BBC Big Read - Top 100 books.

[Harriet]

I go to a book group at school and we tried this thing last year where we read as many of the BBCs Top 100 books (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml) as we could, and got sponsered for charity. I though it would be a good idea to try that here, but without the sponsering; that could be tricky to organise.

Any thoughts?

[Nats]

I think that would be cool! I didn't read that many, like 25 or something, oh well. It would be fun it do it again, so I think it's a good idea :D

[My Friend Jack]

Personally speaking, I have such a pile of books that I have bought or been given that I haven't read yet, that I'm not sure I'd want to commit to another pile! Having said that, I'd be interested in seeing the list to see how many I have already got through.

[Nats]

It's fun, being able to tick all the books off that you've read on this great big list. There were books that I'd forgotten that I'd read so I was like Oh yeah..... :rolleyes:

I read a bunch of good books though, ones that I wouldn't have read normally.

[Dream Weaver]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml/

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

I've read 41 of the Top 100 - actually 41 of the Top 90.

I've not read through the list before, but what strikes me most forcibly is that it is distorted by the number of children's books in the top 100. I suppose this shows that children were the most enthusiastic participants in this exercise, which can't be a bad thing. However, any list that includes a Jeffrey Archer novel has to be called into question. :eek:

[Nats]

I read the top 500 list ages ago and there were books like "The Hungry Catapillar" at number 112 (can't remember the number exactly) :P
It IS a very good book thoguh ;)

[My Friend Jack]

Thanks, DW.

I've read just 19 of these, although I have started a further 7 but failed to finish them. I also own 2 others which I haven't got around to reading yet.

Whilst I understand your comment re Archer, the point of the BBC's list was to list "popular" rather than "good". You could argue that the 2 should be the same, I suppose, but we all know that that ain't the way it works.

I could also question why LOTR is listed as a single entry, whereas it was always 3 separate books, yet H Potter gets 4 separate placings.

[Kate Allan]

The scary thing about the BBC top hundred list... is looking down the list of books I've read (far too many... should have been using my time better), and not read (why have I not read that - everyone else has!)

[Opal]

I've read 40 of them. I think thats quite a lot! And there are a few that I own but haven't read yet.

[Harriet]

I've read 31 - which I think is quite good considering I'm only 15 :D

[Grammath]

I've got a tally of 39 so far.

I don't think I'll ever read all 100, partly because there are books and authors on there I've tried, loathed and vowed never to return to, and partly because there are some books it seems almost inappropriate to read. Would a man in his mid-30s seen reading Jacqueline Wilson in public be liable to arrest...??

I could also question why LOTR is listed as a single entry, whereas it was always 3 separate books, yet H Potter gets 4 separate placings.

I think Tolkien himself always said LotR should be regarded as a single book, something JK's never claimed.

The thing for me about the Big Read is it probably resulted in me reading better. I don't really need encouragement to read more, but it did inspire me to try and read more classics, not something I'd really done much of since graduating. Mind you, I'm not sure its been entirely successful - the copy of "Anna Karenina" I bought at the time is still unread.

[Starry]

I've read 41 of the top 100 and have several more on my shelf to be read. Most of the 41 are in the top half, including 9 out of the top 10 (I still haven't got around to reading The Lord of the Rings).

I am working my way through the ones I want to read and since the list first came out I've read three more, but I probably won't get around to reading Jacqueline Wilson or Ulysses :)

[megustaleer]

Much to my surprise I've read 53.

There's a few more that I'd quite like to read, but am not sure that I will. They are older 'classics', and my eyes and brain have become lazy on a diet of modern books, I'm not sure I could manage the quantity of words, or ideas in them. I have thought of audio books, but I fall asleep just listening to 'Book at Bedtime'.

[Adrian]

I've read 17 on the list, and surprised it was that high. I'm not one for 'literary' classics, and having to read the top 100 list would me a lot like my idea of hell.

Agree that there's a lot of children's books on the list.

[Seraphina]

I've read 36 of them, was hoping it would be more! Although a few of the ones I haven't read are ones I started and nevermanaged to finish, eg. Treasure Island. But then I was only about 6, so maybe I should try again! The next on my list is Anna Karenina - I got halfway through it about 5 years ago, and remember quite enjoying it but having to stop as it was cutting into my revision timetable!

[Grammath]

Agree that there's a lot of children's books on the list.

I think that's because the poll asked people to vote for the book they loved most, not the one they thought was the best. I guess the stuff we read (or have read to us) as a kid is more likely to fall into this category and more likely to leave a lasting impression.

I initially voted for "Catch-22" then realised I was doing it as much because I admired the ideas in it and its take on the world than the fact it was the book I'd most enjoyed reading. It probably didn't help that I'd had to read it under pressure on my degree course and try and analyse, contextualise and all those other things you have to do.

