I recently came across a fun list Robert McCrum posted for the Guardian U.K. and thought I would share it…
At the start of his post, he states I do recognise a class of slow reading that can be immensely comforting. Here’s my top 10 of favourite dull books (obviously, a highly subjective choice), with “dull” being almost a synonym for “classic”:
1. The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton
2. The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
3. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
4. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
5. The Waves by Virginia Woolf
6. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
7. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
8. Pendennis by William Thackeray
9. Capital by Karl Marx
10. The Diary of A Country Parson by James Woodforde
He then ends the post with the following: There are copies of these on my shelves: I would not part with them for anything, even though, at the moment of writing, I can hardly imagine opening any one of these books with much anticipation, or excitement. Curiosity, yes. But that’s different.
So, any reaction? I’ve only read The Waves — and did enjoy it, but completely understand how it found its way on to this list… I’ve read other works by Joyce, Thackeray, and Ishiguro — and, again, can’t say I’m too surprised. What is most interesting, though, is his premise that slow reading can be comforting… Agree?
