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November 19, 2007 |
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One Down
FOUND by Stephanie Hoerner
in Chicago, Illinois
I found this list on a sidewalk on the north side of Chicago. I love that the titles at first seem incongruous, but there's a definite pattern that emerges. The pattern becomes clearer when you turn it over to find a few more classics listed, including "Hamlet," "Walden," "The Great Gatsby" and "The Catcher in the Rye." I'm just thankful she got at least one crossed off before she lost the list. "Wallflower" was better than "The Catcher in the Rye" anyway.
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
i love a good book list. brings back memories of summer reading club at the local library when i was very young. feeling lucky to have a parent that knew the importance and the joy of reading.
haha
i <3 wallflower
alot of those books were mentioned in that book alone
soo.. hmm
haha. that's cool
I think Catcher in the Rye is the only book I've read from this list.
Great Find, Stephanie! This is sure to stir up a lot of discussion.
What pattern do you see?
The Little Prince
On the Road
The Stranger
The Fountainhead
Hamlet
The Catcher in the Rye
The Great Gatsby
Those are the ones from this list I've read. I don't really see myself reading any of the others anytime soon...
the list should really include Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.
The pattern I saw emerging was that of someone searching for labels to apply to their sexuality.
i agree with the pattern. the person should add Middlesex.
well, except for Walden ... and the little prince. maybe it's just a list of 'good' books the person thinks he/she needs to read to be well rounded.
Wallflower
The Ethical Slut
The Stranger
On The Road
Speak
A Separate Peace
Hamlet
Those are what I've read on this list. I really liked The Stranger and Speak. None were terrible, though.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Catcher in the Rye are equally good.
I've read <u>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</u>, <u>The Catcher in the Rye</u>, <u>Prozac Nation</u>, <u>Speak</u>, <u>The Stranger</u>, <u>The Little Prince</u>, <u>Hamlet</u>, <u>The Great Gatsby</u>, and <u>A Separate Peace</u>. I enjoyed all those books.
This person should probably add <u>Girl, Interrupted</u> and <u>The Virgin Suicides</u>.
Ugh, ignore the <u> and </u> codes in my previous comment. Sorry.
There's some good stuff on this list. It seems a shame all this person read was Perks. It was alright, but Naked Lunch! Hamlet! The Fountainhead! Those are some GOOD books.
i really hated perks. its a shame thats all they read.
haha, its weird cause perks does mention alot of those books.
i loved walden, emerson is a genius.
perks better than catcher? oh, my heart.
and bowie, thoreau wrote walden.
what are our youngsters coming to?
THIS is why my job is so hard.
(yeah, yeah all you teacher-haters, bring it on. blah, blah, blah.)
Labeling sexuality and the value of living? Some tough things to address.
I didn't read it as "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" being crossed off because the person had read it. I thought maybe they made the list, then decided not to read it.
I like how the people who find the objects typically assume the sex of the writer (and usually commenters will say the person is a certain sex). I know with this list, it could possibly be a girl based on the color of the writing. That's about it. So my comment is:
This guy must have some time on his hands!
I swear this list is my students- even though we are in NC. She made a very similar list that included the perks book, banned books, and books suggested by others- it was the basis for her AP art concentration work (illustrations)... i love charlie in wallflower...
At first I thought this was a guy writing it, but with "The Ethical Slut" and "Stone Butch Blues", it just confirmed to me that it's a teenager coming to terms with her own sexuality, and is perhaps looking for a little confirmation from great literary works.
I've read:
Seperate Peace
Catcher in the Rye
Little Prince
Started Walden and Great Gatsby; never got too far as other stuff came up.
I've read:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Speak
Walden
Hamlet
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is the best. The Tale of Two Cities should be on that list.
I would really like to meet and talk to the person who wants to read all those books. S/He sounds like s/he would have some really interesting things to say...
I swear this was my book list for one semester--American Lit and then Literature and Gender......
Anyone else @ Chop Chop last night?
This is a good list; I hope the author found whatever answers they were looking for in these books.
I’ve read:
Prozac Nation
Ethical Slut
Naked Lunch
Walden
Hamlet
Catcher in the Rye
DAMNIT! Who found my reading list?
What's up with Post Secret?
Some of those titles are intiguing; I may have to look them up.
