Satima's Blogspot: Yet another reading list

Friday, 23 January 2009

Yet another reading list

Friday, January 23, 2009 |

Posted by Satima Flavell

It must be the season for book lists. I smurched another one, this time from Lisa Gold, Research Maven

Over at the Guardian newspaper there is a list of 1000 novels some people at the Guardian think we should all read. The interesting part is that the list is subdivided in genres: (science fiction & fantasy, state of the nation, family & self, comedy, crime, love, war & travel). Skimming through the first 800-odd titles and synopses (the last section, war and travel, should be up by the time you read this) is an education in itself. I'd read at least a handful of books from each genre, yet in the section on speculative fiction, in which I fancy myself to be quite well-read, I found I'd only consumed about a quarter of the list. That's possibly because it contains a preponderance of hard SF, and while I'd certainly read all the classics such as Asimov's Foundation series, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and so on, there are books there that I've never heard of! And I'm disappointed that so little fantasy is included. I'll be interested to read what other specfic buffs think of the list. Whatever list contains your favourites, you will probably find, like me, that you've read a smattering of all the other sections as well. But as with the list from earlier in the week, you will almost certainly find yourself asking "Who says we should read these particular books, and why? Why not others?"

Nevertheless, if you're into lists of reading material this might be a good one to check out. If you do, please come back and tell me what you thought of it!

Labels: reading lists

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: Thinking person's SF&F list - the comments on each book are great! Many of my favourites are on here, such as David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas (never really thought of it as fantasy, though), Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker, Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Susannah Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.

Lists make so much more sense when the listmaker tells us something about each book and why it's there.; Friday, January 23, 2009
Satima Flavell said...: I'm suprised there's not more Gaiman. He doesn't do anything badly:-) Of course, there is certain sameness to some of his works, but it's a good sameness! I would have liked to have seen the best of GGK on there, too, such as The Lions of Al-Rassan and /or The Sarantine Mosaic. No LeGuin. No Olivia Butler - but then, it's a British paper. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't read JS & MrN, although I've read excperts and thought I'd love it. I know nothing of Cloud Atlas, and I guess that's the beauty of having the little synopses - you can get an idea of whether you'd like that book or not.; Friday, January 23, 2009
Jo said...: Sounds like a long list and the few authors mentioned by you and Juliet I have never heard of. No time right now, but will browse it later.; Friday, January 23, 2009
Marilyn Z. Tomlins said...: Satima --

I think our choice of books is like our choice of food, films, flowers, whatever. I therefore never take notice of what someone else says I "must" read. I have too many of such "must" reads already ...

Marilyn; Saturday, January 24, 2009
Jo said...: Yes, I get a tad annoyed when people propound a list of books they consider any reader worth their salt should have read. Tastes are, as you said Marilyn, absolutely personal. I do listen if someone describes a book to me that I like the sound of and frequently get hold of it. In a lot of the classics for instance I often found the writing to be particularly hard going.; Saturday, January 24, 2009
Satima Flavell said...: I think you've hit the nail on the head, Jo - a lot of the classics are indeed hard going to the modern reader, and if you're anything like me, Marilyn, that's probably why you think you've already read too many "must-reads". Some of them have excellent stories and a lot to tell us about what it means to be human, but writing styles change radically over time - try reading Robinson Crusoe or Moll Flanders, or better yet, trying to get a teenager to read them:-) Even Dickens and Kipling, even Georgette Heyer and Ernest Hemingway - all are very removed in style from anything written in the last decade. In most cases, I'd rather watch a movie, if there is one, than read the book.

Nevertheless, this particular list can be useful because it has short synops of each book, and I think it's worth checking out just for that. If I've read a synopsis and a couple of reviews, I find I can at least discuss a book in theory when I come across someone who is an enthusiast, and perhaps better appreciate why anyone could get so enthusiastic over such difficult material.; Saturday, January 24, 2009

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Yet another reading list

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