redbrunja | Watching The Movie Counts, Right?

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Watching The Movie Counts, Right?

So, the_sun_is_up found a list of 1,001 books to read before you die.

Below, I've marked which ones I've read in bold and which ones I've read part of, heard of, intend to read, etc in italics. Plus snarky comments, because who doesn't love snarky comments.

19.The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon - while this wasn't my type of book at all, it was very well written.

24.Fingersmith – Sarah Waters. I read part of this and had to return it before we got to the neat lesbianism parts.

42.Atonement – Ian McEwan. Does watching the movie count?

49.Life of Pi – Yann Martel - I've read so much praise about this I'll likely never read it.

63.The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood This book just came up in my Editing & Publishing class. I am intrigued.

67.House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski I totally intend to read this.

85.Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters I've heard about this book before this list, but the title and flap copy made me put it on my wishlist.

93.Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden I tried this and got bored after the first chapter.

133.The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx Again, does watching the movie count?

157.Smilla’s Sense of Snow – Peter Høeg I read a third of this and then set it aside. I think I was too young for it and really should give it another try.

180.The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien Deserves the praise it gets.

183.Possession – A.S. Byatt I greatly enjoyed the movie...

195.Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel SO MUCH HATE. AND THEN HE DIES BECAUSE THE SEX IS THAT GOOD AND SHE KILLS HERSELF TO BE WITH HIM IS A LAME ENDING. LAME LAME LAME. Although I liked the whore-soldier sister.

223.Beloved – Toni Morrison Justifiably famous.

227.Watchmen – Alan Moore & David Gibbons I appreciate this more that I love it, but I'm glad I read it, if only because it's so seminal.

242.The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood ...in which Atwood writes down a hell that seems personally designed for me.

301.The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams I adore the opening to this book. It's hilarious.

320.Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice I told the story about my mom making me return this because I was too young to read it, right?

345.Crash – J.G. Ballard No, but I'm required to read another Ballard book for a class this quarter.

430.The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John Le Carré I'd really like to read this. Has anyone on my flist read it? Is it good? Would I enjoy it?

456.To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee I greatly enjoyed this book and have been craving a reread.

467.Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote I keep trying to watch the movie and not managing it.

506.The Story of O – Pauline Réage If I want to read rape-tastic smut, I'll poke around the Naruto section of adult fanfiction.whatever the url is.

521.The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway I've already done my Hemingway time.

535.The Third Man – Graham Greene Is this book what the movie The Third Man is based off of?

610.The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien I had this read out loud to me. The illustrations were fantastic.

660.The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett So on my to-read list.

676.Lady Chatterley’s Lover – D.H. Lawrence As is this on.

738.Rashomon – Akutagawa Ryunosuke I watched the movie, that's good enough.

781.The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Beekeeper's Apprentice ruined me for Doyle's Holmes.

788.The Awakening – Kate Chopin I did not know they could write that hot in the 1800s.

794.Dracula – Bram Stoker Waiting on my bookshelf.

801.The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman OMFG I LOVE THIS SHORT STORY SO FUCKING MUCH. It's deliciously creepy, too.

804.The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I've read a nice chunk of these.

868.Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll Another one that is literally on my bookshelf.

896.Moby-Dick – Herman Melville No fucking way and I reading this.

897.The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne I've also done my time reading Hawthorne. If someone never assigns "Young Goodman Brown" ever again it will be too soon.

904.Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë I read half of this and then got bored and wandered away, right after she was about to get married. Seriously, I used to have such classy taste in literature.

908.The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas The book is actually quite boring. With fail gender dynamics to boot.

911.The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe EITHER ESCAPE OR DIE, I DON'T CARE WHICH, JUST DO IT FAST.

916.The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe Deliciously gothic.

931.Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Way to much pretty is good, ugly is evil. I dropped it two chapters in.

936.Emma – Jane Austen I read this 'just because' years and years ago. I told you I used to have classy taste.