I've read:
A Separate Peace (actually just finished re-reading it)
Hamlet
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
Peper: I think it's just because Frank had a show with Found here in C-bus last night, they finised up pretty late.
What a bitch ass dyke.
I've read
The Stranger
On the Road
A Separate Peace
Hamlet
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
All were on my highschool reading list except for On the Road. And I've reread some of them several times because unlike my fellow classmates, I actually liked the books we read. Except for the Red Badge of Courage which put me to sleep everytime I started to read it.
Besides that, it's an interesting list. The first 3/4 of the list and the rest of the list almost don't seem to go together as far as subject matter are concerned.
I read Walden a couple months ago and was astounded by how huge a pretentious asshole thoreau was! If only we all could afford to spend ages sitting by ponds and thinking. Dick.
I have only "Speak" and "The Great Gatsby" - both of which I absolutely loved. I especially like "Speak" for the reality and raw emotion it exposes. Perhaps I might check out some of these other books on this list.
I used to think that i needed to read 'the classics' before i could call myself really well read, but, i find that i usually can't get past the first chapter or two. I decided that i can call myself well read, or really, dont give a rats ass about what other people think of my reading habits. I read what i like to read, and i've found so many wonderful accidental classics on the way.
The pattern seems to be books about outsiders mostly, social misfits in sexuality and thoughts. Sort of a starter list for rebels, goths, and confused future homos.
It's hard to guess the gender of the writer because we have a couple male coming of age stories, a couple of lesbian and transgender books, several classic stories, and the Ethical Slut, which I have not read but it seems to be about "open relationships".
I tend to think this it a young woman, though. Probably an English major, probably away at college trying to come to terms with her sexuality.
I have read:
Prozac Nation
The Little Prince
Naked Lunch
The Stranger
On the Road
This Side of Paradise
Walden
Hamlet
The Great Gatsby
Catcher in the Rye
I would recommend Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady and also Second Coming.
I just finished Queer a few days ago. It's very funny.
I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower in high school (which is getting further and further away from "feels like yesterday") and loved it. I love any book about what someone else is dealing with in their life...I think we all do don't we? It's one way of saying to ourselves "see self, you're not the only crazy one".
I too think that the pre-defined "classics" can be a total bore. I have read and continue to read a few here and there just to say I have an accomplished reading list...but honestly...in a society where we don't READ anything but rather watch it on TV...the fact that I'm my age and still manage to pick up a book on a regular basis should be good enough for people..anyone agree?
I recited the poem from "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" in a literature class earlier this week. That really caught the prof off-guard.
I don't tend to read many books, but that's because none of them are as good as this one.
Since y'all were goin on about "wallflower", i wiki'd it. this is the list of books that "charlie" read, in high school:
Books
In the novel Charlie's teacher, Bill, assigns him various books to read. Charlie describes them all as his favorites.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Mona, I had *no* idea you could wiki books, and get a synopsis. Thanks! Looks like a book I'd enjoy, angsty teens and all. Most of the movies mentioned are among my faves, but... better than Catcher? We'll see.
Our homeschool is named Walden Satsangha. We made a pilgrimage to Concord last summer. Very powerful to stand where Thoreau stood!
I READ "THE GREAT GATSBY"!
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Where are "smoke yourself thin" and "get confident,stupid"- those are my favorite books
This list just made me sad. It seems like she was trying to find something in books that she couldn't find inside herself.
I agree with Bowie AND Liza. Emerson is a genius, and Thoreau is a pretentious dick. I have a hard time not letting these biases show when I teach these authors.
Great list! For the gender issue (and other life "stuff"), I would also add She's Come Undone and Me Talk Pretty One Day.
Hmmm... Thoreau simplified so he could sit by a lake and think. The cost of his house was $28.12, compared to an average cost of close to $1,000. He strikes me as the *opposite* of pretentious.
I don't care how many of these books each of you has read. Why do you all feel the need to list them out?
I love a book list that can include The Great Gatsby and The Ethical Slut LOL!
Did you guys miss me? :)
Yeah, who kares what ya'll been readin'or something, books is stoopid!! DVD's, movies and youtube and video gaymes are the new books.Readin's for suckers.
Why is Brideshead Revisted not on this list?
Sad in Chicago, don't we always read to find something that's not within ourselves? Or to define something that we find in ourselves? to find out if someone, somewhere feels, thinks, knows, the same things we know. I don't think its sad at all. I think its great that this person is looking for literary direction in their journey.
