The other day I was looking for a B read (I was in the middle of my A read) and pondering what I should start on next, began to think about what books I’d be embarrassed if it were revealed that I’d never read it.
Of course, the obvious thing to do in that situation is to make a list and post it publicly on the Internet, so everyone can see what I have never read.
- Dune, Frank Herbert
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain. (In fact other than a couple short stories I’ve read almost nothing by Twain.)
- The Odyssey, Homer
- Something by Ayn Rand
- Something by Nietzsche
- Something by Lovecraft
It was almost painful to think about the situation of admitting I’d never read Dune. That one I’m taking care of right it now.
The Mark Twain was is pretty painful as well. I have to give America its props. America, you may have noticed, doesn’t have too many classic writers compared to England. (I believe this is because America was nation-building for its first hundred or so years and had not a many resources to devote to more artistic endeavors. By the time America came into its own as a civilized country, the art form that was drawing all the talent was cinema.) So I really have to read one of the few American authors who can hold his own with the greats.
Ayn Rand and Nietzsche are authors I don’t expect to agree with much (except for that irritating little “grain of truth” you know you can’t argue with), but part of being well-rounded is exposure to ideas you might not agree with.
