Books 1001 Books you must read before you die

[Lamp]

How many have you read?

"1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" | Listology

Although I'm not working my way thru the list, I've been reading quite a few "classics" recently. Currently reading: Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

 

[kiliarien]

Took me until 19 before I even recognised one, and even that one was in passing so I think I'm useless on this one. Cheers for the link though.

Wish I had more time to read.

Currently reading: Miscreation by Stefan Jakubowski - mental fantasy comedy in Tom Holt stylie.

 

[rynnor]

What an awful list - a few decent ones but too much by will self and every other book rated highly by the pretentious.

I think one could lead a fulfilling life having never read any of them tbh.

 

[Job]

presumably the instruction book for your new jetpack isn't on the list.

 

[Shagrat]

There's some bloody strange choices on that list.

 

[Zenith.UK]

Couldn't care less.
I had to start from the bottom of the list to recognise titles and authors.

As for the 2000's, I only recognised a couple of the authors and that was enough for me to dismiss the whole list as someone's attempt to appear high-brow and intellectual when all it does it show them to be a pretentious twonk.

 

[rynnor]

I only recognised a couple of the authors and that was enough for me to dismiss the whole list as someone's attempt to appear high-brow and intellectual when all it does it show them to be a pretentious twonk.

Exactly - only the proto-intellectual sheep read that crap waiting to be lead by the nose by idiot book reviewers.

 

[tierk]

I fancy myself as a serious reader and wee bit of a book collector, that list is just :lol:You ahve to start at the bottom (as another poster stated) to actually see any books that i would deem worthy of a title like Must read books before one dies.

 

[PLightstar]

Not exactly a list of books I would jump to read. As I read mainly Sci-fi the bulk being WH40K novels then you won't see Dan Abnett on there. There aren't even any FF books by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. Wheres Terry Pratchett or Iain M Banks?

 

[DaGaffer]

Looks like a list put together by someone who's heard these books are important but hasn't actually read all of them. My suspicions were first aroused by the inclusion of Swift's "A Modest Proposal", which isn't even a book really. All of the SF references are pretty trite; 2001, really? Its not even Clarke's best novel in the 2001 series never mind his best overall. Same with Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land is his most controversial, but not his best. Then you get the inevitable 3 Kafkas and six Orwells. The pre-1700 part of the list is pretty random as well, Ovid but not Chaucer? I know the definition of "novel" gets a bit hazy back then but if you're going to include poems then at least be consistent.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Not one Neil Gaiman book?

 

[Genedril]

I count 90 on there that I've read so I'm quite happy that some of you think they aren't really must reads....

I must admit that the 2000's section I've only read 1 listed and that's the Iain Banks one.

I don't consider myself a serious reader a'la Tierk but I do consider myself as someone who likes to read good books.

 

[Jiggs]

993. The Unfortunate Traveller – Thomas Nashe

Having read this book for a really specific purpose (a dissertation on a colleague of Nashe's) I can say with some accuracy that it's a pretty surprising text to find in such a list.

 

[SilverHood]

I guess what needs to be asked is, what is the criterion for getting on the list?

If I was to name 5 books that I think all guys should read (women too, but not sure they dig these kind of books), they'd be entertaining, make you think about your own life and those around you, and make you want to keep on reading after it ends.

It wold go something like:
1. Shibumi (Trevanian)
2. Dune (Frank Herbert)
3. The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Neal Stephenson)
4. The Lion of Macedon (David Gemmel)
5. Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield)

 

[Lamp]

Penguins you must read before you die

 

[Aoami]

metamorphoses... gl with that

 

[Rulke]

4. The Lion of Macedon (David Gemmel)

Parmenion <3

 

[Access Denied]

Parmenion <3

Agreed. David Gemmell. May he be honoured in the halls of the Gods. Was an absolutely brilliant author. I've read 90% of his books and I wish he was immortal just so I could continue reading his books!

Putting a twist on it. A list of authors I think you should all read.

David Gemmell.
Terry Brooks.
Stephen Coonts/z (can't remember off the top of my head and the books are packed. Wrote Saucer.)
Clive Cussler.
Matthew Reilly.
Andy McDermott.
Stephen King.
Trudi Canavan.
Karen Miller.

More to follow I'm sure. As you can see the list of made up of fantasy/sci fi and adventure fiction. Also David Gemmell used to live a 5 minute walk from me.

 

[DaGaffer]

Agreed. David Gemmell. May he be honoured in the halls of the Gods. Was an absolutely brilliant author. I've read 90% of his books and I wish he was immortal just so I could continue reading his books!

Putting a twist on it. A list of authors I think you should all read.

David Gemmell.
Terry Brooks.
Stephen Coonts/z (can't remember off the top of my head and the books are packed. Wrote Saucer.)
Clive Cussler.
Matthew Reilly.
Andy McDermott.
Stephen King.
Trudi Canavan.
Karen Miller.

More to follow I'm sure. As you can see the list of made up of fantasy/sci fi and adventure fiction. Also David Gemmell used to live a 5 minute walk from me.

Don't read much S&S type fantasy but I have read Terry Brooks - absolute dogshit.

 

[eksdee]

And the conclusion of all this? Taste is subjective. Who'd have guessed.

Also, one point I'd like to raise - why are 'classics' considered 'must reads' over popular modern texts by many? Are their modes, concepts, style and/or whatever other element you may wish to pick not somewhat irrelevant now? Of course we can learn by looking to the past, and I rate some 'classic' novels amongst my favourites - Jude the Obscure, The Picture of Dorian Grey - but I certainly wouldn't say to anyone they 'had' to read them.

Moreover, can any fiction books really be considered 'must read' at all by their inherent nature - by that I mean, by and large, fiction is a genre reserved for entertainment. For example, for me, reading The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction by Walter Benjamin I consider to be essential reading to understand and put into context certain elements of what I have studied and now work within - graphic design and, in the broader sense, visual culture.

 

[Ch3tan]

There is only one book I know in the first 20; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon, and it truly is a book you should read.

 

[Cerb]

And the conclusion of all this? Taste is subjective. Who'd have guessed.

Also, one point I'd like to raise - why are 'classics' considered 'must reads' over popular modern texts by many? Are their modes, concepts, style and/or whatever other element you may wish to pick not somewhat irrelevant now? Of course we can learn by looking to the past, and I rate some 'classic' novels amongst my favourites - Jude the Obscure, The Picture of Dorian Grey - but I certainly wouldn't say to anyone they 'had' to read them.

Moreover, can any fiction books really be considered 'must read' at all by their inherent nature - by that I mean, by and large, fiction is a genre reserved for entertainment. For example, for me, reading The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction by Walter Benjamin I consider to be essential reading to understand and put into context certain elements of what I have studied and now work within - graphic design and, in the broader sense, visual culture.

See why I believe that many classics should be considered important, despite being fiction, is that by their very definition as "Literature", they must also provide a message to go along with their entertainment value.
So I think that a fiction can be just as important.

 

[eksdee]

But are the messages of many classics not somewhat out of date (so to say) when applied in context to modern society? Not all, certainly, but still. I'm not particularly intending to present this as my outright opinion, just raising the point for discussion - I'm interested to understand what people see in reading classics.

 

[Lamp]

Classic book - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A classic book is a book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, either through an imprimatur such as being listed in any of the Western canons or through a reader's own personal opinion