Comments on: One of those arbitrary must read reading lists… https://glendalarke.com/2009/01/one-of-those-arbitrary-must-read/ Sat, 13 Mar 2021 10:33:14 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 By: Jo https://glendalarke.com/2009/01/one-of-those-arbitrary-must-read/#comment-21270 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:24:00 +0000 #comment-21270 I so agree with that last part Glenda, deathless prose doesn’t hold the fascination or interest any more, but a good story with good characters with whom you can be in sympathy with, attracts me every time. Your books are a perfect example, and maybe the way you write is the way you want to read nowadays. Or vice versa.

]]> By: Glenda Larke https://glendalarke.com/2009/01/one-of-those-arbitrary-must-read/#comment-21269 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:02:00 +0000 #comment-21269 Are looking at the post again, I see there were 2 that missed being ‘bolded’, Heart of Darkness and Portrait of a Lady. Which brings me up to 49. And yes, Jo, I have read War and Peace, twice actually, and Shogun too.

To be frank, I think lists like this are rather useless. Why should one read this one and not that one? It is such a personal choice. And books which were tremendously important at the time – like Clarissa, or Tom Jones – because they were the first, are not necessarily anything now except historically interesting.

Some people revel in beautiful language and stories as interesting as cold treacle. If language is not what grabs you, then why read them?

What intrigues me is how I have changed. Books I absolutely loved at the time, I couldn’t bear to read now. Heart of Darkness, for example. I can’t imagine ever wanted to wade though Crime and Punishment again! And yet I read every word – for pleasure too. It wasn’t on some university reading list.

I find that I am not so interested in reading books from the past any more. Now I want books written now, even if they deal with the past. I am less interested in the beauty of the prose, and more interested in what happens and the characters. Why? I have no idea.

]]> By: Jo https://glendalarke.com/2009/01/one-of-those-arbitrary-must-read/#comment-21268 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:18:00 +0000 #comment-21268 Oh ain’t that the truth Satima. Funny how you both picked this to talk about today. Must admit, some of those on the list I wouldn’t even attempt to read. There are other books by the same authors I thought were great, War and Peace being one. Personally I still think one of the greatest books of the 20th Century was Shogun by James Clavell. If you haven’t read it, shame on the pair of you.

]]> By: Helen V. https://glendalarke.com/2009/01/one-of-those-arbitrary-must-read/#comment-21267 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:33:00 +0000 #comment-21267 I have read 56 from this list but from two similar lists that came out over the last few years I had read 97 and somewhere in the 40s respectively. Because the lists are never identical it comes down to who made the selection and their taste, I guess, but there is always a paucity of genre fiction which shouldn’t surprise me but does. Why would you deprive yourself of good stories just because they are given a genre label?
Actually I find this list interesting mostly because of the books they haven’t included.

]]> By: Satima Flavell https://glendalarke.com/2009/01/one-of-those-arbitrary-must-read/#comment-21266 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:54:00 +0000 #comment-21266 Trouble with these lists is that they don’t cater for those of us who have Genuine Good Taste:-)

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