Books to Read in a Lifetime

http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8192263011

by acdanger • 12 years ago

71 66 12 years ago

hhorsley• 12 years ago

What's the criteria? This is totally opaque as a list. I agree that some of these books are epic but don't know where the decisions are coming from.

partomniscient• 12 years ago

From the "Amazon Book Editors".

It's basically a way to add an extremely thin layer of misdirection over what's fundamentally Amazon reminding you that you want to buy books on their site. (i.e. advertising). They're trying to catch as many different people in a carefully crafted "Hmmm, I always meant to read that, maybe I should buy it now to remind me" moment.

How is this is relevant to HN? It's probably not...

waterlesscloud2• 12 years ago

Jesus. Come on.

This is a list of good books you might want to look at. People who love to read also love to recommend books.

I would not be shocked if the editors at Amazon love to read.

Seriously, people.

hudibras• 12 years ago

It's probably deliberately opaque, but my interpretation of "a bucket list of books to create a well-read life" is that they are all a.) good books and b.) books which will help the reader relate to other readers.

It's probably a bit too pithy to say that reading them all will give you something to talk about at cocktail parties, but I think that's kinda where they're going with it. Any list that has both David Sedaris and Charles Dickens on it is not meant to be taken literally as THE LIST.

I've only read 33* of them, so I've still got a ways to go.

*humblebrag

skybrian• 12 years ago

I know it's not meant seriously, but even so, the notion that everyone should read the same set of books in a lifetime is a strange one. If everyone actually did that, it would be a massive duplication of effort. Much better for people to read different books.

IvyMike2• 12 years ago

It's kind of nice to have a core set we can all discuss, though.

I know there are people who basically never read a book, but I have a feeling the kind of person who reaches 100 won't stop there.

jamesrcole• 12 years ago

the notion that everyone should read the same set of books in a lifetime is a strange one

I think it's intended as a list of suggestions, and anyone else is free to create their own list of suggestions.

Much better for people to read different books.

There's so many books out there that it's useful to have some guidance as to which are more likely to be worth your time.

prawn2• 12 years ago

Surprised that Perfume didn't make the list, or did I miss it browsing on my phone with that weird interface?

maaku2• 12 years ago

There's multiple books with Perfume as/in the title. Are you referring to Das Parfum?

prawn2• 12 years ago

Yes, Süskind's.

ForHackernews• 12 years ago

Another good list here: http://www.openculture.com/2013/03/donald_barthelmes_syllabu...

chillzilla• 12 years ago

And a better list, too. Not to mention Barthelme's own work is worth checking out.

mercurial• 12 years ago

"Mostly anglo-saxon" books to buy on Amazon in a lifetime.

ekianjo3• 12 years ago

Yeah, and their selection in Japanese literature is a shite book from Murakami, the most overrated writer ever in Japan media. Good Lord.

snogglethorpe2• 12 years ago

Totally agree that their Murakami selection is an awful book, and nothing Murakami's written in years has been any good, but he used to (20+ years ago) be a bit better...

[The Amazon tagline, "From the Modern Japanese Master" is certainly pretty cringe-inducing. >< ]

In general the entire list seems very uninspired, like it was generated by someone tallying up blog posts and fan-favorite lists, rather than being an informed opinion by someone that's actually read and thought about a lot of books...

dror• 12 years ago

With a US slant and some juvenile fiction thrown into the mix.

Harry Potter and the Hunger Games, really?

silencio• 12 years ago

I think the US slant is a shame (or does Amazon have multiple lists?) but...

There are some really good books classed as "young adult" that I think are done a big disservice just by being labeled as such. Many of them are very accessible and cover things that sometimes even "grownup" literature does a terrible job of.

Personally I wouldn't go for Hunger Games, but Harry Potter was in large part responsible for a huge resurgence in reading among children and not for no reason. It's an easy read into a possibly new genre for many readers, and I'd be surprised if there was anyone out there that couldn't relate on some level to something going on in the series. It's not the best example ever, but it's far from shabby.

billyjobob• 12 years ago

Considering this is a list of books written in English, the language descended from Anglo-Saxon, what did you expect them to do? Include foreign books that their English readers can't read?

(And no, just because a non-English book is great and worth reading does not automatically confer that same status onto an English translation based upon that book.)

bnegreve• 12 years ago

what did you expect them to do? Include foreign books that their English readers can't read?

I've spotted few translated books in this list, so I don't see why this is a problem.

And no, just because a non-English book is great and worth reading does not automatically confer that same status onto an English translation based upon that book.

