03:00 PM (aTXUx)

What if you are forced to read one of those books for a grade?

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (GQ8sn)

293 Sometimes.

But mostly my guys were reading Louis L'Amour novels in the field.

Oh, and Hustler.

"For the articles"

Posted by: Sean Bannion at February 03, 2014 02:58 PM (6T8Ay)

hah... true true.

I took it pretty seriously. There's a couple moms that don't have little ones anymore because their kids were stupid and I wasn't on my A game.

Never happens again.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (x3YFz)

294 Catch-22 is really a string of jokes. That's how he wrote it, actually. He would write down jokes on notecards and put them into big long notecard-drawers. Ultimately he strung them together (this is part of the reason the narrative is so fractured). There are some jokes I just love. Yossarian tells Clevinger, who's up for a court martial for attempting to be too good of a soldier, that his conviction is guaranteed, and there is no chance he'll be found innocent. ..'You haven't got a chance kid,' he had told him glumly.'They hate Jews.' 'But I'm not Jewish,' answered Clevinger. 'It will make no difference,' Yossarian promised, and Yossarian was right.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (/FnUH)

295

1984 is the only one I've read. Tried to read Moby Dick, but just could not get into it.

A bit OT, but since Atlas Shrugged was on the list, I recall once seeing Ayn Rand as the sole guest on the Phil Donahue TV show. This was years ago, not long before she passed. What I really found hilarious about the whole thing was there here was uber-Commie Donahue with the uber-Queen of Libertarianism on his show....and he handled her with absolute kid gloves. Nothing but softball questions and here's why. Even Donahue knew that, intellectually, Rand was so far above him he barely extruded on her plane of consciousness, and that if he asked her one of his usual leftie bromide questions she would logically rip him fourteen new assholes, to the point he'd be wearing a paper bag over his head out of shame for the next six months. I kept hoping he would do it, just to see her tear him up, but he wussed out...

Posted by: The Oort Cloud at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (NKoXJ)

296 OK, which of you morons took out Tropic of Cancer from the NY Public Library and never returned it

Posted by: Mr Bookman at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (aTXUx)

297

How can I help it if you pussy Americans cannot understand our depth of thought.

Sincerely, Feodor.

The Devils or The Possessed or The Demons is literally one of the best books ever attacking the leftist, socialist freaks.

In the 1930s some communist party officials were reading it in secret, on fears they would be denounced as that particular work was banned, and they asked themselves, astounded, how could he know these things.

F.D. was truly a prophet in his time, aside from his xenophobia. He essentially hated anything not Russian.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (tVTLU)

298 it has one of my top ten first lines of all times (Tale of Two Cities has another). Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 02:59 PM (F58x4) *** It was a dark and stormy night?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 11:02 AM (g4TxM)

299 I like V and the Crying of Lot 29 by Pynchon.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 03, 2014 11:03 AM (NRYdU)

300 I voluntarily took Russian lit in college as a science major. I liked what we read altho it's been eons now.

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 11:03 AM (zDsvJ)

301 "Gravity's Rainbow." What a waste of good trees.

Posted by: Hurricane LaFawnduh at February 03, 2014 11:03 AM (pginn)

302 I really enjoyed catch-22 a couple of times. ever since I read about joseph heller, I read an article that said he was a complete ass, I have liked it less.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:03 AM (rDidD)

303 "I can't believe you missed the part with the virgin and the volcano. It really was central to the plot. Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at February 03, 2014 02:56 PM (eHIJJ) " Was that before or after Joe Moby was diagnosed with brain cloud syndrome? I can't remember.

Posted by: NotCoach's knows he can get the job, but can he do the job at February 03, 2014 11:03 AM (rsudF)

304 283 Books that will revoke your Man Card if you ever tell anyone you read them... When I was a kid I had to sneak-read my little sister's Little House books to avoid the ridicule of my friends. I liked the parts about frontier living. The books weren't like the TV show. People got attacked by bears, and Indians and stuff in the books. I just read the good parts.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:03 AM (7ObY1)

305 For pure enjoyment of the English language and light reading, Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories are a favorite of mine.

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 02:59 PM (zDsvJ)

I've been meaning to read those for some time. I really enjoyed the Laurie/Fry series from the 90s

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 11:03 AM (1Jaio)

306 By the time I got around to reading Walden's Pond it was not much more than a puddle. Damn you global warmening!!!

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 11:04 AM (ndIek)

307 The Old Italian Man in the whorehouse is one of my favorite characters in literature.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:04 AM (hmCj2)

308 I consider myself well-read, but there were only two that I have read all the way through. I have not read half of that list at all, and the other three I have only read parts of.

Posted by: Norcross at February 03, 2014 11:04 AM (tmDTL)

309 I repeat my earlier nomination of any of Stephen Hawking's pop science book as bought but unread by most people.

Posted by: alexthechick - Come to us, oh mighty SMOD at February 03, 2014 02:53 PM (VtjlW)

=====================

I not only read, I understood it. I will say that I'm glad he left out the higher order mathematics. Even my grad math classes didn't prepare me for that shit.

Posted by: physics geek at February 03, 2014 11:04 AM (MT22W)

310 I actually had a good hs & a good liberal arts college (Eckerd). I've read all of them except for Wealth of Nations and Democracy in America. Ulysses is rough to get through, but I had a great teacher lead us through it. Still needed all her notes to understand what the hay was going on . I skim through Atlas Shrugged about once every 2 or 3 years.

Posted by: McDirty at February 03, 2014 11:04 AM (x1YP9)

311 "A Soldier of the Great War," by Helprin. Takes just a little patience to get into it, but you are richly rewarded. Do you detect a trend here?

Posted by: Hurricane LaFawnduh at February 03, 2014 11:04 AM (pginn)

312 >>Agree that Russian writing is unbearable. Had to read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in high school. Remember almost nothing other than a feel of wanting to open a vein just thinking about it.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 11:04 AM (g1DWB)

313

275 -

I took a Russian Lit in Translation course in college, and some of the stuff we read was really entertaining. Helps if you have a Russian dude explaining it as you go along, and he also happened to be the stand-up comedian Yakoff Smirnoff wishes he was.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 11:05 AM (TOk1P)

314 wouk's books were good.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:05 AM (rDidD)

315 it has one of my top ten first lines of all times (Tale of Two Cities has another). Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 02:59 PM (F58x4) *** It was a dark and stormy night? "Dear Penthouse Forums......"

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 11:05 AM (ndIek)

316 it has one of my top ten first lines of all times (Tale of Two Cities has another).
Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 02:59 PM (F58x4)

***

It was a dark and stormy night?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 03:02 PM (g4TxM)

I never thought this would happen to me. I was delivering pizza...

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 11:05 AM (1Jaio)

317 How can you not like A Christmas Carol?

Scrooge.

I guess I should've specified that his novels suck. A Christmas Carol was alright because it was more of a short story.

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 03, 2014 11:05 AM (SY2Kh)

318 I had to read "The Dubliners" in high school and I thought it was the stupidest most pointless piece of crap. I reread it 15 years later, and when you've actually met a few thousand people, you recognize it as a good collection of pieces about ordinary people totally misunderstanding each other.

Posted by: Chris Balsz at February 03, 2014 11:05 AM (5xmd7)

319 >>>I had a friend who lied about having owned a certain variety of italian sports car; at a cocktail party. he was unaware the doors opened upwards. awkward. when I was very young I got caught lying about having seen an R-rated movie everyone was talking about. My lie, and then being called out on it and being accused, accurately, of only knowing what was in the trailer, was quite the scandal in my elementary school. God, what a horrible thing. Seriously, it's a terrible feeling to be caught out like that. Deathly embarrassing.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 11:05 AM (/FnUH)

320 Um, "The Lord of the Rings."

Read it every time I made a crossing of the Atlantic.

Posted by: A Balrog of Morgoth at February 03, 2014 11:06 AM (Q9qpj)

321 Anyone who has worked in medicine can identify with that scene in Catch 22 where he is patching up the guy and thinking he is saving him and then realizing that the just put a bandaid on a guy who's guts are falling out.

Posted by: Judge Pug at February 03, 2014 11:06 AM (NRYdU)

322 There are 5 (in order):
The Three Musketeers
Twenty Years After
Ten Years After
Louise De La Valliere
The Man in the Iron Mask

You are correct. I stand corrected.

They have been dissected and packaged in various combinations over the years. I think some of the notes in the Gutenberg Project versions say that Louise and Iron Mask were occasionally one volume. I think that's where I got the "4" from.

And Louise was a silly little twit. Largely a victim of circumstance, but she destroyed that poor boy.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 11:06 AM (/29Nl)

323 "Crime and Matzohballs" "The Matzoh of Casterbridge" ... strangely, never read more than the first 1/3, as by then I had finished them ...

Posted by: Arbalest at February 03, 2014 11:06 AM (FlRtG)

324
I can't stand 100% of all Russian writers.
Posted by: Vic

"My dog eats peanuts." Still remember that.

Suck it Mr. Chekhov.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 11:06 AM (kdS6q)

325
when I was very young I got caught lying about having seen an R-rated movie everyone was talking about.

My lie, and then being called out on it and being accused, accurately, of only knowing what was in the trailer, was quite the scandal in my elementary school.

God, what a horrible thing. Seriously, it's a terrible feeling to be caught out like that. Deathly embarrassing.

The part about the volcano?

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 11:06 AM (GQ8sn)

326 Little Women

I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them.

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 03:00 PM (aTXUx)

The best thing about Little Women is the exchange its used in an episode of Get Smart.

Maxwell Smart to agent for secret pass phrase: Who wrote Little Women?

Agent: The book or the screenplay?

Maxwell Smart: There was a book?

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 11:07 AM (m2CN7)

327 If you've never read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", put it on your list You'll discover that it can happen again. Here

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 11:07 AM (aTXUx)

328 I don't think "Wuthering Heights" is particularly a chick lit book aside from having a "romance" in it.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:07 AM (7kkQJ)

329 Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 03:05 PM (ndIek) You should have continued: "I never believed this would happen to me..."

Posted by: Hurricane LaFawnduh at February 03, 2014 11:07 AM (pginn)

330 Unread Book:

"Ethics"

Posted by: Harry Reid at February 03, 2014 11:07 AM (Q9qpj)

331 House Of Leaves was da bomb. His sister is the musician Poe btw and her CD 'haunted' is the companion to the book

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (iQxYV)

332 '...Gatsby' needs honorable mention on the shitty book list.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (hmCj2)

333 "The Lord of the Rings." =================== Great storyline, not well-written in the literary sense.

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (KgN8K)

334 Oh...!

And the Robert Jordan fantasy fiction novels....

/eyeroll

Lesson in how to not ever close a sub-plot. He sucked me into the first 3 1000 page tomes and then my dim bulb began to glow.

Colossal waste of time. Fantasy fiction? Go with Alastair Reynolds (AtC would love it), Davide Gemmell (30+ books) or Brandon Sanderson. Great storytellers, all.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (x3YFz)

335 Another rec: Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey stories. I tend to gravitate toward short stories or poetry these days. Or serial novels like those Janet Evanovich or Hillerman mysteries. I think I'm too spotty in my reading habits to wade through a long novel. I'd Lose track.

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (zDsvJ)

336 I don't think this is a good list. A lot of them are things people claim to have read in college - not claim to have read just because they wanted to.

Made a valiant effort at Moby Dick a few years ago, but did not complete it. Some people swear its an enjoyable read. Did not seem that way to me.

"Read" The Prince in college. Probably actually read about 15% of it - cliff noted the rest. Nobody reads this on their own - this is a poly-sci or philosophy class requirement that most people cliff note their way through.

Did read 1984 and enjoyed it. Was actually a good book.

Attempted A Tale of Two Cities, but couldn't get into it (wanted to read it because the opening quote is so great, I assumed the rest would be as well). I have read and enjoyed other Dickens stuff.

Attempted Atlas Shrugged, but it was horrifically boring. One of those I wish I could enjoy, but it is not a good read. I think only libertarians and conservatives claim to have read this.

Are there really a lot of people out there claiming to have read On the Origin of Species, The Wealth of Nations, or Democracy in America? I don't think I've ever encountered a real person who claimed to have read any of those. Probably only in blog comments when someone is trying to establish credibility for an argument - "I read Adam Smith" or "I read Darwin" blah, blah. I never run into anyone socially who claims to have read any of these.

Ulysses is English lit. Not sure anyone ever read it for fun.

Of this list, I think The Art of War is really the only one that a large cross-section of people claim to have read.

Posted by: Monkeytoe at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (sOx93)

337 What if you are forced to read one of those books for a grade? Special dispensation. You have to do what you have to do when in the belly of the beast....

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (ndIek)

338 You'll have to read them to find out what's in them.

Posted by: Nancy Pelosi at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (Q9qpj)

339 Books that will revoke your Man Card if you ever tell anyone you read them...

Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Little Women

I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them.

=================================

All. Five. ::hands in card::

Posted by: physics geek at February 03, 2014 11:08 AM (MT22W)

340 I read Atlas Shrugged an A Tale of Two Cities in high school, The Prince and The Wealth of Nations in college, and Les Miserables a year ago. My "Moby Dick" that I did not read until I was in my 40s is Gone With The Wind. A truly great novel.

Posted by: rockmom at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (vE1mx)

341 And you still haven't read them all? Posted by: WalrusRex

I figure I can knock off Sun Tzu sitting on the can. OofS has been on my shelf for awhile, but I just haven't gotten to it because it does have some rather significant scientific holes now. Try reading Darwin's Doubt to see wht they are.

I'd rather stick a rabid badger up my backside then open Ulysses again.

Posted by: pep at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (6TB1Z)

342 3/8 -not too bad, for a public HS head, I guess. Art of War, 1984, Moby Dick. All by choice. I have a large collection of classics inherited from granddad that I know includes Ulysses & probably The Prince. And I'll admit to buying Atlas Shrugged because I'm supposed to read it, but I found it hard to even get started, so I put it down. I'll get around to it. Pretty sure I got a little more than halfway through War and Peace, too.

Posted by: shredded chi - cereal killer at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (KmwZx)

343 Gatsby's symbolism was about as subtle as Miley's twerking.

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (zDsvJ)

344 >>>There are 5 (in order): The Three Musketeers Twenty Years After Ten Years After Louise De La Valliere The Man in the Iron Mask you are sort of right, they are often published that way. But it is my understanding that the last three volumes are actually all the same book. Due to its huge length, and separable stories, it is published often as three, but the three last books are really one huge novel.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (/FnUH)

345 when I was very young I got caught lying about having seen an R-rated movie everyone was talking about. My lie, and then being called out on it and being accused, accurately, of only knowing what was in the trailer, was quite the scandal in my elementary school. God, what a horrible thing. Seriously, it's a terrible feeling to be caught out like that. Deathly embarrassing. Yeah, I don't know how Debbie Wasserman-Shultz does it. She's lying, everyone knows she's lying, but there she is, doing it badly, and apparently without shame or remorse. Under a wig covered in mayonnaise.

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/i][/b][/s][/s] at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (8ifMA)

346 I've read a whole bunch of articles about books ( written by credentialed liberals no doubt) that argued that Ulysses is a very important book that I simply must read. I couldn't get past the first few pages.... I tried to read that shit twice..... I need a drink just thinking about the suckitude of that book... Kudos to the folks that have been able to read it... I'm sure it must have something worthwhile to say somewhere inside the covers... maybe.....

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (B/3gr)

347 The best part about that list of 10 books is it contains 11 books. I've read 7 of them and own other 4. I will probably never read the other 4.

