tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post8202939577706210102..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: The Goodreads 100 Books MemeDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-70700594266913609152013-02-06T15:42:49.172-05:002013-02-06T15:42:49.172-05:00Interesting list. I've read 28. I didn't t...Interesting list. I've read 28. I didn't think Interview With the Vampire had a terribly interesting story, but by the end I thought there were some interesting musings on humanity, mortality, and immortality.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578666399691920695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-16010346301976717092013-02-06T15:03:47.367-05:002013-02-06T15:03:47.367-05:0067. I think. I'll have to type up the list for...67. I think. I'll have to type up the list for my own blog. I can't resist book lists.<br /><br />Melanie Bettinellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12557248434888642114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-81425850176901242632013-02-05T21:30:44.135-05:002013-02-05T21:30:44.135-05:00Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.MrsDarwinhttp://darwincatholic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-60552128329762896742013-02-05T21:14:25.410-05:002013-02-05T21:14:25.410-05:00I guess 47. There's quite a few that I didn...I guess 47. There's quite a few that I didn't actually get far enough into, though.<br /><br />Which Outlander do they mean? Talk about a fairly well-used title.Bansheehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12594214770417497135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-64995723928518880582013-02-04T16:02:43.168-05:002013-02-04T16:02:43.168-05:0055. I was feeling better about this when I thought...55. I was feeling better about this when I thought this was a list of Books Every Cultured Person Should Have Read and was just confused about the inclusion of some of the titles.<br /><br />As far as how many of them I remember...2?Dorian Speedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350116554824445411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-11322608639405610342013-02-04T00:45:46.540-05:002013-02-04T00:45:46.540-05:00Huh. I've only read 37 out of a hundred. I not...Huh. I've only read 37 out of a hundred. I notice that as I got further down the list, there were fewer and fewer books I'd read or would want to read.Catholic Bibliophagisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10697706672495544901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-51521182128204712362013-02-03T20:22:02.733-05:002013-02-03T20:22:02.733-05:00The closest to me is on Parmer, near MoPac (when M...The closest to me is on Parmer, near MoPac (when MrD was in town that one time, we ate at an Indian restaurant in the shopping center across the street from it). The Lamar one's hard to beat, though.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-69358486990572074692013-02-03T20:09:41.504-05:002013-02-03T20:09:41.504-05:00My Les Miserables is supposed to arrive tomorrow; ...My Les Miserables is supposed to arrive tomorrow; I'll have to read like the wind to catch up to you. <br /><br />Is that the Half Price Books on Lamar? I once found there, but didn't buy, a first edition of The Silver Chair. I've rather regretted that ever since. MrsDarwinhttp://darwincatholic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-71719634042863724192013-02-03T19:53:43.435-05:002013-02-03T19:53:43.435-05:00The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite Dumas, an...<i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i> is my favorite Dumas, and indeed one of my favorite books, period. I was looking at the list and suddenly struck by the oddity of the fact that I don't have a single edition of it. I'll have to look for one in Half Price Books.<br /><br />I don't think I've ever seen the Heritage Press edition, but looking around it looks like it has the same illustrator as the Heritage Press Les Miserables; which probably menas its illustrations are excellent.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-69752702150856363832013-02-03T19:40:41.264-05:002013-02-03T19:40:41.264-05:00The Count of Monte Cristo is actually sitting on m...The Count of Monte Cristo is actually sitting on my shelf (in the Heritage Press edition!), a donation from the former owners of the house.<br /><br />Someone once told me that although there were things to be said about having read Rand, the problem was that to get there, at some point you actually had go through the process of reading Rand, and that wasn't necessarily worth it.<br /><br />The thing with Anne Rice is, I read one of hers in high school about a woman who played a violin, and it was interesting but not really compelling enough to push me toward her other work (though I'm slightly curious to watch Interview with a Vampire after having read an interview with Kirsten Dunst's acting coach). Then, when I worked at Barnes and Noble shelving books, I learned that she wrote hard-core erotica, and so I've avoided any of her other stuff, even her books about the life of Christ. Eee.MrsDarwinhttp://darwincatholic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-50619728851358221452013-02-03T19:05:25.148-05:002013-02-03T19:05:25.148-05:00You're not wrong re: violence in Girl With the...You're not wrong re: violence in <i>Girl With the Dragon Tattoo</i> or <i>Game of Thrones</i>. That's part of what drew me to the latter, more specifically the idea that no character has plot immunity. Any character could die at any time. But it's definitely not a particularly pleasant read. <br /><br />So far as <i>The DaVinci Code</i>, it's not particularly well written, but there was something about it that just pushed me on page after page, chapter after chapter. Not too many books do that well. Although personally I liked <i>Angels and Demons</i> more.JPhttp://jverkamp.