books you are ashamed you have not read

[Michael]

Quote Originally Posted by With Strength I Burn

Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. There's just too much good stuff out there.

You get a total past on Proust. That is massive and there's so much meat on that bone. Also, one of my friends told me that reading it in the native French is an entirely different experience than reading it in English which made me go "F&#k me!!!" because I slogged my way through it (got a TON out of it) but now feel that I may be missing crucial parts since I didn't read it in French.

[xylokopos]

Not ashamed as such - I have accumulated enough shame through other activities without having to drag reading or not reading books into it - but I am vaguely haunted by the only two books I started and never finished: Kafka's The Castle and St. Augustine's Confessions.

I recall reading the first forty or so pages of The Castle. I certainly did not decide to stop reading because I was not enjoying the experience. Before that, I had read In the Penal Colony in some horror anthology or other while I was still a teenager and I had loved it. I then borrowed The Metamorphosis from my best friend and read that. It is possible I was still at school when I first read The Trial. I loved reading Kafka then as I do now. So, why could I not finish The Castle? Was it that I was called for military service? Did I leave the country and forget about it for years? Did my copy get misplaced? And why have I never found the time or the opportunity to finish the damn thing? It is incomprehensible.

The Confessions I read, or tried to read, when I was a bit older, still though in my early twenties. I recall the fantastic copy I had, a black leather-bound edition with extraordinary typeface, in Greek, published by some specialty publisher of Church History and the Early Fathers. I remember that I was fascinated with St. Augustine's recollections of a sinful past as if it belonged to another, since he, now devoted to virtue, recollected with phenomenal detachment. I thought I would explore that idea, perhaps write something about it and then...nothing. I have a vague and possible false memory that I stopped reading the Confessions in order to read Feyerabend's Autobiography and never picked it up again. I have stood holding a copy of the Confessions in many bookstores since, but somehow I have never found the capacity to purchase a copy.

Something subliminal and evil is at work here!

[Druidic]

I have to read Huysmans, good ole 'mishmas." His books were never easily found in American bookstores when I was a teenager--I never saw a copy of any of his works outside of a library--and some poor idjit told me back then he was "like De Sade", a writer I detest. I've only read one of De Sade's works, Justine, and was moved to laughter, disgust and boredom.

[Michael]

Quote Originally Posted by Druidic

I have to read Huysmans, good ole 'mishmas." His books were never easily found in American bookstores when I was a teenager--I never saw a copy of any of his works outside of a library--and some poor idjit told me back then he was "like De Sade", a writer I detest. I've only read one of De Sade's works, Justine, and was moved to laughter, disgust and boredom.

Think Huysmans is way more sophisticated than De Sade. De Sade was far too bombastic; the guy liked to hear himself talk. Huysmans actually had something to say. Some parts of La Bas and A Rebours are dated but think you gotta give him a pass on that. While not a writer in the "Canon" he definitely has a lot to offer. I came through him when a friend said that he was inspired a lot by Schopenhauer. Deep pessimism running through the works I've read of his. Pretty cool.

The Gormenghast trilogy
Robert Aickman
M. R. James
The Lord of the Rings
The works of Homer and Virgil
Most works by Borges
Dracula
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Most major religious texts
Most major philosophical texts
Most major scientific texts

Quote Originally Posted by Michael

Quote Originally Posted by Druidic I have to read Huysmans, good ole 'mishmas." His books were never easily found in American bookstores when I was a teenager--I never saw a copy of any of his works outside of a library--and some poor idjit told me back then he was "like De Sade", a writer I detest. I've only read one of De Sade's works, Justine, and was moved to laughter, disgust and boredom. Think Huysmans is way more sophisticated than De Sade. De Sade was far too bombastic; the guy liked to hear himself talk. Huysmans actually had something to say. Some parts of La Bas and A Rebours are dated but think you gotta give him a pass on that. While not a writer in the "Canon" he definitely has a lot to offer. I came through him when a friend said that he was inspired a lot by Schopenhauer. Deep pessimism running through the works I've read of his. Pretty cool.

I read Michel Houellebecq's Submission this past Christmas, which transmuted casual familiarity with intrigue. Yet to pick up any of his works yet as my reading list is a bit overwhelming at the moment but am very anxious to see what he has to offer.

[Cnev]

Julia Kristeva's "Black Sun". I don't know what the deal is, as this book is right up my alley and something I've wanted to read for a long time. But, every time I sit down to read it, I get through like 4 pages and close it up. I have no idea why. In a few more years I should have those 4 pages well memorized.

[teguififthzeal]

I want to read everything by Patrick McGrath. I've forgotten exactly what "Spider" was like but parts of it have remained in my mind years later. He reminds me of Ligotti somehow, without the maybe kind of supernatural element.

[miguel1984]

Neuromancer by William Gibson.

Quote Originally Posted by miguel1984

Neuromancer by William Gibson.

One of the finest works science fiction has ever produced.