I was able to fulfill a dream in 2004 by going to France to see the Tour de France. Another wish is to see the World Cup in all its insanity at some point in my life. Short of that, I was fascinated by a series of online articles in Salon back in 2002 in which the intrepid reporter attempted to watch World Cup games … [Read more...]
ML99. The Ginger Man
Danger, Dangerfield Modern Library # 99 1955, J.P. Donleavy "The Ginger Man" is an interesting book in the CTMQ household. In the few weeks it took Hoang to read it, I heard her complain about it numerous times. She just wasn't into it at all and her hatred of the protagonist, Sebastian Dangerfield, grew to … [Read more...]
Top 100 Books Tallies & Reviews
At the turn of the century, the Modern Library, whomever they may be, came out with a list of their Top 100 English Literature novels of the 20th Century. Criticism abounded and many more lists and counter-lists were developed. But I had met a girl who agreed to tackle the whole list with me, plodding slowly but … [Read more...]
ML98. The Postman Always Rings Twice
Yeah, See, It's a Good Book, See Modern Library # 98 1934, James M. Cain "Economy of words." That's the phrase my 11th grade English teacher taught me regarding the works of Ernest Hemingway, perhaps my favorite author. I'm a lazy reader by nature, so perhaps that's why this terse, direct style of … [Read more...]
ML97. The Sheltering Sky
Getting Their Just Deserts Modern Library # 97 1949, Paul Bowles I feel sort of weird sitting down to write this review. Now I realize that when a board selects 100 top books out of the hundreds of thousands written over the course of one hundred years, they all should be nearly perfect. Of course, as I’m … [Read more...]
ML92. Ironweed
Just Bummin' Around, Readin a Book Modern Library # 92 1979, William Kennedy I am such a bum when it comes to acheiving my goal of reading 3 Modern Library Top 100 books per year. Not only am I a bum because I didn't read any in the first two years of this project (whereas my wife is still on target to be … [Read more...]
ML88. The Call of the Wild
I Love a Good Buck Modern Library # 88 1903, Jack London I realize choosing the 100 greatest English Language novels of the 20th century must have been nearly impossible. Ranking them; even worse. But I can't imagine that I'm going to be reading 87 books better than The Call of the Wild. I'll admit … [Read more...]
ML86. Ragtime
A Ragtimes to Riches Story Modern Library # 86 1975, E.L. Doctorow Throw this book onto the pile of books that I was to have read in my youth but somehow never did. I think there are about 20 of those books on this list. If I recall correctly, I think I was supposed to read this in 10th grade... But I didn't. … [Read more...]
ML84. The Death of the Heart
Not All Portias Are Fast Modern Library # 84 1938, Elizabeth Bowen Oh dear, I must confess I found this book to be most detestable. Though, one must contemplate one's scholarly achievement in light of finishing this horrid little tome. (OK, enough Bowen-esque blather). Actually, this sea cucumber-paced … [Read more...]
ML76. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Take the Skinheads Bowling Modern Library # 76 1961, Muriel Spark A prime number is a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. Now I know Muriel Spark wasn¹t trying to be mathematically clever with her title, but I think it still bears mentioning. Jean Brodie is in … [Read more...]
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