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Books to Read in a Lifetime
- cafard 13y agoFirst, the expression "bucket list" always brings to mind Mr. Creosote. Second, of the books that i have read, I have to say that Cutting for Stone isn't very good; Verghese's nonfiction The Tennis Partner is much better. The Connections has its moments, but maybe not enough for its length.
- hhorsley 13y agoWhat's the criteria? This is totally opaque as a list. I agree that some of these books are epic but don't know where the decisions are coming from.
- partomniscient 13y agoFrom the "Amazon Book Editors". It's basically a way to add an extremely thin layer of misdirection over what's fundamentally Amazon reminding you that you want to buy books on their site. (i.e. advertising). They're trying to catch as many different people in a carefully crafted "Hmmm, I always meant to read that, maybe I should buy it now to remind me" moment. How is this is relevant to HN? It's probably not...
- waterlesscloud 13y agoJesus. Come on. This is a list of good books you might want to look at. People who love to read also love to recommend books. I would not be shocked if the editors at Amazon love to read. Seriously, people.
- hudibras 13y agoIt's probably deliberately opaque, but my interpretation of "a bucket list of books to create a well-read life" is that they are all a.) good books and b.) books which will help the reader relate to other readers. It's probably a bit too pithy to say that reading them all will give you something to talk about at cocktail parties, but I think that's kinda where they're going with it. Any list that has both David Sedaris and Charles Dickens on it is not meant to be taken literally as THE LIST. I've only read 33* of them, so I've still got a ways to go. *humblebrag
- skybrian 13y agoI know it's not meant seriously, but even so, the notion that everyone should read the same set of books in a lifetime is a strange one. If everyone actually did that, it would be a massive duplication of effort. Much better for people to read different books.
- IvyMike 13y agoIt's kind of nice to have a core set we can all discuss, though. I know there are people who basically never read a book, but I have a feeling the kind of person who reaches 100 won't stop there.
- jamesrcole 13y ago> the notion that everyone should read the same set of books in a lifetime is a strange one I think it's intended as a list of suggestions, and anyone else is free to create their own list of suggestions. > Much better for people to read different books. There's so many books out there that it's useful to have some guidance as to which are more likely to be worth your time.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- prawn 13y agoSurprised that Perfume didn't make the list, or did I miss it browsing on my phone with that weird interface?
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- ForHackernews 13y agoAnother good list here: http://www.openculture.com/2013/03/donald_barthelmes_syllabus_highlights_81_books_essential_for_a_literary_education_.html http://www.openculture.com/2013/03/donald_barthelmes_syllabu...
- chillzilla 13y agoAnd a better list, too. Not to mention Barthelme's own work is worth checking out.
- mercurial 13y ago"Mostly anglo-saxon" books to buy on Amazon in a lifetime.
- ekianjo 13y agoYeah, and their selection in Japanese literature is a shite book from Murakami, the most overrated writer ever in Japan media. Good Lord.
- snogglethorpe 13y agoTotally agree that their Murakami selection is an awful book, and nothing Murakami's written in years has been any good, but he used to (20+ years ago) be a bit better... [The Amazon tagline, "From the Modern Japanese Master" is certainly pretty cringe-inducing. >< ] In general the entire list seems very uninspired, like it was generated by someone tallying up blog posts and fan-favorite lists, rather than being an informed opinion by someone that's actually read and thought about a lot of books...
- ekianjo 13y ago> In general the entire list seems very uninspired, like it was generated by someone tallying up blog posts and fan-favorite lists, rather than being an informed opinion by someone that's actually read and thought about a lot of books... Yeah, I felt the same way. If that's what you got to read before you die, well you might as well die of boredom before you finish reading the books in that list :P
- dror 13y agoWith a US slant and some juvenile fiction thrown into the mix. Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, really?
- silencio 13y agoI think the US slant is a shame (or does Amazon have multiple lists?) but... There are some really good books classed as "young adult" that I think are done a big disservice just by being labeled as such. Many of them are very accessible and cover things that sometimes even "grownup" literature does a terrible job of. Personally I wouldn't go for Hunger Games, but Harry Potter was in large part responsible for a huge resurgence in reading among children and not for no reason. It's an easy read into a possibly new genre for many readers, and I'd be surprised if there was anyone out there that couldn't relate on some level to something going on in the series. It's not the best example ever, but it's far from shabby.
