May be a ginge

There's only four of that list that I haven't read. Deciding which to
vote for is difficult, but should I make an effort to read those four
.... ?

Is this Pullman bloke any good, then?

 

The listing is for the entire trilogy, all five of them.

 

I think the BBC would realise that there's no way it'd get anywhere
near the top 100, fiction or not. Remember this is _voted_ on, not
based on ownership or total sales.

 

It's certainly fantasy for younger folk but there's clear water between
Philip Pullman and JK Rowling. It's deeper and darker and hasn't gone down
well with some Christian types because of the very strong anti-Church
sentiments. UKRM heretics would love it I'm sure ;o). It's actually a
trilogy but I must admit that I haven't read it all yet.

FWIW, I was torn between voting for LotR and HHGTTG as both made great
impressions on me the first time I read them. In the end I went for Douglas
Adams (may he rest in peace). Obviously it's not a literary masterpiece but
it has given me a lot of pleasure through the years and can still make me
laugh out loud.

 

no point in me voting as I've only read two books on the list and those
only when I was at school. I suppose I should be ashamed or something.

 

Do so - it's damn good for a kids trilogy.

John

 

?

Yes. Read them in order. Read them as a kid. Read a decent comentary on his
views about organised religion.

John

 

[1] If I wasn't phoney, it would be Catcher in the Rye.

Nope - read it as a boy and all I wanted was a black maid who looked like
Cindy Birdsong. Might not have been what Salinger was getting at though.

John

 

Echo that. Book much better. However, I think that the film of Clockwork
Orange is (a bit) better than the book.

John

 

Not really, the list is reasonably varied, but there are many good authors
missing from it. At the end of the day it's about popularity and not
quality.

There are a few authors that I really like missing from the list, notably
Chris Wilson, Michael Frayn and a real Neil Gaiman[1]

[1] Although I'm not sure that any of the Sandman stuff would have counted
and, as Stardust and Neverwhere are pretty poor, that only leaves American
Gods as a full length novel.


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The speccy Geordie twat.

 

well I see your point but when I read on here just how many books
certain people on ukrm get through I tend to feel I am missing out
somewhat. I'm not a great reader of fiction so I suppose that's the part
of my reading that is deficient. I'm currently reading "one of us" by
the late Hugo Young which is *the* book on Margaret Thatcher. Very
interesting and well written. It's a shame that it was his recent death
and the very positive comments about him from a wide spectrum of people
that made me notice him.

If you look at really knowledgeable people [1] who are interesting to
listen to - Tony Benn is an example - they are all very well read across
a wide range of authors and interests. I guess I feel I am missing out
on something of great value.

[1] including certain ukrmers

 

What he says. It gets more and more dark and disturbing towards the end,
I was quite surprised that the final book of the three is recommended
for 12 year olds. I understand Pullman resists being characterised as a
children's writer. Read it/them soon.

 

I've read exactly a quarter of the top 100 and while some of them have been
great books at least as many have just been tosh. I mean, "Kane and Able"
for ****'s sake - an overlong work of complete tripe. I read it when I was
about 12 and, even then, it was obviously intellectually sub-par and had the
most cringe inducing author's-wish-fulfillment sex sub-plot ever.

Anyway, my point was that it proves nothing if you've read every book in the
top 100, if they're the only books you've ever read. It proves even less if
you read a book a day, but every single one is by Mills & Boon.

I also read very little fiction these days, but I do still relish occasional
reads. I remember things like the real shock I got the first time I read
"Trainspotting" - you just don't get that emotional involvement with
non-fiction.

Reading a lot of fiction exposes you to a lot of different view-points and
rounds your character. You can get the same effect for free by reading ukrm



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The speccy Geordie twat.

 

Paul Corfield :

I've read 8 of them, another 7 I've started and decided not to finish, 2
I wouldn't even start, leaving a handfull I've either not heard of or
not bothered to try.

I thinks it's a pretty poor list from a fave' book thing, how anybody
could 'best-love' Little Women or War and Peace I don't know.

 

I thought it was seriously over-rated. It got a lot of attention because
of the anti-christian content but I think it deteriorated significantly
after the first book.

 

****.

I don't consider myself much of a reader these days and I've read 34.
35 if I lie and claim to have read Ulysses.

Birdsong was particularly good of the recent stuff.

And... there's plenty of Hardy in there but it's the cliched stuff.
They should have The Mayor of Casterbridge in there or, my personal
favourite, Jude the Obscure.

And... Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited? Wrong book. Scoop maybe.

 

:

Erm, there were only 22 on the list at the URL AndyR gave, I've not
bothered to look at the full list. Hang on... 35 in total of the 100,
with another 6 that I've started and not bothered to finish - not a big
fan of the 'greats'.

Utterly hate Hardy, I've read three of his, and two of those were at
school. Depressive pointless books.

Ah, now Waugh I like.

 

I think Simian may have been talking about the top 21, rather than the full
100.


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The speccy Geordie twat.

 

Ah well, I don't recall the count from the 22.

Depressive, yes. Pointless, no. I like Hardy.

Good isn't he. Awful snob. Auberon (Waugh) used to write quite well
too, but reading his stuff I got the (possibly unfair) impression he
lived in his father's shadow for all of his life.

Mind you, where was the Graham Greene in that list?

 

That makes more sense. I've gone all click-happy now I've got
broadband.