BBC's Big Read

aine

The Big Read has been narrowed down to 21, a full list is available here

Which book would you choose and which ones do you think do not deserve to be on the list at all?

LoLth

my personal choice would be 1984 by george orwell. Excellent read and really gets the imagination going.

As for what should not be on the list... easy. Catcher in the Rye. Personal opinion as I hate that "book". Holden Caulfield is probably the most aggravating, annoying , whining, idiotic character I have ever come across.

ixoy

Haven't read many of those... but I might go for "Wuthering Heights". "Lord of the Rings" lacks a certain something (not vision, but how well its written)...

aine

ya I've got to agree with you about Catcher in the Rye....it was one of the dullest books I've ever read...

eclectichoney

I'd go for 1984 or catch 22

i'm a bit annoyed at harry potter being in it though....

DapperGent

Personally I'd vote for Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It's a very special book and he's one of my favourite authors.

I've read most of what's on the list out of the one's I'm ina position to judge I don't like 1984 in the first place and Animal Farm is a better book and Great Expectations is rubbish with some the worst characters I've ever read.

The rest are quality though I'd have His Dark Materials edging The Goblet of Fire in the "kiddies" section they seem to be making up but maybe thats because I read it more recently. The Goblet of Fire is the best of the Harry Potter books which is to say great.

aine

Originally posted by DapperGent
I've read most of what's on the list out of the one's I'm ina position to judge I don't like 1984 in the first place and Animal Farm is a better book and Great Expectations is rubbish with some the worst characters I've ever read.

I can't say I agree with you on either account....I think that while 1984 can be a tad depressing, many of the issues covered in the book are quite relevant today! I am of course refering to the concept of Doublespeak, etc.

I studied Great Expectations for Leaving Cert, and I cannot say that the characters were rubbish! In fact I think Dickens...in general...creates some of fictions most memorable characters because they are so cleverly created...down to the last detail, you can picture them, relate to them...like or loathe them!

simu

They do polls on "the book of the century" and "the big read" so often nowadays that I'd say nobody cares anymore. Plus, it's always the same books - as if all you had to read to be well-read was 100 famous books (or read a synopsis online) and then you could forget about all the other books written that are less well-known. Since when has literature been about making it to the top 100/50/whatever?

Goodshape

Started reading Catcher in the Rye just last week. Thought it was ok, but then I saw that add with Ruby Wax'ing lyircal' about it.

Stupid woman put me off my book I'll read it some other time maybe.

DapperGent

Originally posted by aine
I studied Great Expectations for Leaving Cert, and I cannot say that the characters were rubbish! In fact I think Dickens...in general...creates some of fictions most memorable characters because they are so cleverly created...down to the last detail, you can picture them, relate to them...like or loathe them!

Whatever about 1984 Dickens just annoys me, always has. Don't like his plotting abhor his characters.

But that's life's rich pagent I suppose!

mike65

Originally posted by LoLth
.

As for what should not be on the list... easy. Catcher in the Rye. Personal opinion as I hate that "book". Holden Caulfield is probably the most aggravating, annoying , whining, idiotic character I have ever come across.

Funnily enough Ruby Waxs' favourite book!

Mike.

Manach

Overrated - twould be Catch22, just never clicked for me.

My own choice would go to Pride and Predjudice, a gem

Dont be at yourself

HHGTTG gets my vote, though I enjoyed LOTR, 1984 and Catch 22.

I read To Kill A Mocking Bird for the Junior Cert and it didn't really leave much of an impression on me. I'm sure it was magnificent at the time for what it said, but there wasn't anything remarkable about how it was said, in my opinion. And as the message is no longer as earth-shatteringly radical nowadays, the book didn't really do anything for me.

dudara

I think 1984 seems to be the stand-out book in that list.

But what the hell are "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "Gone with the Wind" doing on it?? That's what happens when the public votes, they remember the film adaptations.

"The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" has to be the best teenage book on the list. I avidly read all seven books in the series when I was 10.

