# The Great American Read - How many for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2018, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248 "2018-06-01T11:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/1 "2018-06-01T11:38:06Z")
PBS has listed 100 books and asked for you to vote on your favorite(s). You can vote more than once but only once a day. This is not a “Best Literature of All Time” poll, just what you enjoyed reading. I’m not a particularly voracious reader but found that I’ve read 20 of the books. My favs, in no particular order: A Confederacy of Dunces A Prayer for Owen Meany Pillars of the Earth Lonesome Dove Hitcher Hikers Guide to the Galaxy I may have to tackle War and Peace one of these days/weeks/months. What about you? [http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/vote/](http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/vote/) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/2 "2018-06-01T12:46:00Z")
It doesn’t seem fair somehow to list series like _The Chronicles of Narnia_ and the Harry Potter series as one novel. Sorry to disagree with you right off the bat, but I found _Confederacy of Dunces_ un-finishable. _Flowers in the Attic_ was repellent. And _The Da Vinci Code_? The other choices were tough, though. _Pride and Prejudice_ is one of the great novels of all time, and _Catch-22_ was fun to read as well as great literature. _And Then There Were None_ is good but not Agatha Christie’s best work - I would say _The Murder of Roger Ackroyd_ is the best whodunit of all time. “Book I Most Enjoyed Reading” vs. “Best” is a tough distinction to keep in mind. I would guess I would go with _The Godfather_, but that could change at a moment’s notice. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/3 "2018-06-01T13:08:52Z")
I’ve read quite a few of the books on the list, and I particularly enjoyed _Confederacy of Dunces_ and _Count of Monte Cristo_. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/4 "2018-06-01T18:14:08Z")
A Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Chronicles of Narnia are my favorites on the list. 1984 is a great, great book but I wouldn’t call it enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/5 "2018-06-01T19:15:05Z")
Does “Pride and Prejudice” count if it was the one with Zombies? Then I have read 24 of these. It would have been 25 but then I remembered that it was Red Storm Rising, not Hunt for Red October, that was the one Tom Clancy book I’ve read. Catch-22 is probably my favorite on the list. I have read it many times over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/6 "2018-06-01T19:27:13Z")
Fifteen on the list. Which quite frankly surprised me; I figured it would be lower. I don’t read a lot of fiction. I’d estimate ninety percent of my reading is non-fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/7 "2018-06-01T20:15:22Z")
I counted an even dozen, mainly for high school English class. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/8 "2018-06-01T20:23:17Z")
I’ve read about 25 of them, and saw the movies for several more. Favorites: _A Confederacy of Dunces Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Catch-22 Great Expectations Gulliver’s Travels Moby Dick One Hundred Years of Solitude The Little Prince_ (Why Vonnegut is represented by _The Sirens of Titan_ is inexplicable. _Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five_ and _Mother Night_ are far better). Picking one choice, it’d be _One Hundred Years of Solitude_ for the first sentence alone. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/9 "2018-06-01T20:43:12Z")
Their list seems to be slightly influenced by current events as well as recent movies. I’ll list some of my favorites from the list. I’ve left out the Narnia, Potter, and Rings series. I love all three series and have read all of them multiple times, but I’ll limit my responses to stand alone novels. I really need to read the Foundation series again, it’s been far too long. A Separate Peace, a high school book that i’ve read again a few times. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (which I prefer to Huckleberry Finn) Crime and Punishment (one of the books I picked for independent reading in 12th grade) The Hunt for Red October, one of Clancy’s best before he became obsessed with right wing politics.Cardinal of the Kremlin is probably his best, although Red Storm Rising is also excellent. War and Peace, another book I read for 12th grade independent reading. I probably should include Dune and The Stand, but I really need to read them again. I’ve never understood the To Kill a Mockingbird worship. Didn’t really care for the book nor the movie. Dickens should have been represented by Oliver Twist. How I’ve tried to get through Don Quixote, maybe one day I will. I prefer Animal Farm to 1984 There’s a lot better from Agatha Christie than And Then There Were None. I’ve just recently read Death on the Nile and liked it. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/10 "2018-06-01T21:27:15Z")
Ive read fifteen of those …most before hs …… ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/11 "2018-06-01T23:26:36Z")
I’ve read 40 of them, and was surprised by the mix of good books and crap on the list. My favorites, what I’ve love and reread the most, are: The Lord of the Rings Little Women Pride and Prejudice Anne of Green Gables And Then There Were None Picture of Dorian Gray Siddhartha I admired A Prayer for Own Meany greatly, but have had no desire to reread it, so it doesn’t count as a favorite. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/12 "2018-06-01T23:28:51Z")
I’ve read 39 of them, skewed heavily towards the older end (except for Pilgrim’s Progress). My favourites from that list are probably Moby-Dick and The Stand. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/13 "2018-06-01T23:55:29Z")
I’ve read 15 of them, I’m very surprised some of them are on the list, for example, Flowers in the Attic and the Da Vinci Code. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/14 "2018-06-01T23:58:21Z")
I also didn’t realize that a translation counted. I really enjoyed Crime and Punishment, but was surprised to see that on the list, too. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/15 "2018-06-02T02:01:20Z")
I’ve read 45 of them from start to finish, and started but abandoned 7 more. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/16 "2018-06-02T02:19:18Z")
That is the WEIRDEST-ASSED reading list I’ve ever seen. What, exactly, was the criterion? James Patterson, the worst writer ever in the history of Earth, along with Lewis Carroll and Fitzgerald and Herman Melville? What the fuck? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/17 "2018-06-02T03:30:08Z")
I quit caring after I saw _Fifty shades of Grey_on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/18 "2018-06-02T03:40:55Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > That is the WEIRDEST-ASSED reading list I’ve ever seen. What, exactly, was the criterion? > > James Patterson, the worst writer ever in the history of Earth, along with Lewis Carroll and Fitzgerald and Herman Melville? What the fuck? That was pretty much my reaction. “This list is all over the fricken place.” FWIW, it looks like I’ve read 53. Some I loved, some I liked, some I respected but didn’t love, and some I hated or at least thought were way overrated. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/19 "2018-06-02T04:17:19Z")
A weird list, indeed. Looks like I’ve read about 25. Highlights: I love, love, love _Gilead_. I know _To Kill a Mockingbird_’s star has fallen somewhat in some quarters over the last few years, but I still think it’s one terrific book. _The Color Purple_ is outstanding. So is _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time_. (The dramatization is possibly the most impressive theatrical production I have ever seen as well.) _Alice in Wonderland, Tom Sawyer_, and _Catcher in the Rye_ are marvelous books too. On the other hand, _Left Behind_ is pretty bad–badly plotted, badly written, and tells the wrong story to boot. I thought _The Little Prince_ was awesome and wonderfully wise, but that was when I was a kid; my opinion today is the direct opposite. I don’t hate _The DaVinci Code_, exactly–it’s fun in its own way, and its flaws didn’t bother me nearly as much as they bothered some critics–but it’s just bizarre to think it’s anywhere near the cailber of many of these other novels. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248/20 "2018-06-02T04:42:09Z")
I’ve read 32 of the books listed and attempted, but didn’t finish 4 others. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-american-read-how-many-for-you/815248.md?page=2)