Later, I switched my allegiance to "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" which, whilst you could probably argue is of less literary merit than "Catch-22", is definitely the book that's given me the most pleasure over the years.

[Elfstar]

I surprised myself by having read 64 of trhe top 100,some of them many years ago. The ones I havent read are the Dickens I didn't do at school,Tracy Beaker (coz my kids are boys and I buy too much for myself anyway), Ulysses-shame on me- and a few of the more modern ones.I have read War and Peace tho.

[Jassie]

I surprised myself too by having read 62 of the list. There are still a few on there that I'm planning to read at some point but I think I'll give Ms Wilson a miss; I'm probably several decades too late to enjoy those.

[Harriet]

I've read 32, but I've re-read a lot of those...

[FirelightSpirit]

I've read 50, but I've been making the effort to read them. I' actually reading from the top 200 list, from which I've read about 70 in total. Some of the ones in the 101-200 list should have been in the top 100, imho.

[Viccie]

I've read 75 but I certainly couldn't give you an accurate synopsis of quite a few of them, Treasure Island for instance which I read when I was 8.

[Jen]

I've read 41 of the top 100.

[Flingo]

I've got The Book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Read-Book-Books-2003/dp/1405304057/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1202847124&sr=8-1) and have been attempting to read a couple of the list each year. I'm getting there, slowly!

[Calliope]

It's interesting that just a few years later, the list looks quite different to one that would be drawn up now. The God of Small Things, despite its Booker, has more or less vanished without a trace. Not sure that Birdsong or Memoirs of a Geisha have stood the test of (very little) time, either.

[Flingo]

It's interesting that just a few years later, the list looks quite different to one that would be drawn up now. The God of Small Things, despite its Booker, has more or less vanished without a trace. Not sure that Birdsong or Memoirs of a Geisha have stood the test of (very little) time, either.It would be interesting to see if, as part of the National Year of Reading, the BBC decides to repeat the experience. I've just noticed from the Amazon link that they are calling the book, the "Book of Books [2003]" which suggests there is likely to be another one.

[FirelightSpirit]

Yes, I think it would be interesting if there was another one to see what gets left out this time and what gets included. I think they could safely do another one now anyway, after five years.

[Tess]

Nooooo, last time there were only four Harry Potters, if they repeat it all seven will be on the list :eek:

[Barblue]

Nooooo, last time there were only four Harry Potters, if they repeat it all seven will be on the list :eek:I can't see anything wrong with that.

[MisterHobgoblin]

The God of Small Things, despite its Booker, has more or less vanished without a trace.
Let's hope The Gathering goes the same way.

[Calliope]

Let's hope The Gathering goes the same way. The God of Small Things is far from my favourite book - but despite its faults - that it's chaotic and overlong and overwritten in parts - it's a far better book than The Gathering, because they're the faults of an enthusiastic writer overbrimming with imagination whereas The Gathering is just the opposite. It's limited and dull and I can't see it being included on a Top 100 list even this year. So I definitely agree.

[Petra]

I thought that I would try to revive some interest in this thread as I still use this as a guide when I am perplexed as to what to read next.

I would be interested to know if people still believe this to a benchmark guide or if people think it is now too antiquated?

[My Friend Jack]

I've just looked through the list again and am perplexed to discover that, 4 years ago I had read 19, but now I make it 18 - and I know I have read several more since I originally said I had read 19! Possibly the cider I have just finished has affected my memory.

The problem with any list of "all-time greats" in any field, is that it tends to include stuff that appeals to the masses. In other words, casual readers, listeners or viewers tend to distort such lists by voting for somewhat less demanding items.

The comment I made about some books getting a single entry for several volumes (LOTR, Pullman, Dune) but Harry Potter getting several still seems valid.

[lunababymoonchild]

I've read 17 on the list, and surprised it was that high. ................. having to read the top 100 list would me a lot like my idea of hell.
Like Adrian I've read around 17, near as I can count it, and I was surprised by that too. There are books on that list that I wouldn't be interested in reading and like Adrian too I'd find having to read the 100 list would be my idea of hell.

Luna

[Squirls]

I think I've read about 19 of these. I'd rather poke my eyes with hot sticks that spend time on some of those book - e.g. Lord of the Rings (yawn). Just not my cup of tea at all.

[Jen]

I've read about 43 of those listed (at least 2 were DNFs), a lot of them a long time ago. It strikes me as a list that includes a lot of titles that might have been read as a young adult or when at school. I'm surprised I'd read so many though.

