BooksPosted by Tim on October 20, 2006 at 7:07 AM
Jessa Crispin talks about the book, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die at the Book Standard. That’s a lot of books. She’s read 96. I’ve read 86. Read the list here (Jessa recommends the book, too). Counting the books that you’ve actually read (all the way through) is this week’s meme. In lieu of work today, download my handy spreadsheet here and get cracking. If you follow the brief directions at the top, your score will automatically be calculated at the bottom (if this actually works, I’ll be stunned). Post your results in the comments section. No score is too depressing.
October 20th, 2006 at 11:09 am
I have set the bar where most others should be able to surpass me. I got a 41. there were a bunch that I’ve been meaning to read, though.
October 20th, 2006 at 11:56 am
I was doing great over the last few decades, but things went south in a hurry after that. It is a good way to get a feel for the areas/time frames where you might be lacking.
October 20th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
So I will gloat with my score of 134. Anyone who took AP English or any lit classes in college would have a much easier time especially pre-1900. Also - the list was author repetitive which was helpful in scoring. If you like John Updike or went through that phase in your life - then you would read all the Rabbit books and get 3 points instead of 1. Same goes for Jane Austen, Phillip Roth, etc. etc. I knew I should have been a librarian.
October 20th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
Just completed the sheet at 186. An English degree didn’t hurt me none. As Nicole said, it helped greatly in the pre-1900 sections. And Philip Roth, Ishiguro, Irving, Coetzee and Iris Murdoch helped me out quite a bit!
October 20th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
The ladies are outshining the fellas rather handily. Ouch. I took several lit classes in college and they helped with Heller and Pynchon and Faulkner, etc. I just didn’t take any that had me reading pre-1900 stuff very much. Oh, well.
October 21st, 2006 at 3:59 pm
I clock in at 34. About one foor every year of life. I did pretty well 1800 to about 1920, then the wheels came off. When I was a kid up untill about five years ago, I read little fiction and I’m just ctching up so I don’t feel too bad.
If I count the ones I own but haven’t read or the ones I set aside because life’s too short, I do much better. But I don’t count them. Sucks for me.
October 22nd, 2006 at 3:52 pm
I clocked in at 89.
I’ll be interested to see how I do on the list of 1,001 non-make-believe (i.e., non-fiction)books.
October 22nd, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Dr J:
I couldn’t find a non-fiction list for ya in the “before you die” ouevre, hot shot. There are “1001 albums” and “1001 movies” books out there though. That’s at least two weeks of Friday meme-ing.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:38 pm
13. 13 lousy books. And that’s counting “Far From the Madding Crowd”, which I believe I was assigned to read in 11th grade and which I wrote a book report on, but which I doubt I actually read.
On the bright side, though, one of my 13 was “The Fan Man”, which I didn’t know anyone else had even heard of, let alone that it would be considered mandatory reading.
And I noticed “Brighton Rock” on the list, which I haven’t read, but which Chi-Mo, from “King Dork” proclaims to be the best book ever.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Shaft: Wow. I’ll trot out the 1001 Albums this Friday, and I expect that you will crush the competition.
October 24th, 2006 at 9:28 am
Thanks, Mr. DJ. I don’t think I’ll fare very well on the pre-1700’s albums, but the stuff after that I should do pretty well on.
October 24th, 2006 at 9:38 am
[...] For curmudgeon Dr J (see comments to 1001 Books), a non-fiction round-up: [...]
October 24th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Unbelievable…222. I counted “In Search of Lost Time” even though I only read “Swann’s Way” but I didn’t include “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” although I’ve read a few of the stories.
That’s with no college degree.
It seems as though this is supposed to be a fiction list–but why is “Walden” included then??
October 24th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
beedle: Holy crap. Go, man, go. I think that Walden gets lumped in as an example of “pastoral” literature, even though it’s not fiction. Or else I’m just making that up.
November 6th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Few - I’ve read 113, which I think is respectable, clocking in at about 10%. But it sure is scary that the few authors I obsessed over (Morrison, Coetzee, D.H. Lawrence and Atwood) have multiple books on the list. That’s what saved my ass.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
96 - not too bad, but I thought I’d do better. I need to get reading!
November 7th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
I’d chalk up my 293 to too much time in school, too much time in libraries, and too much time in used bookstores.
November 7th, 2006 at 9:11 pm
Ring the bell, Johnny. I think we have a winner. Heather, you’ve blown a group of book nerds completely out of the water. Hats off.
November 8th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Final score - 151. Considering the amount of reading I do, I was shocked. (Hmmm. Am I not reading “good” literature? I thought I was.) Thank God for the Russian literature course I took in university. That really helped.
November 9th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
[...] I was inspired by ragdoll to see how many of the 1001 books you must read before you die I had read. babygotbooks even created a handy spreadsheet for your use. [...]
November 9th, 2006 at 6:52 pm
I’m at a sad 49. We all did this at work and have decided to start a book club to catch up. First up on the list is Persuasion by Jane Austen.
November 24th, 2006 at 9:25 am
[...] Lastly, I’d like to direct your attention to some outstanding Canadian blogs. These blogs each achieved their “outstanding” status by demonstrating the good taste to link to our site. A few weeks ago our post on a 1001 Books to Read Before You Die found its way to the great White North and onto these wonderful sites. (OK, I’m just sucking up now in the hopes that I can use them as character references when I finally decide to move to Vancouver). [editor’s note: update on 11/24 - now with 50% more Canadians!] Please take the time to visit: [...]
November 29th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Just want to let you know that your handy spreadsheet is spreading like wildfire (in lieu of work exactly) and we’re all using it a) to keep track of our books and b) to pick ones that we’re all going to read in the hopes of finally getting beyond 10%.
November 29th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
Work is over-rated anyway. I’m glad to hear that the spreadsheet is being put to good use.
January 5th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
[...] I also saw Casino Royale and thoroughly enjoyed it. Since the book is one of the 1001 Books you must read before you die, I thought it might be interesting to actually read a book by Ian Fleming. Let’s just say that this is one case where the movie is WAY better than the book (and smokin’ Daniel Craig is only part of the reason). In summary, the most redeeming line in the whole book is the recipe for the infamous Bond martini: Three measures of Gordons, one of Vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice cold, then add a thin slice of lemon peel. [...]
March 6th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I think this “1001 books…” thing is rubbish. It has a lot of good books but why does it have so many from the most recent years and so little from the more older times? History has seen many good books that aren’t on this list and that are much better than some of the ones on. You start to wonder if humanity isn’t forgetting it’s origins.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:41 am
I stopped counting after I found that none of that written by william shakespeare is included in the list. Above 1001 I recommend “The Guide” written by R K Narayan.
August 17th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
wow… honors with distinction in english and creative writing and i got 28? what the hell were they teaching me? (my focus was canadian lit, which didn’t get represented other than atwood and ondaaje) woopie.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Thank you for making the spreadsheet.
A lot of my favorite authors - Irving, Atwood, Oates, Roth, Wolfe are represented several times in the list. Those and the others that I have read have all been very good.
Although I don’t know if I will read all 1001, I will keep this list and chose books off of it occassionally.