30 More for The List

Midnight.  Just me, a glass of some fine sipping rum (Zaya, from Guatemala...really great stuff, tastes like molasses, with a kick), and this blog.  Anyway, we were going over the 100 books on The List, so let's get back at it:

31.  Persuasion (Jane Austen)

32.  Emma (Jane Austen)

33.  Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)...I read "Pride and Prejudice" maybe 15 years ago.  Enjoyed it, although I almost had the book stolen from me while on the subway (long story).  But I've never read anything else by her.  So I picked three.  And just to note:  I've never seen any of the 87 movie versions of her books made in the last few years.

34.  Bleak House (Dickens)

35.  Hard Times (Dickens)...I read "David Copperfield" in high school...one of my all-time favorite novels.  I also read "Great Expectations" and "Tale of Two Cities"...good books, but they didn't stick with me like DC.  I figured I should include some Dickens, and these two had the most depressing titles.

36.  The Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)

37.  The Three Musketeers (Dumas)...I've never read either of these, although I saw the movie version of The Three Musketeers and loved it.  I'm not even sure if I know what the Count of Monte Cristo is about!  And are these childrens books??

38.  Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)...Again, saw the movie, never read the book

39.  The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford)...I remember my roommate reading this in college and hating it.  I have no idea what it's about, but apparently some people think it's great.  But not my old roommate.

40.  Histories (Herodotus)...I read excerpts from these in Classics 101 in college.  Never read the whole thing.  I remember liking what I read in college, though, so I hoping to enjoy the full-length writings of "The Father of History"

41.  House of Seven Gables (Nathaniel Hawthorne)...I read "The Scarlet Letter" in high school, but not this one.  Again, I have no idea what it's about.  Is this house haunted?  That would be cool.  I should read this back-to-back with "Frankenstein", perhaps?

42.  Hunchback of Notre Dame (V. Hugo)...Another horror book.  In high school french class I read parts of "Les Miserables" in the original french.  I guess I could reread that one too (in English, as my french has evaporated long ago), but I know how it goes.

43.  Kim (Rudyard Kipling)...I've never read any Kipling...never even saw Disney's The Jungle Book..  Again, is this a kid's book?

44.  Last of the Mohicans (James F. Cooper)...Don't know much about this one except the famous title.  It's about Cowboys and Indians, right?

45.  Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)...Probably every girl reads this is seventh grade.  I never did.  I'm a guy.

46.  Metamorphoses (Ovid)...I read Kafka's version, but not this one.  Ovid is greek, I think...or maybe roman.  Is there a cockroach involved?

47.  Main Street (Sinclair Lewis)...Again, I know nothing about this book except the title.  I always get Sinclair Lewis and Upton Sinclair mixed up in my mind.  One of them ran for governor of California, the other one didn't.

48.  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (F. Douglass)...More classic Americana.  I was kinda fascinated by Frederick Douglass in high school, but for some reason never read this.

49.  Of Human Bondage (Somerset Maughm)...Was this the Maughm book that was made into that Bill Murray movie?  Do people still read Maughm, or has he fallen from favor?  Regardless, I will read this.  Again, I'm unsure what it's about.  Slavery maybe?  That would go with Frederick Douglass, then.

50.  Pere Giorot (Balzac)...Pere means "father" in french, I remember that much.  I read a short work by Balzac once, and enjoyed it, but now I have no memory of it, except that I enjoyed it.  This one seems to be Balzac's most famous work.

51.  Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)...Oh God, I read something by James once...maybe it was the Bostonians?  It was not an easy read.  But I'm older and wiser now...well, OK, older anyway.  Too fricking old, actually.

52.  Puddn'head Wilson (Mark Twain)

53.  Life on the Mississippi (Mark Twain)...I've read Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Connecticut Yankee, but not these two.  Actually I think I read part of Life on the Mississippi before, but never made it all the way through.  I have no idea what Puddn'head Wilson is about, but it's got one of the most awesome titles in all of literature.  Seriously, Twain is great.  My grandfather was named after him.  I'm looking forward to these two!  (Hey, I'm looking forward to them all, but these two especially).

54.  Two Years Before the Mast (Richard Henry Dana)...A Yale grad goes sailing for two years, in the days of grog and lashes.  I read about 50 pages of this once.  Now I am on a mission, and I will complete it.

55.  The Republic (Plato)...Ok, I said no philosophy, but Plato, well I can't die without reading something by him.  I picked this book at random.  I probably should read all of Plato, but I think this one will be really slow going.  If I like it, though, I reserve the right to read more of him, as part of this one

56.  Room with a View (EM Forster)...Never read it, never saw the movie.

57.  Scaramouch (Rafael Sabatini)...What the #*@&$ is this one?  This was on several lists of "greatest books ever", but I have never heard of it, and have no idea what it's about or why it's considered great.  But I bow to the wisdom of the internet, so it goes on the list.

58.  Silas Marner (George Eliot)...More Eliot.  I think Silas is a dude's name.

59.  Sentimental Education (Flaubert)...I read Madame Bovary in college, which was great.  I haven't read this one, though, nor do I have any clue what it's about.  (I love it when I have no idea what a book's about, by the way).

60.  Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)...I've heard this one described as the classic American novel that no one ever reads.  Well dammit, I will read it!

Bedtime.  I will continue this later...40 more to go!