940.Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen I'm not sure if I finished this or not, but I really liked it.

948.The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe The very first gothic novel. I SO want to read it.

978.Pamela – Samuel Richardson Apparently, this is all smut. I'm intrigued.

1000.Metamorphoses – Ovid Reading this made wandering through museums in France SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE.

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RED!!!!! You didn't say there would be spoilers! I was going to read Water for Chocolate!!

Oh well.

And if you're an Atwood fan, 'Cat's Eye' is such an interesting read. It's compelling in that kind of morbid and horrific way.

Sorry! You're right, that was very bad of me.

And if you're an Atwood fan, 'Cat's Eye' is such an interesting read. It's compelling in that kind of morbid and horrific way.

I'll have to make sure I'm in the right mood to handle that.

You might like Tess of the D'Urbervilles, actually. For its time, it was a massive "take that!" at everybody who claimed that a raped woman was a ruined woman, or that selling your body to feed your family was a means too "evil" for the ends, or--heck--even that illegitimate children were bad. And it slams the double standard for male and female virginity. It was so daring for its time that it was widely decried and/or banned for being immoral.

When read by modern standards, Tess is a fairly passive heroine, but she's pretty darned impressive for her day and age (heck, she supports herself by honest work as a single woman!), despite the men who try to make her a victim, and even after she hits rock bottom, she musters the nerve in the end to--actually, I won't spoil it. Read it yourself. Warning: Not a happy book. ;_;

Oooh, that DOES sound like the kind of book I'd like.

Gotta warn you, she is a very passive heroine by modern standards--she only finds the strength to take more "modern" action about her situation towards the end. The author has no qualms, though, about portraying the men who take advantage of her passivity as absolute cads, so that might make it up somewhat for you?

*nods*

And I'm actually getting better about understanding the context of a heroine - what is a bad heroine by modern standards was revolutionary back then.

Wow Red, I kind of agree with almost everything on here, and I'll comment in depth later...

Except one.

Yellow Wallpaper. I absolutely despised needing to read that. And then it didn't help that EVERYONE in my English class simultaneously jumped on the idea that I was wacko for saying the woman's house was haunted. *shrugs* I was pitching ideas just like everybody else, and with a story like that I felt that it was a real POSSIBILITY. One girl even called me "insane" behind my back.

So maybe it's just the bad memories.

I'm sorry that your class was a dick about it!

But I just love that short story so damn much.

*shrugs* Either I'm in a class with snobs or people who don't like to read. There's no in-between.

What did you like most about it? The unreliable narrator can be fun, mostly because it always leaves you guessing. I DID like some of what it had to say...I dunno. Maybe I'll reread it.

Another book that I would very highly rec but don't see it on the list is Fahrenheit 451. It's one of my favorite books ever. Most things that I've read by Bradbury are wonderful win.

That does not sound fun.

I've read Fahrenheit 451 - I actually performed Clarissa's monologue for a theatre class.

506.The Story of O – Pauline Réage If I want to read rape-tastic smut, I'll poke around the Naruto section of adult fanfiction.whatever the url is.

Seriously. And it would probably be better smut too.

49.Life of Pi – Yann Martel - I've read so much praise about this I'll likely never read it.

I thought I was the only one who felt this way. xD But I'll probably just do what I usually do, which is nick a copy from someone who bought it Because They Should.

63.The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood This book just came up in my Editing & Publishing class. I am intrigued.

I have this book sitting in my to-read pile RITE NAO. It looks fun.

Also, since I see more Atwood commentary in the comments, have to pimp my favoritest Atwood book EVAR: 'The Robber Bride.' 'Cat's Eye' was good too.

Seriously. And it would probably be better smut too.

The snippets I read were... not technically bad - it was just SO NOT MY CUP OF TEA.

63.The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood This book just came up in my Editing & Publishing class. I am intrigued.

I have this book sitting in my to-read pile RITE NAO. It looks fun

I just borrowed this book from my roommate.

