So I found this list of 1001 books you "must" read before you die,
"1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" | Listology. The list is actually taken from:
"1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die: A Comprehensive Reference Source,
Chronicling the History of the Novel
Preface by Peter Ackroyd, General Editor Peter Boxall
ISBN 1-84403-417-8"
Anyway, I thought it'd be interesting...
...I hope to read them all one day, and luckily for me, I found several of the books on this list at a used book store. I have about 7 lined up to read as of right now.
So, how "well-read" are you?
No idea how many, I'll just list them with occasional comments.
303-The World According to Garp John Irving, either before or after reading Hotel New Hampshire also by Irving.
320-Interview With the Vampire Anne Rice-read it in the bathtub, was bothersome as I had to keep draining the water and filling with fresh hot water. Eventually I got out of the tub and finished the book in other areas of my apartment.
340-Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.-did I read it? Not sure, I have it on the shelf though.
375-Slaughterhouse-five Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.-see my above comments on Breakfast of Champions. Honestly, Voneegut is hard to read.
387-Cancer Ward Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
388-The First Circle Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
425-Herzog Saul Bellow
434-One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn-Read it first in 9th grade for World Regions class.
437-A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess #437
445-Franny and Zooey J.D. Salinger-In fairness, I only read about 2/3 of it.
451-Catch-22 Joseph Heller
464-Henderson the Rain King Saul Bellow
494-The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien-took the whole Tolkien series out of the library when I was about 10 or 11, never read them, never wanted to. Had no idea that years later it would become so popular.
521-The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway-read several times.
547-Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell-read at least parts of it.
552-Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton-I have tried several times, cannot make it through. It's been an ongoing task since a 1976 English class.
564-Animal Farm George Orwell-wonderful the first time, not so much the second run through. though still good.
587-For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway
592-The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck-At least I began to. Never finished the movie either, too damned depressing.
622-Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner
640-Call it Sleep Henry Roth #640-one of the best books I've ever read, excellent author describes immigrant life in the early 1900s in superb detail, can actually feel the character (a young boy) as he goes through the streets and start to wish you were alive in NYC back then (even with its grim and gray palor).
649-Brave New World Aldous Huxley
663-A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
689-The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway
747-Tarzan of the Apes Edgar Rice Burroughs-selected as a gift book after sixth grade graduation.
752-Ethan Frome Edith Wharton-A fairly short book I read it over a weekend in high school; was scolded by the English teacher on Monday for having read it too fast (other students were still in the first 10 pages).
From the 1800s:
790-The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells
797-The Time Machine H.G. Wells
799-Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
831-Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson
851-Erewhon Samuel Butler
857-War and Peace Leo Tolstoy #857
861-The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky #861
867-Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky
875-Silas Marner George Eliot
879-The Mill on the Floss George Eliot-I actually made mention of it here a while back:
What is it about the horse?
From the 1700s:
963-Tristram Shandy Laurence Sterne