Reading Lists - article by Whimsical Wire Articles

Reading Lists

There is an obsession with lists these days, concerned with all the things you should do before you die! These often take the form of reading lists, containing older books that have stood the test of time and more contemporary offerings. Surveys of favorite books usually have JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as the number one book. One thing is for sure; there will never be enough time to read all the books that you would like. Old classics remain unread on the shelf as new best sellers are published.

Most lists would contain the extremely original novel by Mark Haddon, called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year. The central character, writing in the first person, is fifteen year old Christopher Boone. He suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and he is a mathematical savant. Boone struggles with relationships and takes comfort in math and science.

Canadian author Margaret Attwood is used to being put forward for literary awards and her book, The Blind Assassin won the prestigious Booker prize in 2000. The plot centers on a woman looking back at her life from childhood. Much of the story takes place in Toronto in the 1930s and 1940s. Newfoundland is the setting for another popular novel on reading lists, The Shipping News by E.Annie Proulx. This won a Pulitzer Prize and was made into a film, starring Kevin Spacey and Judy Dench. The main character is an emotionally disturbed journalist who leaves New York to find some meaning in his life.

Birdsong is part of a trilogy along with The Girl at the Lion d'Or and Charlotte Gray. Written by Sebastian Faulks, it tells the story of Stephen Wraysord, an officer in the British Army who experiences horrific battles at the Somme and at Ypres during World War I. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut also concerns the tragedy of war. The plot is partly about the author's own experience in World War II, when he witnessed the fire bombing of Dresden. This is usually the highest placed of Vonnegut's novels on reading lists.

Most people are familiar with the story of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, even if they haven't read the book. Always present on reading lists, the plot has a relevance to modern life in its depiction of Big Brother and a controlled society. The Trial by Franz Kafka also has a bleak look at contemporary society. The protagonist, Josef K is put on trial and is never told of his crime.

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