To save you reading the article (linked below anyway), the Times Educational Supplement has published their 100 top books.
Here are the top 20. How many have you read? My count is a paltry 8 and a bit, having given up on a couple.
1. Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen
2. To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee
3. Harry Potter series: JK Rowling
4. Wuthering Heights: Emily Bronte
5. Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte
6. Nineteen Eighty-Four: George Orwell
7. The Lord of the Rings series: JRR Tolkien
8. The Book Thief: Markus Zusak
9. The Hobbit: JRR Tolkien
10. The Great Gatsby: F Scott Fitzgerald
11.. The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini
12. The Hunger Games series: Suzanne Collins
13. The Time Traveler's Wife: Audrey Niffenegger
14. The Chronicles of Narnia series CS Lewis
15. Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck
16. Birdsong: Sebastian Faulks
17. His Dark Materials series: Philip Pullman
18. The Gruffalo: Julia Donaldson+ Axel Scheffler
19. The Catcher in the Rye: JD Salinger
20. Life of Pi: Yann Martel
Link to fuller article:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22031238
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7.
None of the recent crap, Potter, Hunger Games, Time Traveller's Wife, all that guff.
There's 2 on that list I've never heard of.
Last edited by: Alanović on Fri 5 Apr 13 at 09:35
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One of the ones I gave up on was Potter. Managed about six pages of the first one. But I liked the first film. Didn't take to the others though.
Mrs C loves all the books and all the films though.
I also gave up on Pride and Prejudice, even if I did do it at A-level. God I hated it.
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"None of the recent crap, Potter, Hunger Games, Time Traveller's Wife, all that guff."
If you haven' read them how do you know they are crap?
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I"ve read these -
1. Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen
2. To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee
4. Wuthering Heights: Emily Bronte
5. Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte
6. Nineteen Eighty-Four: George Orwell
7. The Lord of the Rings series: JRR Tolkien
15. Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck
16. Birdsong: Sebastian Faulks
18. The Gruffalo: Julia Donaldson+ Axel Scheffler
19. The Catcher in the Rye: JD Salinger
20. Life of Pi: Yann Martel
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4, but lets be frank that list is crap.
Where, for just one example, is the book that every child should read. Treasure Island. Blind Pew is just the scariest character ever invented.
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>> 4, but lets be frank that list is crap.
Far too many trendy, recent works of forgettable nonsense, chosen by a new generation of teachers keen to follow the mistaken belief that if they present the children with works which are high profile in the media and get made in to films, they will encourage them to enjoy and explore literature.
As you say Z, they'd be better off with Treasure Island. I recently bought a copy for my 8 year old.
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>> Blind Pew is just the scariest character ever invented.
Not according to my kids (in their 30s).
That position's held by the child catcher in Chitty Chitty.
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>> >> Blind Pew is just the scariest character ever invented.
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>> Not according to my kids (in their 30s).
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>> That position's held by the child catcher in Chitty Chitty.
Indeed, where is Roald Dahl in the list?
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>> That position's held by the child catcher in Chitty Chitty.
Ah, yes - creepy Robert. It's also one of Benny Hill's better works.
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>> "None of the recent crap, Potter, Hunger Games, Time Traveller's Wife, all that guff."
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>> If you haven' read them how do you know they are crap?
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You make a fair point. However, none are in a genre I particularly enjoy, and would go so far as to say they are trashy genres, therefore I reserve the right to my opinion that they are crap. 'S just an opinion.
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>> >> "None of the recent crap, Potter, Hunger Games, Time Traveller's Wife, all that guff."
>> >>
>> >> If you haven' read them how do you know they are crap?
I tried hard to read LOR stuff, but its just plain garbage. I even tried to see the films but all I got out of hours of long boredom of silly names was a sore bum.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 5 Apr 13 at 10:01
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I was going to post where Treasure Island was on the rest of the list - it might be 21st for all I know.
Well, good luck finding the other 80. I couldn't.
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As others have said, trendy opinion. I've only properly read these
3. Harry Potter series: JK Rowling (all of them)
6. Nineteen Eighty-Four: George Orwell
9. The Hobbit: JRR Tolkien
14. The Chronicles of Narnia series CS Lewis (all of them)
On revisiting Narnia as an adult, although an interesting concept for kids, the language is dated, the reader talked down to, and it is full of CS Lewis's thoughts. I'd not be surprised if the average 8-13 year old these days (my guess at the target audience) doesn't particularly like or get on with the book.