All those books are overrated. Give me a warm mug of hot chocolate and the complete works of Danielle Steele anyday.
and Curious, you can wiki anything. Just don't always take it for the absolute truth.
Danielle Steele - UGH! Same goes for Patricia Cornwall. They may tell a fine story but they are terrible writers.
Mona, I too went through a period where I thought I should read all the classics, since I didn't in school. I got through quite a few (Moby Dick kicked my ass); however after a while I began to wonder what constituted being pegged a classic. To me "To Kill a Mockingbird" sounded like popular reading. Now I read what I want, but I still through in a classic every once in a while.
lars in shock, calm down man, at least they read.
This is obviously a girl, if it's worth to bring it into discussion. I presume it was written for some fifteen bored high school freak who missed the chance to fall in love with Holden Caulfield (What's with that? I've never heard an american say anything more than so so about Holden. All latinians love him.)
Moby Dick, did he kick your ass in a good way, or a bad way?
Perks= my favorite book of all time. I think that most people who have read it call it just Perks. I've also read Prozac Nation, Speak, Hamlet and The Great Gadsby (gag!). I used to make lists like these, but then I would always lose them and I'd have to start over.
In today's world of video, soundbites and short attention spans I applaud anyone that aspires to a reading list that includes such mind expanding, thought provoking, wonderful books!
And KC in the sunshine man..."She's Come Undone" is one of my very favorites. Did you read "This Much I Know is True"
catcher in the rye is way better than perks. but all in all great list
ive read...
perks
catcher
hamlet
and the great gatsby
looks like a high schhol reading list. this reminded me that i really wanted to read prozac nation.
who cares what who's read or havent read? Maybe you should read "How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read". You'll still sound just as pretentious, without all the work.
Perks sounds a like great read, I can't believe I missed it. I am putting it on my to-read list.
Hey Mona!!! Why aren't you gonna go all spelling and grammar Nazi on Moby Dick??? Have you lost your edge?
i think we are all misfits to some extent...sometimes reading a book just helps us to relate. even if sometimes we cant relate to the characters at all. we feel better.
I've read every one on the list save for 'Queer'. And I'm about to head to the library, so I think I'll see if I can't find it. ♥
I've read Wallflower, Le Petit Prince (I've never read it in English ... it seems like that would take away the magic of it, somehow), On the Road, Speak, A Separate Peace, The Fountainhead, Hamlet, and The Great Gatsby.
I've never really understood the big fuss over Perks of Being a Wallflower. I mean, I enjoyed it, but so many people always claim that it's "changed their life" and, well, it was just another decent read for me.
Hm, I read a good bit but I've only read three of these.
Nonetheless, seeing such a long reading list does my heart good. I'll go get some of 'em.
i hope the list's creator had an extra copy. i've printed it out and i'm aiming to read them all..this Found was very appropriate considering i just finished a novel and need something new to read!
bitchin, why don't you, since you seem to have noticed something. It looked fine to me.
The last 5 or 6 are actually on our English 3 list of novels to read. The others look interesting though.
lauren, I no speaka the french, but The Little Prince was still magical enough in good ole English.
I just finished reading A Separate Peace, we were reading it in my English class.
I've read Prozac Nation and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I started Speak. I think I might keep this list or add some of the books onto my own, because when I read Perks I planned on reading all the books that were mentioned, but never got around to it.
y'know what's funny is, this could be my list. most of it, anyway. i started reading all of the boks that were mentioned in "wallflower" some time after i read it, and never finished, but maybe i should start again...
maybe something is wrong with me, but i hated perks. seriously. maybe i was just dissapointed becuase it had been so hyped up by others, but it wasn't very good. now, the great gatsby, catcher in the rye, or a little shakespeare...thats nice.
i think this person just made a list of all the books they have heard are good and decided to try to read them. good idea...i might steal it.
In the early 1960s, the International Paper Company ran a series of thoughtful ads in the back of major magazines that said, "Send Me a Man Who Reads." After giving it some consideration, I wrote to the president of IPC and said, "Send me a man! Who reads?"
