M1001 Nudge

This is my "classic books that sit on my shelf and glare at me like I am an illiterate, uncultured scumbag" TBR pile. Help me wipe the smug looks off their ostentatious spines by nudging me in the right direction.



Top of the Heap (literally, not figuratively)

The Age of Innocence - ****
The House of Mirth - **

Left side

War and Peace - **

Jane Austen Collection which includes:
Pride and Prejudice - ****
Sense and Sensibility (already read it) - ****
Emma - ****
Persuasion - *****
Mansfield Park - *****
Lady Susan - ***
Northanger Abbey - ****

Bronte Collection which includes:
Jane Eyre (already read it) - **
Shirley - *
Wuthering Heights - ****
Villette - *
The Professor - *

Right Side

The Jungle
The Idiot - **
Crime and Punishment - **
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Jude the Obscure
The Count of Monte Cristo - *

Thanks in advance,

- M1001

I don't think you're alone in having these cocky classics peer disapprovingly down their pince-nez at you. I'm afraid all of the Austin and Bronte novels have jeering rights over my uncouthness. War and Peace laughed at me half-way through and told me to be on my way or it would set the borzois on me.

Comrade Fyodor I'm a little more familiar with - I reread Crime and Punishment with great enjoyment recently - and I still regret giving away a collection of his novels as part of a futile relationship gesture many years ago. Oh well, I tell myself, as I reach for my reading glasses, the print in those editions was very small.

In stout support of my Russian favourite I'm going to nudge The Idiot as I love the character of Prince Myshkin.

This is a sexist comment, of which I am already ashamed and contrite, but it's good to get in first before the ladies sweep us away in a tsunami of proclaiming the delights of the aforesaid Austin and the Brontes!

Thanks for the feedback. I think I am going to tally the nudges on my first post like I saw some other group members doing here.

I was asked to join from a female buddy of mine over at the 1001 Books group. She thought a little testosterone would be good for the mix so I guess we can be manly without serious repercussions. Unfortunately, by using the phrase "tally the nudges" in my previous paragraph, I have undermined my manliness.

-- M1001

All those books look too heavy for me, but I'm sure it won't be a problem for a hulking he-man such as yourself.

Sorry, the only ones I've read are Wuthering Heights (is twisted and flawed, but I loved it), Jane Eyre, Emma (my least favourite Austen), Mansfield Park (loved it) and Persuasion (good too). Hope that helps! (No, I know it didn't).

I'm laughing hard! I might post a stack like this soon.

Here is your first girly vote.... for Pride and Prejudice! It's wonderful. Mansfield Park was my least favourite. Fanny Price was hard to warm to, as was her cousin. I loved all the other Austens you've listed (except Lady Susan which I haven't read).

Hey Med,

another strong he-man here, with strong he-man nudges. LOL

I've read all the glarers on your pile and will confess at the risk of having my Fight Club membership taken away, that I thoroughly enjoy Austen and have reread P&P several times. The Brontes I cannot stand, very much on sexist grounds. Wharton is enjoyable. War and Peace is great, sure, but you have to decide you are willing to spend two months with it, and perhaps not. Anna Karenina I prefer to War and Peace. But my nudge echoes Kevin above, and goes to The Idiot. I loved the book when I read it too many years ago. It may be time to reread, but I do have these glaring unread TBR piles all around, too.

Oh, does this pile look familiar. That said, I really and unexpectedly enjoyed The Age of Innocence when I read it as an LT Group Read earlier this year. So that's my nudge.

Oh, read them all!
But seriously, The Age of Innocence isn't too demanding so I'll nudge that. And Wuthering Heights - you'll never sleep near a window in a strange house with only a candle for light and a little old crone again. Heathcliff...

I will have to nudge ALL of Jane Austen, The Age of Innocence, and The Count of Monte Cristo, one of my favourite books of all time.

I will nudge Wuthering Heights (beautiful, brutal, shattering), or The House of Mirth (an elegantly written, compulsive read) or anything by Jane Austen, but especially Pride and Prejudice (scathing and sharply observed).

My juvenile sense of humour enjoyed the Radio 4 comedy series "The Arts and How They Was Done" by the self-acclaimed "National Theatre of Brent" i.e. Patrick Barlow and John Ramm. One of the programmes in their very silly series was entitled "The Bronte Sisters and How They Done Their Novels"

Barlow and Ramms' two characters, Desmond Oliver Dingle and Raymond Box, imagine themselves as ghostly presences in the isolated parsonage at Haworth, a la Ebeneezer Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas Past.

The episode contains the fabulously funny enquiry from Box to Dingle - "Do you think the Brontes saw us?".

It's made me laugh all year. Probably that's just me.

