read the 100 greatest novels of all time

I’ll admit that while I had obviously heard of this book and had read several of Dickens’s stories before, I didn’t know anything about this one. I didn’t even know which two cities he was referring to in the title until I read it.

I find that reading a book that you know absolutely nothing about from the start is a rather unique experience, one not many of us undertake with descriptive book jackets, word of mouth, online reviews, and movie adaptations making it nearly impossible.

Somehow, for me, this book was able to slip through the cracks. The only thing I knew about it was that it was a bit more serious than Dickens’s other stories and many consider it to be his best (I’ve always been partial to David Copperfield).

I’ll admit, it took me a while to get into it and I wasn’t sure where it was going at times. I found it quite evident in a few chapters that this story was originally written to be published as a serial. But I found it certainly grabbed you by the end. I think Sidney Carton’s character should have been flushed out a bit more so we could have had more insight into his motives. I wasn’t sure through most of it if he was a villain or not, if he and Charles Darnay were going to turn out to be twins or what. In the end, his actions took me completely by surprise, and I suppose that is why Dickens presented him the way he did, perhaps to show that in the midst of such horror, true kindness could come from the least expected of places.

While a history buff, I’m not hugely familiar with the French Revolution. Dicken’s description of the French mob was chilling and made an impression on me. It depicts the power of the oppressed when they are pushed beyond desperation, and the sheer evil that immerges when revenge becomes the only food the hungry crave. I’ll never look at knitting the same way again.

May take a break from the list and try something light next.

So I finished My Antonia by Willa Cather over the holidays. I absolutely loved it. Even though it seemed she jumped around a little bit, making the flow of the story a little uneven, I still thoroughly enjoyed following Jim’s life and his interactions with the town folk. I’ve always really enjoyed stories about small town life.

I actually listened to the Librivox version during my travels and it made for an easy drive.

Also, I’ve got a Kindle. I call it “my book” and it’s going to be my best friend on this reading journey. I’ve already started Don Quixote and I am absolutely loving it.

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

SPOILERS

I have read or listen to several of the Sherlock Holmes short story collections and I thought for the most part that his stories worked best this way. I did really enjoy the longer novel though, it allowed the plot to twist a bit more and the story itself was a bit darker than most of the short stories. It was certainly more suspenseful and I honestly didn’t believe that there was really going to be a hound, I think that was the best part. I also liked Watson out on his own (even if he really wasn’t). Often Watson seems a bit like a wannabe and a follower, but in this he seemed to have more character and independent thought. Overall though, I’m not sure why it’s on the 100 best list. I am interested in seeing a film adaptation of this, I know there are several.

Next up… can’t decide between Don Quixote or Bleak House.

This one is going to take some time.

I chose Daniel S. Burt’s “The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time” since his choices are fairly broad, cover more than just the 20th century, yet he’s pretty picky.

For the list: http://www.adherents.com/people/100_novel.html

Here’s what I’ve read so far:
8. Middlemarch by George Eliot
11. Emma by Jane Austen
14. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
16. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
20. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (hated it)
23. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (one of my favorite American authors)
37. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
38. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
41. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
52. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
64. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
73. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (the only Hemingway I could I get through, just don’t like him)
77. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
80. Native Son by Richard Wright
94. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I’ve always thought of myself as well read, but after seeing this list I’ve realized I’m sorely lacking. If I ever want to write anything of substance, I’ve got to learn from the pros.

Some will be easy. I already have a few like The Hound of Baskervilles, Don Quixote, Madame Bovary, The Portrait of a Lady, and a lot of the classics are free online either text or audio form. Some will be tough because I just don’t want to read them like Ulysses. Many I’ve just never heard of.

I’ll start with The Hound of Baskervilles to ease myself in.