This kid is in my grade, a junior in highschool, because the classics are books I'm reading in class (Gatsby, Catcher, Hamlet, Walden, etc). I could've written this list. Actually, I'm probably friends with this kid. I'll have to ask around. =]
I've only read a handful of books on the list, I really enjoyed adam's curse by w. b. yeats- a really good poem, although I think this person was talking about the book which I had to google to find out what it was about, sounded interesting! I think this list shows how important our goals and aspirations are even if we don't achieve or follow them. The simple fact of making a list is comforting, knowing you have something to look forward to or accomplish. If you we didn't make time to set aside things that interest ourselves in life,we would never grow and flourish with the individuality we each possess. :)
i've read
Perks, Naked Lunch, The Stranger (in English & French), Speak, Hamlet, Catcher, & Gatsby. With the exception if Speak, which i read in 7th grade, i read them all my Junior year of high school as well. Very interesting. I hope the author of the list managed to read more titles.
Vivi, you should call Jonathan. You could read him like a book. (A braille book!)
To be well read means to have read many of the books considered to have merit by intellectuals with expertise in certain fields (e.g., 16th Century French Poetry, American Literature, Theoretical Physics, Ornithology, Existential Philosophy, etc.). The list of meritorious books in any field, including literature, changes over time, though some titles are more durable than others. But to put the concept of being well read into a larger perspective (as Carl Sagan once did), if you dutifully read one book a week for 80 years as an adult, you will have read 4,160 books in that time, or approximately 2% of 1% of the 20 million books currently in the collection of the New York Public Library system. Ouch.
(Even if only half that number were unique titles, the difference between that and what a person can read in a lifetime is enormous.)
That said, I admire how well read so many of you FOUND commenters are. I shouldn't be surprised. You are some of the smartest and funniest people I know!
Stephanie - it would be lovely if you could hold the analysis. Thanks!
I've read:
Speak
The Little Prince
Off that list, anyway. I really want to finish The Catcher in the Rye, On the Road, and Perks, though. But I'm only fifteen, I have time. :)
One hand, blow it out your pocket.
How's she gonna hold her explanation now? And why? So we can be the brilliant minds that analyze it to death? You should be thanking her for contributing to your daily amusement called Found Magazine.
Thank you Stephanie!
There is nothing better than Catcher in the Rye.
Queer lit and classics? This is the reading list of a queer high schooler starting to work on his or her (I'm guessing her) identity. It's cute. It reminds me of me a few years ago. :)
I DO thank her for losing this...
The Little Prince is really the only book you need to read.
I have only read Speak out of these, and I loved it. My teacher had us watch the movie version first, and then we could read the book if we wanted to. This was last year- I liked the ending of the book MUCH better. Then I read Catalyst, which is about the same school but a MUCH different girl- although Melinda does show up in one scene. :D
But enough of my babbling... I'm just glad Great Expectations isn't up there- I'm almost to the end of the first stage now for English class and it is very random and creepy.
thesoundbites.blogspot.com
I'm with the Captain. There should be some Tom Robins on this list. Maybe Jitterbug Perfume.
What an interesting list of books to read; I don't know that I have ever seen such a list with THREE books by William Burroughs (Queer,The Soft Machine and Naked Lunch). Here's hoping that after reading all of that Burroughs they don't run off to Tangiers and become a heroin addict. William Burroughs lived out his last years in Lawrence, Kansas, just around the corner from the first house I ever bought. One day I heard the unmistakeable crack of pistol fire and when I went to investigate found William Burroughs blasting away at a painting he had recently completed and wanted to further modify with rounds from his .45 pistol.
Angela incognito - to tell the truth, although I thought She's Come Undone was fabulously well written and interesting, parts of it disturbed me so much that I've been afraid to check out the other. But if you recommend it...
Half of these books were on my to read list. wooooooowa the rest i have read!
Martin,
So many posts and yours is the only one that really interested me. What a cool story.
I'm with the other posters who wonder why people need to list what they've read. Needy...
Vonnegut. No reading list is complete without a little Vonnegut!
I honestly don't think The Perks of Being a Wallflower was as good as the hype suggested. If you are going to compare that book to The Catcher in the Rye, then please ponder the literature carefully before asserting that the newer work is better than the classic. Take into account that just because you recognize the songs in his playlists, it doesn't mean that a book - that lists playlists to begin with - is better than one with which you don't as directly relate. The author uses the familiar to draw you in; Yes, friends, it's a gimmick.