I disagree, I think good translations are pretty much transparent. Substance matters more.

rabbitonrails• 12 years ago

"...which are modern enough to still be under copyright and thus most profitable to Amazon"?

waterlesscloud2• 12 years ago

Like Great Expectations and Pride And Prejudice.

Great insight!

RaSoJo• 12 years ago

Perfect. Explained everything!!

grey-area• 12 years ago

Agreed, there is far too much English-language and US fiction from the 20C in this list for it to be taken seriously. It's like top 100 film ratings on imdb - too distorted by the list-makers' parochial (in time and space) viewpoint to be useful. Recent fiction written in English has far too much weight in this list.

A well-read life would start at the Iliad and the Meditations and other classics (all available for free) and work up from there, not Lemony Snicket!

MichaelApproved2• 12 years ago

Disappointed to not see Siddhartha on the list http://www.amazon.com/Siddhartha-Hermann-Hesse/dp/0553208845

cico71• 12 years ago

It's there, number 94

MichaelApproved2• 12 years ago

For me, #94 shows up as Lolita (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) by Vladimir Nabokov (Mar 9, 1993). Siddhartha is nowhere to be found.

rdl2• 12 years ago

They did a bad job on sci-fi, I think -- while I liked Dune, it certainly isn't the one SF book I'd include.

The Handmaid's Tale is far better, but is listed as "Feminist Speculative Fiction"; if I'd read the category first, I would have skipped the book, but the book is great, along with her other writing.

In a list of 100, I'd probably include 3. The Handmaid's Tale is fine; Snow Crash or maybe a Heinlein or a "golden age of sci-fi" choice.

(Edited to fix incorrect title, thanks)

IvyMike2• 12 years ago

Typo: The book's name is "The Handmaid's Tale".

And you're right, it's a great book and does not deserve to be pigeonholed into some niche category.

msutherl2• 12 years ago

If I could recommend one sci-fi book, it would be Dune.

rdl2• 12 years ago

It seems more fantasy vs. "extrapolating from interesting science". The "Butlerian Jihad" was the core concept (and interesting), but all the stuff about folding space, neo-feudalism, etc. doesn't follow from that. You could get "rejection of technology, regression" in a cleaner book I think.

Actually, Vinge's True Names would be top on my list (and only 90 pages or so).

harshreality2• 12 years ago

I agree, and you made elsewhere the good point that Dune has one foot in the fantasy realm, without much hard science fiction backing it up.

The Hyperion cantos (Simmons) is sadly not taken seriously by very many authors of top-100 lists. It's usually Dune or Stranger in a Strange Land or Ender's Game or Forever War. And heaven forbid they include Neuromancer or Snow Crash or Altered Carbon, or an eco-scifi book like Stand on Zanzibar or Zodiac.

Dune could be a nod to the classic science fiction aficionados who don't care for any of the newer stuff, who love Asimov, Niven, Clarke, PKD, Bester. Is Heinlein too politically charged, perhaps?

RBerenguel7• 12 years ago

Agree with The Hyperion Cantos (commented it as an answer to my post above,) it's been one of the books I've re-read most times. It's a very good book, but somehow a lot of people ignore it, probably due to the fact it's part of a tetralogy (and seems like the last 2 are rubbish... I stopped with the first two: Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, which is what I consider "Hyperion Cantos", though.) I'd rank Altered Carbon higher than Neuromancer. Neuromancer is great and all, but the plot of Altered Carbon was more inspired, almost a nod to classic "noir" writers I like. And I love Stranger in a Strange Land, as pointed above :) Historical note: when the first Spanish translation was commissioned, the publishing firm that did it went bankrupt. Back then (dictatorship) there was a strong censure of books... But editors had to print the books, whole edition and only then the censor would check them. It was deemed as objectionable material.

ssully• 12 years ago

I get why they did this, but it seems like such a waste considering everywhere I've seen this posted people just bitch about a book or a section of books they like not being on the list. But it seems to be working as intended, because I've seen this posted a lot.

RBerenguel7• 12 years ago

Although I'd change some books (actually, quite a lot,) I'm positively surprised by some choices, with books you usually don't see in "best of" lists but which rank high in my personal preferences.

For science fiction I'd change Dune... Even though it's a great book and I like it (I even read Herbert Jr.'s sequels... spoiler: don't) I'd pick something "shinier." Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, or 2001: An Space Odissey... or go with the weird and pick Rendezvous with Rama. Or just Foundation. Sci-Fi-wise you can't go wrong with Foundation.

Ninja-edit: How could I forget The Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon? Written in the late 40s, I didn't give much for it as Sci-fi goes. I read it in one sitting. Ended with a headache, dizzy and hungry. It was well worth it.