No Charles Dickens in the top twenty! I actually read most of them as a kid although I do have odd tastes and was a very precocious reader.
Many novels they rate, I have read the first couple of pages and decided they weren't for me. Kite Runner I might bother with as I liked the film and often this sort of thing, the book is better than the film anyway.
A book I greatly like and would recommend is "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint" by Brady Udal, wonder if that appears on the list? I'd rate it above the Harry Potter series
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>> Full list here.
>> www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6327545
Oh well done Crocks. That brought my total up a bit - I've read 20 from the remaining 80, making 28 (and bits) from 100.
I was especially pleased to see number 96 - I've recently bought myself a new copy of that one.
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Thats brought my total up to about 40, but there are still a library load of must reads that are not there.
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How many? Eleven.
But I used to be an English teacher.
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Only Potter and 1984 from that lot but without reading the whole article I'm unclear as to rationale for inclusion. Like a lot of these sort of charts it seems a bit a bit top heavy with modern stuff.
The rest of the family would add the Tolkein novels and Narnia but neither author is my cup of tea.
My own list would include a few Nevil Shute novels, particulalry The Rainbow and the Rose and Requiem for a Wren. More recently I've thoroughly enjoyed Peter May's Lewis Trilogy.
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Top books? Pah!
Where's
Methods of Theoretical Physics by Morse and Feshbach
Structure Borne Sound by Cremer, Ungar, and Heckl
The Theory of Sound by Rayleigh
Partial Differential Equations by Sommerfeld
Friction and Lubrication of Solids by Bowden and Tabor
Fourier Transforms by Sneddon
Theory of Elasticity by Timoshenko
Scientific Inference by Jeffreys
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Which of these do you take on holiday?
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>>Which of these do you take on holiday?
Yes, you're right!, lighter reading for holidays.
I did take Operational Methods in Applied Mathematics by Carslaw and Jaeger with me when we went on a touring holiday in Cornwall - managed to finally sort out how to use contour integration in finding inverse Laplace Transforms.
One I missed from the list, Newton's Principia also helped a holiday in (leafy) North Yorkshire pass more quickly.
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The Brontë sisters' books are vastly overrated, as are those of Thomas Hardy.
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An online survey asked 500 teachers to name their favourite titles.
Which means the list is heavily biased.
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Ah - that would explain a lot.
However, ML, your use of the phrase "heavily biased" is interesting. It might mean you think the list is "skewed" in a bad way.
Do teachers no longer have any weight when it comes to suggesting great books/authors?
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It was a teacher that got me to read Life of Pi.
I felt like I'd been mugged when I got to the end.
I won't be following any more of their recommendations.
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Did you really not like the Life of Pi?
Amazed - Read a lot of it on boat in the Mediterranean which added to my enjoyment and re-read it after watching the film. I thought it a fantastic read in both senses.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Fri 5 Apr 13 at 13:36
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>> Do teachers no longer have any weight when it comes to suggesting great books/authors?
I didn't mean in that way. If it was recommended by teachers of literature, it is highly likely to contain suggestions which have high "literature" value but not necessarily a something which a general person is likely to read.
Recommendations like this is very subjective. If it were a list of books sold by numbers then there would not have been any scope of counter argument.
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Sorry, Roger, I profoundly disagree.
However, I do accept that these authors' books are sometimes problematic for modern readers, if only because of their language, which seems heavy-footed and difficult to absorb. Hardy is also sometimes a problem because of his doom-laden view of the world.
I recall, many moons ago, getting quite agitated at the prospect of teaching my first Hardy novel (The Mayor of Casterbridge, possibly) to an exam class, thinking that it was going to be desperately uphill work. In fact, it went down very well.
Of course, that might just have been because of my teaching...
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"Hardy is also sometimes a problem because of his doom-laden view of the world."
Yep, you need to cheer yourself up after reading one of his novels with something light - Dostoevsky would be good :-)
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I've read thirty of those, including half of Tess of the D'urbovilles, which made me want to slit my wrists, and half of Les Mis, where I'm half way through at the moment ( but it's hard going.....)