IgnatiusJRiley

Originally posted by simu
Since when has literature been about making it to the top 100/50/whatever?

Fair point. The whole reason for it though is that people just love top 100s... of anything

IgnatiusJRiley

Originally posted by aine
ya I've got to agree with you about Catcher in the Rye....it was one of the dullest books I've ever read...

I liked it... then again, I haven't read it for about 12 years

CodeMonkey

Originally posted by dudara
But what the hell are "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "Gone with the Wind" doing on it?? That's what happens when the public votes, they remember the film adaptations.

Haven't read Captain Corelli's Mandolin myself but I've always heard good things about the book. The film was meant to be average so it wouldn't be getting lots of votes cause of the film adaptation.

Lord of the Rings is obviously going to win this though I think it should just be ignored cause there are way too many fanboys voting for it. It's a good book and I enjoyed it when I read it years ago but when I can never finish it when I tried to read it again 2 years ago. The writing is just so dull!

Think I'll read 1984 later and see what the fuss is about.

CodeMonkey

Catcher in the Rye:
People are of course entitled to their opinion but I really liked it and it was one of the first book to get me started reading as a past-time instead of just something for school. I had no expectations when I picked it so maybe that helped and I can see why people find it boring, there's no big epic story running through it. Watching Ruby Wax talk about it made me want to read it again actually...

DapperGent

Originally posted by dudara
But what the hell are "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "Gone with the Wind" doing on it?? That's what happens when the public votes, they remember the film adaptations.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is actually a wonderful book, very powerful, written with a touch of genius and worthy. They made a hames of the film by all accounts I never bothered with it as I heard they cut out all the stuff that made the book great.

I don't know about Gone with the Wind, I haven't read it though it was supposed to be a classic of american historical literature and was very widely read before the film was made. The popularity of the book was the reason the film was read in the first place. I'll reserve judgement on it until I read it.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Have read 17 of those, and to be honest there are others that I feel would be far more worthy than some of those I have read to be on the list. I do feel that His Dark Materials and Hitch Hikers Guide are well deserved of their places though and I feel that they should do well.

aine

Originally posted by CodeMonkey
Catcher in the Rye:
People are of course entitled to their opinion but I really liked it and it was one of the first book to get me started reading as a past-time instead of just something for school. I had no expectations when I picked it so maybe that helped and I can see why people find it boring, there's no big epic story running through it. Watching Ruby Wax talk about it made me want to read it again actually...

#


I think that was my main issue with catcher in the rye....I had such high expectations...it had always been put to me as the very best of american literature...well imho if thats as good as it gets(?!!) then there isn't much hope!

dudara

It's an OK book, not great. Holden Caulfield is an irritating teenager, but then aren't all teenagers irritating. Thanks be to god I went straight from kid to reasonably;) mature adult.

My sister is in the midst of teenage angst at the moment, and I don't know how the hell my parents haven't killed her yet.

aine

what about the high density of children's books on the list, I know his Dark Materials is a very adult kids book in that it delas with deeper issues ( I must say I haven't read this book but after seeing it on the program I must have a look!) but seriously...Little Women, Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh, The Wind in the Willows...all children's books, dont get me wrong I do like these books but they are still kids books and do they really belong in such numbers on a best ever book list?

GuanYin

Its all down to personal tastes and experiences really along with demographics. How many twenty something guys are going to have found meaningful insight from Bronte?

I've read about 15 of the books and I can see merits in some and not in others (and some I have found merit in, only recently).

Winnie the Pooh was really introduced to me by my little sister and in reading her stories I was surprised at how the book had a different level for me and also one for her. I was almost sad I'd not come across it as a child to see how it would have changed meaning in my life.

Lord of The Rings and The Hitchhiker's Guide were the books of every teenage boys life (and later) and apart from offering the obvious escapism, Hitchhiker's probably had alot to do with how my sense of humour developed. The crass sarcasm and irony in the face of a doomsday scenario (literally!) is something that probably stemmed my attitudes in work and bleak times.

