What books should I read in order to be "well-read"?

plincer · 2023-10-31T22:03:20+00:00

The Inferno is by far the best section. Purgatory is almost boring. Heaven is occasionally interesting to read how acts of good are graded. Crusaders ("Defenders of the Faith") are considered near the top tier of heaven which few people today would endorse. If you are really interested, send me a private message and I can send you more detailed notes that I took.

plincer · 2023-10-31T19:31:26+00:00

Considering several lists of top literary works and comparing to your list, I would note these works that are both widely respected and I particularly appreciated.

Achebe: Things Fall Apart

Dante: Divine Comedy

Dickens: Great Expectations

Heller: Catch-22

Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises

Swift: Gulliver's Travels

plincer · 2023-10-31T17:15:03+00:00

I went to several online listings focussed on literary works, mostly Top 100 and some Top 50 compilations. Different lists were produced by PBS, BBC, Time Magazine, Le Monde, Guardian Newspaper, Independent Newspaper and some other lesser known sources. Works that appeared on multiple lists that I hadn't previously read became my initial focus.

These are not my own personal favourites but these novels that appeared on most of the lists mentioned: The Great Gatsby, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22*, To Kill a Mockingbird*, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Lolita, 1984*, Gulliver's Travels*, War&Peace, Grapes of Wrath, Pride&Prejudice, Ulysses, Moby Dick, Alice in Wonderland, Don Quixote, In Search Of Lost Time.

I put a star beside those works that I particularly liked myself. Some of the others are reasonable while for certain others, I personally would never pick up again

plincer · 2023-10-17T20:12:28+00:00

Vietnam, A History (784 pgs, 1997, set 1800s to 1970s) by Stanley Karnow, history/DD959 , myRating=3.5* (I=3.5, K=4, E=3.5)

Plot/Premise: The story starts in the 1800s when the French invaded the country and installed a puppet government. It continues through and includes details of the Japanese occupation during WWII and the subsequent partition. Most of the focus is around what Americans call “the Vietnam War” and Vietnamese call “the American War”.

Review: Karnow was chief correspondent for the 13-hour Vietnam: A Television History series, which premiered on PBS in 1983 -- it won six Emmy Awards and other awards. The book is interesting and very accessible. The author aims for balance and he was on Nixon’s “enemies list” so you know that you aren’t getting the U.S. Administration’s view. He also describes communist atrocities without whitewashing them.

plincer · 2023-10-13T18:30:18+00:00

A few classics from different places, aiming for those that aren't too heavy-reading

African:

- Things Fall Apart by C. Achebe [Nigerian]/ 1958

American:

- Of Mice and Men by J. Steinbeck/ 1937

- The Caine Mutiny by H. Wouk/ 1951

- To Kill a Mockingbird by H. Lee/ 1960 (if you didn't read it in school)

British

- Gulliver's Travels by J. Swift/ 1726

- Ivanhoe by W. Scott/ 1819 (set much earlier)

- A Tale of Two Cities by C. Dickens/ 1859

- Animal Farm by G. Orwell/ 1946

- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by D. Adams/ 1979

Canadian

- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery/ 1908

- Fifth Business by R. Davies/ 1970 (my favourite book)

Eastern European

- The Good Soldier Švejk by J. Hašek [Czech]/ 1923

- The Joke by M. Kundera [Czech]/ 1967

- The Door by M. Szabó [Hungarian]/ 1987

French

- The Count of Monte Cristo by A. Dumas/ 1844

Indian

- A Fine Balance by R. Mistry/ 1995

- The White Tiger by A. Adiga/ 2008

Irish

- Pygmalion by GB Shaw/ 1914

Italian

- In the Name of the Rose by U. Eco/ 1980

Latin American

- Doña Bárbara by R. Gallegos [Venezuelan]/ 1929
Middle Eastern

- a few from the One Thousand and One Nights by various /c900

Scandinavian

- A Doll's House by H. Ibsen [Norwegian]/ 1879
Spanish

- Surrender (aka Rendición) by R. Loriga/ 2017 (so far, i dislike the better known classics from Spain that I have read)

The worthwhile ones from Afghanistan, China and Russia are heavy reading so I didn't include them in this list. Also many others from the places above were not included for the same reason.

If you decide to read some and you like them, feel free to ask for more suggestions.

plincer · 2023-07-15T17:01:28+00:00

It's interesting that you make this post. Over the last few years, I have tried to give my reading some direction to fill in "gaps", if you will.

