Read LotR before you die!

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by davem

Lalwende prefers short books - I've tried to get her to tackle War & Peace & Don Quixote, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy is out of the question, & even John Crowley's Little, Big isn't on her reading list! (none of which are on the librarians list btw), so its not all one sided!

Tch! So Lord of the Rings is short eh? Now, why do I need to invest time on Don Quixote when you can tell me all about it? I don't tend to 'do' reading lists as I have a memory of many years of long reading lists and enjoy what I call 'random reading'.

I always wonder how people put together such lists. Do they go on choosing 'what is good for you to read', or do they simply pick what they like? Or in some cases, do they simply go for what will impress? I suspect the latter is often the case when broadsheet newspapers such as The Observer create lists like this. It surprises me how often Ulysses turns up on these lists as I suspect most people wouldn't exactly enjoy it - I found it was more about the language rather than the story, and I often think it's a case of 'look at me, I've read Ulysses! Or I want you to think I have!'.

If I had to pick a top twenty of my favourite books it would be exactly that - my favourites. Those books that stayed in my mind and those that I can return to and enjoy reading again, and those which affected me and I was very sorry to finish.