For Murakami, I'd pick instead a relatively unknown book by him: Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of The World. An inception-esque plot-inside-plot book, set in an almost Neuromancer-like setting. I love it.

For Dystopian... Even though I have not read The Giver, just classification-wise I'd have to pick Shades of Grey (Jasper Fforde's book, not to be confused with another, numbered, similarly named book.) It was a thrilling read (I think it's the best novel I've read in the past 3 or 4 years, but well, I don't read that much fiction lately), sadly part of a trilogy waiting to be finished. Beware: once you are done with the book you'd want to go to Britain and tie Fforde to his desk until he is done with the next book.

The books that surprised me though are incredibly well-spotted. I like that Guns, Germs and Steel is there. It's been on my reading list for... 3 years already (I have it, but it's a heavy book so I'm always eager to pick an ebook or thinner material for a commute,) because the theme is so compelling. The Right Stuff is not the usual book you see in a best-of list, but for me, it should be in all these lists. Heck, writing from it is used as example of good writing in On Writing Well (which is surprisingly a very good read).

The Long Goodbye, by Chandler. Chandler is great, period. Having one of his books in this lists validates other books I'd never consider... Even though you can't have a Chandler and don't have a Hammett. You can't go wrong with a book by Hammett, I'd probably pick The Maltese Falcon. A classic.

Of course, there are some books that I'd personally treat to a Bradbury process... Catcher in the Rye and On the Road are two books I was looking forward to reading (not being English-based meant I didn't get to read them on high school) and found dull. I guess read in a different context would have made it different, but I couldn't see all the praise. Personal opinion, though.

codemac• 12 years ago

Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of The World

Thas is one of my favorite books of all times. Thank you for recommending it, and I will echo your sentiment to others here on HN to read it. It's one of the few books I've actually reread after saying to myself "I should reread that.."

RBerenguel7• 12 years ago

When I was a little younger (well, I'm only 31, so it's not like it was ages ago) I reread quite a lot, this one in particular got probably 4 re-reads. My most re-read book is probably Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (followed by HHGG). It's not for every sci-fi lover, but the first part of the Hyperion Chantos (that would be Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion) are incredibly good books, not only for the science fiction, but also have a thick, interesting plot full of the "I wonder how this turns out" sci-fi.

snogglethorpe2• 12 years ago

Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of The World

Totally agree with this.

I think Murakami's writing has become repetitive and bloated in the last couple of decades (and even sort of creepy, in a bad way); he basically seems to have been writing on autopilot for many years. It's always a little annoying to see him trotted out as a great author by mentioning his recent stuff.

His early stuff, however, is much better: tighter, more subtle, more interesting, less overwrought. "Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of The World" is my favorite. It's weird, thoughtful, and sad in way that doesn't feel manipulative or artificial.

gradstudent• 12 years ago

Catcher in the Rye and On the Road are two books I was looking forward to reading (not being English-based meant I didn't get to read them on high school) and found dull.

I feel the same way about Catcher in the Rye. I didn't grow up with it and when I picked it up as an adult I found it dull dull dull. I'm pretty sure that with enough digging one might find something interesting here, but it's buried too deep for me. Much like anything by James Joyce, this seems to be a book for Lit majors.

maaku2• 12 years ago

Catcher in the Rye is an adult book written for juveniles, and I mean that in the best possible way. It is about profound realization we all have at some point that adults are not the grown-ups we think them to be, but rather - as I've heard expressed well recently - adults are merely big children that have left the sandbox. Or in Holden's words, phonies.

I think this still is a profound and powerful book for anyone reading it at the appropriate point in their life, usually the last year or two of high school. If you are familiar with post-war American culture of the 1950's, then you can also appreciate on a literary and historical level its counter-cultural message.

But otherwise, if you're encountering Catcher in the Rye for the first time having already become a grown-up adult, I wouldn't expect much of it.

capisce2• 12 years ago

Stranger in a Strange Land was a bit too predictable for my taste although it was an entertaining read to some degree - but I found Dune much more interesting and worthy of praise.

First time I tried to read Catcher in the Rye I found it dull and didn't get far, but the second time I got into it and really enjoyed it. I ended up feeling a lot of sympathy for the main character.

RBerenguel7• 12 years ago

Dune is more profound, but as far as predictability goes, it's almost a one-way street as a book. Which is not to detract that it is very good, and that Stranger in a Strange Land is similar, once the "church" is formed. I found SiaSL as giving interesting insights into what a completely weird alien species might be (much like Asimov's The God Themselves, a personal favourite.) I think that since these two are good, classic books picking one over the other is just a matter of preference, although Dune will be in far more antologies and SiaSL will be more an underdog. Do you have any SciFi recommendation, by the way?

sveme3• 12 years ago

I found the list fascinating - though in a bad way, as it impressively shows how little Americans seem to be exposed to non-anglosaxon literature. That's a loss, really.