However, I support reading in any form. I'm thrilled someone is interested in reading such a vast quantity of books. Although, I do believe the pattern and style of reading he or she will do is quite clear.
I've read Perks, Speak, Hamlet, The Great Gatsby and Catcher In The Rye. I want to read Naked Lunch. This reminded me to do so. Yay!
could someone exlain what nina meant by i <3 wallflower means? i assume it means she liked it, but i greater than three wallflower, just doesn't make sense to me. i'm not good at internet speak.
Oh poo. I should have said, "Send me a man who reeds... MUSIC!"
Hi floating, Crank your head to the right and it becomes a heart, as in "I love Wallflower." Eh?
Or crank your head to the left and it means, "I may be a wallflower, but I have a nice ass." Heh-heh.
thank you mc2 and desperate cynic
I have read (and still own) many of these books. It would be cool if I knew the person that wrote this list,then "s/he" could borrow them from me.
wallflower sucked, charlie was nothing like holden.
catcher > wallflower
end of discussion
I absolutely love Perks. I've been wanting to read several of these for a long time, but I just haven't had the time.
i don't understand WHY so many people think that other people (who don't know them) would CARE what books they have read from this list. come on!
check out station 177 on wi-fitv.com
KC...I highly recommend "This Much I Know is True" it's so much different than "She's Come Undone" although parts of it are really disturbing, it's a wonderful story.
well I think I'm going to follow this list myself, except I've already read the catcher in the rye about 17 times, but why not make it 18?
btw, the little prince is also like the best book ever, but I've only read it in French, so I don't know how it is in English, the translations might mess it up...I don't know.
okay, ONE last thing. Moby Dick, when you say 'Moby Dick kicked my ass' do you mean that it was really good or really hard to understand?
"deliver us from evie" by m.e. kerr fits right into this list, especially if the listmaker is as young as all of us assume.
cuz if i was, i'd probably hate my mom.
Well, you start with Prozac Nation, and then... duh... why bother.
Actually lists are pointless. The only way to decide what to read is to browse for yourself in libraries and bookshops and grab whatever catches your eye. That way you'll find all sorts of stuff you never knew existed, classics included.
I wish someone had told me to read Tristram Shandy, Moby Dick and The Odyssey in my youth, but if they had, I would have been turned off them and never tried.
or even *FOUND*!
And I got my BUNNEE T-shirt!! Yay!
Oh, Jonathan, i'd raise my right eyebrow at you, if'n i had any.
That's the way i read. I graze the 'just in' section at the library. I admit that, at times, I judge a book by its cover. I've run into some lovely finds that way. (and also forced myself through some turkeys, although, as i get older, i'm less inclined to read a book i really don't enjoy)
I will not, i refuse to, tell people what i've read or haven't read, and i abhor those who feel the need to. Inadequate, needy people think that they gain some kind of respect from people when they do that. Those same kind of people read 'important' books on the bus or the subway. I like to read in the privacy of my own home.
You read all these in High School? Like, for a class? Canadians read To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1984, Lord of the Flies, and some dull canadian things...how very strange.
And jesus christ, stop judging classic literature as though you know what you're talking about. People who are WAY smarter than you think these are good books. If you don't get like them, that's because you don't get them.
excuse my fubbed last sentence. And while I agree with the first part of Mona's last post, some of us don't have the time to only read in the privacy of our own homes and so must look pretentious on public transportation. This is a far better fate than wasting our time reading bad books simply so we don't look like posers.
Mona, I agree with the first part of your post, too, browsing libraries and book stores, and not finishing something I can't get into.
But the second half of your post sounds so judgenmental. Do you ever share titles of good reads with friends and family? Seeing what strangers are reading on the bus or the train is an interesting and valid way to learn about new titles, in my opinion. I don't think people are necessarily "posers" because they're reading a best seller.
Just my opinion. 8-)
Ok, nightingale, i can see how that seems judgemental. I do share good reads with friends and family, but... i always tend to feel responsible for them liking it or not, so i have to be absolutely sure that its something that they'd like, because i couldnt bear it, if i loooooooooove a book, then recommend it, and they say.. yeah, its ok. I feel that reading is something private, which is why i prefer to read when i'm by myself. And i have precious little time that's truly my own.
