Or not, indeed. I have read a few and would indeed recommend THE COLOR OF WATER, a terrific book and not just because a lot of it is set in Brooklyn. Jackie recommended THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM and that was certainly worth reading, too. And I read THE SIRENS OF TITAN some 40 years ago. I checked - it was late 1971.
I'm always on the lookout for books and authors who are new to me, but the problem with Buzzfeed is that it's aimed at Millennials and all those recommendations are basically tweet-level emotional responses: "It's great!" "It broke my heart!" "It made me cry!" but there's very little in the way of facts: when was the book published, what is it about, is it a genre book, what should we know about the author. It's as if the emotional effect the book has on the person making the recommendation should be all the recommendation we need, but I prefer to know a little more about a book before I add it to my tbr list. Otoh, I did add a few of the books from the article to the never-ending tbr.
I concede that I don't read much "mainstream" or "literary" fiction...but here are the books on that list I have even heard of: Jitterbug Perfume A Word Child Keep the Aspidistra Flying (I actually have read this, and have a copy, but Orwell is God) The Man Who Was Thursday (read this one, too; didn't care for it) Of Human Bondage (I don't think this is exactly obscure or forgotten, though) The Eyes of the Dragon can any Stephen King book be regarded as obscure?) The Sirens of Titan (have it, adnd have read is several times)
So 6 out of 49 I have heard of and 3 I have read...seems about right.
4 comments:
Or not, indeed. I have read a few and would indeed recommend THE COLOR OF WATER, a terrific book and not just because a lot of it is set in Brooklyn. Jackie recommended THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM and that was certainly worth reading, too. And I read THE SIRENS OF TITAN some 40 years ago. I checked - it was late 1971.
God, I'm old.
I have read 2 of them, the Chesterton and the Vonnegut. I feel no urge to read any of the others.
I'm always on the lookout for books and authors who are new to me, but the problem with Buzzfeed is that it's aimed at Millennials and all those recommendations are basically tweet-level emotional responses: "It's great!" "It broke my heart!" "It made me cry!" but there's very little in the way of facts: when was the book published, what is it about, is it a genre book, what should we know about the author. It's as if the emotional effect the book has on the person making the recommendation should be all the recommendation we need, but I prefer to know a little more about a book before I add it to my tbr list. Otoh, I did add a few of the books from the article to the never-ending tbr.
I concede that I don't read much "mainstream" or "literary" fiction...but here are the books on that list I have even heard of:
Jitterbug Perfume
A Word Child
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (I actually have read this, and have a copy, but Orwell is God)
The Man Who Was Thursday (read this one, too; didn't care for it)
Of Human Bondage (I don't think this is exactly obscure or forgotten, though)
The Eyes of the Dragon can any Stephen King book be regarded as obscure?)
The Sirens of Titan (have it, adnd have read is several times)
So 6 out of 49 I have heard of and 3 I have read...seems about right.
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