- That most of the books on either list sounded positively boring.
- That of the 100 books on either list, I had read about 10.
- That of these 10, only 1984 (on both lists) and Fahrenheit 451 (on the Reader's List) constituted books I have read since 2003.
- I have read novels since graduating from high school. These include the first of four books in Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the first light novel in the Shakugan no Shana series; the English translation of The Tale of Genji (which constitutes the first one-fourth and the final chapter of the original tale); numerous Noh and kabuki plays, e.g. the plays of Chikamatsu; Mencius's life's work, as compiled by his disciples into The Book of Mencius; and, my personal favorite, Chingbirok: the Book of Corrections. (Edit: I realize that these last two are works of non-fiction. Still, it is not as though I have not been reading at all.)
- That, given this, the list as provided by Random House is a grossly biased list which not only fails to give proper credit to pop culture Western writers but even to the classics of the East! No Shah Nameh! No 1001 Nights! No Omar Khayyam! No Romance of the Three Kingdoms! No Water Margin! No Tales of the Heike! No Tale of Genji! No Crime and Punishment! No Brothers Karamazov! No Dr. Zhivago!
- And where, even, are Milton's Paradise Lost? Chaucer's Canterbury Tales? Wilde's Portrait of Dorian Gray?
I know it's easy to write this off as "obvious," but I beg that you do not. It is regrettable and unfortunate that the list be nothing more than Western "classics" of the 19th and early 20th centuries followed up by artsy-farsty GARBAGE from the 1950s onwards. Either include Eastern classics too, or else include Western contemporary classics, or else include both. There is no reason, none whatsoever, to waste valued space on a Top 100 list with Oprah's Shitty Book Club.
Next on my To Read list:
o Peter Singer's Practical Ethics (re-read; shelved "for a while" earlier tonight because he takes for-fucking-ever, but I may be in a better mood tomorrow morning)
o Chingbirok (going to start it up again right now :))
o The Brain That Changes Itself - left off either 3 or 4 chapters in. Good non-fiction book about CNS plasticity.
o but what of fiction? either
1. Dorian Gray,
2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, or
3. A Game of Thrones
Can't make up my mind. Probably'll be #3, but who knows.
4 comments:
I've found Phillip K. Dick to be absolutely impenetrable. I'd honestly rather re-read My Antonia than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
Also, that reminds me, I was having a conversation with my mother-in-law the other night about our favorite books. Do you know what hers was? My Antonia. I was absolutely floored.
Anyway, beware of getting yourself into A Game of Thrones. You'll soon find yourself crying yourself to sleep at night after you finish A Feast for Crows and wonder why you have been left hanging as on a cliff by Mr. Martin.
As am I. I'd take Ethan Frome over My Antonia. My Antonia has to be one of, if not the, worst books I have ever read. Awkward. Boring. Obvious. Frustrating. Just ... gah, the worst male and female protagonists EVER. It's like Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea only done wrong instead of right.
Sorry to hear the news about Dick. I am hoping to be different, because I have wanted to read robotics for a while and Dick sounds (on the whole) more interesting to me than does Asimov.
As for Martin, well, yeah, I guess that's true :) , but it's the same argument I hear against starting up Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series -- and his is an even worse situation, if you know what I mean! ^_^; If Mr. Martin can truly frustrate me that badly when I reach the end of Book 4, then he deserves all the praise he gets. Because even reaching the end of Harry Potter Book #5 (which is what had just come out when I started to read the HP books), I wasn't crying myself to sleep. :) Frustrated, yes; distraught, no.
Philip K. Dick can take some work, but it can be rewarding.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is by far his most approachable NOVEL. His short stories are easier to digest if you're not used to it. The Man in the High Castle is a decent alternative history novel, but I haven't read it in over six years. VALIS, The Divine Invasion, and the Transmigration of Timothy Archer are a fairly compelling inspection of religion, taking place at least partially (if i remember correctly) on Mars.
Confessions of a Crap Artist I never finished, it wasn't that good. Dr. Bloodmoney was a decent book, but I only remember it being a not sensational post-apocalyptic story (standard fare, mutants and all that jazz). I own and read Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said but I can't remember a thing about it.
I think perhaps my favorite one of his novels, out of all of them (and there are alot!) is A Scanner Darkly. Luckily, if you can't get into the book (it can be quite schizophrenic, as is the point) the rotoscoped movie from two or three years ago is fantastic and spot on with the book. Everyone, including Keanu Reeves but maybe not Winona Ryder who is in all aspects an awful actress, puts in a good performance.
As you can see I've tried to digest alot of his work. The short stories that were the basis for movies like Total Recall (We Can Remember it For You Wholesale), Paycheck, and most exceptionally Minority Report are very good and very easy to read, though the movies based on them can and do differ substantially from the stories. You should try plugging away at it - if we ever meet again in Indy i'll hand over my collection.
I think of you when I think of Mr. Dick, and I will take your suggestions quite seriously. :) I will approach his short stories first, beginning with "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" and "Minority Report," and then -- if those work out for me -- approaching later stories like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
In the meantime, I am several chapters into Chingbirok and once again loving it immensely.
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