- rabbitonrails 13y ago"...which are modern enough to still be under copyright and thus most profitable to Amazon"?
- waterlesscloud 13y agoLike Great Expectations and Pride And Prejudice. Great insight!
- RaSoJo 13y agoPerfect. Explained everything!!
- grey-area 13y agoAgreed, there is far too much English-language and US fiction from the 20C in this list for it to be taken seriously. It's like top 100 film ratings on imdb - too distorted by the list-makers' parochial (in time and space) viewpoint to be useful. Recent fiction written in English has far too much weight in this list. A well-read life would start at the Iliad and the Meditations and other classics (all available for free) and work up from there, not Lemony Snicket!
- MichaelApproved 13y agoDisappointed to not see Siddhartha on the list http://www.amazon.com/Siddhartha-Hermann-Hesse/dp/0553208845 http://www.amazon.com/Siddhartha-Hermann-Hesse/dp/0553208845
- cico71 13y agoIt's there, number 94
- MichaelApproved 13y agoFor me, #94 shows up as Lolita (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) by Vladimir Nabokov (Mar 9, 1993). Siddhartha is nowhere to be found.
- rdl 13y agoThey did a bad job on sci-fi, I think -- while I liked Dune, it certainly isn't the one SF book I'd include. The Handmaid's Tale is far better, but is listed as "Feminist Speculative Fiction"; if I'd read the category first, I would have skipped the book, but the book is great, along with her other writing. In a list of 100, I'd probably include 3. The Handmaid's Tale is fine; Snow Crash or maybe a Heinlein or a "golden age of sci-fi" choice. (Edited to fix incorrect title, thanks)
- harshreality 13y agoI agree, and you made elsewhere the good point that Dune has one foot in the fantasy realm, without much hard science fiction backing it up. The Hyperion cantos (Simmons) is sadly not taken seriously by very many authors of top-100 lists. It's usually Dune or Stranger in a Strange Land or Ender's Game or Forever War. And heaven forbid they include Neuromancer or Snow Crash or Altered Carbon, or an eco-scifi book like Stand on Zanzibar or Zodiac. Dune could be a nod to the classic science fiction aficionados who don't care for any of the newer stuff, who love Asimov, Niven, Clarke, PKD, Bester. Is Heinlein too politically charged, perhaps?
- RBerenguel 13y agoAgree with The Hyperion Cantos (commented it as an answer to my post above,) it's been one of the books I've re-read most times. It's a very good book, but somehow a lot of people ignore it, probably due to the fact it's part of a tetralogy (and seems like the last 2 are rubbish... I stopped with the first two: Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, which is what I consider "Hyperion Cantos", though.) I'd rank Altered Carbon higher than Neuromancer. Neuromancer is great and all, but the plot of Altered Carbon was more inspired, almost a nod to classic "noir" writers I like. And I love Stranger in a Strange Land, as pointed above :) Historical note: when the first Spanish translation was commissioned, the publishing firm that did it went bankrupt. Back then (dictatorship) there was a strong censure of books... But editors had to print the books, whole edition and only then the censor would check them. It was deemed as objectionable material.
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- ssully 13y agoI get why they did this, but it seems like such a waste considering everywhere I've seen this posted people just bitch about a book or a section of books they like not being on the list. But it seems to be working as intended, because I've seen this posted a lot.
