Gelfling Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Did anyone else decide to take on this task after the BBC's Big Read? ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/ ) I decided to read the top 200 favourite books as voted for by the British public after following this short series on TV, and 5 years later I'm still slowly plodding along with it (on account of discovering new authors and going off on tangents, or just by picking up interesting looking books). I'd be interested to know if anyone else started this in 2003: it's be nice to chat to a fellow big reader If so, is anyone still going or finished it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I remember reading about this. Didn't they do the survey twice because they didn't think that The Lord of the Rings (my favorite book of all time) would win? Or was that a different British survey? Anyway, it's a good list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 That's an admirable goal Gelfling! How many have you read so far? I love looking at those lists to see how I compare. There are quite a few on that list that I've read and many more that I have on my TBR pile. I probably wouldn't aim to read all 200 myself, only because I couldn't be bothered tracking down the books that I've never heard of when I have others on my TBR pile waiting to be read. But I may change my mind about that one day. Best of luck to you and keep us updated on your progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gelfling Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'm not sure if they had to do it twice. I have a feeling that Lord of the Rings may have only won it because the films were out at the time. I'm not sure if I'll read all 200 either...I mean, there's an awful lot of Jacqueline Wilson on it which I doubt I'll bother with (but if they fall into my lap I might in the end). I'm in no rush anyway. I remember when I first started it I was a bit obsessed and I kept starting multiple books at once because there were so many I wanted to read RIGHT NOW. I have since slowed down though I certainly won't be tackling War and Peace whilst I'm busy with uni. I've got so much out of doing it though. I've always loved reading, but I was in a bit of a rut with the type of books I was concentrating on (lots of Terry Pratchett, Bronte and Austin), so working through this list has really opened my mind to other genres and authors. Making myself try books I wouldn't normally be interested in has meant I've discovered quite a few new favourites. For example, I always hated sci-fi, but I found I loved Day of the Triffids and I've read a few more John Wyndem books as a result. The same with romance....not my genre, but I loved Katherine and Gone With the Wind (not so much for the romance in it though). I've read 117 so far (I was already on 50 when I started) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nici Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Theres some good books there. Some I have read and there are a few on my own list so I might join in and see how I do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I printed off a copy of the list a few years ago and have been trying to read through the list. I've read 57 of them so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiseog Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'm trying to read these, not going as well as I wanted! (the 100 not the top ten) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gelfling Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 I printed off a copy of the list a few years ago and have been trying to read through the list. I've read 57 of them so far. I'm glad I'm not the only one then Which book has been your best discovery so far then (as a result of the big read)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I've just been totting up and it turns out I've read 79 of the 200 (largely due to the fact that I've read every book Terry Pratchett has ever written - LOL!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty_kitty Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I have done another book list thread for me as som of the books overlap some of the other reading lists like 1001 and classics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambi-eyes Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I've read 50 on the list but I must admit there are quite a few that I don't really fancy i.e. the Jacquline Wilson novels. There are some greats that I do hope to read sooner rather than later though, like Les Mis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gelfling Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 I've just been totting up and it turns out I've read 79 of the 200 (largely due to the fact that I've read every book Terry Pratchett has ever written - LOL!). I love Terry Pratchett too. The Witch ones are my favourite (Witches Abroad is the finniest by far I think), but the Hogfather is hilarious too. Did you see the TV version of the Hogfather? They did really well with it I think: I never thought it would work as a film because so much of the humour and explanations is in the footnotes. Apparantly they're doing one of the Rincewind books now. ...ook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I was actually really disappointed by the Hogfather adaptation. I thought it looked beautiful, but they mishandled the story by doing HUGE repeat sections and, as a result of not having time, missing out very important parts of te stoy. If they'd had just 30 minutes more, they might have been able to do justice to it, because the cast was certainly wonderful and the definitely captured the loko and feel of the Discworld... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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