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (yvS8H)

348 Great storyline, not well-written in the literary sense.

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 03:08 PM (KgN8K)

Heresy

Posted by: A Balrog of Morgoth at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (Q9qpj)

349 Law school about cured me of reading for fun.

Posted by: NCKate at February 03, 2014 11:09 AM (Eed4A)

350 US Markets are down, supposedly because of a disappointing factory report. Whatever. Gold is up. Oil is down. Friday the Jan Jobs report is due. Expected are 185K.

Posted by: soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:10 AM (51dat)

351 327 If you've never read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", put it on your list

You'll discover that it can happen again. Here

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 03:07 PM (aTXUx)

It's upstairs on the bookshelf. Haven't gotten to it yet.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:10 AM (x3YFz)

352
I repeat my earlier nomination of any of Stephen Hawking's pop science book as bought but unread by most people.
Posted by: alexthechick

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid - Hofstadter

Bestselling doorstop.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 11:10 AM (kdS6q)

353 Sometimes. But mostly my guys were reading Louis L'Amour novels in the field. Oh, and Hustler. "For the articles" Posted by: Sean Bannion at February 03, 2014 02:58 PM (6T8Ay) Trust me... the LAST thing a Junior Officer wanted around, was an educated NCO.... as the only thing that defines the Officer class from the NCO class historically, is edumacation... Quoting Napoleon... or Sun Tzu... as an NCO was a No No... Back in the 80's there was a 'Computer simulation' for Navy Officers called Nav Tag... Red/Blue forces... REAL data... and you would use 'Teams' ... the team of ET1 (me) and EW1 (a friend) went undefeated for so long the Officers decided we should not participate anymore...

Posted by: Romeo13 at February 03, 2014 11:10 AM (84gbM)

354 "Great storyline, not well-written in the literary sense. Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 03:08 PM (KgN8K) " The Hobbit is a good book of almost pure joy, unlike the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's a shame Jakass ruined the book.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 11:10 AM (rsudF)

355 "How to win an Election."

Posted by: Rick Wilson, GOP Media Person AKA cognitive engineer AKA journalists' cum bucket at February 03, 2014 11:10 AM (Q9qpj)

356 Heresy ========== Not at all. Maybe you're not widely read?

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 11:11 AM (KgN8K)

357 I've read all of six of those titles and parts of a seventh. I made a point of getting my own copies of 'The Prince' and 'The Art Of War', which I still have.

Posted by: S J Lewis at February 03, 2014 11:11 AM (syKTh)

358 288 I don't know how you can not like Catch-22. - It can be difficult because it is not only not chronological but a paragraph, or even a sentence, will stay talking about one thing and end talking about another. It all makes sense in the end. It's kinda like riding a bronco, you just got to grab on and hold on.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 11:11 AM (MhhTC)

359 Posted by: Ace at 02:25 PM ...the one book he'd bring to a desert island if he had only one choice... *** I'm thinking the unabridged version of either Pilgrim's Progress or Les Miserables- With that many pages I could build a giant paper raft and get off the island.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 11:11 AM (g4TxM)

360 339 Those are movies no man can get through without falling asleep.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:11 AM (6bMeY)

361 I think nietzsche is overrated. I liked him quite a lot my first run through, and I would agree with lots who say that he is one of the most important philosophers; I have heard some say since socrates. but he is ultimately kinda useless. he is interesting but no one wants to live in his world.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (rDidD)

362 282 For pure enjoyment of the English language and light reading, Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories are a favorite of mine. Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 02:59 PM (zDsvJ) The Essential P. G. Wodehouse Collection (96 works) $2.99 on Amazon for the Kindle http://tinyurl.com/k8e2slf

Posted by: [/i][/b][/u][/s] Tami at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (bCEmE)

363

327 -

Yup. Have you read "Collapse of the Third Republic?"

Another Shirer book well worth reading, and some lessons we're probably going to learn first-hand, if not exactly the same way.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (TOk1P)

364 I got caught out lying, about having seen a midget in real life, when I was 6 or 7. I was in the car with my parents and siblings. (Who I had never really been anywhere, without, at that point in my life.) Mid panic, I looked out the window and there was a fucking midget! He was walking down the median of the Highway (Rte 22) picking up cans... no shit. 'Right there!', I said and pointed to him. The Universe is a strange place.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (jPete)

365 Due to its huge length, "Ten Years Later: the Vicomte de Bragelonn," is sometimes published as three, four, or even five (!!!) volumes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vicomte_of_Bragelonne:_Ten_Years_Later

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (/FnUH)

366 Have you guys read any books by Alexandree Dumbass?

Posted by: Heywood at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (aTXUx)

367 "All About Rhoda" by Peggy Hertz from Scholastic Press, 1975 Changed my life. http://www.amazon.com/All-about-Rhoda-Peggy-Herz/dp/B0006YQSCE

Posted by: --- at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (MMC8r)

368 US Markets are down, supposedly because of a disappointing factory report.
Whatever. Gold is up. Oil is down.

Friday the Jan Jobs report is due. Expected are 185K.

Posted by: soothsayer at February 03, 2014 03:10 PM (51dat)

The weather: Get ready to blame me when it's much lower than expected

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (1Jaio)

369 On the subject of Dumas, the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo is also lengthy, but the buildup is worth it.

The movie is great because you get the feel for it, but it does have a hurried payoff, necessarily.

The book is great because he slowly and excruciatingly RUINS everyone who ever dared fuck with him.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (/29Nl)

370 "Three ways to be a good steward of the taxpayer's money"

Posted by: Mooch at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (pginn)

371 BTW, The Fountainhead is WAY better than Atlas Shrugged. I've read all of Ayn Rand's books and even subscribed to her newsletter in college. How many here have read all the Tolkien books I wonder?

Posted by: rockmom at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (vE1mx)

372 Holy awesome Hash!

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:12 AM (jPete)

373 If anyone like military/sea novels and the old English style of writing I highly recommend the Patrick O'Brian Jack Aubrey series. If you don't care about the sea and/or don't know or want to know nautical terms these books are not for you. But if you do they are a fantastic read.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (g1DWB)

374

I read 1984 back in 1984, I had to read Wealth of Nations for my undergraduate degree, and I read both The Prince and The Art of War. I tried Atlas Shrugged but couldn't get through it, and I also tried Moby Dick but was disinterested after it went on for pages and pages about the intricacies of whaling.

Never cracked open the others.

Posted by: @JohnTant at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (eytER)

375 "We need a Crappy Famous Books list"

_The Wretched Of The Earth_ by Fanon.

A "progressive" classic.

BTW, on the original list, 8/10. Haven't read Victor Hugo. Found _Ulysses_ incomprehensible and quit a quarter of the way through.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (gqT4g)

376 I think nietzsche is overrated. Everything he says sounds like The Sphinx from 'Mystery Men.'

Posted by: --- at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (MMC8r)

377 The Hobbit is a good book of almost pure joy ==================== I can agree with that assessment. His writing could be very labored and inelegant to the point it removed the reader from the world he wanted to immerse them in. But the Hobbit handled that fairly well.

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (KgN8K)

378 And I'll admit to buying Atlas Shrugged because I'm supposed to read it, but I found it hard to even get started, so I put it down. I'll get around to it.
Pretty sure I got a little more than halfway through War and Peace, too.

Posted by: shredded chi - cereal killer at February 03, 2014 03:09 PM (KmwZx)

Atlas shrugged was unreadable to me. Boring.

I got the gist of it after the first 60 pages. No mystery, no twists, just the same theme over and over.

Maybe it's because I'm conservative that it's pretty much just telling me things I already know, in a not-very-entertaining fashion.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (x3YFz)

379 Damn. I guess we're getting an early book thread this week.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (JAD5c)

380 actually my one book for the island would be the BSA Fieldbook.

Posted by: Chris Balsz at February 03, 2014 11:13 AM (5xmd7)

381

Apparently one of the best works ever on capital punishment is by Victor Hugo.

Feodor Dostoevsky was condemned to death and literally put in line to eventually go before a firing squad so he would know how it feels to be condemned to death. He was moved beyond comparison by Hugo's work.

Some French title.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (tVTLU)

382 "Rumpole of the Bailey" stories are great. I think I've read all of them several times.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (7kkQJ)

383 There's a midget that works at my Starbucks. I feel bad every time I order a tall.

Posted by: NCKate at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (Eed4A)

384 Kinsley's trick with the coupon isn't definitive as $5 bucks isn't much of an incentive. Plus who knows if it didn't just fall out of the book.

Not something too base an opinion on but then Michael Kinsley's a bit shallow anyway.

Better to have put a $500 buck coupon and to have secured it to the book better. With tracking and a survey for those cashing it in.

I have to admit there's a number there I haven't read read. (some I've scanned or skipped rather than read word for word such as The Prince and The Art of War)

Tried to read Atlas Shrugged but it's just too ponderous.
Read Moby Dick when young.
Not interested in Les Miserables (f'ing Frogs)

and so on and so forth.

I won't lie about having read or not read a book though. If someone believes that qualifies or disqualifies me in some way, then I don't care for their opinion anyway.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (13th Level SoCon) at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (LSDdO)

385 371 I read all of the Tolkien. Much wasn't very good.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (6bMeY)

386 I read 1984 (in high school at first), and re-read it every now and then -- sadly it seems that the Obama Administration either read it and thought it was a how-to book, or read it and completely misunderstood it.

Read the Art of War, actually picked this up in NYC from a street vendor in 1999, saw the title, knew it was "famous," and read it. I was amazed at how distilled the idea was, not really tactics but far more basic, a treatise on how to lead and fight (and not fight, as the review says).

I read SOME of the Prince, enough to get by.

I read Ulysses because in high school and college (and still) I was a mythology nut. It nearly killed me, but I read it

Posted by: acethepug at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (6RjxM)

387 10 Tips To Be A Great Dad

Posted by: Woody Allen at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (51dat)

388 There's a midget that works at my Starbucks. I feel bad every time I order a tall.

Posted by: NCKate at February 03, 2014 03:14 PM (Eed4A)

LOL!!!!

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 11:14 AM (GQ8sn)

389

I recall once seeing Ayn Rand as the sole guest on the Phil Donahue TV show. This was years ago, not long before she passed. What I really found hilarious about the whole thing was there here was uber-Commie Donahue with the uber-Queen of Libertarianism on his show....and he handled her with absolute kid gloves

Saw the same thing when Milton Friedman was on Donahue. Phil was afraid to challenge him on any point. Even as batshit crazy as Donahue was, he at least let his guests speak...you'll never see a libtard host allow that nowadays.

Posted by: Icedog at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (wFGr5)

390 OK gotta go pick up the kid later all

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (KgN8K)

391 At least you didn't order the "short"!

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (GQ8sn)

392 One branch of literature I've never liked, ever. Poetry. What a waste of good reading time.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (ZDqnR)

393 "We need a Crappy Famous Books list"

Oh, and _I, Rigoberta Menchu_.

The creme de la crap.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (gqT4g)

394 Order a Venti.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (6bMeY)

395 Student 1: Do you like Wuthering Heights? Student 2: I don't know. I've never wuthered a height.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (g4TxM)

396 4 out of 10 - Tried to read Victor Hugo - but he sucked. Same deal with Dickens. Tried to read Darwin, but fell asleep.

Posted by: Chaos the other dark meat at February 03, 2014 11:15 AM (oDCMR)

397 Kicking The Habit: How I Got Off Drugs

Posted by: Philip Seymour Hoffman at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (51dat)

398 >>>It can be difficult because it is not only not chronological but a paragraph, or even a sentence, will stay talking about one thing and end talking about another. It all makes sense in the end. It's kinda like riding a bronco, you just got to grab on and hold on. one thing about it is that he keeps introducing new premises and new characters and flashing forward and back in the timeline for the first 100 pages. Actually, he does this throughout the book, but it's the first 60-100 pages when this poses a challenge to a new reader, who winds up being confused, and unable to follow the chronology (I think someone proved that the chronology is in fact filled with errors, with heller claiming some events took place before others, but then sometimes saying they were after, etc.). However, around page 60 or somewhere before 100, you get the basic cast of it, and the basic rough idea of the chronology, sort of, and the reader is then able to make sense (pretty much) of it, and at that point it just becomes funny. So as Walrus says: Yeah, stick with it through the first 60-100 pages. These will be confusing and disjointed. At the end of this part of the book, you will understand the basics of it and the chronology will not bother you anymore, and you'll like learning more about the 50+ characters he introduces.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (/FnUH)

399 I don't think "Wuthering Heights" is particularly a chick lit book aside from having a "romance" in it. Posted by: FenelonSpoke Gawd, I hated this book. Read it last year. Truly hateful characters, who are miserable with and without each other and are determined to make everyone else in their lives as unhappy as they are. I wish it had ended with zombies eating everyone. The movie's just as bad.

Posted by: Hobbitopoly at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (fk1A8)

400 Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid - Hofstadter Bestselling doorstop. Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 03:10 PM (kdS6q) LOVED that book in college. Just bought it for my son for Christmas. He doesn't have a TV and he loves Bach. But I doubt he will read it.

Posted by: rockmom at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (vE1mx)

401 "We need a Crappy Famous Books list"

Oh, and _I, Rigoberta Menchu_.

The creme de la crap.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 03, 2014 03:15 PM (gqT4g)

Lock the thread; we've got a winner.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (zjT4v)

402 359 Posted by: Ace at 02:25 PM

...the one book he'd bring to a desert island if he had only one choice...

Hitchhikers Guide. Hands down.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (x3YFz)

403 OK gotta go pick up the kid later all Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 03:15 PM (KgN8K) **** Can you drop off my groundhog while you're there?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (g4TxM)

404 I've tried to read Moby Dick multiple times at this point and have not been able to slog through it yet. Goes to the bottom of the book pile which due to Netflix keeps getting taller.

Did 1984, The Art of War, and Atlas Shrugged.

Posted by: H Badger at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (n/0Nw)

405 "How many here have read all the Tolkien books I wonder? Posted by: rockmom at February 03, 2014 03:12 PM (vE1mx) " Qualify "all". I think many have read the Hobbit, and fewer have slogged through the Lord of the Rings. I've read both. But what else qualifies as Tolkien? I'm not sure I'd count The Silmarillion.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (rsudF)

406
I need to rent the movie so I can talk about it in book club to impress the hot chick.

Posted by: George Constanza at February 03, 2014 11:16 AM (n0DEs)

407 "Rumpole of the Bailey" stories are great. I think I've read all of them several times.

I met John Mortimer at a bar function in London in 2008. I love Rumpole of the Bailey.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 11:17 AM (8ZskC)

408 There's a midget that works at my Starbucks. I feel bad every time I order a tall. There's a Tranny at a local Pizza place... there's always more than a few slices of 'Sausage' available when it's there.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:17 AM (jPete)

409 All of Hemingway's books are lied about fairly consistently.

"Ah, Hemingway."

Posted by: Fritz at February 03, 2014 11:17 AM (UzPAd)

410 >>One branch of literature I've never liked, ever. Poetry. What a waste of good reading time.

You haven't found the right poet.

Posted by: kartoffel at February 03, 2014 11:17 AM (07vvi)

411 Even today, when I'm teaching my students and say "bring a towel" I get nods.

It's a classic.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:17 AM (x3YFz)

412

15 If you say you read all of Ayn Rand's book you are a LIAR!!

Not only have I read them all, I did a research paper on them.

When I was a senior in high school.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, TX (@Teresa_Koch) at February 03, 2014 11:17 AM (PZ6/M)

413 my nomination for worst ever book is A Theory of Justice by rawls.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:17 AM (rDidD)

414 Long books but fast reads I recommend ... By James Michener; Centennial Chesapeake Texas By Herman Wouk Winds of War War and Remembrance

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 11:18 AM (aTXUx)

415 Ah, Bach.

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 11:18 AM (m2CN7)

416 406 "How many here have read all the Tolkien books I wonder?

