What works are you most ashamed to admit that you haven't read? I've got quite an extensive list, although I am working on trimming it down.

Anyway, here are the worst: Catcher in the Rye, Lolita, One Hundred Years of Solitude (especially bad around here, I take it), and Crime and Punishment. Well, I'm glad that's off my chest. Any other takers?

I really can't think of any off the top of my head. I don't think you should be too hard on yourself, you'll never get to all of them. I'll keep thinking though to give you some company

I own all these books. I'm looking at them on the shelf now. These are books that I've been interested in for quite awhile, but haven't gotten to yet. Let's see there's Basic Writings of Nietzsche, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, The Fallby Albert Camus, Candide or Optimism by Voltaire, The Outsider and Lawd Today by Richard Wright, and some short stories by Dostoevsky. Before I get to these I have to finish Les Miserables. I only have 1200 pages to go on that.

A positive way to look at this situation is that for the next few years (hopefully not much more than that) I have good material lined up to read.

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Originally posted by Nathan25:
I own all these books. I'm looking at them on the shelf now. These are books that I've been interested in for quite awhile, but haven't gotten to yet. Let's see there's Basic Writings of Nietzsche, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, The Fallby Albert Camus, Candide or Optimism by Voltaire, The Outsider and Lawd Today by Richard Wright, and some short stories by Dostoevsky. Before I get to these I have to finish Les Miserables. I only have 1200 pages to go on that.

A positive way to look at this situation is that for the next few years (hopefully not much more than that) I have good material lined up to read.

Read Candide quick. It's French so it will fall right in line with Les Mis. Seriously, cultivate your garden!

Yeah, I've got some Camus and Wright on my shelf, too.

i'm from como too...just thought i'd say hey

Ulysses by James Joyce, most of Shakespeare, most of Dickens, any of the Romantic poets, the other three Austen novels I haven't read, all of Faulkner, Underworld by Don DeLillo, Libra by Don DeLillo, the rest of Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, any of Flannery O'Connor's short stories, Don Quixote, all of Phillip Roth, the rest of Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, any Marquez or Borges (or Neruda or Octavio Paz or Fuentes), Faust Parts One and Two by Goethe, any Kafka, any Nietzsche (sp?) or Keirkegaard (sp?)or Plato or Voltaire or Kant or any philosophy whatsoever, and many many others. I am criminally underread, but I'm working on it.

Oh, and I'd like to read those novels about ships by Patrick O'Brien, because they sound like a lot of fun.

I've never read Don Quixote, Les Misérables, Anna Karenina, Ulysses, The Grapes of Wrath, or any Dostoevsky. Last but not least, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Probably a ton more I haven't read, but those are a few that jump out at me.

Can't read everything, though.

Promise not to laugh
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The Lord of the Rings


I've read The Hobbit and I loved the movies, but I never quite got around to reading the trilogy. I'd also like to read more Stephen King, maybe IT or The Shining.

Oooooh, dirty secrets. My hidden shame definitly has to be Catcher in the Rye and Dune.... the last one being a shame since I really enjoy SF and all, lol!

I haven't read a single book by one of the Russian dystopians....yet. I promise I will, though!

I have been about 2/3 of the way through Ulysses and War and Peace for about 35 yrs.

Those are two toughies. I know I'm a pagan, but the 1968 Russian film version of War and Peace is one of the best films ever. I assume it's not as good as the novel, but if that's true, the novel should be easier to finish.

Since when does not reading Ulysses constitute shame? For god's sake, I struggled enough through A Portrait of the Artist in 12th grade... I was shamed enough at that. I'd be a masochist if I picked up Ulysses.

War & Peace. (Sigh)...one day.

I've truly loved Joyce's shorter works, including Portrait of the Artist. You do almost need a primer in Irish politics to get where he's going with the whole business about Parnell and Darnay, and the brushes, and all. His short stories, though, were just wonderful.
Ulysses should be, in theory, easier than Portrait, since it is supposed to be about the quotidian. But, much as I admire the stream of consciousness, after a while I find it gets dull and repetitive. For a more entertaining example of modern, anglo-irish stream of consciousness writing, (who knew it was a genre) I put my money on Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle.

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For a more entertaining example of modern, anglo-irish stream of consciousness writing, (who knew it was a genre) I put my money on Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle.

Great choice, Kendo. I've read all of Joyce save Finnegan's Wake, and I'm in no rush to try and tackle it.

Seems like a lot of people avoid the Russians! If you want an entry point, I'd recommend Chekhov's short fiction.

Glad you mentioned the russians. I've never been enamored of Tolstoy. While his stories are complex, I've never been that fond of his characters. Anna K, in particular, drives me nuts. (For the record, I detest Emma Bovary.) Their problems and concerns seem so trivial. Rather like the "poor" dear little souls of the Austen books. Christ! How about a little perspective!

Now, Doestoevsky! Those are deep, burning, existential problems. Raskolnikov was always my favorite, though, in retrospect, I think Prince Misha speaks more to me now. Dostoevsky is my favorite of the russian authors.

However, my favorite of the russian novel's was Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. Less fluffy than Tolstoy, but less hopeless than Doestoevsky. Anyone else remember it fondly?

Fathers and Sons is a lovely book. So spare, and true.

I originally read it straight after I finished Brothers Karamazov, to balance things up a bit.

Gogol's Dead Souls is another excellent Ruski work, and I remember years ago, a friend of mine who was going through a very indolent time in his life was recommended by his psychiatrist to read Dead Souls as therapy!!