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Original poster

How many of these have you read?

117 replies

Jessicatmagnificat · 08/06/2007 09:45

johnandsheena.co.uk/books/1001books_arukiyomi.xls

Just came across this. It is fun, but quite scary. Am too embarrassed to reveal my own score here! Don't know if the link will work, and would be grateful if someone more knowledgeable than me could amend it. Thanks

OP posts:
Quattrocento · 11/06/2007 16:06

Ridiculous list

Have got anal about it now. Stupidly biased to the 21st century of which like none have stood the test of time. 716 of these "unforgettable" books are from the 20th century and lots of them are eminently forgettable.

Also ridiculously biased towards writers of english but then throws up an odd one or two.

Mumpbump · 11/06/2007 16:01

100 finished and a some more unfinished (undetermined number)... Only a few of the more modern stuff though, but haven't read much for years since meeting dh, starting renovating houses and having ds...

Marina · 11/06/2007 15:32

Mine was very pre 1900s too evenhope.
I mean, Donald Barthelme and John Pynchon

Marina · 11/06/2007 15:31

356
Degree in French means I've read all the pre 1900 stuff including that little known lady author Francoise Rabelais
Some very interesting inconsistencies in this list

thequeenofcontradiction · 11/06/2007 15:07

Just 54. I thought a lot of it was pretentious wank - especially the more modern stuff, but I'd like to read some more of the 19th and 20th century classics.

evenhope · 11/06/2007 15:04

only 69

Most seem to be films and to appeal to men rather than women. I always thought I was well read but clearly not, and most of mine were from the 1800s and 1900s. A lot of those books I won't be reading in a million years...

Blu · 11/06/2007 15:02

191

Some real forgettables, there, too.
And some extaordinary absences.

oh well.

I just counted - I didn't do all the ticking - does it give you a 'result' of any kind?

suedonim · 11/06/2007 14:43

132 but tbh, some I ticked I can't recall whether I ever actually finished, lol. It is an odd list, I agree.

MuminBrum · 11/06/2007 14:38
  1. But honestly, what a bizarre list, a lot of those books are complete sh*te.
fishie · 11/06/2007 14:06

125 i started, finished most of them but read very little worthy stuff after i was about 22. almost no ticks at all in the 2000s since there is no detective fiction or sf in there. in fact i'm quite proud of not reading quite a lot of them.

is it just me or has anyone else been hypnotised by that spreadsheet? my eyes are all spinny.

grouchyoscar · 11/06/2007 14:03

5 or 6 not including the one I didn't finish or the one I am intending to read

Does that make me a twit?

LIZS · 11/06/2007 13:41

55 and another English graduate I did dip in to many of the others from same author or genre though

Lilymaid · 11/06/2007 13:26

227 (long term commuter and pretty old).

clerkKent · 11/06/2007 13:24

206 - but it is hard to be sure with some if I have seen the film or read the book or both.

There are some series (e.g. A Dance to the Music of Time, 12 books) which count as one, but other series e.g. Gormenghast and Titus Groan, are separate (Titus Alone is not there at all).

moopymoo · 11/06/2007 13:15

115 for me. made me want to get reading again, loads of those were a long time ago. think my brain has turned to mud. as the great mr stipe said ' i am mainly a magazine reader..' bout another 100 of those are on our bookshelves, dh was a big reader, now he struggles with words of more than 1 syllable tbh. think its called sleep deprivation..

purplemonkeydishwasher · 11/06/2007 13:13

35

i am so very ashamed!!!

geekgrrl · 11/06/2007 12:59

no Kafka or Chechov either

mozhe · 11/06/2007 12:58

212....I love reading, and have to admit I read very fast so some could very well do with being re-read...
I actually read at traffic lights ( always have book in car...by loo...etc etc ), in meetings, whilst on phone...

CountessDracula · 11/06/2007 12:57

153

so many omissions on there!

What about Revolutionary Road
anything by Charles Bukwoski
etc etc

geekgrrl · 11/06/2007 12:55

57
and I do read a lot

not much recent stuff on there though, is there?

MissTea4Me · 11/06/2007 12:37

131 read in full, cringing in delayed guilt at the additional 50 or so I should have read for courses in school and uni (Fanny Burney among them!)

MrsBiscuit · 11/06/2007 12:15

108

I've got the book that this list is taken from, and it's quite good to browse through for ideas when nothing in the bookshops takes your fancy.

ggglimpopo · 11/06/2007 07:52
  1. I read and read and read....
mamama · 11/06/2007 05:02

so few

MrsJohnCusack · 11/06/2007 04:47

127
agree - weird list. and I had read very few of the 2000s ones. suspect DH will have read loads...