Comments on: “The Shelf of Constant Reproach”

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:43:02 +0000

The two Faulkner novels that I’d recommend:

The Wild Palms or As I Lay Dying

By: maya

maya — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:23:38 +0000

Because I eschew the shelf of constant reproach, I used to have a “canon-only” policy. But as a public policy degree holder, it’s pure sin that I haven’t read Peter Schrag’s Paradise Lost.

By: Molly

Molly — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:22:16 +0000

I don’t actually care what books sit unread. I’m more afraid that my husband will find the really god-awful books that I don’t put on the shelf, because I’ve hidden them away, too ashamed to admit that I read them.

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:13:13 +0000

I have degrees in English (BA and masters), Poli Sci, and law, and I've never read the deTocqueville, either, and won't, because I don't own a copy. My shelf of reproach contains about 500 books and I need to knock a few off that list before I buy anything new. I'm currently working through it in vaguely alphabetical order (one author for each letter of the alphabet, and then I start over). From your list, I've read a lot of Faulkner and he is my favorite author, but he can be tough to approach. I'd start with Go Down, Moses, the novel that contains "The Bear." It's one of my favorites and you've already read the toughest part. I've read both The Illiad and The Odyssey, and I am sorry to say that compared to The Illiad, The Odyssey is just kind of boring. There is all that hacking people to pieces in The Illiad! But if you don't have the Fagles translations, get them -- they are super readable and may be easier to get into than what you read in college. I think The Grapes of Wrath is overrated but if you've enjoyed other Steinbeck then it's not a tough read or anything. I seem to remember that it's hard to get into, but moves along fine once you're in. I've tried to read Proust and the first part of the first part of that endless thing bored the heck out of me, and I decided life is too short to read long works that don't interest me. There are too many other things to read. Of course I know people who say Proust changed their lives, so maybe I am missing out, or maybe I'll just read it when I'm retired. Who says bad things about A Moveable Feast?

By: Clint

Clint — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:54:19 +0000

I have a degree, not just in pol sci, but pol rhetoric. And have yet to read through Democracy in America. Don’t feel badly. =)

Books everyone should read, but won’t because they’ve heard bad things about them:

A Moveable Feast – Hemingway
Tropic of Cancer – Miller
Finnegan’s Wake – Joyce
(more once I’ve had some coffee)