Tuesday, August 29, 2006

WWJR: What Would JT Read?


Looking back at the books I've read this year, the theme is "Books I Should have Read in School But Didn't Because My School Sucked". So far this year I've read "Great Expectations" (surprisingly good), "Anna Karenina" (surprisingly Harlequin-esque), "Robinson Crusoe" (unsurprisingly racist), "All Quiet on the Western Front" (unsurprisingly depressing & rat-filled), and, currently, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" (surprisingly short). Now, my big question is, any suggestions of good books you were required to read? Or, more importantly, any classics to avoid? Not that I'll actually listen to suggestions, but this way you can feel like I care.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Green Eggs and Ham?

Anonymous said...

UPA Ultimate Rules 10th Edition...You need the refresher.

You made it through Anna Kareninananana? Holy crap. I made it to page 3 before quitting. Damn VH1.

Anonymous said...

A Separate Peace (fineas!)
Snow Crash (cyberpunk candy novel)
The Stars My Destination (early cyberpunk goodness)
I, Robot (asimov, a good series)

jtingermany said...

Actually, in europe they use the WFDF rules, which are basically the 9th edition (not even the updated 9th edition), but with unofficial interpretations like be within 3m to call a pick, etc. it's a pain, and obnoxious -- if a throwaway happens after a pick, it comes back, depending on when the call was made. ugh

Anonymous said...

When Time came out with their 100 best novels of the last century I read a few of them to see what the hubbub was. Here's what I came away with:

Very Good-
Snow Crash
I, Claudius
Watchmen (but you knew that)
The Time Traveler's Wife (not on the list but it should be)

Average-
All the king's men
Neuromancer (only in the top 100 because it was groundbreaking not necessarily good)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (only because it's short enough to not get boring)

Stay away-
1984
The Sound and the Fury


Others-
The Blind Assassin, I could only get through a few chapters but, after reading Oryx and Crake, I'm willing to give it another try. Margaret Atwood is a great writer.

CP

angrylilazngrl said...

didn't you find that robinson crusoe was filled with anachronisms and inconsistencies?

Anonymous said...

Avoid at all cost:
Don Quijote
Last of the Mohicans

Excellent:
The border trilogy, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (amazing descriptive writing...Steinbeckian really... but one seriously sick f$#@. Very depressing at times. Also, keep a spanish dictionary handy.

jtingermany said...

Snow Crash rocks. I was very pleasantly surprised to see it on the list. I've also read Zodiac (ok), the Diamond Age (pretty good) and Cryptonomicon (really good) by Stephenson.

I, Robot & the other robot series are good, too.

R. Crusoe is filled with anachronisms and lots of moral inconsistencies -- he sells a slave back into slavery after using his help to escape slavery and leaves a shipload of Spaniards on his island mainly because they're papists (and so enjoy solitude? he wasn't clear on the reason). Also, it's a pretty blatant ripoff of the movie "Castaway".

angrylilazngrl said...

i also like sarah vowell and david sedaris. i miss npr like crazy so i have to get the podcasts here. my favorite show is "this american life" which i'll have on the ipod as i run. -dress your family in corduroy and denim
-naked
-me talk pretty one day
-assassination vacation (vowell)

v highly recommended

jtingermany said...

Me Talk Pretty & Assassination Vacation were two of our book club books (cue the mocking from dan saenz) that were great. Hilarious. Though Vowell gets a bit too whiny at times. And she needed to suck it up and drive to Texas to cover JFK. How do you miss that?

Anonymous said...

The Sun also Rises- Hemingway
Anything Fitzgerald
Anything by Chuck Klosterman (not really school stuff, but it could be since there's some sociology)
Tom Robbins: Fierce invalids home from Hot climates