SDMB - Straight Dope discussion
Depressed
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I think I have that same reading disorder. What's worse is that I seem to have less time than ever to read books, which makes my progress even slower. Guess I need to reorganize, reprioritize, or otherwise overhaul parts of my life.
The one thing that cheers me up is that I'll never have a shortage of things I want to read. I never really have to wonder for long what I should read next, because I have this handy list....
What's really obnoxious is that book "1001 Books YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU DIE." So no matter how big your reading list was before, now it's bigger.And you know the people who wrote the stupid book haven't read every one of them, but now they make us feel like we're inferior because we haven't.
And I've read like 30 of them, and there's a spreadsheet that says I have to read 31 a year now because the spreadsheet knows WHEN I'LL DIE.
I only put books on my to-be-read list when I've bought them and brought them home, and I've started to even do not so much of that. I have growing to-be-read piles, but it's hard when you go to the bookstore every week and there are all those shiny new books. And they make puppy eyes and wag their little tails at you. I looked at the entire 1001 books to read before you die list too and counted something like 70 odd of the books that I had read. It's lucky for me that there were a fair number of Margaret Atwood's novels, Austen and Bronte sisters, a few Douglas Adams, and Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie because those few authors comprised the majority my book count. Still, I'm okay with that. A lot of books on the list I'm not all that interested in reading.
Not really depressed, per se - maybe frustrated that there are all these (potentially) wonderful books out there & who knows when I'll have time to read them all? And what about all those wonderful books I have read and want to read again? Ooh - and all those movies, and all those albums... But in the meanwhile, I chip away at the list, little by little... commiserating with you folks who share my bibliophilia.
I downloaded a 1001 books spreadsheet just to see what was in the list. I think I'd read 80-something of them, primarily because I was a German major and a fair number of books on the list were from the German canon.I was relieved to see that many of the books I haven't read are ones I'm not about to waste time on.
I can't believe I'm going to ask this question but... where did you get that spreadsheet, GT?J
My to-read list makes me happy. I try to keep it under control, and only list the books I think I'll read in the near future. Most of my list is already in my possession because I'm a moody and impulsive reader and I like to have a variety of books to choose from. (If I ever take only one book with me on a trip, I will invariably lose all desire to read that particular book.)I used to get depressed after finishing a really good book - left with the awful certainty that I would never again find anything I liked as well. But I expanded my horizons, and I'm much more optimistic now.
I'd probably get depressed, so I don't keep a list. Is that passive-aggressive bibliophilia?
I found another list.I need to stop looking at lists.
The New Classics: The 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008
I get depressed because my "reading" list is about 6 books I've been halfway through for a few years, and I know that there's no way I can finish them without rereading that first half for the third time. So I keep picking up new books at the library, which puts more time between my and those "reading" and "to-read" books.That reminds me, I have to update my "read" list with about three more books not on either "reading" or "to-read".
My 'to-reads' are books that I already have at home on the pile. My Amazon wishlist is almost at 1000 books now. Sigh. If only I could just quit my jobs and READ all day, I'd be a happy girl. (Count me in as someone who'd like to see that 1001 booklist spreadsheet too. Dammit.)
Ok, I looked at that spreadsheet. According to it, I need to read 21 books a year (I've already read 74) to get them all. Now when I see "The Corrections" on any booklist, my eyes roll so hard that they fall out of my head and tumble across the floor. Horrible book. But then I also feel the same way about "Catch-22" and "Catcher in the Rye". I realize that everyone's tastes are different etc etc.
I think this will be a nice list to find some new titles (I didn't recognize some books on there) and may have to keep it handy. I have no plans on reading the titles I have no interest in. Life's too short for that. :)
Well, I've read 7 of the 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008, and 67 of the 1001 books to read before I die. (I think. I can't remember if I've read some of them.)The 1001 books list struck me as waaaaay too heavy a representation of certain authors. I love Jane Austen, but should Northanger Abbey be on such a list? I'd say no. Should the 2000's have 69 books? I'd say no again. Should the Dirk Gently books be anywhere near this list? No. Should at least one book by Pratchett be on it? Yes! Is the Nine Tailors in the top five of Sayers's books? NO!
On the 100 list, how is The DaVinci Code even in the running? HP and the Goblet of Fire isn't the best HP book (again, in my opinion)! And on and on.
I've read 20 from the EW 1983-2006 list. ITA with some of them -- Cloud Atlas, Kavalier & Clay, Bonfire of the Vanities, Ghost Road, Lonesome Dove, Presumed Innocent. A lot of these books are "groundbreaking". Lonesome Dove made it okay to read westerns, Presumed Innocent set a high standard for legal thrillers, Bonfire was compellingly readable.
But On Beauty? I haven't read it but I haven't heard anything good about it. Why not White Teeth instead? Praying for Sheetrock was dry and lifeless, IMHO.
What is Eat Pray Love doing on the list? Isn't that just a run of the mill self-help book?
I've only read 10 of those "New Classics". My favorites of those are Angela's Ashes, Bridget Jones's Diary and A Prayer for Owen Meany. (And The Remains of the Day is one of my very favorite movies).Lonesome Dove and Cold Mountain are on my to-read list.
I've only read 37 of the 1001 list, not counting a few I only vaguely remember being required to read in school. I'm fairly confident I'll never break 20% of that list.
I've read 33 of the 100 and have about 10 others on the stack. I think it's a bad list. Eat, Love, Pray? Really? I don't want to live in a world where that's a "new classic."
I disagree with a lot of their choices (my "I don't want to live in a world" book on that list is Krik? Krak!, which I thought was dreadful beyond words, and I tried to read
Eat, Pray, Love
and threw the goddamned thing across the room), but on the whole, I don't think it's too bad a list. I can't get too exercised about a list that includes works as varied and worthwhile as
Jimmy Corrigan
, Fun Home, The Windup Bird Chronicle, and The Corrections. (I won't even dignify The DaVinci Code by mentioning its presence. Oops, too late. Oh well.)I think the 1001 Books to Read before You Die (what a stupid title, for gods' sake) list is far, far worse than the EW list, not the least reason for which is the former has about three Bret Motherfucking Easton Ellis books on it. As far as I'm concerned, that alone is enough to send the whole shebang straight to File 13.
And I'll admit to being a bit puzzled by the notion that anyone would be made to feel anxious or inferior because she or he hasn't read enough of the books on any list, especially a list whose title was very likely dreamed up by some corporate peon in a Sales and Marketing meeting. I can understand saying, "Hey, nice list -- I'd like to use it as a springboard for new ideas on what to read." But "Oh, I feel depressed now because someone made a list and I won't get to finish everything on it"? Huh? Seriously, I don't get it. I mean, who cares what some random list says? I find the whole thing pretty counterproductive, as it doesn't seem to serve much purpose other than to make reading an anxiety-provoking chore.
My feelings don't have anything to do with anyone else's list, just MY list. I know I'll never have the opportunity to read all of the books I want to read.It's not remotely inferiority or anxiety. It's sadness. There isn't enough time in the day.
But, but Laura! The title of the list is "1001 Books You MUST READ before you DIE."You MUST read them. This is not a springboard for new ideas, it's an imperative. And any spreadsheet that KNOWS WHEN I'LL DIE is too smart to be questioned on matters such as what are the good books.
Well, the fact is that a lot of people do treat it that way and seem to get pretty emotionally bound up in the whole thing.
SDMB - Straight Dope
Books mentioned in this topic
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia (other topics)Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (other topics)
I think I have a reading disorder.
Julie