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1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Hardcover – March 7, 2006
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- Print length960 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniverse
- Publication dateMarch 7, 2006
- Dimensions6.75 x 2.43 x 8.43 inches
- ISBN-109780789313706
- ISBN-13978-0789313706
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Product details
- ASIN : 0789313707
- Publisher : Universe; 1st edition (March 7, 2006)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 960 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780789313706
- ISBN-13 : 978-0789313706
- Item Weight : 4.5 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.75 x 2.43 x 8.43 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #914,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #110 in Literary Bibliographies & Indexes
- #1,036 in General Books & Reading
- #4,100 in Literary Criticism & Theory
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My primary argument with this item is that the 1001 books described are ones that many readers, especially conventionally educated ones, have read or heard of already. Why would I need to know that Virginia Woolf is considered an important writer, and that one SHOULD read one of her obscurely written, boring(I FIND THEM boring)works? I skipped reading my Woolf assignment in World Lit. in college. I love reading about Woolf, but I can't read HER stuff! But really, how many of the 1001 choices were of books that one would not otherwise come across and should really check out? Albeit, I'm a voracious reader and had heard of or read many of the 1001. My anger came from seeing so many unimaginative picks, things that Harold Bloom would choose,i.e., classics. There's nothing wrong with suggesting that classic lit. is worth reading, but I bought this book to find out what else, among trillions of works, is out there: authors and titles I might not otherwise have come across and that are great reads. I would love to tell you what I thought were some of the interesting choices in Ackroyd's book, but all I can remember are "Time's Arrow" by Martin Amis, something by Jeannette Winterson, and, I think, "The English Patient"(the focus of which, by the way, is almost the opposite of the story as re-done by the movie's screenwriters). Someday, perhaps, I'll find my own list of what was unbelievably left out and what I thought really should have not made it into this book. All I can say for now is that it appears that many people find this book helpful in some way, perhaps in the capsule descriptions of classic stories. I haven't read all those other reviews, and would not want to argue with them, anyway. But I'd like to see someone write "At Least 1001 Books You Might Never Come Across that You Should Check Out Before You Die". I can't edit or write this book because I couldn't choose just 1001. On the other hand, I could recommend(or tell you must-to-avoid)a bunch of books that I don't know if ANYONE else has ever read.
By the way, this was another book I returned to Amazon post-haste. I DO keep most books I buy, as Amazon could tell you. I am probably supporting most of the staff there.
As I jotted down notes about books to read and books to re-read, I began to be aware of authors and books that didn't make the cut: Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged) and Shirley Jackson (The Lottery) to mention two much-read and discussed authors from the U. S., but how about P. G. Wodehouse whose enormous book sales might deem him a page in the book, or has he so aggrieved the book community by his behaviors all those many years ago that he is better forgotten? Or, maybe these omissions are simply a matter of "you can't include everyone" ...
In any case, I think this is a great book, wish it had even more photos of clever and artistic book covers, and am now off to page through the equally fabulous-looking book by the same publisher, 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, and thankfully it is lighter at only 4.5 pounds!