- RBerenguel 13y agoAlthough I'd change some books (actually, quite a lot,) I'm positively surprised by some choices, with books you usually don't see in "best of" lists but which rank high in my personal preferences. For science fiction I'd change Dune... Even though it's a great book and I like it (I even read Herbert Jr.'s sequels... spoiler: don't) I'd pick something "shinier." Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, or 2001: An Space Odissey... or go with the weird and pick Rendezvous with Rama. Or just Foundation. Sci-Fi-wise you can't go wrong with Foundation. Ninja-edit: How could I forget The Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon? Written in the late 40s, I didn't give much for it as Sci-fi goes. I read it in one sitting. Ended with a headache, dizzy and hungry. It was well worth it. For Murakami, I'd pick instead a relatively unknown book by him: Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of The World. An inception-esque plot-inside-plot book, set in an almost Neuromancer-like setting. I love it. For Dystopian... Even though I have not read The Giver, just classification-wise I'd have to pick Shades of Grey (Jasper Fforde's book, not to be confused with another, numbered, similarly named book.) It was a thrilling read (I think it's the best novel I've read in the past 3 or 4 years, but well, I don't read that much fiction lately), sadly part of a trilogy waiting to be finished. Beware: once you are done with the book you'd want to go to Britain and tie Fforde to his desk until he is done with the next book. The books that surprised me though are incredibly well-spotted. I like that Guns, Germs and Steel is there. It's been on my reading list for... 3 years already (I have it, but it's a heavy book so I'm always eager to pick an ebook or thinner material for a commute,) because the theme is so compelling. The Right Stuff is not the usual book you see in a best-of list, but for me, it should be in all these lists. Heck, writing from it is used as example of good writing in On Writing Well (which is surprisingly a very good read). The Long Goodbye, by Chandler. Chandler is great, period. Having one of his books in this lists validates other books I'd never consider... Even though you can't have a Chandler and don't have a Hammett. You can't go wrong with a book by Hammett, I'd probably pick The Maltese Falcon. A classic. Of course, there are some books that I'd personally treat to a Bradbury process... Catcher in the Rye and On the Road are two books I was looking forward to reading (not being English-based meant I didn't get to read them on high school) and found dull. I guess read in a different context would have made it different, but I couldn't see all the praise. Personal opinion, though.
- codemac 13y ago
- brubaker 13y agoWhy does every list have to include hunter and orwell? Might as well have thrown in fight club for a trifecta of terrible angsty high school "inspiration"
- callmeed 13y agoI'm glad Cormac McCarthy is on there, but is The Road better than Blood Meridian?
- girvo 13y agoI'd definitely pick Foundation over Dune, in my personal opinion. I still hold the Foundation series up as the pinnacle of SciFi.
- sidcool 13y agoHarry Potter books there. They are good, but then it's about 100 books to read in a lifetime. Just my opinion.
- icco 13y agoI don't know, I've always thought it's one of those series that's worth reading just to be able to discuss with others given how many people have read.
- JacobAldridge 13y agoSurprised / pleased that I'm a quarter of the way there (well, 24/100). Didn't expect quite that much young adult literature - Harry Potter, Limony Snickett, Golden Compass, The Giver (plus Lord of the Rings). All major film franchises (well, The Giver under production). Was amazed to see The Phantom Tollbooth. One of my favourite books of all time, though I haven't read it since I was a child and honestly have never met another person who'd heard of it!
- bowlofpetunias 13y agoLooks more like a popularity contest with an unsurprising correlation to recent screen adaptations. I half expect Justin Bieber's biography to make the list. Goodreads and Amazon have become as useless as IMDB when it comes to ratings. Both are prime examples of why the "wisdom of the crowds" is bull. Guess Nicholas Carr was right after all.
- lutusp 13y agoI just scanned the list while buying books for an upcoming long trip away from the Internet and other media (i.e. my annual Alaska boat trip: http://arachnoid.com/alaska2013 http://arachnoid.com/alaska2013). I might have selected two from the list. The problem with the list is it's not a true list of classic, worthwhile books, it's instead populated by books that (a) sell well and (b) are available at the moment from publishers. Those who don't read much, or who are beginning as adult readers, shouldn't be misled by its contents. Here is a slightly better list, one unfortunately also biased by what's available in the current mass publishing market: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/books-everyone-should-read http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/books-everyone-should-re... But while searching online for quality "classic" or "essential" book lists, I am surprised to say that there's no such readily available list, at least that I can find. Obviously there's also the issue of taste -- one person's list of classics isn't likely to be another's.
- marsay 13y agoDissapointed that it contains only fiction.
- lutusp 13y agoIt has "All the President's Men" and "A Brief History of Time", nonfiction. ... A quick scan shows that about 1/3 of the titles are either nonfiction or based on real events.
- thejteam 13y agoMy biggest gripe about the list: since when did it become acceptable to alphabetize using leading "A" and "The". You're supposed to skip those.
- knight17 13y agoWould love to see some more great Russian novels (Dostoevsky, anyone?) in the list instead of many US centric books currently there.
- thisusername 13y agoNo Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gogol, Kakfa (I know he's not Russian but still)...the list is far beyond lacking, but what can you do.
- deepflame 13y agoThe bible is also a good read. If you are into it you could read and study it for a lifetime.