Posted by: rockmom at February 03, 2014 03:12 PM (vE1mx) "

Qualify "all". I think many have read the Hobbit, and fewer have slogged through the Lord of the Rings. I've read both. But what else qualifies as Tolkien? I'm not sure I'd count The Silmarillion.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 03:16 PM (rsudF)

I've read the hobbit and the LoTR, worked my way through half the Silmarilion and fell asleep.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:18 AM (x3YFz)

417 People lie.
People lie about the books they read.
Very smart intellectual people lie about the books they read.

Why would anyone believe me if I were to say what books I've read?

Who cares?

At this point what difference does it make?

Posted by: Dingo 'bud' Duggers at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (GEy02)

418 Smith of Wooten Major and Farmer Giles of Ham even.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (6bMeY)

419 Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Little Women

I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them.

You don't need to read them. Half of PBS's programming is those books.

@311 Agree absolutely with Helprin's Soldier of the Great War. There is a scene near the beginning that brought me to tears.

I like Fenimore Cooper and really like LoftheM. What can I say?

@336 I read both Wealth of Nations and Democracy in America (both volumes). It can be done. WofN has a bit more description of barrels of herring than I'd like, but you take the good with the bad.

Posted by: pep at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (6TB1Z)

420 >>>Tolkien I think I've read them all. The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (yvS8H)

421 'Don't Panic' is the most important lesson any book has ever taught you.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (jPete)

422 when I was very young I got caught lying about having seen an R-rated movie everyone was talking about. My lie, and then being called out on it and being accused, accurately, of only knowing what was in the trailer, was quite the scandal in my elementary school. God, what a horrible thing. Seriously, it's a terrible feeling to be caught out like that. Deathly embarrassing. Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 03:05 PM (/FnUH) ********** Porky's Revenge?

Posted by: Teleprompter Feed Crew at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (RJMhd)

423 I could not get through the Silmarillion. Haven't tried in ages. I think an author who creates worlds and races and languages and unveils them through a great story is a rare thing. He makes MiddleEarth real while getting on with an interesting story. So to me LoTR is a great book that stands the test of time. Beautiful lyrical writing. I can read it in a couple of days.

Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (zDsvJ)

424

Betty had eyes that said come here, lips that said kiss me, arms and torso that said hold me all night long, but the rest of her body said, Â“Fillet me, cover me in cornmeal, and fry me in peanut oilÂ”; romance wasnÂ’t easy for a mermaid.

I don't know where to take the rest of the book though.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at February 03, 2014 11:19 AM (jucos)

425 "...the one book he'd bring to a desert island if he had only one choice..."

U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Handbook.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 03, 2014 11:20 AM (gqT4g)

426 >>my nomination for worst ever book is A Theory of Justice by rawls.

Seconding for worst "philosophy" work ever. I had never read one before that that made me want to find the author and feed him his book.

Posted by: kartoffel at February 03, 2014 11:20 AM (07vvi)

427 when I was very young I got caught lying about having seen an R-rated movie everyone was talking about. My lie, and then being called out on it and being accused, accurately, of only knowing what was in the trailer, was quite the scandal in my elementary school. God, what a horrible thing. Seriously, it's a terrible feeling to be caught out like that. Deathly embarrassing. Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 03:05 PM (/FnUH) The volcano tripped you up huh?

Posted by: [/i][/b][/u][/s] Tami at February 03, 2014 11:20 AM (bCEmE)

428 "Ah, Hemingway."

Posted by: Fritz at February 03, 2014 03:17 PM (UzPAd)

I fell in love with Hemingway when I was in high school and read everything he wrote.

His short stories are often marvelous, but he wrote some mediocre novels, and his nonfiction is pompous and self-absorbed.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:21 AM (QFxY5)

429 "Better Put Some Ice on That: The Autobiography of Bill Clinton"

Posted by: --- at February 03, 2014 11:21 AM (MMC8r)

430 M. Stanton Evans' book on McCarthy, "Blacklisted" is great, but you have to get past his writing style.

statement, comma, clause, comma, statement.

Every danged sentence. Gets really annoying.

But well researched and informative.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:21 AM (x3YFz)

431 >>Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility
Little Women

I finally got around to reading Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights a few years ago and...yeah, no idea why chicks love these books.

However, I love all of Jane Austen's books.

Posted by: bar at February 03, 2014 11:21 AM (POpqt)

432 Lord Jim was the most boring book I suffered through.

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:21 AM (51dat)

433 I can't reread Tolkein , anymore. The movies ruined them for me. Completely. I used to go through them every other year or so...now I can't not see the characters from the films.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:21 AM (jPete)

434 I've read six of the books, a couple of them more than once (Atlas Shrugged, 1984), and have read parts of two more. I read Moby Dick when I was about seven years old (it was about a whale, so it had to be neat). I started Ulysses a couple of times and could never get more than a few pages into it. Got about halfway through Les Mis but lost interest in the tedious plot. Have read War and Peace twice, though. I generally read 100 plus books a year.

Posted by: Ruthless at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (rv3EA)

435 Green Eggs and Ham?

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (6bMeY)

436 I, Rigoberta Menchu is in a way, the story of Obama. A lying liar.

Posted by: Mainah at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (659DL)

437

Another on the list: Dreams of my Father.

I guess it's OK if someone lied about reading it, since the author lied about writing it.....

Posted by: @JohnTant at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (eytER)

438 Joyce wanted to challenge his audience.
Posted by: David

The least interesting motivation for any 'artist.' It's basically an ego trip wrapped in politics.

Posted by: weft cut-loop[/i] [/b] at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (cxs6V)

439 >>f you've never read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", put it on your list

That one is sitting on my kindle, and I have a friend's copy of "Hitlerland" that the lender *insisted* I read soon.

Posted by: bar at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (POpqt)

440 I haven't even tried to read Moby Dick or On the Origin of Species...after looking at a page or two... no reason to torture myself like I did with Ulysses and read more pages than necessary to realize the suckitude... Second the commenters that say you all need to read Brave New World and Animal Farm.... good stuff. I liked Heart of Darkness also, but can see it's not for everyone... The Man Who Would be King, The Mark of the Beast and some other Kipling short stories are worth the read in my opinion. Kipling is talked about quite often in articles etc. but is probably seldom read... except perhaps for the Jungle Books and Just So Stories...

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (B/3gr)

441 Catcher in the Rye: Two things. #1 it was assigned to my English class at an all girls Catholic school, but the nun teaching the class was afraid we might take the bad language out of context, so read it to us aloud. Poor woman sounded like she had Tourette's. #2 I watched the pbs documentary on Salinger. What an overrated creep. Preyed on young women, trying desperately to mold them, then dropped them immediately once they even hinted at asserting themselves. The documentary also brought up what a disproportionate number of homicidal maniacs worshipped the book. BTW, Philip Hoffman Seymour was one of the many stars praising the book and fawning over the pure genius of it. After gateways news, I couldn't help but wonder if his treasured copy was nearby.

Posted by: Auntie Doodles at February 03, 2014 11:22 AM (JcN7j)

442 Gawd, I hated this book. Read it last year. Truly hateful characters, who are miserable with and without each other and are determined to make everyone else in their lives as unhappy as they are. I wish it had ended with zombies eating everyone. The movie's just as bad. Yes, Catherine and Heathcliff are miserable, tempestuous narcissists. They're more like forces of nature than real humans. Cathy the daughter is o.k. The movies truncate the story by ignoring the second generation.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:23 AM (7kkQJ)

443 I think rather highly of Harlan Ellison's work. And so does he.

Posted by: --- at February 03, 2014 11:23 AM (MMC8r)

444 Some of Hemingway stuff really sucks. And his gun safety ain't nothing to write home about.

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:23 AM (yvS8H)

445 I've always thought you could just read Lowry's 'Under the Volcano' and skip Joyce and Fitzgerald, altogether.

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:23 AM (jPete)

446 I made a resolution a few years ago that I would start reading classics that everyone claims to have read. Most of the books on this list were on my list as well.

I've read Anthem and The Fountainhead, but haven't finished Atlas Shrugged. I have, however, watched part 1 and 2 of the movies.

I read 1984 while on vacation last year, because I was tired of having to lie about it. That same week I also read Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. It's was a natural fit, and quite scary.

Besides all of the French Revolution stuff, A Tale of Two Cities is one of the greatest love stories ever written. It took me foooorever to get into the book, but once I did I couldn't put it down. I immediately moved on to Great Expectations and haven't read anything else by Dickens since.

Moby Dick has been languishing on my shelf for 25 years or so, and I really mean to read it one day, I just haven't ever been able to make myself start it. I have no idea why.

I've managed to get about half way through Sun Tzu, but it's something I keep interrupting to read other things.

And I just downloaded everything else on the list into my Kindle account, so maybe over the next few years I can actually mark them all off my list of "To Be Read".

Posted by: Dennis at February 03, 2014 11:23 AM (QyGXG)

447

427 -

There is.... another. Another Tolkien book.

I forget what it's called, Something and Something. I bought it a few years ago, not having any idea what it was about. Opened it up... it's a poem.

I closed it, never to have opened it again.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 11:23 AM (TOk1P)

448 How could anyone read Atlas Shrugged more than once? It became ponderous halfway through and it was a test of will to finish it. Fountainhead was much better.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 11:23 AM (g1DWB)

449 Minus 2 1/2 for me. Surprised that Farenheit 451 and Animal Farm were not on the list.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 11:24 AM (aq5Dc)

450 I always wanted to read, "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire", but now I have decided I'll just watch it...in realtime.

Posted by: Icedog at February 03, 2014 11:24 AM (8VPPr)

451

She sipped her latte gracefully, unaware of the milk foam droplets building on her mustache, which was not the peachy-fine baby fuzz that Nordic girls might have, but a really dense, dark, hirsute lip-lining row of fur common to southern Mediterranean ladies nearing menopause, and winked at the obviously charmed Spaniard at the next table.

I don't know how to follow up on this opening line either.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (jucos)

452 My father has the great books of the western world collection. I always thought I should read through it but never got around to it.

http://tinyurl.com/nr3cj4k

Posted by: Buzzsaw at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (tf9Ne)

453 2, 3, 7 & 10 here...

Posted by: redc1c4 at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (q+fqH)

454 One of my favorites: "All Quiet on the Western Front".

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (ZDqnR)

455 #431, Agreed on Hemingway's novels. For the longest time, I thought it was me. I mean, everyone else agreed they were genius. But now I know it wasn't me. They just pretty much suck. But he's fun to parody. It was a cold and delicious day. The day was cold. And delicious. The girl was there and she was delicious. And cold. I wrapped her in an Indian blanket. Now she wasn't cold. But I was. Because she has my Indian blanket. But the girl was beautiful. And thinking about making love to her was beautiful. But getting my dick shot off in the war was not. Beautiful. I mean.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (7ObY1)

456 Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 03:23 PM (yvS8H)

In addition to reading everything he wrote, I read some biographies of him, and one of the reasons I fell out of love for his writing was the realization that Hemingway was a bit of a liar, and a world-class asshole.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (QFxY5)

457

The Charterhouse of Parma

That did suck. Which is funny because The Red and The Black was so excellent.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (aq5Dc)

458

I read all 10, but I am lying about 4.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (n0DEs)

459 Last week on air Beck said he was teaming up with hannity and levin and someone else whose name I can't remember. He admitted that this was an unusual move for him.

Now I'm listening to Dr. Savage claim that Hannity is trying to smear him and his good name. He's really really really angry and upset. He keeps referring to "that lawyer" so I'm wondering if he means Sean's friend who is still at the old network.

If you aren't listening, it's worth listening. Wondering if this is why Beck teamed up with that group? Why would they be doing this to Savage?

Posted by: think at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (Nx76m)

460

Posted by: Dennis at February 03, 2014 03:23 PM (QyGXG)

Daniel Pipes' books on Russian history 1800 -1917 are excellent.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:25 AM (x3YFz)

461 Little Women I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them. Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 03:00 PM (aTXUx) The best thing about Little Women is the exchange its used in an episode of Get Smart. Maxwell Smart to agent for secret pass phrase: Who wrote Little Women? Agent: The book or the screenplay? Maxwell Smart: There was a book? -------------------------------------- One of Maxwell Smart's other responses to "who wrote Little Women" was "Lonely Little Men."

Posted by: Adrienne at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (lVcuh)

462

450 -

Sigurd and Gudrun, is what it's called.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (TOk1P)

463 Authors here-Do not try this at home. Honore de Balzac apparently consumed up to 50 cups of coffee a day while writing up to seven hours at a stretch. He died at 51 or something. No doubt his coffee habits were not conducive to a long life.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (7kkQJ)

464 How many of us have seen The Godfather dozens of times but have never read the book by Mario Puzo I've read parts, never the whole book. I've always been meaning to

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (aTXUx)

465 >>>Catcher in the Rye That book did for literature what Jim Jones did for children's soft drinks.

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (yvS8H)

466 Keep current on amateur Czech porn and read books? I don't think so.

Posted by: jwest at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (u2a4R)

467 Jeebus. 400+ comments in an hour? On a Monday? Wow.

Anyways, I did read Moby Dick as an assigned book in high school. A thick slog. Same with Bartleby.

I guess I was one of those kids who was just not interested in novels at that age. I get a lot more out of them now...

Posted by: Vortex Lovera at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (wtvvX)

468 Eh I read about half of these.

Posted by: Lea at February 03, 2014 11:26 AM (/bd0t)

469 For Morons, you folks are the most well-read degenerates I've ever been arrested with.

(that's a compliment)

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:27 AM (x3YFz)

470 Oh, and Tale of Two Cities too...

Posted by: Vortex Lovera at February 03, 2014 11:27 AM (wtvvX)

471 The part of Atlas Shrugged where Dagny visits the factory that went broke trying to follow Progressive business practices was spot-on brilliant. The rest of it, not so much.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:27 AM (7ObY1)

472
One branch of literature I've never liked, ever. Poetry. What a waste of good reading time.
Posted by: Soona

I'm guessing at this point most of the poetry in the K-12 canon has been replaced by the "poetry" of song lyrics in order to be connect with kids, multi-cultural balance and so on.

I'd also guess plays are gone from the standard reading list, outside of the Spear Shaker. Used to read a lot of those in K-12, even if you weren't a fruity theater major.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 11:27 AM (kdS6q)

473 Savage is a troll.

Posted by: Bob's House of Flannel Shirts and Wallet Chains at February 03, 2014 11:27 AM (vgIRn)

474
1984 presents incontrovertible proof that George Orwell was a great essayist and a miserable novelist.

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 02:37 PM (KgN8K)

Perhaps. He wrote 1984 in a blur near the end of his life, in a desperate race against his eventual death from TB. Didn't help that he wrote it in a damp cottage on a windswept island in Scotland.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at February 03, 2014 11:27 AM (TIIx5)

475 Is Ace trying to tell us to go read a book?

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 11:28 AM (jPete)

476 I loved Little Women.

Posted by: Woody Allen at February 03, 2014 11:28 AM (6bMeY)

477 I read "Atlas Shrugged" about 20 years ago, and started reading it again last year (stopped after Dagny made it to Galt's Gulch). It's a chore, but damn did Rand have the Left/Socialists pegged.
I know it's an internet joke, but you could almost see how it's been used as a manual for Obama. I would recommend at least trying to read it if only to see such a strong rebuttal to all of the crap we're seeing today.

Posted by: Lizzy at February 03, 2014 11:28 AM (POpqt)

478 I don't read fiction all that much (or at all, really): 1984, The Art of War and The Prince.

Oh, wait-- 1984 *is* fiction? Huh.

BTW, the way to understand The Prince is as a work of satirical parody-- ol' Nick wasn't *advocating* being a dick, he was showcasing how being a dick can be successful in order to undermine said dicks (in favor of republican rule).

