Reading

I have a copy of The Well Educated Mind by Susan Bauer.  It’s another book of lists suggesting what books you should read to have a better knowledge of the so called western canon.  But the author goes  beyond just listing books and explains how to critically read literature, a skill that I was never taught anywhere in my education. Yet, when I got to university it was presumed I would know how to read Plato with no problem.  Um..no.  (ed. You bitter?)




A third edition of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die will be out in March 2010.  I’ve written about this book a number of times and I still think it’s great.  The blogger Arukiyomi has updated his spreadsheet for this book. The spreadsheet has a full list of the books so you can keep track of what you've read, plus links into Amazon for each book. You have to see this spreadsheet, its monumental, and evidently they put quite a lot of work into it. I still figure I would have to read about 5 of the listed books per month to get through the list.  Unlikely, given half my time is spent with a vicious online gambling addiction….
But you shouldn’t not try.

Sadly,  P.K. Page one of my favourite Canadian Poets passed away last week. Canadian post-war poetry was mostly dominated by men.  She competed well against the like of  Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, Al Purdy, and many others.  She had a very unique voice and style.  She was also a visual artist, under her married name P.K. Irwin. I have a great admiration for all those who wrestle with words and create something lasting.  We see through a glass darkly. Please recommend this post

BBC Remaking Triffids, Banning Swearing

Under public pressure the BBC is about to go on robotic purge of bad language while at the same time gearing up for a remake of George Wyndham's science fiction novel The Day of the Triffids.

The novel is listed in Peter Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It was made into a movie in 1962 and was one of the best worst movies ever. It starred Howard Keel. Howard Keel. As a hat tip to irony, or perhaps the viewers wishful thinking, the Triffids main line of offense was blinding people.

It ably represented a genre where busty women in tight sweaters screamed and screamed while running and falling down.

I plead with you do not remake this movie. Not everything needs to be remade all the time. It stands on its own as a complete work. Ok, here's an idea. The remake is set in the English country side in the 1800's. It's a period piece involving young women and courting rituals. Jane Eyre on LSD starring Helena Bonham Carter. And large evil plants. It could work.

As far as the swearing goes, the networks never get it right. While dialog in a movie often has to be raw to properly portray the characters, gratuitous swearing in variety shows doesn't always work.

So you end up watching a movie with Al Pacino and all he ever says is BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEP but then you get a talentless hack interviewer who tells Gwyneth Paltrow during a live interview, that he wants to fuck her. Classy. Please recommend this post

More on the 1001 Books You Should Read

In a previous post I mentioned the Book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

The website Arukiyomi has an Excel spreadsheet with a complete list of the 1001 books. It is a fairly impressive spreadsheet with some Macros to record which books you've read. This spreadsheet has been downloaded almost 19,000 times. (The spreadsheet is in Office 2007 Format.)

The copy of 1001 books I first read was the first Edition and since then the second edition has come out. The editor has dropped over 100 titles from the first edition and replaced them. The spreadsheet has the listings of titles that were dropped and added.

I was doing some math in my head to see how long it would take to read through this list. Factoring in how many books on the list I've read already I figured if I read 2-3 of these books a month I would still be at it well into my 70's.

And likely broke and single, with coke bottle glasses. Please recommend this post

Read Books or Die

This is my kind of book. It is a beautiful time waster with short descriptions of the 1001 books and lots of excellent images. The title exacerbated my ongoing mid-life crisis. Then it doubled back and exacerbated my exacerbation. I'm going to die? When? I have to read how many books? I almost died just thinking about the idea of reading 1001 books. At 949 pages you could stroke out just carrying it around.

The list starts off with Aesop's Fables, a long time favourite. According to popular legend Aesop was stuffed in a sack and thrown off a cliff for the crime of mocking a local Oracle. He was probably reading that famous book called 1001 Oracles you must mock before you die.

The last book in the list is Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I guess when you're old and blind and half crazy you'll need a book like that to finish up on a positive note.

I can't let go of the idea that this is doable. How long do you think it would take to plow through these 1001 books? Keep in mind that War and Peace and Ulysses are on the list. Those two could bog you down for years in mercilessly dry sweeping prose. Is there anyone out there who has made it through the list?

Unfortunately there is no web site for the book and thus no download list of all the books. There is a blog I saw that had a spreadsheet but I have not checked it out yet.

Oh no, I know what you're thinking. No I won't make my own list you can't make me. That would be by far the geekiest idea ever.

Someday I'll be lying on a hospital gurney, trying to hang on...

Nurse: What are you doing?
Doctor: I'm trying to revive this man!
Nurse: But he has a do not resuscitate order...
Doctor: Damn you he's only half way through Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
Nurse: But that puts him only about half way through the list.
Doctor: Yes. But we don't really know. Damn them to hell for not numbering the books.
Patient: Must....get....to .... library.
Doctor: You just relax now. We'll have you reading in no time. Nurse, hand me that hack-saw.

1001 dumb ideas to indulge in before you die, which by the way, could be soon. Please recommend this post