I usually conduct this little exercise after every 10 books, but I completely forgot after book 70. So I’m a little late this time around.
It’s been nearly 4 years, 70+ books, and 30,000 pages since I started this project. So let’s take a look back. Here are some of the best and the worst from the first 70 books I’ve read this time around.
Total pages read: 28,719
Favorite book: The Great Gatsby is still numero uno. I’m not sure any novel has a chance of topping Gatsby, but maybe The Lord of the Rings? (Complete rankings.)
Least favorite book: This “award” still goes to A Dance To The Music Of Time. The length, the boredom, the lack of plot—to this day, this novel gives me the shivers when I think about it.
Favorite character: It’s still Yossarian from Catch 22. But I also am a huge fan of Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. Two very different characters, but I love them both.
Least favorite characters: Every character in A Dance To The Music Of Time.
Favorite writer: F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) over Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God) and James Agee (A Death In The Family).
Least favorite writer: Malcolm Lowry (Under The Volcano).
Most pleasant surprise: I, Claudius over A Death In The Family
Most difficult book: The Sound and The Fury is still tops.
Most depressing book: Here’s the top 5. Same order as last time. 1) A Death In The Family 2) Never Let Me Go 3) Rabbit, Run 4) The Grapes of Wrath 5) An American Tragedy
Most graphic/violent book: 1) Blood Meridian 2) A Clockwork Orange
Most perverted book: Money edges out Portnoy’s Complaint
Most inspirational book: I still think To Kill A Mockingbird and The Bridge of San Luis Rey are the best in this category.
Funniest book: It’s still Catch 22. The Sot-Weed Factor comes in a close second.
Longest read: A Dance To The Music of Time will not be surpassed in this category. 3,500+ pages. Nothing else is even close.
Shortest read: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Best opening line: “Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.” (The Blind Assassin)
Most memorable line: Three favorites so far:
1. “If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk. It’s so many people never seen de light at all.” – Janie (Their Eyes Were Watching God)
2. “Soon you’ll regret all that sun-tanning. Your face will look like a testicle.” – Iris Chase
(Iris Chase, The Blind Assassin)
3. “Hate is a lack of imagination.” (The Unnamed Priest, The Power And The Glory)
Here’s to 10 more great novels! I’ll recap again after book 80.
So what do you think?
Agree or disagree with my opinions on these first 70 novels?
