[polls] [what should i "read"?]

[thewlisian_afer]

[Poll #1528533]

Comments

[jacintillating.livejournal.com]

I selected Canterbury Tales because I think it would increase the experience to hear it, rather than just read it oneself. Also I picked Sense and Sensibility because I'm going to start that after I finish My Life In France. Also, I picked Siddhartha because I read that one and would recommend it. And Moby Dick because I want to read it but am scared.

[amazonqueenkate.livejournal.com]

Ditto on Canterbury Tales; they're hard to read but I would love (love!) to listen to them.

Plus, like, they're some of my favorite stories ever. Ever.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

I downloaded several of these because I want to read them but am scared. Moby Dick is, indeed, one of them. ♥ :D

[knowledgequeen.livejournal.com]

Around the World in Eighty Days is one of those stories I think would be excellent read aloud; I once heard a version (though I think it was a radio play) with ambiance of the different locations and great accents. Sounds fun as hell to me.

[countouttheday.livejournal.com]

I hate Jane Austen.

That is all.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

You appear to be in a minority on my flist! Though I think probably not in real life. ♥

[deana-in-texas.livejournal.com]

Haha, sucks, my favorite books here are the ones that take the longest (2 days!) to listen to!

Count of monte cristo is an awesome story. I highly recommend reading it, though if it is too long to help you reach your goal it can be put off. But it's a great book.

The Jungle is awesome, but it may make you never want to eat things like hot dogs ever again. Great book though. One of the few I had to read forcibily in high school that I actually enjoyed.

Sense and Sensibility is funny. Tess of the D'Urbervilles was definitely readable, I enjoyed it. Haven't read Uncle Tom's cabin, but it's high on my list and I've heard good things about it. That rounds out the five I voted for.

Emma, Jane Eyre, Moby Dick bored me silly. Blech. The Scarlet Letter... has its ups and downs. I read it because in high school we were given a reading list of 10 books and had to choose 2, and my dad found it and said that was the only book he read in school that he liked, so I was curious (since my dad can't really read...) and though there are some parts that you have to slog through, and the characters are not likeable in general, it's not awful. Have only read parts of Canterbury Tales, and I do agree with whoever above me said it'd probably be a lot easier to listen to than read.

The rest of the stuff I haven't read, so I have no opinions, really. Of them, I'd be most interested in ... Around the world in 80 days, Divine Comedy, Man in the Iron Mask, Portrait of the Artist.. and Siddhartha, just based on things I've heard about them and some of the others.

Yay for probably unhelpful blabbering comment!

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

I reached my goal, so now I'm only listening because I want to. Time isn't an issue anymore. :D

I'm glad The Count of Monte Cristo is getting as many votes as it is. After a day or two when I close the poll I'm going to arrange them from most votes to least and then listen in that order. And if I were to vote myself, that's one of the ones I'd pick, but the length of it is intimidating, which is why I haven't listened yet.

And, lolz, The Jungle. Yeah. We were made to read, like ... maybe three pages of it in 8th grade. That was 1998. It was nearly ten years before I ate sausage again. No exaggeration.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

I. Hate. The Scarlet Letter. We're talking to the extent you hate Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Absolutely hated, hated, HATED that book. (And it was coupled with The Crucible in 11th grade lit, FML.) Canterbury Tales was fun to read in 12th grade lit. I really liked it. And I go through A Knight's Tale and pick out all of the people from Canterbury Tales and giggle.

I vaguely remember reading The Wind in the Willows back when I was in 8th grade and sick as a dog. I do recall enjoying it. (Though this was also the year I read Watership Down, so if you hate That Book About Bunnies, you may not like it.)

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had to read bits of The Canterbury Tales in 12th grade, too, and I liked what I read. That's why it's on this list. :D

I haven't read Watership Down, either. FOR SHAME. It's on either my To Read list or my Amazon wish list -- I can't remember which but it depends on if I ever found my copy of it or not. I liked the movie, though, so I suspect I at least won't hate the book.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

It's a pretty good book. Not terribly challenging or taxing, but still enjoyable.

[amazonqueenkate.livejournal.com]

I HATE The Scarlet Letter too! OMG, I had to read it in school back in the day and I just wanted to light it on fire. It was just horrendous. I couldn't stand it and I nearly failed first quarter English because I couldn't bring myself to slog through it, skimmed most everything, and then failed my teacher's ridiculously detailed quizzes.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I hated so much of what I had to read in high school (Don't even get me started on having to compare Julius Caesar/A Separate Peace/Animal Farm for a paper), but I think The Scarlet Letter was my all-time least favorite. It's like, "look, dude, we know you think you're high and mighty, but you still had sex with the woman that is supposedly 'bad,' you know."