I'm really stunned that The Pianist isn't on there. Ditto Brokeback Mountain. (Also, uh, the diary of Anne Frank? When did that ever stop being required reading?)

42.Atonement – Ian McEwan. Does watching the movie count?
And watching the movie made me never want to read the book.

227.Watchmen – Alan Moore & David Gibbons I appreciate this more that I love it, but I'm glad I read it, if only because it's so seminal.
That's exactly how I feel about Watchmen! It's very good, and I do think it's a really important book, but I have a hard time feeling affection for it. I just hate most of the characters so much.

467.Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote I keep trying to watch the movie and not managing it.
I can't speak for the book, but it's a really good movie! Aside from some unfortunate period racism.

738.Rashomon – Akutagawa Ryunosuke I watched the movie, that's good enough.

I'm actually confused by its inclusion, because Rashomon... is not a book. XD; The movie is two of the author's (very) short stories sort of spliced together, and I don't think either of them is long enough to publish separately.

I really need to attempt Jane Austen again sometime. I tried a while back and hated Sense and Sensibility, but I may have been too young for it.

Heh, as with most lists like that, I think I'd dispute plenty of the ones on there... as well as possibly inform the author kindly that REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST IS SEVEN BOOKS, YOU ASSHOLE. T_T Seven 600+ page books! I say this as someone who adores the first one, but ffs, reading one is a huge and epic accomplishment. And it's kinda like beating your head through a brick wall of extremely wordy prose.

I'm actually confused by its inclusion, because Rashomon... is not a book. XD; The movie is two of the author's (very) short stories sort of spliced together, and I don't think either of them is long enough to publish separately.

Yup. Despite the title, Rashomon the movie's plot is actually largely taken from Akutagawa's In A Grove (which is an awesome mindfucky kind of story) and not so much from the actual short story Rashomon.

Personally, I liked In A Grove better than Rashomon but hey, it's not my list.

(Also, uh, the diary of Anne Frank? When did that ever stop being required reading?)

I don't know, but I have read it. ....although it was one of the less interesting holocaust books I've read *ducks thrown things*

42.Atonement – Ian McEwan. Does watching the movie count?
And watching the movie made me never want to read the book.

Did you really not like the movie?

I really need to attempt Jane Austen again sometime. I tried a while back and hated Sense and Sensibility, but I may have been too young for it.

Honestly, I am really pleased with myself that I picked up Emma just because when I was quite young. I believe I finished it, although I missed SO MUCH and remember SO LITTLE of the actual book. I'm watching a really great adaptation at the moment, though.

And it's kinda like beating your head through a brick wall of extremely wordy prose.

That sounds so unappealing. Does he have short story that I could read just to say I've read Proust?

I think the diary is important mostly as a humanizing element, even though--or particularly because--it's not that astounding on its own. There have certainly been better books written about the holocaust, mostly, I imagine, because those were written as books, but the diary is more subtly horrifying to me because of how ordinary it is.

Did you really not like the movie?
I watched it a couple years ago and I don't remember all the details, but I hated it. I recall disliking everyone except for the younger girl and the guy's soldier buddy and being dissatisfied with the ending. It's a film I might like to rewatch sometime and see if I like it any better, though.

That sounds so unappealing. Does he have short story that I could read just to say I've read Proust?
Honestly, I think if it doesn't sound appealing to you, it's probably not worth it. (Though you might try reading a bit in the library or something, because it didn't sound appealing to me and I wound up loving it anyhow.) Remembrance of Things Past--assuming that the rest of the books follow the model of the first one-- is sort of a huge, dreamy, half-fictional memoir in which the narrator wanders around France and smells the roses (a lot) and... every so often there are references to lesbian affairs?

There have certainly been better books written about the holocaust, mostly, I imagine, because those were written as books, but the diary is more subtly horrifying to me because of how ordinary it is.

Yep, exactly. It's a wonderfully humanizing document.

