The Great American Read on PBS
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Offline cagnes

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The Great American Read on PBS
« on: May 19, 2018, 09:24:09 am »
Just set my dvr to record. Anyone else plan on watching or voting?

The Great American Read

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRCF_qIPvnM" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRCF_qIPvnM</a>

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Christine | Member since 10/13/2009 | 2019 Reading Challenge | Bayou Cover Designs | Bayou Cover Designs on the KBoards Yellow Pages
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    Offline Atunah

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #1 on: May 19, 2018, 11:28:07 am »
    Interesting. I just set a recording on my app. The list is interesting. I guess I didn't think there would be anything on it I have read. There usually isn't. So at least a handful I did read.
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    Offline anguabell

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #2 on: May 19, 2018, 02:00:04 pm »
    What an eclectic list! I too was surprised that I've read quite a few of those. 39, actually  :)
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    Offline cagnes

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #3 on: May 19, 2018, 05:52:04 pm »
    Quote from: anguabell on May 19, 2018, 02:00:04 pm
    What an eclectic list! I too was surprised that I've read quite a few of those. 39, actually  :)

    That's pretty good! I've read 27.
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    Christine | Member since 10/13/2009 | 2019 Reading Challenge | Bayou Cover Designs | Bayou Cover Designs on the KBoards Yellow Pages
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    Offline Ann in Arlington

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #4 on: May 20, 2018, 03:56:31 am »
    I marked 47 -- though, some of those were 'series' where I read the first in the series but not all because I didn't care that much for the first one: Game of Thrones, and the Alex Cross series, were a couple where that was the case. I think there was at least one more as well.
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    Offline Atunah

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #5 on: May 20, 2018, 06:24:44 am »
    I haven't read quite that many as you guys. Anything over 2 is more than any of those other lists though for me. Part of that could be that I didn't grow up in America and they are talking about great american novels. So I read other stuff back in middle to high school. I think, its been a while.  8)

    I'll have to count.

    eta: I counted 18, technically. 3 of those were DNF's for me. Pillars of the Earth, Gone Girl and Clan of the Cave Bear.
    « Last Edit: May 20, 2018, 06:31:36 am by Atunah »
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    Offline anguabell

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #6 on: May 20, 2018, 09:17:03 am »
    Quote from: Atunah on May 20, 2018, 06:24:44 am
    I haven't read quite that many as you guys. Anything over 2 is more than any of those other lists though for me. Part of that could be that I didn't grow up in America and they are talking about great american novels. So I read other stuff back in middle to high school. I think, its been a while.  8)

    I'll have to count.

    eta: I counted 18, technically. 3 of those were DNF's for me. Pillars of the Earth, Gone Girl and Clan of the Cave Bear.
    18 is pretty good! I didn't grow up in the U.S. either, so for instance all required school reading was different for me (dreadful stuff, mostly). And of course there are some European authors who have never crossed the borders, so to speak - Atunah will probably know Karl May. Some books need to be read and enjoyed in a certain age. I used to read all Alexander Dumas books with great enjoyment but that has, kind of, faded over the years :)  Have any of you been tempted to read any of the un-read books on the list?
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    Offline Atunah

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #7 on: May 20, 2018, 09:26:09 am »
    Quote from: anguabell on May 20, 2018, 09:17:03 am
    18 is pretty good! I didn't grow up in the U.S. either, so for instance all required school reading was different for me (dreadful stuff, mostly). And of course there are some European authors who have never crossed the borders, so to speak - Atunah will probably know Karl May. Some books need to be read and enjoyed in a certain age. I used to read all Alexander Dumas books with great enjoyment but that has, kind of, faded over the years :)  Have any of you been tempted to read any of the un-read books on the list?
    Ah yes, Karl May. My parents had I think all the books. In pretty fabric bound hardcover as far as I remember. Greenish I think. Those were my children books and I think they started my love of historical things. Winnetou and Old Shatterhand, the movies were great too. At the time.  ;D

    Sadly, I can't read them now. In the cruel way that life goes. I read only in english now and cannot read in german. I mean I can read it, but I cannot get immersed in it anymore. One of the wierd effects of languages I guess.

    We did read 1984 in school as it was the year 1984 at the time. But overall  we read other books than american kids obviously. We read The Tin Drum for example, I remember that one.
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    Offline LauraB

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #8 on: May 20, 2018, 10:37:26 am »
    I have read 54. A couple I still wish I had not (The shack and the Di Vinci code).
    « Last Edit: May 20, 2018, 10:41:39 am by LauraB »
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    Offline anguabell

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #9 on: May 20, 2018, 01:32:42 pm »

    Quote from: Atunah on May 20, 2018, 09:26:09 am

    We did read 1984 in school as it was the year 1984 at the time. But overall  we read other books than american kids obviously.

