I’m not going to make a big fuss about completing my read through the 100 best novels written in English as chosen by the Guardian, but I did want to mark the moment with a few thoughts:
- It was harder than I expected. 100 novels in two years, or one a week, sounds straightforward. But of course life gets in the way, and for every 150 pager than can be read in an afternoon, there was a Victorian three volume 800 pager to be navigated.
- The quality of the novels on the list was varied, to say the least. But I was pushed firmly out of my comfort zone, particularly in tackling some American authors I was aware of but had not read before, and of course having to go back to the 18th Century and the beginning of the novel as a narrative form.
- Was the list a fair roundup of the best 100 novels written in English? The definition of novel was stretched to breaking – I don’t think Pilgrim’s Progress belonged there, for example – and there were other choices such as Hadrian 7th which were tosh. My main concern was the strange constraint of only allowing one novel per author, which meant having to make the impossible choice between Emma and Pride and Prejudice.
So what next? I have decided to avoid any major reading challenges for the time being. They place a lot of constraints on one’s choices. I am looking forward to being able to choose anything I fancy to read. I have a dozen or so books from previous holidays and birthdays that I am planning to read, but after that….?
The Reading Bug 
well done for getting to the end and sticking with some of those not very pleasurable books. Doing this within two years didnt really give you much time for any other reading I imagine…so not surprising you want to give yourself a break from challenges for a while. I’m almost at the end of my Booker prize challenge – I didnt set a time frame but even knowing I have just 10 books left to read, I keep prevaricating and finding something else to read
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Gosh, I’m impressed! It must have taken serious self-discipline, as I can never stick to any so-called reading plan: something always suggests something else and I get side-tracked too easily… and Hadrian VII gets my prize for the worst novel I’ve ever made myself read.
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Thanks. There were some other stinkers on the list, but Hadrian 7 really stood out!
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Congratulations. That’s quite a challenge. The sense of ‘reading freedom’ is nice after finishing a challenge though, isn’t it.
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Absolutely. Nothing over 250 pages for the foreseeable future!
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Yay! Congratulations again. I’m hugely impressed that you made it through your list in only two years.
I’m having the exact same reaction to (almost) completing my own list — I won’t be taking on any other reading challenges, maybe ever, and I’m looking forward to reading short books again! On the other hand, I will be making a very big fuss about finishing. 🙂
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Fantastic achievement – an example to us all! 🙂
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