Read as in finished.
For me, it’s Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. I’m still glowing and I finihed it years ago. Don’t ask me to summarise it though.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” and “1984”, I guess.
They’re the only two classics that I’ve read currently. Until recently, most of the books I had read were recent (last thirty years) science-fiction and various non-fiction books. I tend to box myself in on certain kinds of books and wind up ignoring all the others so it’s good to finally start reading some of the classics.
Either “The Republic” or “Einstein’s Dreams.” And I read “Animal Farm” in a single sitting. (So, not so impressive)
gravity’s rainbow, ulysses, and finnegan’s wake, all in one weekend, all with simultaneously reading reader’s guides
That puts Kant well and truly in his place. Are they all by Joyce? I recognise only the last two, and no I’ve read none of them, even though I once picked up my Mum’s copy of Ulysses (whcih she also hadn’t read) and read the first page.
Do you mean ‘all *while * simultaneously reading reader’s guide’, or do you have another gift that is not granted to us ordinary mortals?
I read the uncut version of King’s “The Stand” in two sittings, a total of 26 hours.
Shelby Foote’s “The Civil War: A Narrative History”
I read John Kennedy Toole’s *A Confederacy of Dunces * by chance picking it up in the library. I told everyone I knew that this was one of the best books I had ever read, that it truly was an all-timer, a work of genius or near genius.
Later I learned that it had won the Pulitzer Prize, that everyone literate recognized it as first rate from the moment it had appeared … but I didn’t know all that when I was going on about it. I often wonder about the effect of hype, herd mentality and group think on me – especially regarding subjective things like art, literature and film. In this one case I can be sure I liked the book on its own merits in a vacuum and I am very proud of that — even if it shows that I am/was a bit of hick when it comes to knowing what “everyone” already knows.
Gravity’s Rainbow is by Thomas Pynchon, the second most unapproachable author of the 20th century (Joyce still holds the prize). I made it 100 pages into V, though. Don’t sell yourself short; Kant is in a league all his own (I made it about 50 pages into Pure Reason).
Somehow, none of the books I’ve read seem to measure up after mentioning those two. Voltaire’s Bastards is probably the one of which I am proudest.
The Bible. Not for religious purposes, but as a work of literature.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Foucault’s Pendulum, by Umberto Eco. I didn’t initially consider this a remarkable accomplishment, until I learned how many people I know had tried and failed. I don’t think anyone else I know has gotten through it, or even made it very far in.
I’m one of those people. I love Foucalt’s Pendulum. I have even stood in the nave where the narrator is hiding at the beginning of the book ( I had to verify this be visiting a bookstore and checking to see if it was the museum I thought it was; this was made the more difficult by the fact that I don’t read French). I have attempted the book three times, and never quite finished it. I have come within ten pages of the end all three times, and somehow can’t quite go the distance and find out what happens. Great book, though.
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.
The Oxford Annotated RSV Bible w/ Apocrypha in about six months.
I’m not a big fan of novels. I’ve read less than a dozen my whole life. So I was somewhat proud after I got through all 863 pages of Unintended Consequences. Great novel.
I managed to read every word of Atlas Shrugged. This was a true feat, as the novel is so incredibly bad.
“Remembrance of Things Past,” all seven (?) volumes.
Don’t remember a freakin’ thing about it, though. I think I was too young when I read it (22? 23?), and Og knows I won’t have time to read it again till I retire.
Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto. Not for fun, for a class. I was ready to open a vein after finishing them.
Say I’m lonely, say I’m sad,
Say that life and love have missed me,
Say I’m growing old, but add,
I’ve read Ulysses!
**Crime And Punishment ** by Dostoevsky
Started as a dare, but then I got interested in the stories. Yep, it took forever.