100 Must-Read Books

[pokerfan]

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/14/100-must-read-books-the-essential-mans-library/">This popped up last night while http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stumbleupon">stumbling.

I don't quite understand why it's a list for men other than that seems to be the site's raison d'être. A fairly eclectic mix that isn't quite like the normal lists. Many that I've read, some that I own, some that I love, some that I despise and a few that were unfamiliar to me.

I compiled a list of the titles for my own use but instead of posting the list here I direct the reader to the site if only for the photos of each (or in some cases, relating to) each title.

I was pleased to find "recent" favorites 'Undaunted Courage' and 'Lonesome Dove' listed showing that it is not merely a list of dusty old classics.

Cheers. And remember YMMV.

[SteppingRazor]

1. Out of curiosity, I kept a little running tally, and I've read 48/100.

However, I gotta say, some of those are kinda silly choices, and for a list that emphasizes manliness, it's way too heavy on the Steinbeck and Dostoevsky, way too light on the Hemingway and Faulkner.

[pokerfan]

5. I came in at 44

I need to read 'A River Runs Through It' as I've only seen the movie.

[Orrex]

2. They lost me at 'Atlas Shrugged'

I wondered if that selection had escaped from the "Must Not Read" list...

[progressoid]

3. Yeah. Yucko.

[pokerfan]

4. I was expecting this

So AS cancels out Hemingway, Steinbeck, Kerouac, Dostoevsky, Emerson, Vonnegut etc. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

[Orrex]

21. Yes yes yes, that's exactly what I meant, with no absolutely hyperbole whatsoever

In fact Atlas Shrugged is a work of such profoundly ponderous horribleness that it cancels out every other written word in the history of the English language. Including your post and this one.

:eyes:

Besides which, I've never read a "100 Must-Read Books" list that didn't include about 40+ dubious choices, 50+ "no shit" choices, and somewhere under ten choices that made me say "Hmm, I hadn't thought of that one."

[pokerfan]

24. My apologies then

Usually when I see "they lost me at ..." I interpret it as an invalidation of the entire work. My mistake.

[Orrex]

25. You're just a huge fan of Jerry MacGuire, and any similar phrases tug at your heartstrings

Admit it, you softy!

[pokerfan]

27. Show me the money?

:P

[Bertha Venation]

6. I've read six of them

and several others are on my perpetual "to read" list.

I tried to read Catch-22 but after about a hundred pages I gave up. I just could not get into it.

[pokerfan]

11. Well, I note that Ulysses didn't make the list

I've tried to read it. I really have. I guess I'm not a fan of the 'stream of consciousness' approach. I feel that an author should put at least some small effort into structure and organization. But that's probably more of a 'my problem' than the author's.

[LisaM]

29. I've read Ulysses!

But then, I'm not a man.

[motely36]

7. As a comment said

what about Night by Elie Wiesel?

[redwitch]

8. I've only read 32 of them.

But I'm a woman. My list would include The Brontes, Daphne DuMaurier, Jane Austen, Mary Stewart, Faye Weldon. :-)

[yellowdogintexas]

26. I have read 16 of them...I hate Hemingway, and will go to my grave without

having read Moby Dick, or anything by James Joyce.

But I have read 'The Master and Margarita'


I would also include The Brontes, DuMaurier, Austen and others.

[XemaSab]

9. That's a pretty conservative list here

:shrug:

[Sisaruus]

10. Only 3 by women?

Mars/Venus? But it is a site on manliness and whereas women have been expected to read men, I'm not so sure men have been expected to read women.
I've read 21 on the list (22 if I can count the Girl Scout handbook instead of the Boy Scout handbook). Not so bad for a women's studies major.

[Book Lover]

12. What I find most telling in that post

is that nearly every cover he chose to show is old. Come into the 21st century, kids. I swear, the freedom's fine!

[pokerfan]

13. Very cool

I just visited 'books for soldiers' and I have a new winter project as I have a ton of books that I could donate.

[Book Lover]

14. Thank you!!!

Believe me, every volume is appreciated. Thanks for clicking through and doing your part!

