i've got my work cut out for me.

Like all pretentious people, I like to consider myself reasonably well read. You know, I took all the obligatory AP and Honors English classes that pretentious people tend to take, and my summer reading lists have generally been guided my own pretentious desire to stack my bookshelves with books that would clearly identify me as well read. Well somebody somewhere authoritatively-- pretentiously-- made a list of the top 1001 books and even got a New York Times story about the list, so clearly the pretentious people at the NYT think this list has some kind of street cred.* It's not in numerical order, but I bet Big Brother would be pleased to see #301 is on the list, amongst others. I myself was validated in my pretentiousness by the presence of #242. Anyways, here's how I fared:

I've read 24 of the 1001 books.
I seen the movie versions of 9 of the books, and 1 is in my Netflix queue.
I've started 9 of the books but never finished them but probably got a nice nap out of the effort.
I would have read ~8 more if I wouldn't have taken advanced English classes in high school (verses the 2 from those classes that made the list).
My scores were greatly inflated by the presence of most (if not all) of the Jane Austen library.**
I will probably continue being pretentious, as I feel entitled to it.***

How did you fare?


*Tone of the article: "Two potent factors make “1001 Books” (published in the United States in 2006 by Universe; $34.95) compelling: guilt and time. It plays on every serious reader’s lingering sense of inadequacy. Page after page reveals a writer or a novel unread, and therefore a demerit on the great report card of one’s cultural life. Then there’s that bullying title, with its ominous allusion to the final day when, for all of us, the last page is turned." I read the list before I read the article and agree with the author of the article that the list author must have an Ian McEwan fetish. Also, bonus points to the article author for referencing currywurst, one of the world's most magical treats ever-- the mere mention of it sends me into a fit of nostalgia for little wurst trailers in a variety of German towns and cities. I might have to read that book just for shits and giggles. There really is nothing better than a currywurst on a cold day.

**I forgot to include her for the movies, so that makes the movies score more like fifteen and is probs pushing 20 if you include all the respective versions of Pride and Prejudice that I've seen, much less own. Also, listmakers street cred is seriously undermined by including the one where the cousins fall in love. Blech.

***which means I will continue to ask the waitress if "the nachos are forthcoming" because I will not be humbled! I am still too proud of myself for finishing War and Peace, the major victory of the winter of 2006-2007 and perhaps my whole life.

Picture at top can be found here. J'adore Christopher David Ryan's work.