I have discovered a new challenge. I very much doubt I shall complete it, but I will learn from the parts I do accomplish. Hmm, I do love a good quest.
Today I discovered that amazon.com is offering a book set for sale. This set is like the Absolute King of book sets: it is made up of 1,082 titles! It is called The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection, and is available for a mere $7,989.99. I read through the entire listing of books in the set of Western classics, and now I am VERY disappointed in myself. Out of 1,082 books, I have only read twenty-nine.
Twenty-nine!
That is appalling; I am so very ashamed of myself. I’ve always prided myself on being a prolific reader of good books — I’ve even read Shakespeare for pleasure — yet I have seemed to miss many of the books considered to be classics. Granted, I have heard of most of the books on the list and figured I would read them at some point in time . . . I just haven’t gotten around to it. Procrastination, you know.
So, New Goal in Life(tm): I shall read as many of the books on this list as I can, or at least the ones that will amuse me. I don’t know if I can force myself to read that much poetry. We shall see.
However, I feel I must point out a few glaring holes in this list. It is missing quite a few classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Jerusalem Delivered, Jonathan Seagull, Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea, 1984, and probably some others that I haven’t thought of yet. Apparently Penguin Classics doesn’t have editions of these novels yet. So sad.
Guess I better get reading, starting with that Pride and Prejudice book that’s been on my shelf for a while.