    Where I lived, 1984 was banned. So of course, everyone was reading it. Which shows that banning books and movies is probably the stupidest thing a government can do.
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    Offline Ann in Arlington

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #10 on: May 28, 2018, 04:47:21 am »
    Quote from: Jeff Tanyard on May 27, 2018, 09:37:04 pm
    I've got War and Peace on my Kindle, and I fully intend to get around to it some day.  A few others, too.

    Arlington County, VA is doing a Big Book Read on line book club this summer -- the theme is #ohboytolstoy and the book is the P-V translation of War and Peace:

    I've decided to participate as I can. There will be chats on FB Sunday evenings, a weekly wrap up podcast, and tweeting is encouraged. At the end of the summer the central library will host a viewing of one of the film versions.

    I do think I've read this before, but probably an inferior translation, and I was in high school so likely missed A LOT! Not to mention what I've forgotten. :)

    « Last Edit: May 28, 2018, 04:55:52 am by Ann in Arlington »
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    Offline Gone 9/21/18

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #11 on: May 28, 2018, 05:41:55 pm »
    Twenty-three, which surprises me. Like Atunah, usually if I've read 2 of any list of books like this, it's a lot. And I may have cheated because there were several where it had "series" in parens and I only read the first or a couple of that series, but I checked it.

    What I found interesting is that of all I checked there were only a couple I enjoyed. Nowadays I wouldn't have finished most of them but those were back in the "must finish anything I start" days, which ended more than 20 years ago. (Presumed Innocent, which bored me half to death, cured me.)

    Some I read out of curiosity, like Hunger Games (and I only read the first book of that series). Great Expectations made me laugh because I read it in high school because I had to, and the teacher was careful to tell me I almost had an "Unsatisfactory" on my report card that that quarter because we were supposed to slog through it a few assigned pages at a time, and I just read the thing beginning to end as soon as it was assigned.
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    Offline LauraB

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #12 on: May 28, 2018, 06:38:28 pm »
    Quote from: Ann in Arlington on May 28, 2018, 04:47:21 am
    Arlington County, VA is doing a Big Book Read on line book club this summer -- the theme is #ohboytolstoy and the book is the P-V translation of War and Peace:

    I've decided to participate as I can. There will be chats on FB Sunday evenings, a weekly wrap up podcast, and tweeting is encouraged. At the end of the summer the central library will host a viewing of one of the film versions.

    I do think I've read this before, but probably an inferior translation, and I was in high school so likely missed A LOT! Not to mention what I've forgotten. :)



    I think that is the of the best and  most reader friendly version available of War and Peace. I have a degree in English and had to read one of the older translations. I went back years later and read the one you linked (on kindle) and it made everything about the book more interesting and alive.
    « Last Edit: May 28, 2018, 07:24:29 pm by LauraB »
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    Offline Andra

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #13 on: May 29, 2018, 09:36:45 am »
    I've read half of them - and some of them were required reading and I hated them.
    Some of the series I started and didn't read much beyond the first few books.  And I do have the last books in The Wheel of Time, but I haven't read them yet.
    And I've even heard of most of the ones I haven't read - that's different.
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    Offline crebel

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    Re: The Great American Read on PBS
    « Reply #14 on: May 29, 2018, 11:17:31 am »
    It is an interesting list.  Surprisingly I have read 49, but like Ann, some of the series listed I've only read the first book (Outlander) or a couple of books (Patterson/Alex Cross) before not continuing, but I marked them anyway!  :)

    Certainly some of my all-time favorites are on the list: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill A Mockingbird, Chronicles of Narnia, Hitchhiker's Guide, Little Women, Charlotte's Web, Pilgrim's Progress. 

    Several I hated: The Book Thief, Atlas Shrugged, 50 Shades, The Great Gatsby.

    Gone With The Wind is the only book that would have been on a favorite list when I first read it way back, liked it less with a re-read after a few years, hated Scarlett so much by the 3rd read many years later that the whole book lost its appeal for me.  ::)

    Quite a few others were required reading or extra credit reading in high school and I enjoyed most of them with no strong feelings one way or the other. I'm not even sorry I read the books I listed as "hated". Some I admit to reading just because they were talked about books through the years and I wanted to see what the fuss was about.  Several of the newer novels I have seen the movies but not read the books, so there weren't too many books on the list I had never even heard of.

    Is it called the Great American Read just because of American viewers of PBS?  They certainly aren't just "American" books.
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