not the 50 books you must read before you die

The Daily Telegraph had a tongue-in-cheek literary recommendation on what are not the 50 books you must read before you die.

I was quite happy to see some books I thought little of on the list, although some of my favourites are there as well. Let’s take a look at some of them:

7 The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

Jay Gatsby is not as great a character as everyone thinks he is. Neither is this book, or the author, or the million of people who pretend to like it. Full of people doing tedious things, breaking off only to sleep with each other’s wives.

me: I’d actually finished this book, but I was curious as to why it was so widely celebrated as it didn’t seem like a “great novel” at all.

8 Tender is the Night by F Scott Fitzgerald

See above. Bizarrely, was given as a present by Michael Howard to woo his future wife. Even more bizarrely, it worked.

me: This book was so boring I didn’t finish it.

11 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Like trying to get to grips with seven generations of your Colombian exchange student’s family tree.

me: As above.

19 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

When superior life forms come to write the history of the extinct human race, they will cite this distinctly unhelpful self-help book masquerading as literature as a turning point in our decline. Stunningly trite, it has sold more than 65 million copies in 56 languages and was highly enjoyed by Madonna.

me: Finally! Someone besides me who thinks this book is overrated and has absolutely no idea why everyone loves it. The same applies to “The Little Prince” and “Life of Pi”. I wish those books were on this list too, especially the former.

27 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

Misleading title for a family comedy set in Peterborough. And probably responsible for the plague of equally annoying titles that followed.

me: This book was interesting enough, although I skipped almost all the tractor parts.

39 Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

A lovely book about an Irish childhood, although indirectly responsible for a decade of misery memoirs: “No, Daddy, not there” etc.

me: This book was interesting enough for the first third, got boring into the second third and remained largely unread at the last third.

43 Saturday by Ian McEwan

What the author learnt after spending two years getting in the way of a neurosurgeon. Not as good as Enduring Love, which is not as good as Amsterdam, which is not as good as Atonement.

me: out of the books listed above I’d only read the best and worst ones, but this is helpful for determining which McEwan book I should read next.

I also had a look at the list of 50 books every child should read in the Independent. Unfortunately I hadn’t even heard of almost all the books listed, save for the classics like “Alice in Wonderland” and “Secret Garden”, but I have no idea why “Moving Pictures” is on that list. Unless kids have gotten a lot smarter since my time, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series isn’t something an 11 year old would understand.