Paul at Quoteflections is encouraging people to make Top Ten 2008 lists of their own in response to Time’s Top Ten Everything of 2008 lists. I pondered over what kind of list I could put together that wasn’t a typical “best of.” You can get best books read this year lists nearly everywhere (and I will have one too at the end of the month), so here is a different tack.
Top Ten Books I Did Not Read in 2008 (in no particular order)
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (second year in a row I managed to not get to it, it’s so big and I keep thinking I’ll pick it up after Clarissa)
- The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust (if only I could have stuck with the plan and finished in a timely manner like Dorothy did over a year ago)
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (my husband loves this book and I figured I could read it this year, but it was not meant to be)
- Republic by Plato ( I got sidetracked by Herodotus and Aeschylus!)
- Gilgamesh (I know it’s not that long but it still refuses to jump off the shelf into my hands!)
- The World of Odysseus by M.I. Finley (after Homer I wanted to read more about the poems and times I am going to blame Herodotus and Aeschylus again on this one too)
- Given Sugar Given Salt by Jane Hirshfield (I was too busy with school, yeah, that’s a good one)
- Pinkerton’s Sister by Peter Rushforth (um, it was too high on the shelf and I couldn’t reach it without a stool or chair and there was never one at hand?)
- Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (I’ve run out of excuses)
What do you know, it looks like I managed a decent list of excuses too!
Update: Ha! As my kind sister pointed out there are only nine books on my top ten list. Instead of me trying to select one more out of many, let’s just leave number ten blank so as to represent all those other books I wanted to read but didn’t get to.
I think I ran out of excuses in July and have resorted to simply pointing a trembling finger at my computer…
I mean, computers.
I loved Stephen Mitchell’s “New English Version” of Gilgamesh. It’s not a strict translation so depending on what you’re looking for it might not be the right version for you. But if literalness isn’t that important it’s an excellent choice.
One of mine is Nino Ricci’s The Origin of the Species. He won the Governor General’s Medal for this book a month ago. In 1990 he also won for Lives of the Saints. I have to read his latest because he attended the high school where I teach in southern Ontario. I have taught his first book over the years to enthused senior students. Highly recommended author!
Thanks so much for the link and responding to the meme, Stephanie.
This made me laugh. I did not read a very excellent book this year as well – War and Peace – and I certainly won’t get to it before the end of December.
But I look forward to your other best books list when you get it put together.
Oh great list! I love your twist on all the usual lists out there, Stefanie. i was going to add the books I hadn’t enjoyed much on my own list but then I decided not to. This is a better idea!
What about the books you did read/are still reading?! Like you said, Clarissa should count as mega-bonus points, even if not Anna Karenninna (which I loved, by the way, and would highly recommend!). Great list of books to read sometime myself!
Great list! I’ve got Gertrude Stein’s Three Lives on mine, as well as Samuel Beckett’s novel Molloy and Charlotte Bronte’s Shirley. And also Balzac and Zola. There’s always next year, right?
I didn’t read any of these books, either.
After finishing Clarissa, Anna Karenina may not seem so big.
A great twist on lists. I have a different sort of list: Books I will never read. At the top: any memoir by an entertainer under 30, and any book with a title longer than 11 words (I hate colon-ized titles).
I’m always skeptical about books that prompt people to say DROP EVERYTHING AND READ THIS NOW!!!!!!–and with a billion exclamation points, too.
And yet, when it comes to Anna Karenina, that’s how I feel. I seriously believe it to be the best novel I’ve ever read. I tell people that Bleak House was the first novel that transported me completely to a different time and place, and that’s true. But Anna Karenina did it better than any other book. The first time I read it, I did so straight through over about five days. It was an awesome experience.
A couple of my high school students have taken it on this semester on my suggestion, and–with some reservations about the length–they have had great things to say about it, too.
You really should read it. Not just to say you have, but because you’ll be better for having done so.
Love this idea for a list. A Tale of Two Cities and Plato’s Republic are two on my unread this year list, as well. They await 2009, but with all my challenges, I wonder if I’ll get to them. I did, however, manage Gilgamesh. Perhaps because it was so short?
For some reason I have not yet read Anansi boys yet either! And me with my huge Gaiman kick earlier this year. Oh well..
Great list. I’m with you on Anna K. It was to be my lone Russian lit title. And now I have no Russian lit titles read. Maybe next year? I think my planned to read, but didn’t list would be longer than ten books unfortunately.
I love this list, as I’ve got quite a few titles of my own I meant to read but ah didn’t!
From what you and others have written about Clarissa, I’m sure Anna K will be a much more enjoyable (certainly more eventful and nuanced) read. Hope you get to it in ’09.
I’d also agree with your husband about A Tale of two cities- it was the first Dickens book I read and I love it to this day. It makes me cry every time.
Sylvia, darn computers! I hate how they follow you around everywhere and are in constant need of attention
Jeremy, that is good news. I don’t require a strict translation, it is a poem after all and the translation should also be poetic.
Paul, yes, I think if the author attended the high school where you teach it is required reading. I hope you get to it in 2009 and enjoy it!
Verbivore, I didn’t read that one either!
There is always next year, right?
Litlove, thanks! I could have had a top 100 list judging by the size of my TBR pile but keeping is short makes it seem so much more under control.
Rebbecca, I’ll get to the books I read closer to the end of the year. It is nice to have so many good books to look forward to reading.
Dorothy, yes, thank goodness there is always next year!
Amateur Reader, LOL! I don’t feel so bad for not having read them then
I suspect you are right. Once I am finally done with Clarissa, Anna K won’t seem long at all.
Dave, I am with you on the memoirs and mostly on the ones with long titles but sometimes they are so long and ridiculous that they beg to be read because of it.
J.D., I promise I will try really hard to read Anna K in 2009. I just need to finish Clarissa. With that chunky book off my nightstand I will be more inclined to take on another. My husband also loves Anna K. He says it is the only book he has ever read that he wishes never ended.
Emily, I am envious that you got to Gilgamesh this year. My edition looks big but I keep forgetting that the actual poem is short.
Daphne, I loved American Gods and my husband read Anansi Boys early in the year and enjoyed it and I have been really looking forward to reading it but, you know how it goes.
Danielle, thanks! My planned to read and didn’t read list is really much longer too. I would have been typing all night if I had tried to list them all!
devotedreader, everyone assures me Anna K is fantastic and now with your endorsement of Tale of Two Cities as well as my husband’s the pressure to read it is really on!
Heh. Computers do have their ways of getting your attention. They must learn it from cats.
Stefanie- this gave me a good chuckle. My anti-list is sooooo long I won’t even approach the bad jokes I could make… Isn’t it wonderful to have all those great reads to look forward to? That’s the attitude I’m trying to take.
Sylvia, I think you are right.
ted, I am glad to have provided you with a laugh. It is indeed wonderful to have so many good books to look forward to. I prefer to try and stay positive about it as well
No worries, you will get to these books one day. But could I recommend starting with Jane Hirshfield in 2009?
I’m off to read Herodotus now, because I did not get around to finishing it in 2008!
Dark Orpheus, I can’t make any promises, but I will try