***Chico's 2006 Reading List (My First Post)***
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***Chico's 2006 Reading List (My First Post)***
Stumbled upon this site and have been reading a lot of the threads. I think I'll like it here. Lots of heady, intellectual discussion. Anyway, here goes:
The Great:
1. Go Tell it on the Mountain -- James Baldwin
2. East of Eden -- John Steinbeck
3. War and Peace -- Leo Tolstoy
4. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter -- Carson McCullers
5. Moneyball -- Michael Lewis
6. The Master and Margarita -- Mikhail Bulgakov
The Good:
7. A Scanner Darkly -- Philip K. Dick
8. Post Office -- Charles Bukowski
9. Humboldt's Gift -- Saul Bellow
10. Rabbit Redux -- John Updike
11. Middlesex -- Jeffrey Eugenides
12. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain
13. Freakonomics -- Steven Levitt
14. Midnights' Children -- Salman Rushdie
15. The Bell Jar -- Sylvia Plath
16. The Unbearable Lightness of Being -- Milan Kundera
The Meh:
17. The Zero -- Jess Walter
18. The Power and the Glory -- Graham Greene
19. The Kite Runner -- Khaled Hosseini
20. The Tipping Point -- Malcolm Gladwell
The Bad:
21. The Heart of the Matter -- Graham Greene
22. On the Road -- Jack Kerouac
23. The Man Who Was Thursday -- G.K. Chesterton
The Great:
1. Go Tell it on the Mountain -- James Baldwin
2. East of Eden -- John Steinbeck
3. War and Peace -- Leo Tolstoy
4. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter -- Carson McCullers
5. Moneyball -- Michael Lewis
6. The Master and Margarita -- Mikhail Bulgakov
The Good:
7. A Scanner Darkly -- Philip K. Dick
8. Post Office -- Charles Bukowski
9. Humboldt's Gift -- Saul Bellow
10. Rabbit Redux -- John Updike
11. Middlesex -- Jeffrey Eugenides
12. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain
13. Freakonomics -- Steven Levitt
14. Midnights' Children -- Salman Rushdie
15. The Bell Jar -- Sylvia Plath
16. The Unbearable Lightness of Being -- Milan Kundera
The Meh:
17. The Zero -- Jess Walter
18. The Power and the Glory -- Graham Greene
19. The Kite Runner -- Khaled Hosseini
20. The Tipping Point -- Malcolm Gladwell
The Bad:
21. The Heart of the Matter -- Graham Greene
22. On the Road -- Jack Kerouac
23. The Man Who Was Thursday -- G.K. Chesterton
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Originally Posted by Chicodemoda
The Bad:
22. On the Road -- Jack Kerouac
The book is probably in my Top 20 favorite books, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts on why you found it so poor. While it was definitely a disjointed (and flawed) piece of fiction, I always found Dean's character extremely interesting, enough so that it made for a very enjoyable read.
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Originally Posted by Tommy_Harn
OK, I'll bite. How so?
The book is probably in my Top 20 favorite books, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts on why you found it so poor. While it was definitely a disjointed (and flawed) piece of fiction, I always found Dean's character extremely interesting, enough so that it made for a very enjoyable read.
The book is probably in my Top 20 favorite books, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts on why you found it so poor. While it was definitely a disjointed (and flawed) piece of fiction, I always found Dean's character extremely interesting, enough so that it made for a very enjoyable read.
First they went over here and got drunk. Then they got in a car and went over there. Then they ran out of money and slept here. Then they went back home for awhile. Then Dean came and they got drunk and went over here.
I know I am unfairly simplifying, but I felt the book lacked the keen observations and insight that make a great novel. It started off exciting but in the end I was pretty bored.
Dean was definitely an interesting character, but Sal Paradise was too passive as a narrator for my liking.
I know I am in the miniscule minority here as the book is universally praised, but it struck no chords with me even though I have travelled cross-country 4 or 5 times when I was younger.
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Originally Posted by Chicodemoda
First they went over here and got drunk. Then they got in a car and went over there. Then they ran out of money and slept here. Then they went back home for awhile. Then Dean came and they got drunk and went over here.
Welcome to the forum.
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Originally Posted by djmont
There's still 3 days left in the year -- aren't you going to read anything else?
That's time for at least another book or two!
Welcome.
That's time for at least another book or two!
Welcome.
And thank you.