This year I'm going to read the books that you'd have thought someone who sets up their own bookshop would (should?) have already read.
As far as possible I'm going to stick to the biggies. The recognised masterpieces (or a recognised masterpiece) by authors that I've either never read at all or have read very little. The list is shamefully long. I have read lots of classics but because of large tracts of reading time spent devouring small-town American fiction or obscure translated novels or contemporary fiction generally there are a startling number of books that I have to confess to never having contemplated reading let alone actually having read.
So I thought 2010 could be my year of redressing the balance. The rest of the Mr B's team will keep up to date on the new releases leaving me free to concentrate mostly on things I should have read years ago. And as most of you have probably got un-read book lists that are just as long I thought I'd blog and tweet about the process too.
Don't expect any great new analysis of these cornerstones of literature. Rather, an honest view of whether they're all they're cracked up to be when read purely for enjoyment.
And whilst I'm tempted to read them in some clever sequence, I've already begun and it seems to be proving more organic than that. ALTHOUGH I would like recommendations on people's favourite classics. Don't worry about recommending something I'm bound to have read - that's the whole point - I bet I haven't!
As far as possible I'm going to stick to the biggies. The recognised masterpieces (or a recognised masterpiece) by authors that I've either never read at all or have read very little. The list is shamefully long. I have read lots of classics but because of large tracts of reading time spent devouring small-town American fiction or obscure translated novels or contemporary fiction generally there are a startling number of books that I have to confess to never having contemplated reading let alone actually having read.
So I thought 2010 could be my year of redressing the balance. The rest of the Mr B's team will keep up to date on the new releases leaving me free to concentrate mostly on things I should have read years ago. And as most of you have probably got un-read book lists that are just as long I thought I'd blog and tweet about the process too.
Don't expect any great new analysis of these cornerstones of literature. Rather, an honest view of whether they're all they're cracked up to be when read purely for enjoyment.
And whilst I'm tempted to read them in some clever sequence, I've already begun and it seems to be proving more organic than that. ALTHOUGH I would like recommendations on people's favourite classics. Don't worry about recommending something I'm bound to have read - that's the whole point - I bet I haven't!
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