Related: I didn't learn this (in hindsight, obvious) take on the book until AFTER I graduated college. I hate my poli-sci professor for never explaining this to me, the book is soooo much better once you know this.

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at February 03, 2014 11:28 AM (JpC1K)

479 469 Keep current on amateur Czech porn and read books?

I don't think so.

Posted by: jwest at February 03, 2014 03:26 PM (u2a4R)

not the brightest bowling ball in the woodshed, are you?

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:28 AM (x3YFz)

480 Dr. Savage has a lot to teach. But this "feud" is unseemly.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 11:28 AM (tVTLU)

481 I always thought dickens tale of two cities was very prescient, I mean stpaul was called pigs eye when it was written.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:28 AM (rDidD)

482 I read The Sale of Two Titties. Does that count?

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 11:29 AM (aTXUx)

483 "that lawyer" is how Savage refers to Mark Levin, I think Hannity is "the leprechaun." Rush is "the golfer."

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:29 AM (51dat)

484 Lord Jim was the most boring book I suffered through.

The movie was just as good.

O'Toole showed me just how bad Lawrence of Arabia *could* have been.

Posted by: eleven at February 03, 2014 11:29 AM (KXm42)

485 'To Serve Man' by A. Kanamit

Posted by: Jeffrey Dahmer at February 03, 2014 11:29 AM (MMC8r)

486 Can I pick two instead? I just can't choose between the Quran and Mein Kampf.

Posted by: Barack Hussein Obama at February 03, 2014 11:29 AM (tv7DV)

487 I read probably 50% of my assignments in high school.

Completed: The Andromeda Strain, The Hobbit, Of Mice and Men, Great Expectations, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Lord of the Flies, various Shakespeare, To Kill a Mockingbird

Fucking ignored: The Good Earth, Hiroshima, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Tale of Two Cities, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby

There are others in both lists, but I was definitely trending toward avoiding teh stoopid. Except for Great Expectations. I wish I had blown that off.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 11:29 AM (/29Nl)

488 485 I read The Sale of Two Titties. Does that count? A Tale of Two Clitties is even better.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:29 AM (7ObY1)

489 Posted by: IllTemperedCur at February 03, 2014 03:27 PM (TIIx5)

He wrote a book called "Homage To Catalonia," about his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, and was pretty interesting.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (QFxY5)

490 Anyone ever read Don Coyote?

Posted by: guy who pretends he has read because he's smart not dumb like people say. at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (m2CN7)

491 is it ok that i hated Le M, but really loved Hugo's Man Who Laughed? I read all the others, but must admit that Moby Dick was a desultory slog for me with no joy in it. Strangely i found if you read Atlas Shrugged as three separate stories, its not a tough slog, my Grandfather gave it to me when i was thirteen and i ate it up. And Sun Tzu was the BEST. he and Machiavelli offer a very pragmatic guide to life and business if you are only willing to accept it.

then theres Dickens. damn i hate dickens. full stop.

Heart of Darkness is great. i recognize so much of kurtz in certain people. they perhaps would not be flattered.

I want to add Sartre's No Exit. That one is another that is so much about the nature of humans, love, and sin. It explains why people with conservative leanings stay liberal too.

Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch! at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (f858s)

492 483 Dr. Savage has a lot to teach. But this "feud" is unseemly.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 03:28 PM (tVTLU)

That was exactly my thought, what do you think is going on?

Posted by: think at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (Nx76m)

493 >>>All Quiet on the Western Front I finally read that in the last year or so. I highly recommend it. Very well done

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (yvS8H)

494
Never read it or even want to, but I always first read the title as Withering Heights.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (n0DEs)

495 I never read the book, and go straight to the comments.

Posted by: --- at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (MMC8r)

496 Not at all. Maybe you're not widely read?

Posted by: Bigby's Germy Hands at February 03, 2014 03:11 PM (KgN8K)

Maybe I was just playing off my nom-de-blog, but thank you for the gratuitous insult. Good grief.

Posted by: A Balrog of Morgoth at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (Q9qpj)

497 478 Is Ace trying to tell us to go read a book?

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 03:28 PM (jPete)

garrett, you cannot send me to the barrel for this because you walked right into it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlKL_EpnSp8

(NSFW, cussin)

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (x3YFz)

498 I'm guessing at this point most of the poetry in the K-12 canon has been replaced by the "poetry" of song lyrics in order to be connect with kids, multi-cultural balance and so on.

Out: Everything written before 1990 that rhymes
In: Tupac.

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (ZKzrr)

499 I've never read three of those, but have read excerpts from them many times. Being a broke kid before the age of the internet meant lots of reading time.

Posted by: Lincolntf at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (ZshNr)

500

My list of must-read novels:

1. Atlas Shrugged

2. Animal Farm

3. 1984

4. Farenheit 451

5. Starship Troopers

6. The Red and the Black, by Stendahl

7. The Secret Agent by Conrad

8. The Heart of Darkness, also

9. La Bete Humaine, by Zola

10. A Tale of Two Cities

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 11:30 AM (aq5Dc)

501 "Kipling is talked about quite often in articles etc. but is probably seldom read... except perhaps for the Jungle Books and Just So Stories..."

The Gods Of The Copybook Headings.

Posted by: torquewrench at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (gqT4g)

502 I loved Little Women.

Posted by: Woody Allen at February 03, 2014 03:28 PM (6bMeY)

____________________

You too?

Posted by: Roman Polanski at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (jucos)

503 Don Quixote was a groundhog.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (6bMeY)

504 I will say this much: my daughters are much more "literate" than I was at their age. In fact, the youngest one just won a writing competition Saturday that both of her sisters also won awards in.

They do NOT get that from me....

Posted by: Vortex Lovera at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (wtvvX)

505 Just from personal experience, I can expand that list. Mind you, I don't travel in what you would call "intellectual" circles by any means, but I 've heard obviously dubious claims of: Mein Kampf In Cold Blood Call of the Wild Walden (really?) and even Dutch

Posted by: shredded chi - cereal killer at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (KmwZx)

506

Posted by: think at February 03, 2014 03:25 PM (Nx76m)

------------

Hannity left his syndicator and they replaced him with Savage in my local market. After listening to Savage for a week or so, I've decided:

1) The man has a persecution complex;

2) He may be smart, but is problem is thinking everyone else is stupid;

5) Savage is working on this feud thing in a bid to get...something. Notoriety, credibility, something. But I think it's more business than personal.

Regardless, doubtful I'll listen to him any longer.

Posted by: @JohnTant at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (eytER)

507 I'll cop to only having read one in highschool: 1984. But I did read it. I read 1 maybe 2 pages from "The Voyage of the Beagle." Don't remember what it was though.

Posted by: tsrblke, PhD(c) (tablet) at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (a8eFL)

508 339 Books that will revoke your Man Card if you ever tell anyone you read them... Jane Eyre Wuthering Heights Pride and Prejudice Sense and Sensibility Little Women I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them. ================================= All. Five. ::hands in card:: ========================= All five, most several times. You'll only get my man card when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 11:31 AM (7ynIk)

509 personally, I like the readers digest condensed versions better.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:32 AM (rDidD)

510

think:

I don't know, but my view is that Savage should just ignore the whole thing and do what he does best, attack the left.

We have enough battles w/out attacking each other.

Posted by: prescient11 at February 03, 2014 11:32 AM (tVTLU)

511 I read "Atlas Shrugged" about 20 years ago, and started reading it again last year (stopped after Dagny made it to Galt's Gulch). It's a chore, but damn did Rand have the Left/Socialists pegged.
I know it's an internet joke, but you could almost see how it's been used as a manual for Obama. I would recommend at least trying to read it if only to see such a strong rebuttal to all of the crap we're seeing today.

Posted by: Lizzy at February 03, 2014 03:28 PM (POpqt)

----------------------------------------------

I found that many of the progressive statements used by so many un-Galted people in "Atlas Shrugged" are being used by the progressive movement today. Like, "for the good of the people".

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 11:32 AM (ZDqnR)

512 To quote a famous AoS Philosopher-Prince,

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as I keep saying, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

This describes my ability to avoid authors in possession of the Nobel Prize in Literature, as well as most of the books on this list. The only book on that list that I own is Tale Of Two Cities, and I've never finished it. I also have a copy of The Fountainhead by Rand which I have read twice.

Posted by: GnuBreed at February 03, 2014 11:32 AM (cHZB7)

513

Jesus, what crappy formatting. Let me try again:

--------------

Posted by: think at February 03, 2014 03:25 PM (Nx76m)

-----------

Hannity left his syndicator and they replaced him with Savage in my local market. After listening to Savage for a week or so, I've decided:

1) The man has a persecution complex;

2) He may be smart, but is problem is thinking everyone else is stupid;

5) Savage is working on this feud thing in a bid to get...something. Notoriety, credibility, something. But I think it's more business than personal.Regardless, doubtful I'll listen to him any longer.

Posted by: @JohnTant at February 03, 2014 11:32 AM (eytER)

514 Authors here-Do not try this at home. Honore de Balzac apparently consumed up to 50 cups of coffee a day while writing up to seven hours at a stretch. He died at 51 or something. No doubt his coffee habits were not conducive to a long life.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 03:26 PM (7kkQJ)

Just the opposite of the French author , Flaubert who wrote one page a week.

Posted by: guy who pretends he has read because he's smart not dumb like people say. at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (m2CN7)

515 Now I'm listening to Dr. Savage claim that Hannity is trying to smear him and his good name. He's really really really angry and upset.

When is Savage not really really angry and upset?

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (SY2Kh)

516 You bastards sure read a lot. I wish I had more time to read.I have a whole library of books that I lie about having read.

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (yvS8H)

517 Amazing how many of these are song titles or band names Ten Years After (band) Starship Trooper(s) - Yes 1984 - David Bowie The Red and the Black - Blue Oyster Cult Moby Dick - Led Zeppelin

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (7ObY1)

518

Read three and a half of the books on the list.

I've read Atlas Shrugged, The Prince, and Les Miserables. I've also read about half of Democracy in America. But for some reason I can't recall, I put it down and never picked it back up.

I need to fix that...

I should probably read 1984 one of these days, but I've always viewed the dystopia of Brave New World as a more likely outcome.

Posted by: junior at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (UWFpX)

519 I've also only read two of the books on the list. But one of them was 'Atlas Shrugged' and I've read it twice; that should give me credit for any FOUR of the others.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (FkH4y)

520 2) He may be smart, but is problem is thinking everyone else is stupid

Posted by: @JohnTant at February 03, 2014 03:31 PM (eytER)

Sounds like jwest.

Posted by: A Balrog of Morgoth at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (Q9qpj)

521 I loathe the novels of Hemingway. His short stories are slightly better.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:33 AM (7kkQJ)

522 Loved Adam Smith WofN, but the better book is David Ricardo's Princples of Political Economy and Taxation.

Posted by: Chaos the other dark meat at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (oDCMR)

523 Almost forgot... Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (7ObY1)

524 Can't believe nobody's mentioned Steinbeck yet. Reading one of his books is a treat. And also, Catcher in the Rye...not bad.

Posted by: Matticus at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (0Mr4u)

525 I've read half of them, for sure. Some I could care less about, like Ulysses. Atlas Shrugged I seem to remember picking up and saying "poorly written," and then putting down. But Smith, Macchiavelli, Tsu, Dickens, Orwell - I've read those cover to cover. Sun Tsu, as I recall, is more of a pamphlet. It's the art of a very small war, as I seem to recall... Moby Dick I've never read. Don't seem to care, either...

Posted by: RobM1981 at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (zurJC)

526 Some people say they can't listen to Levin because of his voice. I have that with Savage. His voice and his delivery. I can't listen to it.

Posted by: Mainah at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (659DL)

527 Hannity left his syndicator and they replaced him with Savage in my local market. After listening to Savage for a week or so, I've decided:1) The man has a persecution complex;2) He may be smart, but is problem is thinking everyone else is stupid;5) Savage is working on this feud thing in a bid to get...something. Notoriety, credibility, something. But I think it's more business than personal.Regardless, doubtful I'll listen to him any longer.

Posted by: @JohnTant at February 03, 2014 03:31 PM (eytER)

-----------------------------------------------------

He just sounds like a mean drunk to me.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (ZDqnR)

528 This calls for a summarizing Proust competition...

Posted by: weft cut-loop[/i] [/b] at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (cxs6V)

529 5. Starship Troopers Troopers II blows goats ass.

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (ndIek)

530 go away unread sock.

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (m2CN7)

531 For no very good reason this reminded me of a book I read in my youth titled 'Shrinklets.' It was something like 50 or so Great Works of Literature condensed into (usually pithy) poems of 1 or 2 pages. Any of the Horde ever come across this one?

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at February 03, 2014 11:34 AM (knoK7)

532 "486 "that lawyer" is how Savage refers to Mark Levin, I think Hannity is "the leprechaun." Rush is "the golfer." Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 03:29 PM (51dat) " They replaced Hannity with Savage on WJR and I want to punch shiite until my knuckles bleed every time I hear Savage. Not that Hannity was wonderful, but Savage is a conspiracy nut with little or no intelligence.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (rsudF)

533 >>I found that many of the progressive statements used by so many un-Galted people in "Atlas Shrugged" are being used by the progressive movement today. Like, "for the good of the people".

Or how about ol' Jarrett calling up CEOs the past few weeks, and then Obama meeting with them last week re: making a commitment to hire and agree on "best practices" (whatever that means)? Can't wait until they're not allowed to fire people/reduce their staff regardless of how well their business is doing.

Posted by: Lizzy at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (POpqt)

534 james stenbeck was an author?

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (rDidD)

535 496 >>>All Quiet on the Western Front

I finally read that in the last year or so. I highly recommend it. Very well done

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 03:30 PM (yvS8H)

damn that book made me cry.

Also I think i read the Red and The Black during the summer when i was eleven or so, in Hawaii. My Dads friend was going to College late in life, and he gave it to me along with Watership Down and George Bernard Shaw's Arms And The Man. Interesting summer reading.

Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch! at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (f858s)

536 Moby Dick and Last of the Mohicans were two books whose snooze inducing boringness surprised me.Probably because my mom read me the kids illustrated versions before I could read and they cut out the chaff.

Posted by: steevy at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (zqvg6)

537 508 Just from personal experience, I can expand that list. Mind you, I don't travel in what you would call "intellectual" circles by any means, but I 've heard obviously dubious claims of:
Mein Kampf
In Cold Blood
Call of the Wild
Walden (really?)
and even Dutch

Posted by: shredded chi - cereal killer at February 03, 2014 03:31 PM (KmwZx)

I made an attempt at In Cold Blood a few years ago when everyone was making Capote movies. How can one make a murder spree uninteresting? I only made it about 50 pages in and gave up.

Call of the Wild is actually a very good read.

Posted by: Monkeytoe at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (sOx93)

538 Moby Dick has cannibal fun!

Posted by: Zelda at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (I7/r9)

539 Christie has declared a state of emergency. He ran out of cake frosting.

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (51dat)

540 Steinbeck stole the I will love him and hug him and call him George from Bugs Bunny. Of Mice and Men.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (6bMeY)

541 524 - you loathe Hemingway's novels? Why? I'm not sure he's the greatest we've ever had, but he did write some pretty good stuff... what do you loathe about it?

Posted by: RobM1981 at February 03, 2014 11:35 AM (zurJC)

542 I see VJ as Cuffy Meigs.

Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch! at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (f858s)

543 Yeah, they put Savage on here locally in middle CO last month.

Guy's an idiot.

'nuff said.

Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (x3YFz)

544 Also recommended are the books of Willa Cather, believe it or not. She could really put together a good character

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (yvS8H)

545 Posted by: Matticus at February 03, 2014 03:34 PM (0Mr4u)

Agreed!

Hate his politics, but the dude could write.

Have you read his non-fiction book about traveling across the country... "Travels With Charlie?"

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (QFxY5)

546
Barry: My books didn't top that list? RACIST!!!

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (1Jaio)

547 282 For pure enjoyment of the English language and light reading, Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories are a favorite of mine. Posted by: Y-not on the phone at February 03, 2014 02:59 PM (zDsvJ) =================== If you havent read them already, don't miss the "Oldest Member" short stories and the Blandings stories (especially Blandings, they're the best of Wodehouse IMO).

Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (7ynIk)

548

Herman Wouk has been mentioned. He wrote a non-highbrow book called City Boy about a young guy growing up in NYC, his first girlfriend and how he gets jilted, going off to a heinous summer camp, his bullying acquaintance Lenny, and generally starting to come of age.

A great quick read and I found it laugh out loud funny in places.

Posted by: RM at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (fRppw)

549 490 "Hiroshima"

Definitely worth reading-- VERY quick read, and available online for free. In fact, I just re-read it last year, first time since high school, and it's still powerful as all hell.

Also, I read "The Jungle" for the first time last year. For 95% of the book it's amazing stuff-- even if you know it's sensational fiction, you also can appreciate how much truth was in it. (It's also fascinating from growing up in Chicago to see how it used to be back in the day).

The 5% that ends the book is Sinclair's "conclusion," i.e. become a raging socialist. Given the horrors in the book (not to mention the time period-- you must remember this was *well before* communism appeared on the scene), you can totally appreciate why people became socialists back in the day. Hell, *I* probably would have become a socialist given those experiences...

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (JpC1K)

550 James Joyce is one of the authors who can make reading a novel a real chore.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 11:36 AM (aq5Dc)

551 I read the Japanese version of The Art of War; The Book of the Five Rings by Musashi.
I only read it because of the fantastic series about Musashi penned by Yoshikowa.

If you like fantasy fiction, war novels or stuff about the Orient, give it a try.

Posted by: typo dynamofo at February 03, 2014 11:37 AM (IVgIK)

552 personally, I like the readers digest condensed versions better.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 03:32 PM (rDidD)

You kid but I have the entire readers digest condensed collection I inherited from my father.

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 11:37 AM (m2CN7)

553 Speaking of Call Of The Wild, anyone watch the miniseries on Discovery KLONDIKE? It has high ratings on imdb.

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:37 AM (51dat)

554 5. Starship Troopers Troopers II blows goats ass. The movie. Starship Troopers movie was cheesy, but bearable.

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 11:37 AM (ndIek)

555 Just got done reading (online) Madison Grant's "Passing of the Great Race". Truly one of the most eye-opening and depressing books of all time.

Posted by: Realist at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (LmD/o)

556 >>Also recommended are the books of Willa Cather

Heh. I had to read "Death Comes for the Archbishop" in HS and it was the most painful book to get through. Turned me off to Cather forever.

Posted by: Lizzy at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (POpqt)

557 >>Steinbeck stole the I will love him and hug him and call him George from Bugs Bunny. Of Mice and Men. I thought he got that from Biden. Tell me about he rabbits, Barrack.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (g1DWB)

558 Can't believe nobody's mentioned Steinbeck yet. Reading one of his books is a treat. Posted by: Matticus I could read East of Eden a thousand times and never grow tired of it. I almost named my daughter Abra, but everyone I posed the name to just gave me a puzzled look and said "Wha...?". I picked another name. Philistines.

Posted by: Hobbitopoly at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (fk1A8)

559 If you have read "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling that's another wonderful book to read.

Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (F58x4)

560 I've read three of them. Moby Dick, Les Mis, and 1984.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (oFCZn)

561 Anyone who wants some really well-written mysteries should check out the Albert Campion stories my Margery Allingham, or the Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy Sayers.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (aq5Dc)

562 Haven't read Origin of Species; own and have started Toqueville and Smith, but never finished (P. J. O'Rourke has a wonderful summary of Wealth of Nations, which I have read); have no interest in Ulysses (I'm stunned this is on the list at all, much less #1). I've read the rest.

Posted by: Fritzworth at February 03, 2014 11:38 AM (7svyX)

563 Read The Hobbit multiple times. Read The Lord of the Rings multiple times. I Couldn't get through a chapter or two of the other one... The Similariandcanckles.... I think that book must be the most bought and never read in its entirety book on the planet..... maybe.... somebody should do a federally subsidized research article on that book...

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (B/3gr)

564 By the way Ace, when I was very young, I used to tell stories about myself wherein I exhibited super powers. Eventually my friends got sick of it and I quit.

I wonder if having that type of experience early helps to immunize you against the temptation to lie to impress.

Posted by: typo dynamofo at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (IVgIK)

565
Books that will revoke your Man Card if you ever tell anyone you read them...

Jane Eyre

Wuthering Heights

Pride and Prejudice

Sense and Sensibility

Little Women

I hear that women like them a lot. I've never read them.

=================================

All. Five. ::hands in card::
=========================

All five, most several times. You'll only get my man card when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 03:31 PM (7ynIk)

I've read all of Austen's books. Enjoyed 'em, still have hair on my testes.

Started reading 'em in the 80s because of William F. Buckley. I was on a Blackford Oakes binge and noted that Blackie's girlfriend was an Austen scholar. Figured that I owed it to myself to read 'em.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (TIIx5)

566 For no very good reason this reminded me of a book I read in my youth titled 'Shrinklets.' It was something like 50 or so Great Works of Literature condensed into (usually pithy) poems of 1 or 2 pages. Any of the Horde ever come across this one?

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at February 03, 2014 03:34 PM (knoK7)

---------------------------------------------

Sounds like a book one would find at the Uptwinkles Bookstore.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (ZDqnR)

567 They replaced Hannity with Savage on WJR and I want to punch shiite until my knuckles bleed every time I hear Savage. Not that Hannity was wonderful, but Savage is a conspiracy nut with little or no intelligence.

Posted by: NotCoach at February 03, 2014 03:35 PM (rsudF)

Savage is all schtick all the time. My guess is that he is fairly liberal, but is doing the schtick to make money. And his schtick is completely grating. I don't understand how he is popular.

With that said - Hannity is a buffoon. He seems like a nice guy, but he is not intelligent at all. Whenever he goes up against a liberal, he gets his clock cleaned because he makes the worst arguments.

Posted by: Monkeytoe at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (sOx93)

568 I've tried making it through Moby Dick but can never seem to. It seems like the kind of book that I would like, but I just don't. Out of that list, I have read: 1984 ― several times, most recently in 2012. Atlas Shrugged ― three times, again most recently in 2012. Parts of it are a hard slog and Rand could have benefited from a ruthless editor. The Wealth of Nations ― read it for a college class. Les Miserables ― part of my summer of reading marathon back in 1983. A Tale of Two Cities ― again, part of my summer of reading marathon back in 1983. It's the only Dickens book I've managed to read all the way through, so I consider this an accident. The Art of War ― glad it was short. The Prince ― mildly entertaining and mercifully short. Ulysses ― horrible. I read it to impress a girlfriend of the intellectual sort back in college. "Read" is too strong of a word for my encounter with this book ― "skimmed" is probably better.

Posted by: Michael the Hobbit who demands that you call him Chelsea at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (vVMIQ)

569 I'll take "Government School Propaganda" for $500, Alex...

"The literary work most often used as allegory when teachers want to shit on Joe McCarthy and pretend Communism is harmless..."

"What is The Crucible?"

"Correct."

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (/29Nl)

570 I've got no use for Savage, little use for Hannity, and limited use for Levin. Once in awhile Levin is sincerely brilliant - once in awhile. Kind of like Coulter. But when they're not, they can be horrible. BTW, it's hard to have a list of "must reads" without Friedman on it. Capitalism and Freedom, if you don't like the more academic stuff. He's the greatest economist of all time, and he could float between hard-core mathematical economics, and light core Phil Donahue debate, at will. A truly gifted human being. Some of Ambrose's writings are as good as history gets. You can find as-good, but not better.

Posted by: RobM1981 at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (zurJC)

571 On my local station they replaced Jerry Doyle for Savage. I really liked Jerry Doyle.

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:39 AM (51dat)

572 I have the entire readers digest condensedcollection I inherited from my father.

I like to cut them up for ransom notes.

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 11:40 AM (ZKzrr)

573 Starship Troopers movie was cheesy, but bearable.

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 03:37 PM (ndIek)

Complete trash.

Except for Dina and Denise.

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 11:40 AM (GQ8sn)

574 A truly funny read is "My Uncle Oswald" by Roald Dahl. Don't let the author fool you. He may have written some of the best children's books ever to be found, but "My Uncle Oswald" is definitely for the grownups. Shit, I might pick it up again tonight...

Posted by: Hobbitopoly at February 03, 2014 11:41 AM (fk1A8)

575
Heart of Darkness is great.

I want to add Sartre's No Exit.
Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch!

The Secret Sharer too.

And another uptwinkie for No Exit. As a teen, you'll think it's amazing and 2deep for others. Reading it later as an adult will make you grin at your childlike intellectual arrogance and you can enjoy bashing it around in revenge.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 11:41 AM (kdS6q)

576 "The 5% that ends the book is Sinclair's "conclusion," i.e. become a raging socialist. Given the horrors in the book (not to mention the time period-- you must remember this was *well before* communism appeared on the scene), you can totally appreciate why people became socialists back in the day. Hell, *I* probably would have become a socialist given those experiences..." Horseshit. Americans had the highest living standards in world history both back then and today. That book is promoted to undermine the cultural confidence of the United States and discredit the old WASP elite that was displaced.

Posted by: Realist at February 03, 2014 11:41 AM (LmD/o)

577 "that lawyer" is how Savage refers to Mark Levin, I think Hannity is "the leprechaun." Rush is "the golfer." Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 03:29 PM (51dat) " O'Reilly is 'the leprechaun' Hannity is 'Wallbanger.'

Posted by: RWC at February 03, 2014 11:41 AM (fWAjv)

578 One I've read that I keep meaning to pick up is "The Road To Serfdom". Good intentions, but never actually read it.

Posted by: MTF at February 03, 2014 11:41 AM (F58x4)

579 One I remember reading in grade school: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. That had an impact on me.

Also Captains Courageous by Kipling.

Posted by: Vortex Lovera at February 03, 2014 11:42 AM (wtvvX)

580 >>>personally, I like the readers digest condensed versions better. That got laughed out of existence by the intellectuals, who insisted that only the full originals counted. But Reader's Digest brought more literature to more people than any publishing house. This is an example of the perfect being the enemy of the good. It happens so often. People will not settle for the merely good (reading a digest of a classic) because they compare it to the perfect (reading the unabridged version). And then what happens? Rather than doing the perfect, many don't even do the good, and don't read the classics at all. This is such a pernicious and counter-productive trait people have.

Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 11:42 AM (/FnUH)

581 Both Levin and Coulter are great. All the time. You're entitled to your opinion but I find that those who do not like Levin or Coulter often belong to Bedwetter's Brigade wing of the Republican party.

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:42 AM (51dat)

582 "The Crucible" is a good play and fun to act in. I would have preferred reading it and let is stand on its own merits without the teacher discussing the McCarthy era.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:43 AM (7kkQJ)

583 For those who have mentioned him Tolkien has some good short stories in a collection including "Farmer Giles of Ham".

Posted by: typo dynamofo at February 03, 2014 11:43 AM (IVgIK)

584 BTW, I'm certainly preaching to the choir here at the HQ, but if you haven't read The Federalist Papers-- the "owner's manual" to the American republic-- you're not only missing out, you are literally failing your country.

Sadly, you can't read them in 2014 without wanting to throw a boot through a window. How so many Americans can get so much so wrong about the Constitution, the republic, and all the rest when the Founders & Framers *wrote it all frakkin' down* for us... the mind, it boggles.

We really shit all over our inheritance.

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at February 03, 2014 11:43 AM (JpC1K)

585
Trivia: what book did clinton give monica in return for the bj?

I can't actually remember, but I know it was some chick book.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 03, 2014 11:43 AM (n0DEs)

586 I had to read S Lewis for an interesting assignment - compare and contrast Babbitt with Atlas Shrugged. I got one of the few As, probably because most of the class looked at how thick A.S. was, and gave up.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 11:43 AM (aq5Dc)

587 "Honore de Balzac apparently consumed up to 50 cups of coffee a day while writing up to seven hours at a stretch. He died at 51 or something. No doubt his coffee habits were not conducive to a long life. " I'd read elsewhere that he was chained to his desk too, so perhaps he died of sitting 7 hours in evaporating pools of urine

Posted by: Chris Balsz at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (5xmd7)

588 my fave Steinbeck is "The acts of King Aurthur And His Noble Knights." I absolutely loved it and its probably why i grew up hooked on the idea of chivalry. Its Medieval but not in any way a fantasy, and i loved that. Very much saw the influence of the traditional heroic ballads in it's structure of the tales.

Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch! at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (f858s)

589 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 03:36 PM (QFxY5) Have not read "Travels with Charlie" yet. Reading East of Eden (again) right now. The guy can put you in a place, man. You recommend it?

Posted by: Matticus at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (0Mr4u)

590 552Â 490Â "Hiroshima" Definitely worth reading-- VERY quick read, and available online for free. In fact, I just re-read it last year, first time since high school, and it's still powerful as all hell. ______ I just pulled my old, yellowed, dog-eared copy of the bookshelf and re-release it on the anniversary.

Posted by: shredded chi - cereal killer at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (KmwZx)

591 You're entitled to your opinion but I find that those who do not like Levin or Coulter often belong to Bedwetter's Brigade wing of the Republican party. Coulter loves Chris Christie and thinks Amanda Knox is guilty. That's two strikes.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (7ObY1)

592 93 Read 1984, then read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, then read Cyteen by CJ Cherryh. Posted by: Go Home Get Your Frickin Shinebox at February 03, 2014 02:38 PM (5xmd7) Wow. That was unexpected. Not disagreeing, mind you, just unexpected. I've read all 3, but never thought of Cyteen as part of the Grand Pantheon of Dystopias, but it is, really. Thanks for getting me to think a new thought ! Another worthy dytopian novel that is un (or under) appreciated in my opinion is This Perfect Day by Ira Levin.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (SwHqo)

593 Levin, in turn, calls Savage, or Weiner a fake conservative referring to his history in Fiji. Â“Now he goes on the airwaves and he trashes a couple of my friends Â— Rush, Sean claiming theyÂ’re not conservative enough, you know, like him,Â” Levin went on. Â“I donÂ’t know, IÂ’ve never seen Weiner Nation at a tea party rally. IÂ’ve never seen Weiner Nation helping the conservative movement.Â” Then Levin went into classic mode saying, Â“Let me tell you something, you little troll, you little nobody,Â” Levin said. Â“I kicked your butt in the ratings head-to-head from one end of the nation to the other. ThatÂ’s why youÂ’re late night, got it? IÂ’d like you to come back at 6 p.m. against, Eastern of course, so I can do it again, snaggletooth. I know all about you. All your little secrets Â— how you trash other hosts, how you try to position them to the left of you. YouÂ’re a puke. IÂ’m going to tell you something else Â— IÂ’m not finished on this subject. I am not finished.Â”

Posted by: RWC at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (fWAjv)

594 >Trivia: what book did clinton give monica in return for the bj? >I can't actually remember, but I know it was some chick book Leaves of Grass.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 11:44 AM (g1DWB)

595

Have read The Prince and 1984.