[lunababymoonchild]

I must admit, I'm not very good at lists and my problem is not looking for ideas on what to read next, it's narrowing it down from the wealth of material that I do want to read, most of which doesn't make it on to these kinds of lists.

Book lists are always interesting, though.

Luna

[Adrian]

Like Adrian I've read around 17, near as I can count it, and I was surprised by that too. There are books on that list that I wouldn't be interested in reading and like Adrian too I'd find having to read the 100 list would be my idea of hell.

Luna
My OP really made me look like and uneducated philistine! It was the thought of being made to read any book, let alone 100 of them.

[Cootisms]

I've read 35 of them, mainly thanks to the abundance of children's fiction on the list! I have read some classics though, just not Tolstoy, Dickens or Austen, though I do have some of them in my TBR pile! I wish LOTR counted as 3 separate books, as I've read the first of the trilogy, but obviously couldn't count the entry on the list as it's the trilogy!

[chuntzy]

I've read 25 of them but have no interest in many of the others that are geared to young adults and older children. As somebody else has commented LOTR, no thanks.

[Petra]

I have read 36 of the books on the list- most of them through coincidence rather than intention. I do find that the list features a lot of childrens literature and books as many others of you have said that do not merit being in a Top 100 list.

Are there any similar lists out there that anyone knows of that they feel are better reference material?

[Squirls]

Are there any similar lists out there that anyone knows of that they feel are better reference material?
I guess if you just put a list together of everything that Grammath and Leyla have read (who both seem to have pretty good taste) you'll have enough to keep you going until the end of the next century.

[ennui]

I've only read eleven :( and most of those were roald dhal lol.

[Royal Rother]

I think I can identify 10 I have read, but most of those were in childhood.

[lunababymoonchild]

I've only read eleven :( and most of those were roald dhal lol.

I think I can identify 10 I have read, but most of those were in childhood.
This is the disadvantage of lists, I feel. Just because you haven't read every book or the vast majority of books on anyone's list doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you, it simply means that you have different interests. As you can see from some of the replies here, some people are not particularly impressed with The Lord Of The Rings. I got about half-way through it and abandoned it as boring. But, that doesn't mean it's a bad book it just means that it didn't interest me and it doesn't interest the others. Yet it's on the list and there are those who dedicate, it seems, their whole lives to it.

I've always just pleased myself, because that's the only person worth pleasing when it comes to reading. Reading being a voluntary and pleasurable thing to do.

Luna

[Barblue]

I find to my amazement that I have read 43 and a half of those listed. Have to admit some were spoken word rather than reading, but I think that still counts.

The half was Midnight's Children which I started reading for a course but never finished because I decided to take another course instead. I will get back to it one day because I want to know how it ended.

[Grammath]

I've got a tally of 39 so far.
Now up to 45, plus the first part of "Gormenghast" and a failed attempt to read Frank Herbert's "Dune" a very long time ago.

I guess if you just put a list together of everything that Grammath and Leyla have read (who both seem to have pretty good taste) you'll have enough to keep you going until the end of the next century.
You're too kind. I've read some very run of the mill stuff so far this year. I'd single out Joshua Ferris's "Then We Came to the End" for special vilification, and Chesterton's "The Man Who Was Thursday" was just bizarre. I don't know why it is held in such high regard.

I've only read eleven and most of those were roald dhal lol.
That reminds me I have curry for lunch.

The half was Midnight's Children which I started reading for a course but never finished because I decided to take another course instead. I will get back to it one day because I want to know how it ended.
Really, Barblue, it isn't worth the effort. At the risk of a domestic next time I see Lady Lazarus, who loves all things Rushdie, I thought "Midnight's Children" one of the most over-rated books I'd ever read.

Are there any similar lists out there that anyone knows of that they feel are better reference material?
I have a copy of "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" which I also sometimes use for guidance, plus "The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction", which focusses on authors rather than specific novels. "1001 Books..." is largely chosen by academics. The first edition was criticised for being too Anglocentric so the second, which I have, aims to take a more global view of literature so there is quite a bit of stuff in there which, to Anglophone readers, is quite obscure as it is not easy to find English translations.

[Lady Lazarus]

At the risk of a domestic next time I see Lady Lazarus, who loves all things Rushdie, I thought "Midnight's Children" one of the most over-rated books I'd ever read.


:rant: Just wait til I see you on Friday!

[Stewart]

Are there any similar lists out there that anyone knows of that they feel are better reference material?How about you just go to a book shop and, you know, browse. See something that catches your eye? Pick it up, give it a read. Does it interest you? Buy it.

[lunababymoonchild]

How about you just go to a book shop and, you know, browse. See something that catches your eye? Pick it up, give it a read. Does it interest you? Buy it.Sounds like good advice to me - and pretty much what I do.