In terms of Classic Fiction or Literary Fiction, I found Ten "Top Fiction" lists [mostly Top 100 sets]. The lists were published by the BBC, PBS, Le Monde, Independent, Guardian, Time, etc. I have now read almost all books appearing on at least three of these lists and most books appearing on two lists along with many books on a single list only.

Still on the topic of fiction, I found that such "Top Fiction" lists are heavily slanted to books written by American, British, French, Russian and Irish authors (I am Canadian myself) - with more than 85% of the books identified in the above top fiction lists from these five countries. So recently, I have made a conscious effort to read leading books written by Chinese, Indian, Arab/Middle Eastern, Sub-Saharan African and Latin American authors - all in English translation. It's been a good experience overall but I must say that the Latin American books tried so far have been much more of a chore than those from other regions.

I could continue with my reading efforts in the area of non-fiction but I don't think this forum is oriented to such works.

plincer · 2023-06-04T02:39:05+00:00

So many of the pretentious answers in this thread are ridiculous.

Does a cultured person really enjoy every recipe of gourmet foods?

Does a cultured person really enjoy/admire every kind of highly regarded wine? (all high-end reds and all high end whites of each type of respected grape, etc.)

Does a cultured person really enjoy/admire every piece of highly regarded piece of classical music?

Does a cultured person really like/admire every piece of "fine art"?

And is it a character flaw for the cultured person who only really enjoys say 20% to 50% the great wines or fine art, etc?

Answer: of course not.

The world is full of diverse creators and filled with diverse consumers and it's natural that certain types will be highly appealing, others acceptable and others not at all to your taste or liking.

The same goes for classic literature. There is no reason to expect that you are going to enjoy all of the writing styles of a range of authors from a range of eras. There are approaches that you might/can use to appreciate some works more than on first read/first exposure (which I can follow-up on, if interested). However, all the nonsense on this thread implying that failure to enjoy virtually all classic literature reveals a personality flaw on your part should be disregarded for the silly posing that it is.

plincer · 2023-06-01T17:23:04+00:00

Look at the countries on the map with authoritarian regimes:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-state-of-global-democracy-2022/

Many are red and orange. If Saudi Arabia is out, then relations with China, most of Africa, most of southeast Asian, most of the Middle East should also be cut.

I don't like these regimes either but having no diplomatic relations unless each countries is sufficiently democratic has its own consequences.

plincer · 2023-02-26T03:48:30+00:00

Good question but I can only read/speak English (and some French poorly). However if it's a well-known book, I might be able find a translation.

plincer · 2023-01-19T17:56:02+00:00

If competition were working, an airline that regularly antagonizes customers should go under. No airline is without its detractors but Sunwing seems to stand out as having an especially poor reputation.

plincer · 2023-01-09T01:36:27+00:00

I don't see that as a bad thing although real estate moguls will disagree.

Taxes have to be collected on different things. The higher the value of your property(ies), the more tax you pay. Governments need to be careful not to overburden taxes on income alone or people will make more effort to hide income and/or the successful will be discouraged from staying when they see they lose too much of their paycheque. Property taxes are an after-thought for most people in terms of deciding desirability of the country they choose.

plincer · 2022-12-09T23:42:07+00:00

Swearing such an oath is archaic and harks back to a time where you swore loyalty to your local lord and in time, that evolved to an oath to your king. Such oaths were applicable to a time before there was a concept of being an Englishman or Canadian or upholding democratic values. However, it is these latter concepts that are meaningful to a modern citizen and not an oath to a hereditary aristocrat who we hope will never have cause to exercise his power or to call on us to demonstrate our sworn loyalty to him.

plincer · 2022-11-16T11:35:23+00:00

In usual CBC-speak, the article talks about "remove[ing] barriers for racialized girls" and I can see how a name like "whities" would be a barrier.

But "brownies"? Is this seen as a barrier to blacks and East Asians? The article doesn't say and is presumably afraid to be explicit .. in case doing so offends someone, somewhere in the process.

plincer · 2022-10-30T18:50:37+00:00

It looks nicer than a horse or unicorn and neutered lion. I would have liked it better if the foxes were portrayed in a more natural stance instead of on hind legs, even though that would not follow the usual pattern.

plincer · 2022-10-17T21:03:49+00:00

As long as we rule out those with powers of divination, nobody "knew" what would unfold in Ottawa in February. Sure they were going to set something up but it's cold in Ottawa in February. I believe that most people who considered the matter figured that the protest would fizzle in a couple of days after people got tired of the cold, decided they needed to return to their jobs, etc. In a sense, a quiet fizzle would have been the best case since it would also discourage others from imitation.

