All About Books discussion

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I have read:

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald*
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
4. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck*
5. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
6. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley^
7. Animal Farm by George Orwell
8. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey^
10. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath^
11. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller*

Anything with a *, I did read in secondary school.
Anything with a ^, I read in university.

I love the description of Nineteen Eighty Four:
This novel will scare the crap out of you, and you will love it. Besides, Big Brother is watching, so it’s not like you even have a choice now…

I have read:

1. The Great Gatsby — one of my favourite books, which I re-read from time to time
2. Lord of the Flies — I actually did read this in high school, and still have flashbacks!
3. Nineteen Eighty-Four — another of my all-time faves. I have to re-read it this year, partly because it's on my 2015 Bingo Challenge, and partly because I actually bought the co-ordinating Penguin Classics mug!
4. Animal Farm — another one I read in high school
5. Waiting for Godot — another I actually read in high school
6. Mrs Dalloway — another tick for high school English!
7. Brave New World

As far as these types of lists go, I think this one is pretty sound.

Finally, a list I've actually read a lot of! Maybe this will help make up for my woeful performance on the Best Books From Around the World List I was looking at last month (where I'd only read 3/100 - ouch!) :)

I've read 19 of the 23 books on this list (several more than once). A lot of great books on this list!

The ones I haven't read yet:

To Kill a Mockingbird (don't know how it happened but I haven't read this yet)
Slaughterhouse-Five
Catch-22 (might've read this once but I remember nothing so I don't count it)
As I Lay Dying

Reading The Bell Jar now with another group.

Haven't read Heart
of Darkness
Waiting for Godly
Death of a salesman

I've read a few, and I did actually read Lord Of The Flies and Animal Farm at school, but read them again over the last year or two. There are quite a number on my 'I'll have to read those at some point' mental list but there are also a couple I've not even heard of (Night by Elie Wiesel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston).

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

I have read all except:

1.Slaughterhouse-Five books with aliens aren't my cup of tea usually, so i am skeptical

2.Frankenstein

3.Catch-22 I might have read this....

4.One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

5.Beowulf: A New Verse Translation

6.The Metamorphosis

7.Their Eyes Were Watching God


There is a heavy dose of science fiction here, and that is not my favorite genre!

I was surprised that there were no Russian authors.

I think that's because of the "high school" part though I remember we did read Crime and Punishment in high school or even earlier.

I have not read:
Night, but I think I own it
Heart of Darkness
Of Mice and Men, got it for Christmas
Frankenstein
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Waiting for Godot, is on my TBR
Mrs. Dalloway, is on my TBR
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Beowulf
Their Eyes Were Watching God, but I think I own it
Doesn't seem like I did that well....

I' m missing just a few. I'm with my tablet and it's a bit complicated to write them all down. When I turn my pc back on

I've read 17 of the 23 . On my iPhone so too much of a pain to list them . I don't think I read any of them in high school !

I love lists! Here is what I have read (and a * after the title means I did actually read it in high school!):

1. The Great Gatsby*
2. To Kill a Mockingbird*
3. Lord of the Flies* (or maybe even middle school...)
4. Heart of Darkness*
5. Of Mice and Men*
6. 1984*
7. Slaughterhouse-Five
8. Frankenstein
9. Uncle Tom's Cabin
10. Animal Farm*
11. Waiting for Godot
12. Mrs. Dalloway
13. Brave New World*
14. As I Lay Dying
15. Catch-22
16. Death of a Salesman
17. Beowulf (only part)
18. The Metamorphosis*
19. Their Eyes Were Watching God

Have you read Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf (Beowulf: A New Verse Translation) Leslie? I thought his translation was fantastic!

Ivjust read bits from my University anthology. I don't think I could master it whole

LauraT wrote: "Ivjust read bits from my University anthology. I don't think I could master it whole"

Me too (although my anthology was a high school one, not a university one). Heaney's translation wasn't done when I was in HS!

I think Heaney's translation is more readable as a story whereas the older translations can be a bit of a chore (much more of a struggle to get through).

At university, I read anthologized excerpts of a traditional translation (impressive you did that in high school Leslie!). Years later, I read the Heaney translation on my own.

I enjoyed reading the Heaney translation much more. Of course it could also be that I was older and a more experienced reader, but I think it was a bit of both. I find Heaney to be a very fine poet in general; so I wasn't surprised I liked his translation.

Interesting to know that Greg. I thought it could never be "read" in the common sense!

I think I only read The Great Gatsby, of Mice and Men and Death of A Salesman in high school.