I didn't really retain too much from The Prince, I read it late at night one night, when the world seemed thin and wobbly and I may have been hallucinating from chronic lack of sleep due to the homework/jobwork load I had at the time, but the part that it seems like everyone always misses is that they say it's better to be loved than feared. His preceding line was "if you can't be both". It turns it from the usual perception of "Feel free to be a dick" to "strike a balance, but err on the side of being a dick if you have to." The rest of the book didn't seem new to me like I'd read it all before in other contexts, crammed into books about business and management under different phrasings.

1984 was another story. It grips you and you only need to read it once, and you're not sure you'd ever want to reread it. The true-to-life descriptions of life under The Party and the way that Socialist regimes operate leave a mark on you, and I don't think anyone sane could read it and not come away with a more favorable view of McCarthyism.

Intend to read most of the rest of them some day, but there's always too much going on.

Posted by: Cato at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (i+Vw2)

596 War and Peace wasn't on the list? I did read that and it's marvelous.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (oFCZn)

597 I read a piss your pants funny book by a judge called something like the many facets of mobile home living. I need to look that guy up and get his other books. I mean I cried it was so funny

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (yvS8H)

598 Starship Troopers movie was cheesy, but bearable.

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 03:37 PM (ndIek)

When I heard that ST was going to be made into a movie, by none other than Paul Verhoeven, I was stoked! They're going to have powered fuckin' armour like fuckin' Robocop on steroids!!! They're going to have bald chicks in space! They're going to have bugs and skinnies and flame throwers and mini-nukes and ship to ship combat!!!

And then we get Casper Van Dien...

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (GQ8sn)

599 "The Crucible" is a good play and fun to act in. I would have preferred reading it and let is stand on its own merits without the teacher discussing the McCarthy era.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 03:43 PM (7kkQJ)

Unfortunately, Arthur Miller wrote it for exactly that purpose.

And married Marilyn Monroe.

So I hates him, precious.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (/29Nl)

600 You kid but I have the entire readers digest condensedcollection I inherited from my father. Posted by: polynikes at February I think I read His Majesty's U-boat in the Condensed version while at my grandparents

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (rDidD)

601 If Savage were half the genius he thinks he is, he'd have twice the ratings.

Posted by: --- at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (MMC8r)

602
Sadly, you can't read them in 2014 without wanting to throw a boot through a window. How so many Americans can get so much so wrong about the Constitution, the republic, and all the rest when the Founders Framers *wrote it all frakkin' down* for us... the mind, it boggles.

We really shit all over our inheritance.

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at February 03, 2014 03:43 PM (JpC1K)

hate to be Captain Obvious, but its because they didnt read it, or if they did, it was not explained properly to them.

Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch! at February 03, 2014 11:45 AM (f858s)

603 I forget the name of it but my favorite book was about dreams or something and was written by this guy claiming to be from Kenya.

Posted by: Joe Biden at February 03, 2014 11:46 AM (wAQA5)

604 To hell with that damned whale, have you read 'Omoo', and 'Typee'?

Posted by: Cheerios at February 03, 2014 11:46 AM (aDwsi)

605 Seven out of Ten

havent Read Ulysses, Les Miserable, or Art of War.

Im suprised "War & Peace" isnt on the list. I just get not get through it..... It was like Stephen King was writing about Napolean invading Russia....

Posted by: fixerupper at February 03, 2014 11:46 AM (nELVU)

606 what book did clinton give monica in return for the bj Leaves of Grass Same book that led to Hank Schrader catching Walter White on Breaking Bad. What do I win?

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:46 AM (7ObY1)

607

I've got no use for Savage, little use for Hannity, and limited use for Levin. Once in awhile Levin is sincerely brilliant - once in awhile. Kind of like Coulter.

But when they're not, they can be horrible.

--------------------------------------------------------

One of the voices I miss the most when hosts sub for Rush is Tony Snow. I like Steyn, but sometimes he tries too hard to be funny.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 11:46 AM (ZDqnR)

608 You recommend it?

Posted by: Matticus at February 03, 2014 03:44 PM (0Mr4u)

"Travels With Charlie?"

Absolutely. Steinbeck was a socialist, but he loved this country, and that love shines through this book.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:46 AM (QFxY5)

609 Good point, Ace. besides bringing literature to many people those RD condensed books often had wonderful pen and ink illustrations.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:47 AM (7kkQJ)

610 Brian Denehey played the whale in the movie version and was awesome.

Posted by: Mikey NTH - Innuendoes for Both Men and Women at the Outrage Outlet! at February 03, 2014 11:47 AM (hLRSq)

611 The Godfather is a pretty good book.... except for the fourteen chapters on that chicks ginormous vagina.... that kind of writing is uncalled for.... *shudder*

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at February 03, 2014 11:47 AM (B/3gr)

612
Speaking of Lewis and HG Wells and Mencken, that side bar link goes to a pretty good and short interview that talks about these guys and their socialism. I didn't know how lefty they were.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 03, 2014 11:47 AM (n0DEs)

613 You'd have to tie me to a mast to get me to read something like Ulysses

Posted by: Count de Monet at February 03, 2014 11:47 AM (BAS5M)

614 When Bill was courting Monica her gave her a book of romantic poetry, Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, which is the same book (!) Bill gave Hillary when he was courting her (after their 2nd date). The internet knows everything.

Posted by: WalrusRex at February 03, 2014 11:47 AM (Hx5uv)

615 Only read two of the books on the list. Atlas Shrugged was a turgid repetitious book of biblical proportion and could easily be edited to 200 pages. Recommend Readers Digest version or skip it entirely. Read all of Dickens but Bleak House - 100 pages of that horrid thing and I was done with Dickens.. forever.

Downloaded and began Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov four weeks ago and stalled 50 pages into it.

Posted by: 13times at February 03, 2014 11:48 AM (fGPLK)

616 I've read Walden Pond Thoreau was a well heeled hipster pretending to "go back to nature" No wonder every lefty puts that thing on their must read list

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 11:48 AM (aTXUx)

617 Ann Coulter does not love Christie. That's over. She has often said she made a mistake. And who gives a shit about Amanda Knox. Is Amanda Knox the latest scarlet letter at AoS. Are we going to use the term Knox-thers now?

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 11:48 AM (51dat)

618 I've read many books that have referenced Tocqueville's "Democracy In America" but I've never actually read it. But I did just finish "The Stranger" by Camus the other day. Maybe it was the translation, but I think it's kinda overrated.

Posted by: KingShamus at February 03, 2014 11:48 AM (OVjy1)

619 Yes, he wrote it for that purpose but that isn't what the play is about. It seems we spent more time talking about that in hs than about the actual characters.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 11:48 AM (7kkQJ)

620 "Hiroshima"
Definitely worth reading-- VERY quick read, and available online for free. In fact, I just re-read it last year, first time since high school, and it's still powerful as all hell.

I looked at the pictures - our version had photos of the shadows and the destruction in the middle of it. From there I figured out what the teacher wanted us to get out of it, and bullshitted my way through the rest.

Does the book mention the potential cost of the alternative?

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 11:48 AM (/29Nl)

621 "Sounds like a book one would find at the Uptwinkles Bookstore. Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 03:39 PM"

Hah!

Actually the kind of people giving any kind of twinkles probably wouldn't like it. The snark is strong with the author.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at February 03, 2014 11:49 AM (knoK7)

622 There is an embarrassingly large number of novels I claim to have read, but really have only read in an abridged, children's novel form. Among them: The Three Musketeers, Call of the Wild, Ivanhoe, Moby Dick, and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Posted by: TenthJustice at February 03, 2014 11:49 AM (qB8lN)

623 Meh, I've read three of the books on that list (3.5 if you count that I slugged through The Fountainhead instead of Atlas Shrugged).

Posted by: Colorado Alex at February 03, 2014 11:49 AM (lr3d7)

624 I guess the new excuse from Wendy Davis is, she wasn't lying about being a single mother because at the time, she FELT single.

Posted by: UWP at February 03, 2014 11:49 AM (2hQRj)

625 I tried reading Leaves of Grass, but too many of the pages were stuck together for some reason

Posted by: Monica Lewinsky at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (aTXUx)

626 I never got around to reading tolkien, mostly because my friend who was into them was also a planet of the apes fanatic and I assumed some sorta connection. closes I ever came to a beating for reading a book is when my mom caught me with one of my same friend's gor books. dirtiest thing in the book was the cover' I think it was priest kings of gor or something similar, involved a lot of big bugs.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (rDidD)

627 620 Ann Coulter does not love Christie. That's over. She has often said she made a mistake. And who gives a shit about Amanda Knox. Is Amanda Knox the latest scarlet letter at AoS. Are we going to use the term Knox-thers now? I'm not the one calling people bedwetters for not loving Coulter. My opinion is my opinion.

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (7ObY1)

628 Maybe it was the translation, but I think it's kinda overrated.

Posted by: KingShamus at February 03, 2014 03:48 PM (OVjy1)

The translation I read was stilted and awkward.

My dad read it in French and said it was great. But my French sucks, and there is no way I could understand it in the original, so......

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (QFxY5)

629 We really shit all over our inheritance. Posted by: Dave ----------------- Yeah..., but we had an awesome time, huh?

Posted by: LIV/FSA at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (aDwsi)

630 My grandma had some of those RD condensed books. I'll never forget finding one with a story about the Johnstown Flood. The drawing of the people being swept away on the roofs of houses, with their arms raised despairingly to the sky, stayed with me for years. When I grew up I read everything I could find on the flood. In fact, I developed a lifelong taste for "disaster literature", probably as a result of that experience.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (FkH4y)

631 I guess the new excuse from Wendy Davis is, she wasn't lying about being a single mother because at the time, she FELT single.

Acted like it too.

Posted by: Wendy Davis at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (Aif/5)

632 If you want to make a Liberal's head explode, ask them if they've read Uhuru by Robert Ruark

Posted by: Herr Morgenholz at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (yvS8H)

633
my fave Steinbeck is "The acts of King Aurthur And His Noble Knights."
Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch!

Votin' Tortilla Flat here.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 11:50 AM (kdS6q)

634 I bought atlas Shrugged but I did not read it.

Posted by: Carol at February 03, 2014 11:51 AM (WPBmS)

635 closes I ever came to a beating for reading a book is when my mom caught me with one of my same friend's gor books. dirtiest thing in the book was the cover' I think it was priest kings of gor or something similar, involved a lot of big bugs.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 03:50 PM (rDidD)

The Gor books also had a lot of the soft rape going on.

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 11:51 AM (GQ8sn)

636 When I heard that ST was going to be made into a movie, by none other than Paul Verhoeven, I was stoked! They're going to have powered fuckin' armour like fuckin' Robocop on steroids!!! They're going to have bald chicks in space! They're going to have bugs and skinnies and flame throwers and mini-nukes and ship to ship combat!!! And then we get Casper Van Dien... Just watched STII this weekend on netflix. Where do I get that time wasted back?

Posted by: rickb223 at February 03, 2014 11:51 AM (ndIek)

637 Never read Darwin, Joyce lost me about halfway through Portrait of an Artist so I never looked at Ulysses. Otherwise, I am covered.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 11:52 AM (aq5Dc)

638 "Hiroshima"
Definitely worth reading-- VERY quick read, and available online for free. In fact, I just re-read it last year, first time since high school, and it's still powerful as all hell.
______

I just pulled my old, yellowed, dog-eared copy of the bookshelf and re-release it on the anniversary.

Posted by: shredded chi - cereal killer at February 03, 2014 03:44 PM (KmwZx)

--------------------------------------------------

Go ahead. Re-read "Hiroshima". But right after, read "The Rape of Nanking". It'll put things a little more into perspective.

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 11:52 AM (ZDqnR)

639 Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 03:44 PM (g1DWB)<<<

That was it, do your friends know your gay?

_______________________

What do I win?

Posted by: BlueStateRebel at February 03, 2014 03:46 PM (7ObY1)

A date with Jack.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 03, 2014 11:52 AM (n0DEs)

640 I've read them all. And so has my girlfriend, Morgan Fairchild.

Posted by: Tommy Flanagan at February 03, 2014 11:52 AM (q/PkG)

641
Steinbeck's The Moon Is Down should be required reading for anyone thinking about resistance.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at February 03, 2014 11:52 AM (TIIx5)

642 That got laughed out of existence by the intellectuals, who insisted that only the full originals counted. But Reader's Digest brought more literature to more people than any publishing house. This is an example of the perfect being the enemy of the good. It happens so often. People will not settle for the merely good (reading a digest of a classic) because they compare it to the perfect (reading the unabridged version). And then what happens? Rather than doing the perfect, many don't even do the good, and don't read the classics at all. This is such a pernicious and counter-productive trait people have. Posted by: ace at February 03, 2014 03:42 PM yeah, very likely ridiculed by people who lie about reading books altogether. better to read something condensed than nothing at all.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:52 AM (rDidD)

643 Geez. I've really got to get busy reading.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at February 03, 2014 11:53 AM (DmNpO)

644 I guess the new excuse from Wendy Davis is, she wasn't lying about being a single mother because at the time, she FELT single. Posted by: UWP --------------------- Yeah, that pretty much parallels being 'poor'. If you 'feel' poor, then you are poor. so they say. If you 'feel' insulted, then you have been insulted. etc, etc...

Posted by: Mike Hammer at February 03, 2014 11:53 AM (aDwsi)

645 I've read all the Tolkien, including Smith of Wooton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham. Went through the Silmarillon and Unfinished Tales as well. His writing is meat-and-potatoes; he's not a stylist. But I like him anyway.

Posted by: Darles Chickens at February 03, 2014 11:53 AM (z4vvZ)

646 Steinbeck could bring it, and bring it concisely.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:54 AM (6bMeY)

647 The Gor books also had a lot of the soft rape going on. Posted by: EC at February oh. oops. I was in sixth grade.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 11:54 AM (rDidD)

648 Call me Mr. Blutarsky, because I'm at 0 point 0.

Posted by: Countrysquire at February 03, 2014 11:54 AM (LSJmV)

649 Heh Gov. Bobby Jindal ✔ @BobbyJindal Follow At least we turned the lights out in New Orleans last year to make it interesting. #kidding

Posted by: RWC at February 03, 2014 11:54 AM (fWAjv)

650 You're entitled to your opinion but I find that those who do not like Levin or Coulter often belong to Bedwetter's Brigade wing of the Republican party.

Posted by: Soothsayer at February 03, 2014 03:42 PM (51dat)

Not a fan of Levin. Big fan of Coulter.

Posted by: polynikes at February 03, 2014 11:54 AM (m2CN7)

651
You'd have to tie me to a mast to get me to read something like Ulysses.
Posted by: Count de Monet

OOoooOOooo!

Say Saturday. my place. Sixish?

Posted by: Lindsey Graham

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at February 03, 2014 11:54 AM (kdS6q)

652 I actually ghost-wrote most of the books on the list. I can't tell you specifically which ones for contractual reasons.

Posted by: Monkeytoe at February 03, 2014 11:54 AM (sOx93)

653 Steinbeck could bring it, and bring it concisely.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 03:54 PM (6bMeY)

----

This. I like Steinbeck..... and have a soft spot for Walt Whitman too...

Posted by: fixerupper at February 03, 2014 11:55 AM (nELVU)

654 >>That was it, do your friends know your gay? No, but they know I detest Clinton. I'm waiting to spring the gay thing on them.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 03, 2014 11:55 AM (g1DWB)

655 We know you wingnuts have dogeared copies of Huckleberry Finn Because you love to read THAT WORD over and over

Posted by: MSNBC at February 03, 2014 11:56 AM (aTXUx)

656 Posted by: Darles Chickens at February 03, 2014 03:53 PM (z4vvZ)

I poked thorough The Silmarillon for the bits about the Balrogs and the Valar and the cool, powerful beings.