Like posts on this message board, a person's reading choices say a lot about them. I just find that when people go out of their way to inform others that they've read this important book or that one, the latest book on Oprah's list (and i'm not slamming her, i'm reading something on that list now), I think its because they think, somehow, it makes them 'look better'. Not necessarily 'be' a better person, but look smarter, seem more interesting.
I do respect your opinion. I hate people who try to pretend to be something they're not.
someone please tell me, is moby dick a good book or a bad book???? because I'm deciding whether or not I want to read it.
Mona, I respect your opinion, too.
I have read a lot of books on Oprah's bookclub and there have been some great reads, and some authors owe her so much for their successful book sales, and bless her heart, but she doesn't have any more an informed opinion about what makes a good novel than your Aunt Betty or Uncle Flargy.
I wouldn't be too harsh on those you think are trying to impress the world with their great literary choices. At least they're reading. And sometimes one has to pretend to be better in order to become better. xo
Spider, I think it's a really big book, isn't it? Haha! Seriously, I've never read it. Why don't you check it out of the library and see if you like it? If you don't like it, you're not out anything. Or you could look it up on Amazon.com and see what kinds of reviews it gets. It's a classic. I say give it a try!
As much as I respect the people here, most of them are complete strangers to me, and I think you'd get a better recommendation from someone who knows you better. Do you know what I mean? I mean, I consider myself fairly well-read, but I've only read one book on this list. I'm not knocking any of these titles, but one person's list is just ones person's list. (Sorry for my digression.)
Good luck, Spider!
Night, thanks for your suggestions.I'll give moby dick a try
I'm not thinking of following that list to make me more well read or anything, I consider myself pretty well read as well. I've read on the road, the little prince and the catcher in the rye and they were all great so I figured maybe some of the other books on this list would be too. And that's why think I might vaguely follow this list.
That's cool, Spider. Have fun reading. Let me know how you like Moby Dick, once you get started. OK?
For those of you who are so annoyed that some of us listed our own little checklists here, against the list on the Find... who are you to tell the rest of us how we should and should not comment on the Find? Is there a list of guidelines somewhere that I missed?
Who died and appointed you the censor board?
I listed the titles I've read that appear on the Find. In no way is it a comprehensive list of all the books I've read in my lifetime, (not even close) nor is it even remotely representative of my reading style, preferences, or habits in general. And I didn't even list them so you'd think I'm smarter. I listed them because that was the response inspired by the Find.
That Famous Painting by that old dead dude said "I do respect your opinion. I hate people who try to pretend to be something they're not."
Do you mean like... a spider, a bird, a spice, a toaster, or maybe.. a painting?
i should really try to read my posts over, and see how they might sound to other people.
I think most people are really cool, interesting people, and don't need to impress people by telling others what book they've read, where they went to school, who they know, that sort of thing. Although that sort of thing makes them the person they present themselves as. So i understand that a person's reading list, that sort of thing, make them interesting. I just dont like it when people title drop. Maybe this is my own issue, but i always feel like they're saying 'unless you've read Kerouac, you're not the kind of person i want to know'. Read for the sake of reading. Love for the sake of loving. Learn for the sake of learning. Find for the sake of finding. Comment for the sake of commenting. Be who you are.
who's the spider, btw.
Spider:
Moby Dick is absolutely brilliant, but also weird. And it's very long and takes FOREVER to get started (which is partly the point of it -- the same with Tristram Shandy).
But don't take my word for it.
And no (before anyone asks), I have never got all the way through Don Quixote. Has anybody?
But I did read Joyce's Ulysses once.
Nightingale -- how ya gettin on with Henry Miller?
Mona -- hug xx
ive read a good eight or nine of those books. (: they're quite good. i think a separate peace was my favourite mentioned, but i did like walden, too.
mmmm books. ♥
darrel dragon - hugs. how's tenille? sorry for my judgenmental attitude. I apologize to Found and all its commenters. I love y'all.
i have a very similar list. ive read a few of those, and i want to read a lot. some seem like a bore though, but i thought it was cool.
Jonathan, I'm sorry to say that I've given up on Henry Miller. But I thank you for the recommendation. I think you and I have very different tastes in literature, your's running more toward the classics, while I prefer more contemporary stuff. I haven't actually been able to focus reading anything on paper in the past month or so. Need to flick this screen off and get back to my love of BOOKS!