Laura and Leslie, the Heaney translation is relatively straightforward, even enjoyable. For example, lines 86-98, telling of Grendel hearing the hall songs:

"Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark,
nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him
to hear the din of the loud banquet
every day in the hall, the harp being struck
and the clear song of a skilled poet
telling with mastery of man's beginnings,
how the Almighty had made the earth
a gleaming plain girdled with waters;
in His splendour He set the sun and the moon
to be earth's lamplight, lanterns for men,
and filled the broad lap of the world
with branches and leaves; and quickened life
in every other thing that moved."

Heaney wrote this in his explanation of his translation: "I came to the task of translating Beowulf with a prejudice in favor of forthright delivery.... What I had always loved was a kind of foursquareness about the utterance, a feeling of living in a constantly indicative mood, in the presence of an understanding that assumes you share an awareness of the perilous nature of life and are yet capable of seeing it steadily and, when necessary, sternly. There is an undeluded quality about the Beowulf poet's sense of the world which gives his lines immense emotional credibility...."

It comes across exactly like that, slightly stark & undeluded, a tale of life from a simpler but also a much more dangerous time. I really love it.

I've only read 9 of them that I can recall.

Paulfozz wrote: "I've read a few, and I did actually read Lord Of The Flies and Animal Farm at school, but read them again over the last year or two. There are quite a number on my 'I'll have to read those at some ..."

Glad to hear this - they were two I hadn't heard of, as well. Lord of the Flies is an interesting one for me. I'm sure I've read it. But then again, maybe I just know the story so well because it is referred to so often. I'm going to get a copy to 'reread'.

This list is interesting from a Kiwi perspective - it seems that the 'classics' we read in school, and University, have evolved from a different literary canon. Much more 'English Literature' (although, to be fair, there are plenty of English writers in this list) with some Australian and New Zealand 'classics' thrown in. Although we definitely read Steinbeck, Vonnegut, and Plath.

I haven't read:
3. Night – by Elie Wiesel
13. Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett
20. Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller
21. Beowulf – Anon
22. Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

So, will add them to my TBR list. Can't believe I have never actually read Frankenstein!

I'm going to look for the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf, as I enjoy him as a poet.

Megan, Their Eyes Were Watching God is a fascinating book! The writer, Zora Neale Hurston, criss-crossed the US, Latin America, and Caribbean researching folklore and vernacular expressions in black communities. That extensive anthropological research makes her writing uniquely expressive and in my opinion almost astonishingly beautiful.

Her use of dialect can be a barrier though. If you find the dialect irksome, I highly recommend listening to an audiobook version. In some ways, her books are made to be spoken (like the folktales she studied). I liked her books already from reading them, but after listening to them, that's when I really came to love them.

I've also read most of these, although only a few in high school, which is just as well. I think I appreciated a lot of books more when I had some life experience.

Me too Robin! I understood books a lot better when I read or re-read them later.

In Canada we seem to read from a different cannon as well. I read things like Obasan, The Handmaid's Tale, and Who Has Seen the Wind. I've read most of that list and the ones I've missed are generally the American ones.

Christie, I'm curious how you would review Slaughterhouse-Five. To me, it's more about the war than the aliens. It's an odd book, for sure, though I love it.

I've read:

1. The Great Gatsby
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
3. The Catcher in the Rye
4. Frankenstein
5. Animal Farm
6. Waiting for Godot
7. Mrs. Dalloway
8. As I Lay Dying
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
10. The Bell Jar

Chinook, I do agree that fantasy books can say a lot about humanity and how we live our lives, but still I prefer books more set in reality. I will keep what you are saying in mind though and reconsider Slaughterhouse-Five. Thanks for the recommendation.

I've read
The Great Gatsby
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lord of the Flies (did read this in HS)
Heart of Darkness (did read this in HS)
Slaughterhouse-Five (another HS read)
As I Lay Dying (another HS read)
Catch-22
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (another one I read in HS)

The books on the list that I haven't read yet are on my TBR list, so hopefully I'll get to them at some point yet :)

I updated my post to see how many book I actually did read in school or university.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, read both in high school and at University
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, read during my school years, but because of my family, not suggested by teacher
Lord of the Flies by William Golding, read later
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, read at University
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, read at University
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, read later
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, read later
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, read later
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, read later
Animal Farm by George Orwell, read later
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, read at University
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, read later
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, read later, in University I read - and loved - The Sound and the Fury
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, read later
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, read just a couple of month ago!
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, read in high school
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, read last year in here!!!

The Bell Jar
Read most of them around high school
except for Heart of Darkness, Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Bell Jar
and sadly I know author but had never even heard of the book The Bell Jar. Somehow that was not on our school list.

I just looked at the list. I think I first read 1984, Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye in high school. I've read Slaughterhouse Five, To Kill A Mockingbird, Catch-22, and Lord of the Flies more recently. I currently have Heart of Darkness: A Norton Critical Edition checked out from the local library.

