Books everyone should read

[pokerfan]

Kinda looks like my library....


http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/14/information-beautiful-books-read-100#

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. you read Rebecca?

[pokerfan]

2. No, that's one I missed

but I saw the movie!

[applegrove]

22. I tried to read Rebbecca. She whined too much. I couldn't stand it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

24. the movie was worse.

I think I was 12 when I read the book, I guess at that age, I could relate.

[dimbear]

32. Every man should read Rebecca. No man can truly understand women

without reading that book. Or with, but that's another story.

[kentauros]

3. Mine doesn't even look like ten percent of that,

and I'm very happy not having read all of the "classics" ;)

Now, I would add one to that group that every American should read:

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.

[LynneSin]

4. Seriously - "Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged"? I'd rather give up my ability to read

then sit thru that garbage. Why not put Dianetics on there too?

Not sure why "The DaVinci Code" is on that list. Sure it's a quick easy read but it's like calling grape kool-aid a fine wine. I do like that "Memoir of a Geisha" and "Prayer for Owen Meany" are on the list - those are some great current reads.

[pokerfan]

7. Well, I'm not going to vouch for every title in that cloud

It's based on polling and to be honest I mostly looked at the big font (most popular) titles. But if the font size reflects popularity, then I think the Guardian's readers have reasonable taste generally speaking.

(I like Owen Meany, too.)

[CrawlingChaos]

27. You can say that again!

The presence of Ayn Rand makes it more of a fart cloud.

[TZ]

5. BZZT. Nope anything that lists effing TWILIGHT on the same list

as to Kill a Mockingbird is fucked up royally. Those two shouldn't even be mentioned in the same DAY

[LynneSin]

8. Rather read the Twilight series then anything by Ayn Rand

Seriously!

[TZ]

11. Well actually Randian philosophy is actually important to know

because alot of political philosophy today IS based on it. I'm not of the school that something should not be read JUST because you disagree with the basic philosophy/politics, that leads to ignorance and often times censorship. As an intellectual exercise, Ayn Rand should be read, particularly by political science majors I think. Think about how many people would benefit from reading Origin of Species, but those who need it the most, won't. Twilight has no intellectual value. Its bubblegum reading. I've read my share of bubblegum books and they have their place. But I think some things, have to be read to understand...I advocate reading the Bible too even though I'm very much an atheist.

[av8rdave]

18. Agreed...it's reading the things that challenge us rather than validate us that tests our intellect

My RSS feeds include Drudge and George Will.

Before anyone starts flaming me...they're both piles of crap, but I believe it's important to read them.

[Curmudgeoness]

19. I totally agree that these books should be read by anyone who

wants to understand what is happening today and what the RW is thinking. I also agree with reading the Bible, although I am also an atheist. If you want to have an informed opinion, you have to inform yourself.

[hifiguy]

28. I read a lot of Rand in my mid-20s

though I could never stomach reading all of "Atlas Shrugged." Horrible, unspeakably turgid and awful purple prose, half-baked adolescent ideas, two-dimensional and thoroughly Dog-awful characters, but it was worth the suffering in learning so much about something so crazy that has, sadly, become so central to modern political discussion. That writing so incomprehsibly ghastly has survived this long remains a mystery to me.

The day came when I sat down and thought about what a Randian world would look like in practice and nearly became nauseous. Adolescent power fantasies plus poorly digested Nietzsche does not a philosophy make. It doesn't even make a dog's breakfast.

Rand is "philosophy" for selfish, socially-retarded college sophomores and people who are just too damned stupid to understand real philosophy. Robert E. Howard's pulpy Conan the Barbarian stories are well beyond Rand in every way.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. as it turns out, i have read most of these books

:)

[KamaAina]

9. My Pet Goat

:sarcasm:

[Tikki]

10. Is 'A Tale of Two Cities' Dickens on that list?...should be..

Tikki

[pokerfan]

12. to the right of Catch 22...

[nytemare]

13. You know, my choice was the first one listed.

All Quiet on the Western Front. I read it every couple of years or so. Wonderfully sad book.

[sarge43]

14. The Da Vinci Code?? n/t

[Supply Side Jesus]

15. ya....WTF?!

[LNM]

29. I thought that as well.

:wtf:

[nuxvomica]

16. I'm happy to see "Scoop" and "Confederacy..." made the list

Both are surprises. "To Kill a Mockingbird" and most of the other big ones are worthy, IMHO, but expected. I don't see any Forster -- "Passage to India" should be on the list. I'm glad "Dracula" is there but, really, "Frankenstein" should be too. And "The Once and Future King" as well.

[av8rdave]

17. I am disappointed to see East of Eden so small on the list

One of the truly great works of American literature, IMO.

However, HG2G and Mockingbird seem rightfully placed.

[femmocrat]

20. "One Hundred Years of Solitude"? Really?

And in such a big font? I couldn't force my way through it.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

21. Dune should be on there, IMO

Very important book.

[nuxvomica]

23. It is. Look under "Hitchhiker's Guide..."

I looked for it too. I was sure "Confederacy of Dunces" wasn't there but I found it. I also looked for a link to an alphabetical list but couldn't find one.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

25. Oh good.

I looked over that thing and couldn't find and it, and there it was, smack in the middle lol.

[HughBeaumont]

26. Ulysses being one of the smaller, less prominent books of this list leads me to discount it.

That and two bullshit books by SS/Medicare recipient Rayn And are included, along with Toni Morrison's boring depress-fests.

[Biker13]

30. "Johnny Got His Gun"?

I own most on this list, but in this day and age, this book is important!

Biker's Old Lady

[pokerfan]

31. That's a classic

but then again, it's a poll of Guardian readers so it's probably going to be a little UK centric, Steinbeck and Twain notwithstanding.