1001 Books to Read Before You Die - The List (Click here)
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to read at least 25 books from the above list this year. Which basically means that I have to live for approximately 40 more years to read all the books. Now, the list I linked contains some books that I've already read so you can deduct those books from the 1,001 and it includes books from earlier lists which have been removed in later editions which, again brings up the number of books to approximately 1001. I'm aware that I might die before I get to them all but, let's be optimistic for the sake of this post.
"Every so often, a painter has to destroy painting. Cezanne did it. Picasso did it with cubism. Then Pollock did it. He busted our idea of a picture all to hell"
The book starts with this epigraph - a quote by Willem de Kooning. Now, this quote is very significant to the book as that is precisely what the author does with this book. He busts our idea of a fiction all to hell. I started with this book without reading the synopsis and, as a result, I was thoroughly confused at first, mistaking the book for a non-fiction. It starts off with what seems like completely random facts about artists - from their birthplace, death, acquaintances with other artists, feud with other artists and how their work was originally received by critics. However, the narrator refers to himself as "Author" and in between the random facts, we get glimpses into what the "Author" is doing. The writing was so absurd and experimental that I was close to giving up on it after a point. But, I pushed myself till the end. And I guess in a way I appreciate it for how unique it was. You have to read it till the end to understand exactly what is happening. While it was a little too experimental for me, I can understand why it made the list. It just wasn't engaging enough for me to appreciate it.
My favourite part of the book was the random facts about artists - mainly the ironical bad review of their work.
"A mass of soapsuds and whitewash, said a critic of a Turner painting of a storm at sea.
I wonder what they think the sea's like, said Turner."
"Bach spent the last twenty-seven years of his life as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
As the best musicians are not available, we must accept a man of moderate ability - had said a member of the Leipzig Municipal Council in hiring him."
Overall, it was just one of those books that you appreciate for its intellectual quality but, at the same time, you feel like something essential was missing. I would recommend it to people who love experimental writing.
One of my New Year's Resolutions was to read at least 25 books from the above list this year. Which basically means that I have to live for approximately 40 more years to read all the books. Now, the list I linked contains some books that I've already read so you can deduct those books from the 1,001 and it includes books from earlier lists which have been removed in later editions which, again brings up the number of books to approximately 1001. I'm aware that I might die before I get to them all but, let's be optimistic for the sake of this post.
"Every so often, a painter has to destroy painting. Cezanne did it. Picasso did it with cubism. Then Pollock did it. He busted our idea of a picture all to hell"
The book starts with this epigraph - a quote by Willem de Kooning. Now, this quote is very significant to the book as that is precisely what the author does with this book. He busts our idea of a fiction all to hell. I started with this book without reading the synopsis and, as a result, I was thoroughly confused at first, mistaking the book for a non-fiction. It starts off with what seems like completely random facts about artists - from their birthplace, death, acquaintances with other artists, feud with other artists and how their work was originally received by critics. However, the narrator refers to himself as "Author" and in between the random facts, we get glimpses into what the "Author" is doing. The writing was so absurd and experimental that I was close to giving up on it after a point. But, I pushed myself till the end. And I guess in a way I appreciate it for how unique it was. You have to read it till the end to understand exactly what is happening. While it was a little too experimental for me, I can understand why it made the list. It just wasn't engaging enough for me to appreciate it.
My favourite part of the book was the random facts about artists - mainly the ironical bad review of their work.
"A mass of soapsuds and whitewash, said a critic of a Turner painting of a storm at sea.
I wonder what they think the sea's like, said Turner."
"Bach spent the last twenty-seven years of his life as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
As the best musicians are not available, we must accept a man of moderate ability - had said a member of the Leipzig Municipal Council in hiring him."
Overall, it was just one of those books that you appreciate for its intellectual quality but, at the same time, you feel like something essential was missing. I would recommend it to people who love experimental writing.
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