After hearing Hester referred to as a "succubus" for the millionth time, I was pretty ready to stage a coup in my lit class.

[departedlover.livejournal.com]

If you dislike streaming consciousness writing, as I do, you will hate anything by Joyce. If not, APOTAAAYP should be great for you.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Weeeeell ... it's worth a try. XD Sometimes I don't mind it and other times I HATE it. I haven't been able to pinpoint what it depends on.

[froda-baggins.livejournal.com]

I pointedly did not pick books I may want to read to you myself, betch.

That said, Count of Monte Cristo is a great "read" if you have the time.

[euclase.livejournal.com]

yeah, i agree. i'd probably listen to that one, too. it's just so bloody long. but it's the best storybook story.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

You crack me up. "Read Jane Eyre! Read Jane Eyre!" and then when you get a chance to cast a vote that could get me to read it faster, you're like "Don't read Jane Eyre!" ♥

[froda-baggins.livejournal.com]

I CHANGED MY MIND.

[theninth.livejournal.com]

Most of these... it really depends on the reader.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty much everything ever really depends on the reader. With the exception of The Kite Runner, though, these are all read by random nobodies who volunteer, so it's really hit or miss. They're free, though, (public domain, wo0t wo0t!) so if someone's really that horrible (and I've only found one or two), it's not a big deal to just delete it and find a copy at Project Gutenberg to read to myself.

[euclase.livejournal.com]

ummmm okay. hmmm. a) no idea who's doing the reading, and that might be important, b) i've read most of them in regular form, and it would be just weird hearing them, i mean good christ the canterbury tales in audio? weird weird weird, c) lol alexandre dumas is a 2 day audio book wtf at least you don't have ivanhoe on there

probably the only ones that would be remotely fun to listen to imho would be the dickens or austens. maybe?

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

a.) It is. The Kite Runner is read by the author. The rest of them are LibriVox recordings, which are done by random everyday people who volunteer. Siddhartha, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Wind in the Willows I downloaded specifically because of the reader -- you can search LibriVox by reader, and this guy is my favorite I've found so far -- but the rest are a mystery to me. If someone's REALLY awful, I stop listening. That's only happened a couple of times so far, though, and I've been using LibriVox for a while now.

b.) Weird? Really? I would think The Canterbury Tales would be one of those things that's better out loud. I mean, it's people telling each other stories out loud as they travel, so it's that sort of it's natural form? I dunno, I just love to be read to. I'd happily listen to the phone book if someone wanted to read it to me.

c.) hahaha, yeah, when I first downloaded and unzipped the Dumas stuff and saw how long all of it was, I was like "HOLY SHIT, MAN, DID YOU KNOW HOW TO SHUT UP!?" XD The Count of Monte Cristo = 117 chapters. (Moby Dick apparently has 135 and an epilogue, but presumably they're short, since that book takes HALF THE TIME to read.)

[euclase.livejournal.com]

Weird? Really? I would think The Canterbury Tales would be one of those things that's better out loud. I mean, it's people telling each other stories out loud as they travel, so it's that sort of it's natural form? I dunno, I just love to be read to. I'd happily listen to the phone book if someone wanted to read it to me.

no, i meant weird as in if it's not done right. reading the canterbury tales weird, actually. it should be read out loud, but it would be hard to listen to if it was done badly

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, I see. Yes, I agree, then. But ... really, everything is hard to listen to if it's done badly. XD

[queer-theory.livejournal.com]

Ha! I was the only person who picked three out of the five I voted for. I've read The Divine Comedy and enjoyed it immensely... I think it would be a pleasure to hear. The other four I picked (The Last Man, Journal of a Plague Year, The Sleeper Awakes, Uncle Tom's Cabin) are books I haven't read and have always wanted to.

I agree with the people who've said that knowing who reads them would make a difference.

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

High five for being different! :D

[wings-unfurling.livejournal.com]

I just want to say I didn't pick based on time. I picked what sounds most interesting to me. So my opinions might be null and void due to that. LOL

<333333333333

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Not at all. I reached my classics goal, so I'm not in a big rush to squeeze more in before March 5th. I'm going to listen to/read all of these eventually. I'm just having a hard time deciding the order, and asking other people like this is more fun than drawing titles from a hat. :D

[wings-unfurling.livejournal.com]

Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That makes sense! If I ever have time to read again I might do this too.

[eryslash.livejournal.com]

Siddharta! The Divine Comedy! So much awesome here. Also anything by Jules Verne is completely entertaining - oh, childhood memories <3