I was kind of looking at books and I started wondering if there was something in iTunes that I could download. Instead I found a Yale course on among other things Faulkner and “As I Lay Dying”. There were three lectures each about an hour on the book. I am going to listen to them. I did not see any audio recordings of the book. I am not sure how I completely feel on audio vs. actual reading. I think reading is different and important. So I am going to listen to the recordings and then possibly buy the book to read. I can get a book (ebook) in iTunes for $10. I think I prefer the physical copy ($17 Amazon)

I have been fascinated with David Wallace’s “Infinite Jest” ever since I read a review by Steven King. The first attempt I made was soon after I read that review. I went to a Barnes and Noble and read the first chapter. I was completely lost. I had no idea what I had read even though I knew all the words. I put it back on the shelf. Then I saw an interview that Charlie Rose had with David Wallace and I thought I would try it again. Then while I was dithering I found out that David had killed himself in 2008. I read about that and wondered if reading his book would be worth it. I read Catch-22. It was on my list of 100 books. I then remembered that Steven King had said that he hadn’t read a book as brilliant since Catch-22. So I went to our library and put my name on the waiting list. I read the first chapter and wondered why I had thought it so hard to understand. I realized that it was a different kind of reading. Sentences mattered. words mattered. I couldn’t speed read for plot. I started enjoying. Then hardly through the first 200 pages (there are over 1,000) I realized I wasn’t jumping into bed hoping to get a few minutes with the book. It started becoming more of a chore. I took it back and got Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

I tend to have more fun creating these lists than I do actually reading the books. Here is yet another iteration of the list. This one is actual a straight copy of a Newsweek list published in 2009. It was a compilation of many lists and I had a few complaints like the fact that there are many authors with more than one book, but I have reconciled that I am ok with that now. As for reading I am reading Anna Karenina (#47) with Miranda. Here is the list in an ugly table that was created by excel because I was too lazy to make it pretty. I continue to tweek it, but it is what it is. Notice that there are only 99 books. that is because I left the Illiad and Odyssy off the list. I read them and found them completely unreadable.