It's a film I might like to rewatch sometime and see if I like it any better, though.

I liked it, but right at the ending they just went a little bit too dark for my tastes.

I feel like reading 'Fun Home' was enough of an experience with Proust.

Edited 2009-11-03 04:56 (UTC)

896.Moby-Dick – Herman Melville No fucking way and I reading this.

Poor old Moby Dick. I respect your desire not to read it, especially since you're not into slash, but I love this book. Melville's use of language is simply gorgeous. Additionally, this book is mantastic.

978.Pamela – Samuel Richardson Apparently, this is all smut. I'm intrigued.

It's insane that the suggested title is Pamela and not Clarissa. Clarissa Harlowe doesn't seem like much fun to hang out with, but she's a tough chick. Her religious faith is a deadly weapon against misogyny. Also, Robert Lovelace is just hilariously psychotic.

I seem to recall hearing about Clarissa before. I may have to give that a shot.

Moby Dick is like a billion pages long and I have honestly not ever heard good things about it.

It might just be a fraction but (hopefully) you've got a long way to go before you die and 1,001 books is a lot. I'm sure you've read more than I have anyway.

I actually have The Handmaid's Tale on my bookshelf waiting to be read but I think I need to be in the right mindset for it. It sounds terribly interesting though.

I love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - the whole series ~~except for that last book~~. I just think Douglas Adams is so funny.

Anyways, I love lists like these - it's interesting to see what other people have read.

Plus, a lot of those 1,001 books I have no desire to read. I DO want to deepen my knowledge of the canon, but I'm not about to torture myself to do it.

85.Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters I've heard about this book before this list, but the title and flap copy made me put it on my wishlist.

I still haven't read this one myself, but I caught the mini-series a few years ago and was deeply sucked into it, it's really quite good.

157.Smilla’s Sense of Snow – Peter Høeg I read a third of this and then set it aside. I think I was too young for it and really should give it another try.

YES. Yes you really should. *koffs*

Seriously, though, you want to talk about in exercise in writing outside your own cultural defaults? Høeg is a Danish man: this is a first-person narrative with a half-Greenlandic female protagonist. I am of course not at all qualified to speak to whether the portrayal of Greenlandic cultural is accurate, but I *am* damn well qualified to talk about my own experiences as a mixed-blood half-white over-educated deeply introverted insomniac utterly non-maternal indigenous woman with a fraught family history struggling to navigate her way through the dominant colonial culture, and on that front, well, there's a reason I took my LJ handle from Miss Jasperson. Reading that for the first time was an utterly startling experience, page after page I was just gob-smacked at finding this fictional character speaking what could have been my own thoughts. I've reread it many times in the years since then, and it still leaves me feeling like I'm looking into a cloudy mirror.

(The movie isn't bad, per se -- the cast is all top-notch and well-chosen for their parts, but the actual plot line is in many ways the weakest part of the book; being immersed inside the protagonist's fiercely snarky and unflinching head is the real draw of it all IMO, whereas the movie leaves you watching her from the outside. Read the book first and the movie will be a lot more enjoyable, IMO.)

183.Possession – A.S. Byatt I greatly enjoyed the movie...

I've still not worked up the nerve to watch this one -- the book is another huge favorite of mine, but so much of the pleasure of it for me is textual, it's all about the the layers of correspondence and poetry and the fixation on writing and reading, and I'm sure that a movie would have to prune out most of that for length and show the condensed bits more from the outside.

*nods*

Knowing how much you love it is both a plus and a minus. On the one hand, I trust your taste - on the other, if I end up not liking it, I'd hate to not like something that close to you, if that makes sense.

(I do still remember the line where Smilla blows a kiss to a doctor (?) "one desert plant to another.")

As for Possession - I think you would enjoy it if you went into the movie looking at it as just a movie - because while there is that mystery of the letter and two romances of the mind going on, I do think the medium would prevent some of the textual kink.

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Watching The Movie Counts, Right?

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