Monday, October 25, 2010

Get out of jail free card 1

When I decided to read through the 1,001 Books list, I immediately realised that there were some books I simply couldn't face reading so I gave myself a little "cheat" - the get out of jail free cards.  I am allowing myself to choose not to read up to 50 of the 1,001 Books but, instead, to replace them with books that are in other editions of the book not the 2006 edition from which I have taken the list.

The next book on my list from the 1,001 Books was supposed to have been Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann.  This is a 19th Century family saga about the gradual fall from grace of a prosperous Hamburg family.  Now I am not a big fan of family sagas in general.  Netiher am I a big fan of German literature, as I have previously mentioned on one or two occasions.  So, when the RNG threw up Buddenbrooks, it pretty much ticked all of my least favorite boxes.  I could try and overcome my prejudices or I could take the easy route and use the get out of jail card.  Guess what I did.  Yes, that's right.  I played the card.  No more Buddenbrooks.

Instead I have chosen to replace it with the Third Man by Graham Greene.  One of my favorite authors but not one I have read.

The review will be coming up soon.

2 comments:

Shelley said...

What a great idea! There are some on that list I have no desire to read--usually the more modern ones. I love Graham Greene, although I've only read three by him. I have The Comedians on my shelf waiting for me.
Great blog! It's always great to find a classics blog.

Falaise said...

Thanks for the lovely comment, Shelley! The first Greene I read was Stamboul Train many, many years ago and he's been one of my favorite authors ever since.