Cathcer in the Rye I liked, I think it says alot about apathy and finding yorself, especially in those confusing times in life. It was dreary and mundane and confusing, but then so was Holdens life, and look how well it came across. You were reading about how a real person may have thought and felt. Just becasue someone is a character in a book, doesn't mean he has to be exciting, the question is (and I'd not expect everyone to answer yes) could you relate to it? Catch 22 is another classic, but I don't think it every really stood out as anything meaningful for me.

Of course these are just my opinions, conversely, while Harry Potters entry was enteraining, I thought it had the literary importance of an Irish Independant article. Wuthering Heights struck me as something so needlessly convoluted that I struggled to finish it (and indeed, wished half the characters dead throughout).

Personally, I'm torn between Hitchhikers and Pooh, a strange combination no doubt.

nialldinho

Personally I think Catcher in the Rye is a fantastic book. Well I did when I read it last.
I have just started reading it again recently for the 5th or 6th time and I'm already falling back in love with it after only a couple of chapters.
I have to admit that I was originally made to read it when I was in Transition Year and I hated it. I couldn't stand Holden Caulfield at all. He just annoyed the hell out of me! I must have still been an idealistic little teenager unable to relate to Holden's views on the world. The same must have been true on my second reading (again for school) because I felt as much disdain for him then as the first time!
But then when I was a little older and a little wiser (probably in 5th year when faced with the Leaving Cert and life beyond school) I read it again. What a difference! Holden was great. I couldn't relate to everything the guy said or did but I could understand him much better.
The key to enjoying this book may just lie in your ability to relate to Holden. I think every teenager should read this book at least once because I think there are very few of us who don't go through a phase of disillusionment, cynicism etc (I'm not sure if those words adequately describe Holden's sentiments but it's very late and I'm tired!). We're obviously not all going to end up like Holden but I think that at some stage in our lives we can all say "yeah, I know exactly what this guy's talking about".
Anyways, enough rambling...
Catcher in the Rye is my number one.

Fence

Originally posted by aine
what about the high density of children's books on the list, <snip>...Little Women, Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh, The Wind in the Willows...all children's books, dont get me wrong I do like these books but they are still kids books and do they really belong in such numbers on a best ever book list?

I think it is a poll to find the nation's best loved books, not the best books and thats why there are so many kids books. Books often have a huge impact on our lives as we grow up, and of course there is also the fact that many people don't read at all once they leave school, so ther fav books would be kid-types.

crystalclear6

To kill a mockingbird - harper lee

unputdownable book imho

longshanks

A nine year bump? Impressive.

bullpost

Should be a kind of statute of limitations on these things.

longshanks wrote: »

A nine year bump? Impressive.

OakeyDokey

The link the OP is giving isn't working anymore so here's the BBC Top 100 now.

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 recently read Catch 22 and thought it was boring!

baalthor

OakeyDokey wrote: »

The link the OP is giving isn't working anymore so here's the BBC Top 100 now.



I recently read Catch 22 and thought it was boring!

Salman Rushdie must be delighted to find himself four places below Jeffrey Archer

dr gonzo

OakeyDokey wrote: »

The link the OP is giving isn't working anymore so here's the BBC Top 100 now.

I recently read Catch 22 and thought it was boring!

The thing I find about Catch-22, if I can roll out an old cliche here, is the humour is quite marmite-ish. In other words you'll either giggle from literally the first sentence, like I did, or you'll very likely find the entire book a waste of time.

It has an unusual style of humour which, if its not for you, would make the whole text unreadable and probably incomprehensible to boot.

x_Ellie_x

I've read 22 of those books and I have another 29 of them that I've brought but haven't had a chance to read yet.

The books by Jacqueline Wilson and Meg Cabot defintely should not be on that list because those novels are basically teenage chick-lit, ie: trash.

I've read Catcher in the Rye but I didn't like it one bit. Reading about an over-privileged teenager whining on about his life is not my idea of an enjoyable novel but to each their own.

I think East of Eden is one novel that should definitely be added to it. That is Steinbeck best novel. Since the Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men made the list, this one should have too.