[Inchworm]

15. WoW!!

I read 12 of those and I'm not a "reader."

Who knew philosophy and history books would count :)

:woohoo:

[pokerfan]

16. I never thought that I would see Kierkegaard on such a list

'Fear and Trembling' was required reading for one of my philosophy classes.

[Inchworm]

17. My next book will be

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig"

I didn't realize what it was. Looks interesting.

:hi:

[pokerfan]

19. I read that one years ago

It was insanely popular in the seventies. Fascinating book.

http://virtualschool.edu/mon/Quality/PirsigZen

[skygazer]

18. This woman has read 22 of them

I have some of the others on my "got to get around to reading some time" list. Some of them I've read parts of - Herodotus and Sun Tzu. Mostly an interesting list.

[pokerfan]

20. Yeah, I can't say that I've read Sun Tzu cover to cover

It's one of those jump-around books. Same thing with the Scouting Handbook.

[Tom Kitten]

22. wow I've read 36 of them

Disappointed Kesey's Cuckoo's Nest wasn't included...if it were I'd have read 37!
Confederacy of Dunces is there! - probably the funniest book I've read.

These days I mainly read non-fiction so it's good to see it's not just a list of fiction.

[Broken_Hero]

23. hmm, 14 outta 100...I guess

I have missed a lot.

[mitchum]

28. I've read 92 of them, but I'm a lit geek

[RetroLounge]

30. Mmmm, only 21 of them...

I guess I'm not manly...

:shrug:

RL

[Doc_Technical]

31. I've read 20 of these books,

and I don't consider much of a reader.
There are about 12 of them of which
I had not heard.

[WildEyedLiberal]

32. This really came across as a "National Review presents the 100 Must Read Books" list

No offense, pokerfan -I'm glad you posted this, as I love discussing this sort of thing.

Don't get me wrong; there is a lot of gold on that list. I've read 15, and a further 40 or so are on my perpetual "to do" list. And let it be further said that I don't often agree with knee-jerking against so-called "cornerstones of Western culture" works; they are cornerstones for a reason. Every native English speaker should be conversant in Shakespeare and Milton, and the classics - Homer, Aristotle, Herodotus, etc - are invaluable in understanding the bedrock of our society.

That said: the list's history and political science selections so OBVIOUSLY skew to the right. Adam Smith but no Keynes, no MARX for Chrissake? I'm not a Marxist, but it is shameful to suggest studying Western economic theories without even READING Das Kapital or The Communist Manifesto. And what's with the Teddy Roosevelt lovefest? I like Teddy, but three of the 100 must read books of all time? And no Lincoln, Washington, FDR, Kennedy, Jackson, Adams, JEFFERSON? Are you kidding me? Since this list was dominated by American authors and history, you'd think it could have at least been *comprehensive* in its survey of American history.

I also got the definite impression that the list authors consider "real men" to be conservatives. There is much allusion to "real men" (as opposed to all those fake men, who aren't rugged and "manly"), coupled with "morals" and "ethics" - which is almost always code for being heterosexual, probably religious, and believing in traditional gender roles (after all, why shouldn't women be conversant in the defining philosophies and literature of Western civilization? The implicit answer: because such heady intellectual pursuits can only be contemplated by rational, cool-minded men, rather than silly, flighty, emotional women, who probably don't get all this anyway).

Again, a lot of these books are good and certainly worth reading, but I got a seriously icky conservative sexist vibe from this blog.

[pokerfan]

34. And yet...

Four titles by John Steinbeck. Two each by Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac and George Orwell. Plus Malcolm X, Emerson, Thoreau and Mark Twain.

I only posted it to stimulate conversation, not as an any endorsement of either the website nor every title on the list.

[YankeyMCC]

33. I've read 27 of them

seems like a fairly good list but I just skimmed it. Why the Hobbit is there and not the rest of the Lord of the Rings books seems odd, maybe that's explained in the blurb.

[pokerfan]

35. I thought that a bit odd as well

considering that LOTR is the much more serious work. But I suppose that without The Hobbit, there would be no LOTR.