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-39311272395861521602013-02-03T15:38:01.557-05:002013-02-03T15:38:01.557-05:00I found The Golden Compass, Interview with a Vampi...I found <i>The Golden Compass</i>, <i>Interview with a Vampire</i>, and <i>The Fountainhead</i> all at least readable, but people either find Rand readable or don't, with very little mix in between; and you're probably not missing anything not having read Rice.<br /><br /><i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i>, on the other hand, is well worth reading.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-15668555331944685582013-02-03T13:19:56.434-05:002013-02-03T13:19:56.434-05:00I went ahead and made a similar list. Fun.I went ahead and made a similar list. Fun.bearinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953735060133330755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-52900806688242845742013-02-03T11:46:36.708-05:002013-02-03T11:46:36.708-05:00I've never heard of the Master and Margarita! ...I've never heard of the Master and Margarita! One thinks I'd remember the title because I'm a big fan of Margaritas. I'm surprised there's no Fitzgerald on this list. Anyway, I thought The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was boring, plus the book was not brief at all. I never finished the Hunger Games and the Book Thief. I'm surprised you haven't read The Handmaid's Tale. JMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02542004362101344466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-91070753399925403932013-02-03T08:28:32.842-05:002013-02-03T08:28:32.842-05:00I have read 46 of them, plus four that I started b...I have read 46 of them, plus four that I started but never finished (or else don't remember finishing). Those are <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, <i>Fahrenheit 451</i>, <i>Anna Karenina</i>, and <i>The Master and Margarita</i>.<br /><br />Of the ones that you'd rather read a cereal box: I read and enjoyed <i>Interview with the Vampire</i>, but in my defense I was in high school. I also read <i>The Da Vinci Code</i> because it was sitting around at my in-laws' house and once I started it was like watching a train wreck.<br /><br />Of the ones you haven't read but don't highlight, the ones I know and think are most worth reading are <i>East of Eden</i> and <i>Catch-22</i>. The first couple of times I read <i>Catch-22</i> -- high school and early college -- I thought it was brilliant, and I still like the way it moves back and forth in time to tell the story, but the last time I picked it up I found that I no longer found it to be very deep or smart in any way -- only clever. There are some genuinely funny (in a semi-surreal sort of way) bits in it, and it probably has enough cultural importance, particularly in what it says about bureaucracy, to be part of the American canon.bearinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953735060133330755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-58201250421034715612013-02-03T07:53:26.598-05:002013-02-03T07:53:26.598-05:00Thanks, Mrs. Darwin - I can add Fellowship of the ...Thanks, Mrs. Darwin - I can add Fellowship of the Ring to the group that I have read and could pass a quiz on.Bob the Apehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303535277957530100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-82321206111019774942013-02-03T00:01:00.197-05:002013-02-03T00:01:00.197-05:0039; with one that I didn't count because I hat...39; with one that I didn't count because I hated it and stopped and one that I own and will be within my next five.<br /><br />A few more I'm interested in, and a few I read but will never touch again (Lord of the Flies, Pride and Prejudice, though I know I'm talking to fans..).Mythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03411578660336356885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-26483892508772035962013-02-02T22:44:24.252-05:002013-02-02T22:44:24.252-05:00I was going to leave comments on the books in the ...I was going to leave comments on the books in the post, but it was getting unwieldy. However, some of them (DaVinci Code, Twilight) I've read snippets of and have been severely unimpressed by the quality of the writing; with some (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Game of Thrones) I'm wary of the reputed levels of violence and nastiness; with some (Interview with the Vampire, Watchmen) I've read other books by the same author and haven't wanted to read more. <br /><br />I haven't been all that impressed with some of the books on the list I have read, either -- in fact, I hated Outlander so much that I'd never read anything by the same author ever again, and if I could bleach it from my memory I would.MrsDarwinhttp://darwincatholic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-4535317279190177702013-02-02T22:28:04.867-05:002013-02-02T22:28:04.867-05:0044 for me. I have to agree with Bob the Ape though...44 for me. I have to agree with Bob the Ape though; there's probably only 2-3 more that I haven't read that I still intend to. There are quite a few 'classics' that just don't appeal to me at all.<br /><br />I was amused to see your list of 'cereal box' books. A strong majority of them (The DaVinci Code, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Golden Compass, Interview with the Vampire, Watchmen, and A Game of Thrones) I've read and rather enjoyed. To each their own though.JPhttp://jverkamp.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-15689077255271523702013-02-02T22:05:10.075-05:002013-02-02T22:05:10.075-05:00Indeed, sir, you were right: I left off Fellowship...Indeed, sir, you were right: I left off Fellowship of the Ring, right at the beginning of the list. I've added it back in and upped my total.MrsDarwinhttp://darwincatholic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-12576184356402330452013-02-02T21:49:53.632-05:002013-02-02T21:49:53.632-05:00My score is 38; I could probably pass a pop quiz o...My score is 38; I could probably pass a pop quiz on 20 of them.<br /><br />Anything I haven't read by now, I very likely never will.<br /><br />(Is one missing? I copied the list to a spreadsheet and only got 99 entries.)Bob the Apehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303535277957530100noreply@blogger.com