FYI...knowing what people read and what influenced them is interesting and advisory to librarians. The many responses are well worth reviewing by anyone developing library collections. You can go to the link and read what people responded and their reasons why.
Fascinating stuff, just a little bit dismaying. I don't think I could come up with just one book. It would be interesting if people could choose ten or twenty, and see if the results were the same.
The OCLC list shows, I believe, how often libraries weed bestsellers but don't remove their holdings from OCLC. At least I hope that's what it reflects - nineteen books by John Grisham, and only five by Thomas Hardy?
“Do you understand, sir, do you understand what it means when you have absolutely nowhere to turn?" Marmeladov’s question came suddenly into his mind "for every man must have somewhere to turn...”
For me the answer would have to be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I first read it (through an 11-hour long audiobook) in 2017, while biking to and fro high school, or taking the bus to see my then-partner. I would always end up daydreaming though, so I only really caught parts of the story and by the end of it I had barely a clue of what had gone down. I decided to re-read it, physically this time, a couple years later and I absolutely fell in love with it. So far I've read it 11 times, I own multiple copies and various editions (one of which is a collector's edition), and my most-beloved first-born copy is annotated so much the type is barely legible anymore. I've shared it with friends and family, who also liked it (but perhaps not as much as me), which makes me really happy. I once went on a 6-hour long HUNT in my city to buy a copy for my now-boyfriend, who would be visiting me for the first time a couple days later - it was exhausting and at times discouraging, but I would gladly do it again. I have a tradition of reading it every November, and annotating in a different colored pen. Frankenstein is also what led me to start my Substack, as I had ran out of podcast episodes on Spotify about it to listen to, and I still had so much more about it I wanted to discuss. Not sure my podcast has done those thoughts justice yet; I also have some ideas for essays/articles where I combine or analyse Frankenstein in light of different philosophical thoughts. So I must thank my past self for buying that Penguin Black Classics edition back in 2018 in Oxford, and I must thank Mary Shelley for writing a story that has influenced me positively in such a profound way.
FYI...knowing what people read and what influenced them is interesting and advisory to librarians. The many responses are well worth reviewing by anyone developing library collections. You can go to the link and read what people responded and their reasons why.
Fascinating stuff, just a little bit dismaying. I don't think I could come up with just one book. It would be interesting if people could choose ten or twenty, and see if the results were the same.
The OCLC list shows, I believe, how often libraries weed bestsellers but don't remove their holdings from OCLC. At least I hope that's what it reflects - nineteen books by John Grisham, and only five by Thomas Hardy?
Crime and Punishment -Fyodor Dostoevsky
Great Expectations -Charles Dickens
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest -Ken Kesey
C & P was the first thing I re-read during COVID.
Oh wow, such a masterpiece!
“Do you understand, sir, do you understand what it means when you have absolutely nowhere to turn?" Marmeladov’s question came suddenly into his mind "for every man must have somewhere to turn...”
-Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
For me the answer would have to be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I first read it (through an 11-hour long audiobook) in 2017, while biking to and fro high school, or taking the bus to see my then-partner. I would always end up daydreaming though, so I only really caught parts of the story and by the end of it I had barely a clue of what had gone down. I decided to re-read it, physically this time, a couple years later and I absolutely fell in love with it. So far I've read it 11 times, I own multiple copies and various editions (one of which is a collector's edition), and my most-beloved first-born copy is annotated so much the type is barely legible anymore. I've shared it with friends and family, who also liked it (but perhaps not as much as me), which makes me really happy. I once went on a 6-hour long HUNT in my city to buy a copy for my now-boyfriend, who would be visiting me for the first time a couple days later - it was exhausting and at times discouraging, but I would gladly do it again. I have a tradition of reading it every November, and annotating in a different colored pen. Frankenstein is also what led me to start my Substack, as I had ran out of podcast episodes on Spotify about it to listen to, and I still had so much more about it I wanted to discuss. Not sure my podcast has done those thoughts justice yet; I also have some ideas for essays/articles where I combine or analyse Frankenstein in light of different philosophical thoughts. So I must thank my past self for buying that Penguin Black Classics edition back in 2018 in Oxford, and I must thank Mary Shelley for writing a story that has influenced me positively in such a profound way.
No Shakespeare .. ? :/