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According to Anthony Burgess, Joyce's "Finnegans Wake" "...can make us laugh aloud on nearly every page" and another fan is Howard Bloom in "The Western Canon." I read it during schooldays and have just started on it again. I think its verbal tricks can make us smile but its not for the reader who likes to have meaning in what he reads. It took 17 years to write and making that out would probably take the same time.
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>>Dostoevsky
*shoots himself in the face*
A student colleague of mine was once asked to prepare a seminar on "Crime and Punishment". The lecturer was expecting a lengthy presentation followed by group discussion. Said colleague stood up before the class and began: "Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It's was a crime that it was ever written, and it's a pfd punishment to have to read it". He then returned to his seat. There was much agreement from the floor.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 8 Apr 13 at 10:08
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>> I did take Operational Methods in Applied Mathematics by Carslaw and Jaeger with me when
>> we went on a touring holiday in Cornwall - managed to finally sort out how
>> to use contour integration in finding inverse Laplace Transforms.
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>> One I missed from the list, Newton's Principia also helped a holiday in (leafy) North
>> Yorkshire pass more quickly.
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I'll bet you're a wow at parties! ;-)
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>> I'll bet you're a wow at parties! ;-)
H'ed be dynamically sharing out the canapes by strict weight /qty guests ratios. And calculating the load weight of the dance floor while estimating the hearing loss in DB while "oops upside your head" was being played.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 5 Apr 13 at 16:55
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I haven't read any in that list. I prefer Hank Janson and Peter Cheyney.
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I've not read any Hank Janson, but the cover art is fantastic.
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I've read everything by Dr Seuss and Roger Hargreaves.
And of course, Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush.
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15/100. (and even that included three that I've only read because the children wanted to hear them).
However, I'd question some of the choices;
Gerald Durrell? I love his books, and I've read all of them, but I'd not be setting them up as anything other than enjoyable.
HHGTTG? Again, read them all, love them all, but not sure why they'd be on a list other than for offering enjoyment.
So if the list is by supposed literary quality than I;d question both some on the list and some not on the list.
If it is by enjoyment levels, then that's such a personal thing I guess its as good a list as any.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 5 Apr 13 at 15:20
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Three.
Most are junk including all Jane Eyre.
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trio meant I could add another five to my list!
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ive never read a novel,
only books i read were trevor thom.. for private pilot licence
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About two thirds of those books I've never heard of. I think I've read four of the full list.
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46 out of the list of 100.
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I thought reading was a new railway station :-)
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>> ive never read a novel,
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You almost sounded like Benjamin Disraeli - "When I want to read a good book, I write one".
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>> I've not read any Hank Janson, but the cover art is fantastic.
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The good old days!
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Ordered one from eBay to see what it's like. Virtual pint with-held or donated accordingly.
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How can you have a list like this without any Waugh at all?
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Or anything by Joseph Conrad. That list looks crazy to me, stuffed with trivial recent stuff, much of it written for children.
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I'm afraid that "The Catcher in the Rye" served only to reinforce a long-held opinion of mine.
If a book is by a highly-regarded American author and the book itself is regarded as a "classic", it will invariably be dreadful.
"Serious" American literature is an accurate reflection of America itself. A very long way up its own backside.
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'If a book is by a highly-regarded American author and the book itself is regarded as a "classic", it will invariably be dreadful. "Serious" American literature is an accurate reflection of America itself. A very long way up its own backside.'
Well, well - what sweeping statements! No prejudice there, then.
However, it ignores some names that might carry a lot of weight even on this side of the pond (in the following list novelists and poets are randomly mixed):
Mark Twain
Herman Melville
Edgar Allan Poe
Walt Whitman
Emily Dickinson
T.S.Eliot (to pre-empt an argument - he became a British subject at the age of 39)
Henry James
Ezra Pound
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
William Faulkner
John Steinbeck
Norman Mailer
Joseph Heller
Kurt Vonnegut Jnr
John Updike
Philip Roth
Theodore Roethke
Allen Ginsberg
Sylvia Plath
Whether all these suffer from being a long way up their backsides is questionable. Or perhaps TC just doesn't like literature.
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I don't think lists of good books count signify very much. I often find that despite having read hundreds or probably thousands of books, many of which I'd consider good or at least enjoyable, still I have hardly any in common with someone else who has also read thousands.
Probably Number_Cruncher feels the same :)
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>>Philip Roth
Ah yes, I only had Biggles but a later generation of boys had "Portnoy's Complaint".
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How many have you read? - Alanovich