RBerenguel7• 12 years ago

Well, I'm not American, and I am also exposed to lots of anglosaxon literature. The thing is, the market for translations is very limited, and usually larger for English->Spanish (or Catalan) than in reverse. My all-time favourite book was by a Catalan writer, homaging Hammett by writing a crime novel set in the Barcelona of the late 60s (IIRC, maybe it was early 70s) where the dictatorship was still in full swing and illegal goods were still a good deal (much like Hammett's setting during the Prohibition.) In case you can find an English edition, it's called "De mica en mica s'omple la pica," in Catalan (Drop by drop the sink fills up would be a rough translation, it's a typical Catalan saying.) A quick googling and amazon didn't turn up any translation, though.

ekianjo3• 12 years ago

Well, I don't mean to sound derogatory, but Americans tend to know little about stuff happening outside of their own country (or the anglo-saxon world), except for a number of well-travelled people. There are reasons for that: having a 300 million+ people strong country where lots of stuff gets created and sold in a single language makes it a sufficient market for most people to focus on, plus as a culture the US is strong on the market worldwide: it has appeal beyond its borders, so you'd expect it to be particularly strong on its own territory as well.

callmeed• 12 years ago

I'm glad Cormac McCarthy is on there, but is The Road better than Blood Meridian?

girvo• 12 years ago

I'd definitely pick Foundation over Dune, in my personal opinion. I still hold the Foundation series up as the pinnacle of SciFi.

sidcool• 12 years ago

Harry Potter books there. They are good, but then it's about 100 books to read in a lifetime. Just my opinion.

icco• 12 years ago

I don't know, I've always thought it's one of those series that's worth reading just to be able to discuss with others given how many people have read.

JacobAldridge• 12 years ago

Surprised / pleased that I'm a quarter of the way there (well, 24/100).

Didn't expect quite that much young adult literature - Harry Potter, Limony Snickett, Golden Compass, The Giver (plus Lord of the Rings). All major film franchises (well, The Giver under production).

Was amazed to see The Phantom Tollbooth. One of my favourite books of all time, though I haven't read it since I was a child and honestly have never met another person who'd heard of it!

bowlofpetunias• 12 years ago

Looks more like a popularity contest with an unsurprising correlation to recent screen adaptations.

I half expect Justin Bieber's biography to make the list.

Goodreads and Amazon have become as useless as IMDB when it comes to ratings. Both are prime examples of why the "wisdom of the crowds" is bull. Guess Nicholas Carr was right after all.

lutusp2• 12 years ago

I just scanned the list while buying books for an upcoming long trip away from the Internet and other media (i.e. my annual Alaska boat trip: http://arachnoid.com/alaska2013). I might have selected two from the list.

The problem with the list is it's not a true list of classic, worthwhile books, it's instead populated by books that (a) sell well and (b) are available at the moment from publishers. Those who don't read much, or who are beginning as adult readers, shouldn't be misled by its contents.

Here is a slightly better list, one unfortunately also biased by what's available in the current mass publishing market:

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/books-everyone-should-re...

But while searching online for quality "classic" or "essential" book lists, I am surprised to say that there's no such readily available list, at least that I can find. Obviously there's also the issue of taste -- one person's list of classics isn't likely to be another's.

marsay• 12 years ago

Dissapointed that it contains only fiction.

lutusp2• 12 years ago

It has "All the President's Men" and "A Brief History of Time", nonfiction. ... A quick scan shows that about 1/3 of the titles are either nonfiction or based on real events.

thejteam• 12 years ago

My biggest gripe about the list: since when did it become acceptable to alphabetize using leading "A" and "The". You're supposed to skip those.

cafard• 12 years ago

First, the expression "bucket list" always brings to mind Mr. Creosote.

Second, of the books that i have read, I have to say that Cutting for Stone isn't very good; Verghese's nonfiction The Tennis Partner is much better. The Connections has its moments, but maybe not enough for its length.

knight17• 12 years ago

Would love to see some more great Russian novels (Dostoevsky, anyone?) in the list instead of many US centric books currently there.

thisusername• 12 years ago

No Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gogol, Kakfa (I know he's not Russian but still)...the list is far beyond lacking, but what can you do.

deepflame• 12 years ago

The bible is also a good read. If you are into it you could read and study it for a lifetime.

Books to Read in a Lifetime

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