But mostly I said, "Fuck...this isn't as good as The Hobbit."

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:56 AM (QFxY5)

657 Moby Dick always seemed like this inscrutable monolith of capital-L Lit'rature before I read it. As it turns out, it's weird but surprisingly readable. Don't get me wrong: I have no fucking idea What It Means (and probably nobody else does, either), but as a reading experience it's fairly pleasant. There's action; there's a story you can follow; it's actually downright funny in parts. Plus, stories based on boats just tend to be fun and interesting for some reason.

Posted by: BunnyFooFoo at February 03, 2014 11:56 AM (Z0/+C)

658 I had someone take Tales From The Decameron Out of my hands when i was fifteen and i got told i was too young to read it. Of course i immediately had to find it somewhere else, hide it and read it. I slogged through that damn old english text out of pure spite.

Posted by: gushka can has Kittys what plays fetch! at February 03, 2014 11:57 AM (f858s)

659 I liked Huckleberry Finn.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 11:57 AM (6bMeY)

660 Yes, he wrote it for that purpose but that isn't what the play is about. It seems we spent more time talking about that in hs than about the actual characters.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 03, 2014 03:48 PM (7kkQJ)

I agree with you. That's what makes it good propaganda.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 11:58 AM (/29Nl)

661 Go ahead. Re-read "Hiroshima". But right after, read "The Rape of Nanking". It'll put things a little more into perspective.Â __________ *scurried off to google...

Posted by: shredded chi - cereal killer at February 03, 2014 11:58 AM (KmwZx)

662 I have read a lot of shop manuals. Does that count for anything?

Posted by: Countrysquire at February 03, 2014 11:58 AM (LSJmV)

663 658 We know you wingnuts have dogeared copies of Huckleberry Finn

Because you love to read THAT WORD over and over

Posted by: MSNBC at February 03, 2014 03:56 PM (aTXUx)

And Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is a comedy, right?

Posted by: Monkeytoe at February 03, 2014 11:58 AM (sOx93)

664 Oh....in case anyone here owns equities...the market got crushed today.

SandP 500 is down 40
Dow is down 310

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 11:59 AM (QFxY5)

665

635 If you want to make a Liberal's head explode, ask them if they've read Uhuru by Robert Ruark

Loved that book. Ruark was a N Carolinian. Another great NCer was Richard McKenna, The Sandpebbles.

Posted by: Chaos the other dark meat at February 03, 2014 12:00 PM (oDCMR)

666 The Godfather is a pretty good book.... except for the fourteen chapters on that chicks ginormous vagina.... that kind of writing is uncalled for.... *shudder* Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at February 03, 2014 ----------------------------------------- I bet more people see that than the phone book!

Posted by: Navin R. Johnson at February 03, 2014 12:00 PM (8GKDa)

667

Coulter is too damn strident for my tastes. Any successful faction needs attack dogs, and those kind of tactics are great for making the other side react when they're on the mark, but when they're off the mark or over the top, they feed a victim narrative quite effectively and the Left is the undisputed all-time champion of victim narratives. Coulter is frequently over the top, and all too often feeding the image of the Republicans being the Party of Hate.

I always preferred the Reagan-Thatcher style, which is far loftier and far more optimistic, while still not being afraid to confront.

Posted by: Cato at February 03, 2014 12:00 PM (i+Vw2)

668 Heart of darkness is the only book I was supposed to read in high school that I nailed on halfway though. Hated it more than the good earth which is saying a lot! I am trying to retread it now though because I read king Leopolds ghost about the Congo when Konrad was there and wanted to see if it is any better with some historical context. Zero interest in Ulysses and very little in moby dick. Maybe one day ill be bored enough to check it out

Posted by: Lea at February 03, 2014 12:00 PM (/bd0t)

669 Because you love to read THAT WORD over and over

Isn't admitting that conservatives have the mental capacity to be taught to read a violation of network policy?

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 12:00 PM (ZKzrr)

670
>>>Go ahead. Re-read "Hiroshima". But right after, read "The Rape of Nanking". It'llput things a little more into perspective.

I was going to suggest "Unit 731" as a chaser. It is about the Japanese version of the Mengele experiments.

Posted by: typo dynamofo at February 03, 2014 12:00 PM (IVgIK)

671 Dang -330.32

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 12:01 PM (6bMeY)

672 Oh....in case anyone here owns equities...the market got crushed today. SandP 500 is down 40 Dow is down 310 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo well wait til they stop pumping $75 billion a month into the market and raise rates! you are only able to float the market so much with fake numbers.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 12:02 PM (rDidD)

673

I've read all on the list except for 'The Wealth of Nations' by Adam Smith. Not because I'm a genius or anything but because I was a solitary, introverted loner of a kid who viewed books and libraries as both refuge and means of escape. I was also blessed with a middle school teacher disgusted with my trashy reading choices and who insisted I read and report on five of the books named on that list. Thanks to her, I learned to love Dickens. James Joyce? Not so much.

To this day, I find the smell and feel and weight of old books immensely comforting.

Posted by: troyriser at February 03, 2014 12:03 PM (gNlvW)

674 'How to Print Money and Influence Markets' - Ben Bernanke (2009)

Posted by: garrett at February 03, 2014 12:03 PM (jPete)

675

I read king Leopolds ghost about the Congo when Konrad was there and wanted to see if it is any better with some historical context.

Also pick up a copy of Blood River. About a decade ago, a guy decided to retrace Stanley's route through central Africa, and discovered that it is more primitive now than when Stanley traversed it over a hundred years ago.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 12:03 PM (aq5Dc)

676 But Reader's Digest brought more literature to more people than any publishing house.

DICKENS: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before usÂ”

READERS DIGEST: "Things were kind of bad, but not real bad."

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 03, 2014 12:03 PM (8ZskC)

677 Snobs

Posted by: Stephen King, Author.... Seriously at February 03, 2014 12:03 PM (NXg/k)

678 I tried to read Ulysses but was annoyed by it.

Posted by: Chaos the other dark meat at February 03, 2014 12:03 PM (oDCMR)

679 READERS DIGEST: "Things were kind of bad, but not real bad." Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February It could be worse.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 12:04 PM (rDidD)

680 If you read every other chapter of 'Moby Dick' you have a nice whaling story. If you read every other other chapter you have a religious treatise. Read every chapter in order you have ... fuck if I know.

Posted by: BumperStickerist at February 03, 2014 12:04 PM (4CVLy)

681 The Protocols of The Learned Elders of Zion

Posted by: Book That Liberals SAY They've Never Read, But Actually Memorized at February 03, 2014 12:04 PM (nbGZj)

682 Snobs

Posted by: Stephen King, Author.... Seriously at February 03, 2014 04:03 PM (NXg/k)

The Dark Tower series.

Fuck you!

Posted by: EC at February 03, 2014 12:04 PM (GQ8sn)

683 It's been recommended that every conservative read "Rules for Radicals" for the same reason that Patton read Rommel's book

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 12:04 PM (aTXUx)

684 Among them: The Three Musketeers, Call of the Wild, Ivanhoe, Moby Dick, and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Posted by: TenthJustice at February 03, 2014 03:49 PM (qB8lN)

Were they in a small format, and came as a set? With Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, The Tell-Tale Heart, Last of the Mohicans, and others?

'cause I had those. They were great.

Posted by: grognard at February 03, 2014 12:04 PM (/29Nl)

685 I really should have read A Tale of Two Cities before my attention span became gnatlike.

Posted by: Boss Moss at February 03, 2014 12:05 PM (6bMeY)

686 To hell with that damned whale, have you read 'Omoo', and 'Typee'?

Yup, and White Jacket and Redburn. Melville is only famous for Moby Dick and Billy Budd, but he wrote lots of other, very good stuff. BTW, Library of America has these, along with Democracy in America, in very nice, quite reasonable volumes. Highly recommended.

Posted by: pep at February 03, 2014 12:05 PM (6TB1Z)

687

The Godfather is a pretty good book.... except for the fourteen chapters on that chicks ginormous vagina.... that kind of writing is uncalled for....
*shudder*
Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at February 03, 2014

-----------------------------------------

I bet more people see that than the phone book!

Posted by: Navin R. Johnson at February 03, 2014 04:00 PM (8GKDa)

>>>

See it? Where do you think they wharehoused the phonebooks?

Posted by: Count de Monet at February 03, 2014 12:05 PM (BAS5M)

688 I have read a lot of shop manuals. Does that count for anything?

Posted by: Countrysquire at February 03, 2014 03:58 PM (LSJmV)

----------------------------------------------------

When I was in Vietnam, we couldn't wait for the next edition of "Connie".

Posted by: Soona at February 03, 2014 12:06 PM (ZDqnR)

689 I've read four of those ten books. I read dozens of times when I was younger: at first to absorb its message, and then to absorb Orwell's writing style. There is not one superfluous word in that entire book.

Orwell was a true wordsmith. He used words with great precision, and seemed to get his meaning across in the fewest words necessary.

One thing that should absolutely be required reading for all is his essay, "Politics and the English Language." Best short course on writing, and reading, I've ever seen.

Moby Dick (it's Monday, so I'm not going to risk the barrel by trying italics) is one of my favorite books. Melville was rather more loquacious than Orwell, but he makes it worth your while. The chapter "The Counterpane" had a huge impact upon my philisophy.

Posted by: Otis Criblecoblis at February 03, 2014 12:06 PM (IlZPo)

690 Might be interesting to go through these in chronological order.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Library_100_Best_Novels

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 12:06 PM (ZKzrr)

691 (285 deadrody. ) So anyone know of other* "good (i.e. watchable) movies that are essentially book-plots but on a different theme/setting"? *never saw ST2, so no intent to imply it was good/watchable

Posted by: (T)expat - West Africa Time at February 03, 2014 12:06 PM (dLyLH)

692 So anyone know of other* "good (i.e. watchable) movies that are essentially book-plots but on a different theme/setting"?

Wikipedia says Apocolypse Now is Heart of Darkness.

Posted by: HR at February 03, 2014 12:08 PM (ZKzrr)

693 Re my 692: what the hell happened? The first book I was talking about was 1984. I have NO IDEA where it went.

First my ampersands, then my numbers. Where does it end, Pixy?

Posted by: Otis Criblecoblis at February 03, 2014 12:09 PM (IlZPo)

694 Anyone remember that Cheers episode when Frasier read "Tale of Two Cities" to the guys in the bar, but inserted action movie passages to get them interested?

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 12:09 PM (aTXUx)

695

So anyone know of other* "good (i.e. watchable) movies that are essentially book-plots but on a different theme/setting"?

If you turn on CNN you can pick up the plotline of 1984

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 03, 2014 12:10 PM (aq5Dc)

696 Everything except Ulysses. I can *not* seem to maintain any momentum going through Joyce. Moby Dick was/is a remarkably funny/humorous book, but it took me a while to get into that one too. And, that hell's heart line was used in Star Trek because Khan wasn't illiterate.

Posted by: William at February 03, 2014 12:11 PM (2ZVh/)

697
Snobs

Posted by: Stephen King, Author.... Seriously at February 03, 2014 04:03 PM (NXg/k)

Synopsis of every Stephen King book ever:

The Bad Guys Are Aliens

The End

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at February 03, 2014 12:11 PM (TIIx5)

698 I should mention that I read all of Hemingway and all of Faulkner (about 40 novels) when I was in HS. They were still among us or very recently in the ground at the time.

The Jack Aubrey seafaring books are great. I read the 20 novels once and 16 of them a second time.

I'll second Wouk's WWII novels (Winds of War, War and Remembrance) as well worth reading. Read them twice.

Read the King Dark Tower series a couple years ago.

One of my favorite contemporary authors is Nelson DeMille; I've read all his novels at least a couple times each.

And, Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are precious to me. I have read them all multiple times, perhaps as many as 4-5 times in some cases.

Amazing how many readers Ace has attracted.

Posted by: Ruthless at February 03, 2014 12:11 PM (rv3EA)

699 Savage is busy giving coke all free advertising by playing their America the Beautiful super bowl commercial over and over.

What languages did they sing in? I didn't see the commercial. When he mentioned it was the first time I'd heard anything.

Posted by: think at February 03, 2014 12:11 PM (Nx76m)

700 I just ordered Heart of Darkness for my Kindle, free on Amazon. Upon ordering, they also threw in a free audio version narrated by Kenneth Branaugh. Good deal.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 03, 2014 12:11 PM (P6QsQ)

701 579 "Horseshit. Americans had the highest living standards in world history both back then and today. That book is promoted to undermine the cultural confidence of the United States and discredit the old WASP elite that was displaced."

While I appreciate your philosophical certainty, factually there is nothing contradictory between "highest living standards in world history*" and the demonstrable misery of the working & immigrant class in circa 1900 America.

Simply because progressives in 2014 laughably use a book written in 1906 in their failed propaganda to describe the reality of the world today does not mean it held no applicability to the original era. Urban labor at the turn of the 20th century wasn't unionized; workplace protection laws did not exist; child labor was not prohibited, there was no such thing as sick leave, let alone vacation days; etc., etc. The work was incredibly dangerous, mentally numbing, and as comparable to the modern American workplace as our lives are to Martians.

Things are better today. But they had to *get* better, and the way they got better was by being exposed for how awful they once were.

* Which may not even be correct-- the U.S. economy became the largest in 1900, but Britain, Australia and New Zealand all demonstrated equivalent per capita standards of living.

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at February 03, 2014 12:13 PM (JpC1K)

702 Synopsis of every Stephen King book ever:

The Bad Guys Are Aliens

The End

HAH! You know nothing of my work.

The bad guys are Republicans.

Disguised as aliens.

Posted by: Stephen King, Author.... Seriously at February 03, 2014 12:13 PM (NXg/k)

703 Too late for the,
I watched Gregory Peck ride the White Whale and have harpooned a fat chick myself a few times.
joke?

Posted by: DaveA[/i][/b][/s] at February 03, 2014 12:13 PM (DL2i+)

704

Posted by: kbdabear at February 03, 2014 04:09 PM (aTXUx)

Yes, the "Apache attack helicopter" inserted int eh execution scene was one for the ages.

Posted by: Mikey NTH - Innuendoes for Both Men and Women at the Outrage Outlet! at February 03, 2014 12:13 PM (hLRSq)

705 @702 If he is playing it over and over, you should be able to discern the languages.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 03, 2014 12:14 PM (P6QsQ)

706 Posted by: tangonine at February 03, 2014 03:28 PM (x3YFz) You're a real scholar, aren't you Skippy? Did I mention that you may want to go fuck yourself?

Posted by: jwest at February 03, 2014 12:15 PM (u2a4R)

707 I will give 'Blood River' a try sometime, thanks for the suggestion!

Posted by: Lea at February 03, 2014 12:15 PM (/bd0t)

708 Considered reading 'A Tale Of Two Cities' , but it turned out to be the worst of times only.

Posted by: Another Star Trek Referenced Book at February 03, 2014 12:16 PM (nbGZj)

709 708
@702

If he is playing it over and over, you should be able to discern the languages.

Posted by: grammie winger at February 03, 2014 04:14 PM (P6QsQ)

Sadly, I'm willing to admit I can only identify the first one which I think is Spanish, the others I never heard before.

Posted by: think at February 03, 2014 12:16 PM (Nx76m)

710 A lot of the books on that list need a second reading. You pick up nuances in the second reading that you missed in the first read.

Posted by: think at February 03, 2014 12:17 PM (Nx76m)

711 I forgot about the Necronomicon and the Satanic Bible! Damn, I'll never be able to choose just one.

Posted by: Barack Hussein Obama at February 03, 2014 12:18 PM (tv7DV)

712

Posted by: jwest at February 03, 2014 04:15 PM (u2a4R)

"You've got Squish on my Purity!"

