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February 2, 2010

Book Lists

Here is Crazy's list of books that would, ideally, be taught in a high school. Here are those which I have read, or will read:
-The Odyssey, unfortunately
-selections from The Canterbury Tales are next year
-so is The Scarlet Letter
-selections from Emerson, but at church, not school.
-selections from Thoreau, although I read Walden during the summer.
-Little Woman, but I read that, for myself, in elementary school
-Jane Eyre, a summer book, again.
-A Tale of Two Cities, in sophomore English
-Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream
-The Sun Also Rises, which I'm midway through. Also, Crazy wrote the following: "I like it better than A Farewell to Arms and HUGELY better than that stupid story where he chases around the fish." I agree with her whole-heartedly.
-The Great Gatsby, which I read this fall
-a short story by Woolf

I'm rather appalled that she didn't include Catcher in the Rye, which really ought to be on any list, in my opinion.

I also found a list here of thirty books everyone should read before their 30th birthday:
  1. Sidartha- from what I've heard, I'll pass, although it supposedly helps on SATs.
  2. 1984- I should probably read that one eventually.
  3. To Kill A Mockingbird- I read it in eighth grade, and, to be honest, I think it's a bit overrated.
  4. A Clockwork Orange- would have been better if Otis hadn't spoilt it.
  5. For Whom the Bell Tolls- it's Hemingway, and not Old Man and Sea, so maybe I'd like it
  6. War and Peace- sounds long and painful
  7. The Rights of Man- is written by Paine. More or less pain than War and Peace?
  8. The Social Contract- Rousseau. This is not a novel. I will not read it.
  9. One Hundred Years of Solitude- anything that "does not have a plot in the traditional sense" does not seem as if it will be a great deal of fun.
  10. The Origin of Species- well, that might actually be fun.
  11. The Wisdom of the Desert- sounds like something my mom would read before forcing a new supplement on me.
  12. The Tipping Point- Malcolm Gladwell. Can I leave it at Outliers?
  13. The Wind in the Willows- never heard of it. Sounds nice, though
  14. The Art of War- military strategy. blech.
  15. The Lord of the Rings- I've read some. Vastly overrated, again.
  16. David Copperfield- I started it and liked it, but we read it in school next year, so I didn't want to do the whold thing.
  17. Four Quartets- poetry? I'll pass.
  18. Catch-22- this I'd rather like to read.
  19. The Great Gatsby- been there, done that.
  20. The Catcher in the Rye- see #19
  21. Crime and Punishment- sounds foreign and confusing. What fun!
  22. The Prince- Machiavell. Will probably destroy my optimistic worldview
  23. Walden- I read it. Loved it. Highly recommend it.
  24. The Republic- Plato. Not a novel. "Gripping and enduring" makes it sound like bad sex.
  25. Lolita- this I'd like to read.
  26. Getting Things Done- self help. I'd really rather not.
  27. How to Win Friends and Influence People- more self help. And it sounds snooty.
  28. Lord of the Flies- I've always wanted to read that one.
  29. The Grapes of Wrath- I'm sorry, but I really just don't like Steinbeck.
  30. The Master and Margarita- Emily read this, our teacher hadn't heard of it, but it's apparently quite good.
Yay books! Yay reading! Now, back to Hemingway.

3 comments:

Gretchen said...

lord of the flies was pretty good. i didn't like sidartha that much. it was okay...
but i loved catcher in the rye!!
last year they read the scarlet letter in language, did they change it to lit?

Ginny said...

LOTF was... interesting. I read it twice for English (once in 9th grade and once in 10th).

For Crazy's list, I've read:

selections from Emerson
selections from Thoreau
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte-partly, when I found a random copy of the book
poems by Emily Dickinson, Whitman
Huck Finn by Twain
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald-shall read, starting... tomorrow

And the other list:

To Kill a Mockingbird-sparknoted, cause I was too lazy to check out the original book from the library
War and Peace-is really long, and I've only read the 1st chapter
Catcher-totally. I loved it too.
Walden-only excerpts. it's interesting too, to some extent (Chris McCandless killed it somewhat for me)
Lolita-wiki'd it before

I probably should read more.

Julie said...

you haven't read 1984??!! it's so good. you need to read it.