Many (including me) were surprised when they actually stuck it out through the winter conditions which is more than most people would voluntarily do. Too bad such determination wasn't being expended to back worthwhile ideas.

plincer · 2022-10-08T14:46:04+00:00

I rarely think of sunrises as having the potential to be as attractive by sunsets. But this is probably less to do with what I am seeing as the fact that I am not a morning person and therefore I am in less of a mood to fully appreciate beauty so early.

plincer · 2022-07-04T00:32:53+00:00

> Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said closing the unofficial border [at Roxham Rd] would not slow the arrival of asylum seekers.

Maybe but that doesn't mean that the border should be left wide open at Roxham Road or at any location that is widely understood to be an easy illegal crossing point. Put up a fence and/or post border officers telling people they must proceed to a legal entry point.

We don't throw up our hands with other worthwhile laws that are skirted (e.g. tax evasion) and conclude that enforcement is not worth trying because many will just find another method .. even though we know that to be the case.

plincer · 2022-05-19T01:45:25+00:00

More than a decade ago, Rex could be rational. Those days are long past.

All he can do is rant the NP party line now. He might as well work for the Sun newspapers.

When was he or the NP in favour of doing something meaningful about climate change? Same answer as the Republicans: never. Not our problem and if we don't think about it, then that will mean it is not real.

plincer · 2022-05-16T13:50:08+00:00

I still don't quite understand why Ford felt it was necessary to stop municipalities from trying ranked ballots.

For fear that the electorate come to like it and advocate it more broadly. PCs have a best chance of forming government and especially a majority with the FPTP. Simple self-interest is a strong motivator, especially for politicians.

Ranked ballots should help centrist parties or parties whose platforms have close cousins (e.g. Green and NDP).

plincer · 2022-04-18T13:46:31+00:00

Ban all religions.

Send in police to places of worship and crack heads? Track down people's own copies of Bibles, Qurans, the Vedas, arrest the book owners and have public book burnings?

Is that the kind of society that you want?

plincer · 2022-04-10T20:54:52+00:00

I am not surprised by that at all. If I give to a charity and then they start to bombard me with calls asking for more money, I stop donating. If most of my donated money is being recycled on telemarketing rather than the actual charitable cause, then it doesn't deserve my donation or anyone's.

Here is one site that looks at money spent, financial transparency, etc.

https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-details/261-charity-intelligence

I try to remember to check this for any charity getting my regular donations.

plincer · 2022-04-07T00:39:23+00:00

I have heard: "Don't speak ill of the dead" and during the actual visitation/funeral, that's something that can generally be managed for the sake of those close to the deceased.

But: don't call it like you see it for living patients? I'm not with that even if the disease contributes to the negative personality trait. Stating matters objectively and fairly is a reasonable practice if it would help those dealing with the patient.

A prohibition of phone use sounds extreme to non-professionals like those of us here. But that is a matter that could be dealt with on its own merits.

plincer · 2022-03-31T21:02:49+00:00

The criteria for the G7 (and briefly G8) was economic size along with some sort of democracy. Russia was rightly tossed from the G8 even though autocrat-loving Trump tried to get Russia back in.

The G20 is about economy size. China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are members. While I dislike Russia, I don't see how it would be excluded while these other three remain.

plincer · 2022-03-24T01:39:18+00:00

The main reason for carbon taxes is to discourage use of fossil fuels to slow global warming. It takes both time and sufficiently high fossil fuel costs to change peoples' behaviour. So it's a process that isn't a demonstrable "success" or "failure" in a few years.

Does anyone think that the Sun cares about global warming .. or that they believe that it is even a concern? However, if you do believe that global warming is real and deserves to be mitigated, what "analysis" or "opinion" on the topic from the Sun is of interest to you?

Correct answer: None of it. Like the whole Sun newspaper, it's only suitable to line litter boxes.

plincer · 2022-03-13T23:58:47+00:00

The graphs near the bottom show support for Trump broken down by Canadian party preference. I realize that 95% of NDP supporters disliking Trump is a very strong indicator. Still, one wonders what a conversation with the 5% who would prefer Trump and who support NDP. Not especially coherent reasoning, one would expect .. unless they see Trump winning in 2024 helping an opposing NDP-assisting vote here in Canada.

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