Well, I've read everything there except the Wharton. I'd avoid quite a few of those in retrospect: the Hugo's boring and Jude the Obscure is extremely depressing. Crime and Punishment is brilliant, but dark, like a lot in that pile! I'd recommend all the Bronte novels as 'good reads'. War and Peace is great in all respects: I'd quite like to re-read that myself.

By the way, those books look far too weighty! Do you work out?!

Reply Message 11: dylanwolf

It's funny in a dry, witty, surreal way, which is something British people, like yourself, can pull off.

If I, as an American, try to deliver a line like that, I would be branded a Monty Python geek (because, as all Americans know, Monty Python is the only comedic show that the UK has ever produced) and I would get beat up and have my milk money stolen.

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Reply Message 12: Hera

Yes, I work out all the time. For example, I carry heavy books around my house and put them in piles and photograph them. Perhaps you've seen some of my work...

I also do Dance Dance Revolution on my Wii, which, I think we all can agree, is something that every white guy pushing 40 should be doing. My friends have even encouraged me to videotape my daily routines and post them on YouTube but I don't believe they have my best interests in mind.

To summarize, I am almost exactly like Adonis, except that I am older and out of shape and not as pretty and I don't have any superpowers.

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Clearly, all nudges are not created equal. Some are a friendly shove and others a finger in the chest. Some like a gentle summer breeze caressing my fevered brow and others like a grope in a crowded subway train. I have liberally included each opinion, from stauch to wishy-washy, in my original post and, so far, Persuasion and Mansfield Park are winning. I appreciate all of the feedback.

-- M1001

Wuthering Heights is my favourite book so I'm nudging that one.

Jude the Obscure is a bit melodramatic, but I love it nonetheless. It's my favorite Hardy novel.

I'd also nudge Jane Eyre, Persuasion, and The House of Mirth.

Thank you Cariola, I thought I was on my own in loving Jude The Obscure!

I have to nudge The House of Mirth and Pride and Prejudice.

Wow, lots of good classics there!

My picks are: Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

I would have to nudge P&P by Jane Austen because she is my favourite author of the three and P&P is my favourite Austen of the collection.

I have to softly nudge Mansfield Park too. I don't think Mansfield Park has received as much attention as other Austen books such as P&P, S&S, and Emma because its movie versions hasn't been as good as those ones and hasn't had the 'big names' staring in them. However for 'readability' it's actually quite good.

I would not recommend Northanger Abbey I haven't been able to finish that one yet because it's so silly and it's supposed ot be silly I know but it grates on my nerves.

The BBC version of Mansfield Park is really good. That and P&P are the mainstay of my ironing sessions. I probably watch them both several times a year. I really ought to pull the book out and read it.

Well, like the others, I've read most of this pile:-) I've read Jane Eyre and several of the Austens more than once, but the book I'm going to nudge, also read several times, is The Count of Monte Cristo.

Persuasion! Persuasion! Persuasion!

Hmm, that's not very persuasive, really... but it's great. Really.

I hated Wuthering Heights. Listen to Kate Bush and you've got the best of it - just missing a few pages of badly-transcribed Yorkshire dialect. Ugh.

Being as how you have declared yourself of the male gender, I am nudging War and Peace and Jude the Obscure.

Both amazing, both unforgettable. (who can beat Tolstoy or Hardy).

Thanks for the laughs - really enjoying your thread M1001. I am off to U-tube to look up your dance routine and continue the giggles.

(If you are a female in disguise, I think you should pick Persuasion. If you need to write a love letter anytime soon, just skip to the declarative love letter at the end and you will 'pierce the soul' of any female you desire!

#18 - The BBC version of Mansfield Park is really good. That and P&P are the mainstay of my ironing sessions. I probably watch them both several times a year. I really ought to pull the book out and read it.
---------------

I like to watch Jane Austen movies when I iron too! (about 3x a year--kinda save it up for the off season). Either Jane Austen or a good audio book.

Okay, enough of the domestic stuff. Back to the he-man talk.

I suggest-nudge "The idiot", my favourite in that pile. "Crime and punishment" as a close second.

I nudge War and Peace. Although long, Tolstoy is worth it.
--BJ

Dostoyevsky is better.

"accidentally" shoving Tolstoy in the ribs

Ooops, gone.

Well, Dostoyevsky is a shorter read, so that might be an incentive, M1001?.

Both great writers, though, and what a tormented life Dostoyevsky suffered, especially when compared with Tolstoy.

Hi, LolaWalser (temporarily hijacking M1001's nudge thread)!
Although I am embarrassed to admit it, I have not read any Dostoyevsky yet. However, the 999 Challenge is going to do a group read of The Brothers Karamazov in February. Then I will be able to know for sure. However, I surely do like Tolstoy. :)
(Returning to M1001's nudge thread -- Sorry!)
--BJ

Book length isn't much of an issue anymore because I was crazy enough to start reading Proust about two months ago...nothing seems long after that.