Luna

[Lady Lazarus]

Fair enough, Stewart, but there is something compelling about these 'Top Whatever' lists. Didn't the Guardian or the Times print one a couple of years ago?

[lunababymoonchild]

Are there any similar lists out there that anyone knows of that they feel are better reference material?One thing that I have done in the past, in order to 'get out of my comfort zone' as they say - i.e. to make sure that I wasn't reading in just one genre all the time and to try some new and unheard of things - I worked my way down the list of genres in Amazon's books section. I found that quite interesting.

My mother used to cut out the top 100 (or whatever it was) best sellers list from the Sunday Times and request these from the library - I think that libraries stock these anyway, now

It's difficult to recommend a list because inevitably lists are someone else's taste and ultimately - in my opinion - you're better of discovering or developing your own taste. Having said that, while you're discovering/developing your own taste Richard and Judy's Book Club actually has some fairly decent books to read and can sometimes be found on offer.

Then, of course, there are sites like this one, where everybody reads what to others is something different and possibly unheard of.

Luna

[Sasha Nein]

I've only read eleven and most of those were roald dhal lol.
That reminds me I have curry for lunch.
You're certainly a very funny guy, Grammath!

Onto the list - I have read 5 of those books. As people say - there will never be a list of "x books that you should read", which has been voted for, in which you will enjoy every book. At least, it's very unlikely. But, considering there are millions upon millions of books, that shouldn't bother you at all. There will be thousands of books you will enjoy!

How about you just go to a book shop and, you know, browse. See something that catches your eye? Pick it up, give it a read. Does it interest you? Buy it.Jolly good advice there, it has never failed me before!

[Grammath]

:rant: Just wait til I see you on Friday!

:D :p :scared:

[Flingo]

I thought that I would try to revive some interest in this thread as I still use this as a guide when I am perplexed as to what to read next.

I would be interested to know if people still believe this to a benchmark guide or if people think it is now too antiquated?
I still refer to it when I want a little inspiration - although my shelves are also overflowing with books waiting to be read (quite few off this list). I'd love to be able to say I've read all of them, but having not got beyond the first chapter of at least 4 I know that's never going to happen!

I'm not sure the list is a benchmark now, and it would be nice to see an update (what a shame the BBC didn't decide to do something last year in the National Year of Reading), but I don't think the list is quite an antique just yet.

[Petra]

I have a copy of "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" which I also sometimes use for guidance, plus "The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction", which focusses on authors rather than specific novels. "1001 Books..." is largely chosen by academics. The first edition was criticised for being too Anglocentric so the second, which I have, aims to take a more global view of literature so there is quite a bit of stuff in there which, to Anglophone readers, is quite obscure as it is not easy to find English translations.

Thanks Grammath that is really helpful, I will begin my search for the second edition copy now.

Just out of curiosity....how many do you think you have read?

[Grammath]

Thanks Grammath that is really helpful, I will begin my search for the second edition copy now.

Just out of curiosity....how many do you think you have read?

No problem.

I am sad enough to keep a list of the books included in the first edition on a spreadsheet which I tick off as I read. Sarah Waters' "Fingersmith", the last thing off the list I read, was number 153.

Before you invest in a copy then there's a first edition list available online here (http://www.listology.com/list/1001-books-you-must-read-you-die); I can't find the second edition list online. The cover price is £20; I got mine from Borders on Oxford Street for half that - it is huge and has short essays on each book.

There's a LibraryThing group devoted to the book here (http://www.librarything.com/groups/1001bookstoreadbefo).

[Lady Lazarus]

I am sad enough to keep a list of the books included in the first edition on a spreadsheet which I tick off as I read.

How many have you read, out of interest?

[Grammath]

How many have you read, out of interest?

I am sad enough to keep a list of the books included in the first edition on a spreadsheet which I tick off as I read. Sarah Waters' "Fingersmith", the last thing off the list I read, was number 153.

Does that answer your question, hon? ;)

[Lady Lazarus]

Oops! Sorry, I think I read that as Sarah Waters was number 153 in the book, not the 153rd you had read. Oh dear...

[Tay]

I've read 51 of these, 11 unfinished and five by authors I can't stand and wouldn't read.

Mainly the books I hadn't read were the childrens books, especially the Roald Dhal which are on my TBR pile.

[Viccie]

I've read 70 and have to admit that I can't remember much about some of them apart from knowing that I did read them (Far From The Madding Crowd for instance), I doubt I'll read any of the remaining 30 apart from Bleak House which is in my TBR pile.

[hannibalheyes]

64 is my count - and the ones I haven't read I don't think I shall be bothering with.

Wonder how many books I've read so far??