Mona, you don't need to aplologize. Everyone has their own point of view. We love you too!
PS, the spider is fellow commentor Spider Gomez.
The little prince is a great book, Jonathan Livingston seagull, There is no such place as far away, I,Monty, The Celestine Prophecy, Discourse on Method By Renee Descartes, and a few others would make for a pleasant day of reading and drinking beer....
Like President John F. Kennedy, I took the Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics speed-reading course in 1959 and worked my way through most of the classics in the following two years. I'll never forget the thrill of reading Moby Dick straight through in three and a half minutes. It almost made me curse the half hour I had wasted finishing Les Misérables and the Holy Bible.
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." -Mark Twain
Universal themes, universal truths, universal concerns of the human condition. It's all been done. Contemporary authors are simply rehasing the same old shit, with new reference points.
Well, that's a dim view Viktory....
Poor Desperate Cynic. There's 30 minutes of your life you won't get back.
I like to read Found Magazine in public places so I look cooler than I am.
Desperate Cynic, that made me think of Cheech & Chong's bit about the "Evelyn Woodhead sped- riddin' course"
*
Tiny viol, play up! Can't hear ya.
Sorry, Nighty. Each to his own. Well, you tried! I appreciate that.
Desperate Cynic, you remind me of the joke about the guy who was boasting about his speed reading and said he had just read 'War And Peace' in 2 hours. 'Really? And did you take it all in?' 'Oh, yes. It's about Russia!'
And the (true) story of a student friend of mine who got a mail-order speed-reading course through the post, read it straight through in an afternoon, and sent it back saying it didn't work.
wow, Mona, I am now seriously contemplating if I want to know someone who hasn't read Kerouac. ..kidding. kind of. You clearly read very differently from me. I shouldn't hope to understand, my English major probably intellectually castrated me or something.
And is Moby Dick a good book??? to the young Spider who asked this question:
If it is a classic, it is worth reading. You may not like it all the time, but you have a responsibility to try and get it. And you can, I have faith. If you get it, you will like it. Maybe not love it, but you will never regret reading it.
The only books I don't like are the kind where there is nothing to get.
What the hell is 4 times four??? would it be 10 and six?
M
this list looks alot like my own 'to read' list. i've misplaced mine so maybe i should share theirs?
I've read:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Speak
The Little Prince
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
I would add The Lovely Bones by Alice Seobold, but this sounds like a good list, and we all seem to have a lot in common in the FOUND community seeing as we've all read a lot of these.
142 comments!?! This will take a couple of hours! I do like this find!
The reason my husband fell in love with me is because I brought him coffee in bed, and read the entire volumes of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged aloud to him. A very long time ago!
Sometimes nowadays I read the found comments aloud to him. (Due to a high school metal shop accident, a scar across his cornea causes his eyes to tire easily when reading.)
Nope, I haven't finished reading the comments on this find yet.
"Read for the sake of reading. Love for the sake of loving. Learn for the sake of learning. Find for the sake of finding. Comment for the sake of commenting. Be who you are."
Intrinsic motivation. Mona, you said it so well!
Since the internet, found, blogs & myspace,, I no longer have time to read books. I want to, though. I still need to finish Salt by next Tuesday! Ack!
Maybe no one cares, but it's fun to say it anyway. From this list, I have read: Le Petit Prince and The Little Prince (I don't really like that book in either language, sorry to disappoint everyone), The Fountainhead, and The Great Gatsby. I have started but never finished: On the Road, Catcher in the Rye, Walden, A Separate Peace, and I'm reading L'Etranger (The Stranger in French) which I started when a certain find was posted that was found in that book. I like it very much. I have not read Prozac Nation, but I have read Talking Back to Prozac, and Dr. Peter Breggin's other two books about the pharmaceutical industry in America. From books mentioned in the comments, I have read: Me Talk Pretty One Day, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Peter Pan, To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1984, Lord of the Flies. I have read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and I, Monty (I have a signed copy which belonged to my grandparents) but I didn't like either of those books very much (again, sorry to offend.
There, said.
Night and Jonathan,
I started reading Moby Dick and, Jonathan, you're right, it's brilliant. It didn't take me all that long to get into. I was hooked as soon as Queequeg came into the story. but there are a few exceedingly dull chapters.
Good for you, Spider. Maybe I'll give it a try one of these days. too.