"You got your Purity all over my Squish!"

*fight breaks out again*

Posted by: Mikey NTH - Innuendoes for Both Men and Women at the Outrage Outlet! at February 03, 2014 12:19 PM (hLRSq)

713 Moby dick is free for kindle so I went ahead and downloaded. It's just- a guy on a boat trying to catch a whale never jumped out at me as something I would enjoy. We will see.

Posted by: Lea at February 03, 2014 12:19 PM (/bd0t)

714 The Godfather is a pretty good book.... except for the fourteen chapters on that chicks ginormous vagina.... that kind of writing is uncalled for.... *shudder* Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at February 03, 2014 Heh. I was allowed to read pretty much anything I wanted as a kid... EXCEPT 'The Godfather'. I found it in my parents' room and started and reading it, and then it just mysteriously vanished from my room. Just a bit too much for my mom.

Posted by: Dr. Mabuse at February 03, 2014 12:20 PM (FkH4y)

715

Madison Grant's "Passing of the Great Race".

Oh, Lord, God almighty, that guy's theories were used by Hitler. He believed the "Nordic" race was superior to Eastern and Southern Europeans.

Grant was a racist. Not the lefty notion of "You don't like Obama and I don't like you so you're a racist." A real racist.

They do exist.

Posted by: Donna V at February 03, 2014 12:21 PM (u0lmX)

716 Pretty sure I got a little more than halfway through War and Peace, too.

That book was my whale (hated that one too). 1100 pages or sheer tedium. It took me a year to read it as I kept falling asleep with each new paragraph.

Atlas, like the story thought the writing was Meh.
1984 like it
A Tale of Two Cities - I like it but not one of Dickens best. Fun Fact. The day I finished the book on the train I also watched the Dark Night Returns, not knowing it was loosely based on that book.

Tocqueville and Sun Tze wait on the book shelf.

Posted by: Drill_Thrawl at February 03, 2014 12:22 PM (/2ciC)

717 Have either read or listened to the audio versions (complete) of Atlas Shrugged, 1984, A Sale of Two Titties and Moby Dick. Would consider reading Democracy in America, Art of War and The Prince; no great interest in the other four. AndÂ… out!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars™ [/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at February 03, 2014 12:23 PM (HsTG8)

718 so was tale of two cities set in minneapolis stpaul or dallas fort worth?

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 12:23 PM (rDidD)

719 #638 The nastiest in the series is 'Certified Public Accountant of Gor.'

Posted by: epobirs at February 03, 2014 12:24 PM (Ncf1Y)

720 Tocqueville and Sun Tze wait on the book shelf. Posted by: Drill_Thrawl you have to be more careful where you buy your books; knock off books are not the same as knock off clothes.

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 12:25 PM (rDidD)

721 The nastiest in the series is 'Certified Public Accountant of Gor.' Posted by: epobirs at February 03, 2014 04:24 heh

Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 12:25 PM (rDidD)

722 Did I mention that you may want to go fuck yourself?

Posted by: jwest at February 03, 2014 04:15 PM (u2a4R)

I must then assume that you missed this comment.

Posted by: A Balrog of Morgoth at February 03, 2014 03:33 PM (Q9qpj)

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 03, 2014 12:27 PM (QFxY5)

723 "623 "Hiroshima"

Does the book mention the potential cost of the alternative?"

"641
Go ahead. Re-read "Hiroshima". But right after, read "The Rape of Nanking". It'll put things a little more into perspective. "

C'mon guys, the book isn't America-hating propaganda: it's as matter-a-fact an account as you can get, seeing as it was written immediately after the bombings. Journalism isn't done like that anymore, for shame.

The most important point is *when* the book was written-- this was literally the first factual account of atomic destruction that most Americans, or people anywhere, had read. One can appreciate we had no good alternative to dropping the bombs while still recognize that incinerating 60,000 men, women and children with radioactive hellfire is not something to be proud of.

That said, as a companion to "Hiroshima," I recommend picking up the book "Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947." Wish more people would read that before questioning why the bombs were dropped.

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at February 03, 2014 12:28 PM (MPIX5)

724 698 - dammit Vashta - that's what I'm wanting the movie tips for a temporary escape from! *sigh*

Posted by: (T)expat - West Africa Time at February 03, 2014 12:29 PM (dLyLH)

725 721 so was tale of two cities set in minneapolis stpaul or dallas fort worth? Posted by: yankeefifth at February 03, 2014 04:23 PM (rDidD) Kansas City, MO and KS! "It was the best of offal, it was the worst of offal."

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars™ [/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at February 03, 2014 12:32 PM (HsTG8)

726 For my research paper in HS junior year, I read all of Samuel Clemens' books / novels. Apart from Huckleberry Finn, Innocents Abroad, Roughing It and Life on the Mississippi, I'd not do that again. The "nice" books that he wrote at the insistence of his wife and daughters -- the one about Joan of Arc comes immediately to mind -- were the worst.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars™ [/i] [/b] [/s] [/u] at February 03, 2014 12:35 PM (HsTG8)

727 A contender for worst book has to be anything by Thomas Pynchon.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at February 03, 2014 12:47 PM (7Bo+h)

728 I was expecting the dreaded Herman Melville flame war.

Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at February 03, 2014 12:48 PM (OPzNA)

729 The "nice" books that he wrote at the insistence of his wife and daughters -- the one about Joan of Arc comes immediately to mind -- were the worst.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling StarsÂ™ at February 03, 2014 04:35 PM (HsTG

The worst of Mark Twain is better than most other books by anyone, in my view. After the death of his daughter, Twain's fiction took a darker turn, with an outlook so bleak that reading his later works is an endurance contest, at least for me. His novel, 'The Mysterious Stranger', for example, is one of the most nihilistic works of fiction in American literature. Twain makes French existentialists like Sartre and Camus look like sunny, happy-go-lucky daydreamers by comparison.

Posted by: troyriser at February 03, 2014 12:49 PM (gNlvW)

730 Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling StarsÂ™ at February 03, 2014 04:35 PM (HsTG

I think Innocents Abroad contains "The Great French Duel" or something near that. One of the funniest things ever written.

Posted by: Mr. Dave at February 03, 2014 12:52 PM (7Bo+h)

731 After college I read all of Mark Twain. Much of it is sad and depressing but he was a very good writer, especially the dialogue. Read much of Conrad, want to read them again on Kindle. Liked his stories quite a bit such as Secret Agent. He would always have one word per page sending me scrambling for a dictionary, now you can just press your finger on the word on a Kindle for a definition. Ever going to do group reads?

Posted by: waelse1 at February 03, 2014 01:05 PM (TLDoM)

732 The problem with literature, with Moby Dick, with Twain, is that it's chicken-or-egg. The case in my own life that I come back to is 'Tale of Two Cities'. I was flogged into reading it long before I had any real comprehension of the French Revolution. Most of the context went over my head at FL300.

Posted by: JEM at February 03, 2014 01:06 PM (o+SC1)

733 Moby Dick contains a fun and interesting discussion of whaling law, stating that the law is simple and the application is sometimes humorous: "I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.Â” (nautical meaning: tied fast to it.) II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it. But what plays the mischief with this masterly code is the admirable brevity of it, which necessitates a vast volume of commentaries to expound it." Melville goes through a court case of a whale caught (a Fast-Fish), then lost (again a Loose-Fish) and caught by another crew along with the first crewÂ’s harpoons, ropes and boat. Melville then brings up an attorneyÂ’s analogy of whaling law to a divorce case in which: Â“Â…a gentleman, after in vain trying to bridle his wife's viciousness, had at last abandoned her upon the seas of life; but in the course of years, repenting of that step, he instituted an action to recover possession of her. [The attorney] was on the other side; and he then supported it by saying, that though the gentleman had originally harpooned the lady, and had once had her fast, and only by reason of the great stress of her plunging viciousness, had at last abandoned her; yet abandon her he did, so that she became a loose-fish; and therefore when a subsequent gentleman re-harpooned her, the lady then became that subsequent gentleman's property, along with whatever harpoon might have been found sticking in her.Â” Melville goes on to world politics, specifically asking about English/Irish relations : Â“What to that redoubted harpooneer, John Bull, is poor Ireland, but a Fast-Fish?Â” And America: "What was America in 1492 but a Loose-Fish, in which Columbus struck the Spanish standard by way of [whaling] it for his royal master and mistress?" Then finishes all philosophical: "And what are you, reader, but a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish, too?"

Posted by: Bill Lever at February 03, 2014 01:08 PM (l3M2g)

734 @735 There's a lot of truth to that. There are plot lines that cannot mean anything to a kid. OTOH, given the hypersexuality of kids today, the reverse is also true. To read The Scarlet Letter today is a total waste of time. "She banged the minister... that's it?" I'm not sure which is more tragic - the first phenomena, where kids don't get the point, or the second - where kids simply don't care.

Posted by: RobM1981 at February 03, 2014 01:14 PM (zurJC)

735 When you think about it, isn't Moby Dick really the story of Obama?

Posted by: BunnyFooFoo at February 03, 2014 01:18 PM (Z0/+C)

736 I read Moby Dick. I think it's vastly over-rated.

Posted by: SARDiver at February 03, 2014 01:19 PM (ci7Fe)

737 Read three:

I've read Atlas Shrugged twice. It's a slog in parts, and like a few other people have mentioned could have used an editor with a chainsaw. If it was even half the length it might have been better. A third of the length might have made it a great novel. Rand insists on belaboring point after point, slamming you in the head with it long after you cease caring. Still, the parts that are good are *really* good. One thing Rand absolutely understood was the statist mindset. The people we have in politics today behave like villains out of that book. Hell, I expect Obama to sign Directive 10-289 at any point.

Moby Dick was good, though my eyes started to glaze over during the chapters on cetology. (Interestingly, the word "cetology" wasn't in Firefox's spell-check dictionary.)

And what can be said about "1984?" Best how-to book on tyranny that an administration could hope for. They're reading it in Washington and saying "Brilliant! Orwell was a genius! Why didn't we think of that?"

Posted by: Evil Otto at February 03, 2014 01:30 PM (jGmEU)

738 Moby Dick was a difficult, but ultimately rewarding book. But young people can't even say the name of the book without a snicker.

Posted by: JoeyBagels at February 03, 2014 01:38 PM (UXttn)

739 I've only read 3 of the books: Moby Dick in high shcool, A Tale of Two Cities, and 1984. Moby Dick was a beat down. A Tale of Two Cities was a difficult read as well, but the difference is I would forgo Moby Dick and recommend A Tale of Two Cities. 1984 is a classic, but I prefer Orwell's Animal Farm much more.

Posted by: dogfish at February 03, 2014 02:04 PM (nsOJa)

740 I've read Atlas Shrugged, 1984, A Tale of Two Cities and Moby Dick. There was a time when I would have tried to complete Ulysses just to say I had, but now that I'm mature I don't need phony accolades for doing things that don't interest me.

My professor used to have fun with the American Lit course in which we read Moby Dick. "People ask me if there is sexual subtext in this book. It's a book about a sperm whale, taught by a professor named Cox. Draw your own conclusions!"

Posted by: Miley's Tongue at February 03, 2014 02:15 PM (R+h7Q)

741 Read Moby in high school and college, plus two more times. The last time I tried to focus on economics of the whaling industry, thereby gaining a better appreciation of Starbuck's opposition to Ahab.

Posted by: Elmer Stoup at February 03, 2014 02:17 PM (f5Ng1)

742 I can get the symbolism and subtleties of Moby Dick, but it was such a tremendous slog that I simply couldn't enjoy it. I second the comment about the Cetology chapter. It took me several nights of reading in bed to get through that chapter, and it was only a few pages.

Posted by: SARDiver at February 03, 2014 02:33 PM (ci7Fe)

743 A Tale of Two Cities is one of my all-time favorite books -- it is a masterpiece. I read it when I was 22 or 23 and it moved me so much. I cried at the end and I think I hugged the book. Yeah, I'm a book-lover.

The movie with Ronald Coleman is just about perfect, but the book is more "musical"... Dickens mentions the SOUNDS so you can actually "hear" them. The steady drumbeat, the sounds of the guillotine. Also, DeFarge's knitting is WAY creepier in the book. Chills-down-the-spine creepy. The end is so inspirational and uplifting and NOBLE, can't put it into words.

I can't recommend ATOTC enough. It is Dickens' BEST.

Posted by: Aslan's Girl at February 03, 2014 03:03 PM (KL49F)

744 PS I've read a lot of Dickens' works which is why I feel safe in saying A Tale of Two Cities is his best... his next best, imo, is David Copperfield, and for pure fun, The Pickwick Papers are a delight.

Posted by: Aslan's Girl at February 03, 2014 03:09 PM (KL49F)

745 Moby Dick also had a character named Starbuck. It was really just a first draft for the screenplay of Battlestar Galactica.

Posted by: malclave at February 03, 2014 05:01 PM (OCRaO)

746

A) #51--I learned "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee" from a Windows 3.1 game called "Scorched Earth" (which I believe was a forerunner to "Pocket Tanks")

B) Audiobooks! I listened to _Atlas Shrugged_ and _Moby Dick_ while rolling

C) Raise your hand if you read _1984_ in 1984. . . !

Posted by: SPinRHF16 at February 03, 2014 06:10 PM (hAq2k)

747 I have actually read 1984 (in high school), and the Art of War (a couple of different translations), and bits of The Prince. But the rest? nah. I learned "from hell's heart" from Ricardo Montalban.

Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie © at February 04, 2014 04:53 AM (1hM1d)

748 "But I did just finish "The Stranger" by Camus the other day. Maybe it was the translation, but I think it's kinda overrated." OH! I was recommended that book and found a lovely copy, compact, with wonderful thick pages, beautiful don't and rough edges, they call it something fancy, but I can't recall. Anyway, I was so excited to read and live this book. About a third of the way through it, I wanted to kill myself. I'm no sophisticated literature expert but that book sucked all the joy right out of me, and perhaps that was the purpose. Yuck.

Posted by: Auntie Doodles at February 04, 2014 12:50 PM (JcN7j)

749 Sorry for all the typos. Beautiful don't = beautiful font. Live = love

Posted by: Auntie Doodles at February 04, 2014 01:18 PM (JcN7j)

750 I am not at all pleased with the list. I've read 6 of them, and I hardly think Moby Dick a very good read or a necessary one. I've read it, and I could careless who knows that I consider it a lumbering bore. It is a sin for any English major to dismiss Moby Dick, or Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, but I am happy to do so. One can find a book to be laborious to read but still respect it as being well written. Moby Dick is a great book but only because it is an admirable work of genius. Yeah, it's genius, but it's boring as hell. There are many great "unread" books that should have been on that list, and I'd be happy to knock off anything by Proust and replace it with the Illiad or the Odyssey (I mean, who honestly is impressed by someone who has read Proust?). Why Homer wasn't on the list is beyond me. And what about John Locke? People like to say they have read Homer or Locke, but you know that's all B.S..

Posted by: Mistress Overdone at February 05, 2014 09:32 AM (2/oBD)

751 Auntie Doodles - I highly recommend avoiding any and all existentialist literature if one considers "meaning" a valued state. Camus's The Stranger is definitely a depressing read, but it is confounded by the purposelessness that infuses the whole book. Ugh. What was the point of the murder, and you might ask, what was the point in reading this book? The remedy for this is William Summerset Maugham. If you want more purposeful insight into why life can be so darn miserable, well Maugham's depressingly honest pragmatism will certainly do the job. Maugham is a bit of a clumsy and lumbering writer, but his insights into the human condition are brilliant. There are reasons to be depressed, of course, but Maugham always offers a way out.

Posted by: Mistress Overdone at February 05, 2014 09:41 AM (2/oBD)

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