I know that I said that I was going to update my first post with a summary of the nudges, but it turns out that I am entirely too lazy to do it now...who knew?

And if I am a female in disguise, it's a pretty good disguise because it has fooled me for all these years. But, yeah, I am in touch enough with my feminine side to read Persuasion or talk about bubble baths or...pedicures or...uhhh, you know...doilies or whatever.

At any rate, it looks like it is Jane Austen versus The Russians, which is forming a very funny picture in my head. I think I will get some sleep and total in the morning.

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback.

-- M1001

I am late and you have chosen. Persuasion is a good choice, but you really need to reveal a bit more about yourself on your profile page or here to receive adequate feedback. For example, to what music do you listen? What artists do you like? Your favorite color? And finally, if you were sent to Hell for eternity, how would the Committee in Charge of Making Your Life Hell decorate your Hell cell? What books would the committee put on your shelves? What pictures would hang on your walls? To what music would you be forced to listen ad nauseum? These are just a few questions to get you started thinking about your Hell cell. Please feel free to add more.

Ciao,
urania1

What Kevin is trying to reinforce in #30 before he became tongue-tied, is reveal thyself media1001, although likely in more subtle tones and with voluntary somewhere in there.

Hell's teeth. I don't remember posting nothing here (which sounds like bad English but I mean it literally). Never mind, back to the lab. Yours truly, Dr Jeckyll.

Karen (Kiwidoc) is probably right though. M1001, who are you? Damn it, now I've got that old "The Who" record playing in my head.

Message 30: dylanwolf:

Uhhh...reveal myself? I'm a pharmacist, and sometimes a computer programmer, living in the Seattle area and reading a lot of books. Adventure, danger and romance are my constant companions as I design sorting algorithms and talk to patients about how to administer suppositories.

How's that?

-- M1001

Great, now we know who to call for paracetamol when a book gives us a headache!

I vote for Jude the Obscure. I do have to say that most men like The Count of Monte Cristo. I like all the Jane Austen stuff. I just read Pride and prejudice for the first time because I thought I had read it before. It is definately essential among her works.

33> "Adventure, danger and romance are my constant companions..." In that case, I must nudge you towards The Count of Monte Cristo. Emma and Wuthering Heights get thumbs down from me because, no matter how brilliantly they are written, they both have main characters that I found thoroughly annoying. Pride and Prejudice is delightful, though, and so is Persuasion.

Don't be such a wimp and bite the bullet! War and Peace is my nudge for you. You will not regret it, it's a great read. And you will look so virtuous carrying it around!

Sorry, I don't think Mr. 1001 should read War and Peace. I believe he's already reading Proust, and carrying both those books around will result in a rather ape-like appearance. Next thing you know, he'll be walking with his knuckles.

Yes, Nickelini knows all of my deepest, darkest, literary nerd secrets. I am actually reading Remembrance of Things Past and have been for the last two months. I have about one thousand pages to go and about three inches of clearance between the floor and my knuckles.

-- M1001.

Golly, mmmm as far as I know that's not one of the benfits of reading Proust. Someone needs to alert Mr De Botton.
In that case I would go for Austen after all that cloying French prose.

Tolstoy v Dostoevsky. A choice so problematic, George Steiner wrote a book about it, Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. He preferred Dostoevsky.

That said, I nudge both War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, to be followed by a palate-cleansing Pride and Prejudice: a show of ands.

Okay, sorry about the sparse profile. I have quite a few accounts around the internet and I don't always remember what I included where...I added some more info and a photo and a link to my site that has the list of my books I am reading from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die book.

And Kevin...paracetamol? You Brits and your crazy medications and foodstuffs. I found chocolate-covered sweet tarts in a London vending machine once. What were you thinking on *that* one?

I think you mean acetaminophen...jeez, this is America, man, learn to speak English...

(message edited to fix English grammar and spelling errors)

-- M1001

I spent the last two and a half years herding a reading group through Proust. I think I had a nervous breakdown somewhere around Sodom and Gomorrah but recovered sufficiently to lead the final triumphant charge to Time Regained. Proust is quite funny, but I agree with tomcatMurr, judicious doses of Alain de Botton and perhaps a wee strengthening drop of whiskey are needed for the journey.

@media1001 LOL - Now a tart in the UK is another name for a prostitute. A sweet one would be golden-hearted - as in melodramas they always are - e.g. Nancy in Oliver! but chocolate-covered?... Surely, my friend, that would cost you extra.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

urania1: Proust is quite an interesting beast. The experience has been an entanglement of emotions and opinions within myself. I suppose that is what he was going for.

Kevin: LOL! Yes, and the vending machines in London are HUGE...but very, very popular...

-- M1001