Great stuff, Spider, glad you're enjoying it. I meant to say, try to find something like the Penguin edition that has really helpful footnotes at the back (unless you're the sort of reader who can't stand explanatory footnotes). I found them very illuminating for all the many cryptic or incomprehensible references in the book.
Incidentally, when Herman Melville was in London he used to visit his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne who was living in a house at the end of my road (there's a blue plaque on it now), and together they would walk over to Greenwich docks (the way I do most Sundays) and talk to the old sailors about their past experiences so he could get more first-hand detail for Moby Dick. So I feel as if I'm slightly a part of that book, in a strange way.
i feel like that's my book list.
Wallflower better than Catcher?
No freaking way.
Religion and Reading get people here (riled up and)commenting more than just about any other topic, it would seem.
I love reading classics that are annotated and/or comprehensively foot-noted.
Do they still make kids read Lord of the Flies? 1984?
I don't know what you're complaining about, that is if you really are complaining. In Brazil children don't read more than The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
In no certain order, please read:
The Raft, Robert Trumbull
Miles From Nowhere, Barbara Savage
Full Tilt, Dervla Murphy
Adrift, Steven Callahan
Five Against the Sea, Ron Arias
I Caught Flies for Howard Hughes, Ron Kistler
Two Scamps on a Tramp, Nathaniel Noble
The Uneasy Chair, Wallace Stegner
A Confederacy of Dunces, John K. Toole
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber,
Catch Me If You Can, Fran Abagnale
I won't do it, and you can't make me.
i feel like this is a list of
books that you should read, or
at least skim, to sound intell-
igent in pretentious conversation.
Maybe someone already mentioned this but I'm too lazy to read all of the comments. I'm wondering the correlation is between the cannonized literature and "Transgendered Warriors." Something I missed out on while earning my Bachelor's in English, no doubt. BTW Bowie, Emerson didn't write Walden, Thoreau did.
I mean WHAT the correlation is . . . sorry. *Embarrassed that I mentioned my English degree now*
Add ELECTROBOY to my list.
Read my list only if you want to be blown away!
...from the GenderF*ck bookclub.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my favorite books. I'm glad they managed to check that one out before losing the list. Another good one is The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley. That reminds me, I might go re-read that.
This is a list of "great books." Probably books she has heard mentioned, or maybe she has read reviews for modern books that were favourably compared to these. Its a list of material that forms a particlar opinon of great literature (including mine) and a basis for literary study. While the majority are "modern classics" (If such a thing exists) there are some going back to the early twentieth century and earlier, like Hamlet. My guess is she will read Hamlet, stop, read another one (maybe On The Road) give Hamlet another go, try to rationalise putting another great Shakespearian play on the list instead, go back to Hamlet... I agree with the people who suggested she add Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Middlesex (though I wouldn't yet consider the latter a 'classic'), and hope this isn't an ideal list but a working list.
I have a similar list for movies I need to see. It includes Gone With The Wind, Its a Wonderful Life and Citizen Kane. Its a list of movies I'm embarrassed I haven't seen, and need to see to consider myself an educated well-rounded person.
One more thing: I hate to say it but she should probably add Ulysses. She can look through it between trying to read Hamlet.
I've changed my mind. I just googled some of the titles I didn't know and its a gender list. Kerouac liked boys, and it can be argued (and I've heard it done successfully) that Hamlet did too. The Little Prince has queer theory undertones too if you're looking for them.
Please excuse the barrage of opinions. Another English grad who misses talking about books in class. Shutting up now.
Andrea, so theres a book about someone named Cedar? that's funny I have a friend named cedar. I might have to get that for her. its not a very common name.
I've read all of these. It's a great list!!!
i thought wallflower was better, too!
i see you all love salinger and thoreau and whatnot, but has anyone ever read Stone Butch Blues or S/he or Trans Warrios? it's not sexuality that this person is 'dealing with,' folks, it's gender. (if you think they are the same thing, maybe YOU should read those books.)
If this person is looking for a label for their sexuality, these books will help. Furthermore, these books will help them to realize that they don't "need" a label for their sexuality or gender. I hope the maker of the list read these books. At the very least, the Leslie Feinberg titles.
LOL.. thought of you today, "ONE DOWN".. and all the feisty comments to this Find.
http://foundmagazine.com/comments/6444