Minxie Posted July 9, 2011 Posted July 9, 2011 Following on from a Facebook post I read, it seems that out of the Top 100 books of the BBC Big Read, the BBC believes the average person will only have read 6 books from the top 100 list. I have only read about 20 from the list, most of which are more modern ones such as the Terry Pratchett and JK Rowling books. Just wondered how many of the 'classics' most people here have ready (movies don't count, it has to be the written word) 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien 2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman 4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling 6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne 8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell 9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis 10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë 11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller 12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë 13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks 14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier 15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger 16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame 17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens 18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott 19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres 20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy 21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell 22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling 23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling 24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling 25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien 26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy 27. Middlemarch, George Eliot 28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving 29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck 30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll 31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson 32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez 33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett 34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens 35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson 37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute 38. Persuasion, Jane Austen 39. Dune, Frank Herbert 40. Emma, Jane Austen 41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery 42. Watership Down, Richard Adams 43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald 44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas 45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh 46. Animal Farm, George Orwell 47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens 48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy 49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian 50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher 51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett 52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck 53. The Stand, Stephen King 54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy 55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth 56. The BFG, Roald Dahl 57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome 58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell 59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer 60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky 61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman 62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden 63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens 64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough 65. Mort, Terry Pratchett 66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton 67. The Magus, John Fowles 68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett 70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding 71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind 72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell 73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett 74. Matilda, Roald Dahl 75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding 76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt 77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins 78. Ulysses, James Joyce 79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens 80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson 81. The Twits, Roald Dahl 82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith 83. Holes, Louis Sachar 84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake 85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy 86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson 87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley 88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons 89. Magician, Raymond E Feist 90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac 91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo 92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel 93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett 94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho 95. Katherine, Anya Seton 96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer 97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez 98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson 99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot 100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
SunnyNorth Posted July 17, 2011 Posted July 17, 2011 Truthfully - 9. I read a lot and enjoy it. Many of the books on the list don't appeal to me and I don't feel I am missing anything by not reading the other 91 "classics".
GD4ELI Posted July 17, 2011 Posted July 17, 2011 Truthfully - 9. I read a lot and enjoy it. Many of the books on the list don't appeal to me and I don't feel I am missing anything by not reading the other 91 "classics". I would say you've missed quite a bit by not reading 'On The Road by Jack Kerouac' but have missed nothing of significance by not reading Terry Pratchett.
Chinahand Posted July 17, 2011 Posted July 17, 2011 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien 4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne 9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis 16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame 25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien 35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl 36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson 39. Dune, Frank Herbert 43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald 51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett 54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy 56. The BFG, Roald Dahl 57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome 60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky 65. Mort, Terry Pratchett 68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett 70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding 73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett 74. Matilda, Roald Dahl 78. Ulysses, James Joyce 81. The Twits, Roald Dahl 87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley 89. Magician, Raymond E Feist 92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel 93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett 97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez 100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie My problem is I've neglected the classics - I've never read a Bronte, an Elliot, an Austin or even a Dickens - which I freely admit is shameful and something I want to rectify soon - any recommendations for a best Bronte, Austin or Dickens - Elliot has to be Middlemarch! I agree that its terrible there isn't a Conrad on the list - nor Graham Greene. I'd put Hemmingway in my top 100 - and more than likely before Pratchett, though I do think one of his or d'oevre should be towards the end of a top 100. My list has definitley been helped reading bedtime stories to the littleones, but I have to question linking adult and children's reads - that's the trouble with a list compiled by a poll! The trouble is there are so many books to read, and so little time!
pongo Posted July 17, 2011 Posted July 17, 2011 Interesting article about Roald Dahl last month here. Lists are silly:)
Minxie Posted July 18, 2011 Author Posted July 18, 2011 My problem is I've neglected the classics - I've never read a Bronte, an Elliot, an Austin or even a Dickens - which I freely admit is shameful and something I want to rectify soon - any recommendations for a best Bronte, Austin or Dickens - Elliot has to be Middlemarch! I was pleasantly surprised to find that Amazon offer so many classic books such as Wuthering Heights free (I suppose the copyright on them has run out by now), so if you have a Kindle then you can get some very good books free to read.
Foxtrotlima Posted July 24, 2011 Posted July 24, 2011 Truthfully, I have only ready 32 of the ones on the list, but my Kindle is getting a hammering as we speak - has given me lots to get my teeth into!
scarbunny Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 Truthfully I have read 2 Good Omens and The Lord of Flies, but that was forced on me by school so not sure it counts. But that doesn't mean I don't read, I have read near 50 books in the last year, just nothing on that list really appeals and half of it seems like popularist crap or things that have been made into films. Or maybe I just have no taste in books.
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