Jim

I read
Death of a Salesman and Beowulf in high school.
The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Frankenstein, Animal Farm, Catcher in the Rye, and Lord of the Flies are all books that "scare" me. I am afraid of them because they have just always seemed too difficult and over my head.
Other than a mention of Slaughter House Five in the movie Footloose I haven't heard of the rest of them.

Here's my read:

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - In school
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - In school years – but on my own idea – family suggestions!
3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
4. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - In school
5. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - At Uni
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
8. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
9. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
10. Animal Farm by George Orwell
11. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett - At Uni
12. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
13. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
14. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
15. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - In school
16. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston – here with you!

Here is what I've read:

1. The Great Gatsby
2.To Kill a Mockingbird
3.Night
4.Lord of The Flies
5.Catcher in The Rye
6. Nineteen Eighty Four
7.Frankenstein
8. Brave New World
9. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

I'm currently reading Slaughter House Five and I may have read Catch-22 but I don't remember it.

read:
1. The Great Gatsby
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
3. Night
4. Heart of Darkness
5. Catcher in the Rye
6. Waiting for Godot
7. Brave New World
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
9. The Bell Jar
10. Death of a Salesman
11. Beowulf

didn't read:
1. Lord of the Flies
2. Of Mice and Men
3. Nineteen Eighty-Four
4. Slaughterhouse-Five
5. Frankenstein
6. Uncle Tom's Cabin
7. Animal Farm
8. Mrs. Dalloway
9. As I Lay Dying
10. Catch-22
11. Metamorphosis
12. Their Eyes Were Watching God

Ugh, that's pretty miserable! I thought I'd have read more than that. :/

Bethany, you have read half so far -- that's not bad!

Wow, I'm kind of surprised I've read so many. And I agree that everyone should read most of these, lots of them are soooo good.

1. The Great Gatsby - HS
2. To Kill a Mockingbird - HS
3. Night - HS
4. Heart of Darkness - College
5. Waiting for Godot - College(?)
6. Brave New World - later
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - HS
8. Death of a Salesman - College
9. Beowulf - HS
10. Lord of the Flies - HS
11. Of Mice and Men - HS
12. Nineteen Eighty-Four - College
13. Frankenstein - HS
14. Animal Farm - HS
15. Mrs. Dalloway - Later
16. Their Eyes Were Watching God - College
17. The Bell Jar - 2017
18. Slaughterhouse-Five - 2017

All of these are very close to the top of my TBR.
1. Catcher in the Rye
2. Uncle Tom's Cabin
3. As I Lay Dying
4. Catch-22
5. Metamorphosis

Update: 2017 - Just finished Bell Jar so I'm up to 17 read! And now Slaughterhouse-Five, so it's 18.

I was surprised to see that I've read all of these books. About half of them I read in high school.

There are four books on the list I have not read. All of them are already on my TBR and I think this means they ought to go on my challenge list next year if they are not completed before this year's end. Good List.

Terri wrote: "I was surprised to see that I've read all of these books. About half of them I read in high school."

Congrats! I have 4-5 I haven't read though I plan to someday...

The only ones missing for me are As I Lay Dying which I keep attempting without success, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which I've seen the film, but haven't read yet and Death of a Salesman which I keep meaning to read, one day!

Alannah wrote: "http://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthou..."

I've read 14 of them, and really don't feel compelled to read all of them! In fact, it's unlikely I'll ever read the other 9. I have no desire to read them and have avoided reading them for years, which is why I've only read 14.

Karin wrote: "I have no desire to read them and have avoided reading them for years, which is why I've only read 14...."

LOL! A good attitude to take. I must admit that I have been avoiding The Catcher in the Rye for a long time but haven't been brave enough to take it off my TBR yet!

Leslie wrote: "Karin wrote: "I have no desire to read them and have avoided reading them for years, which is why I've only read 14...."

LOL! A good attitude to take. I must admit that I have been avoiding [book:..."

And you shouldn't! It's a nice book. Not such a masterpiece as some want it, still worth a read!

Makes me wonder what I was doing in high school!

I do remember reading The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, Animal Farm and the Bell Jar. But even with reading since, I'm still missing half of these.

I think I'll plan to read Waiting for Godot and Death of a Salesman sometime soon ...

Well, I thought I was pretty good on high school reads.

I have only 13 of 23 on this list. I own Uncle Tom's Cabin - yet still have not read it.

I don't think I read any of them in High School, but I did read Animal Farm, Brave New World and 1984 in Junior High. Later on I read The Great Gatsby (hated it), Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, Frankenstein, Catch-22 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
I tried to read Slaughterhouse-5, but just couldn't get into it. There's a few on my 'to read' list.