
Harvard Classics Bookshelf - flatline
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics_%28Bookshelf%29
======
hugh3
I've recently committed myself to reading all the books on that supposed "BBC
book list" that has been floating around (largely as a facebook meme)
recently.

[http://fashionabroad.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/bbc-book-
list-...](http://fashionabroad.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/bbc-book-list-
challenge/)

I'd already read 32 of 'em, but I'm working my way through two more
(Brideshead Revisited, which I'm enjoying, and The Wasp Factory, which I'm
really not [and I don't think you're _supposed_ to]). There's some absolute
crap on the list as well (Bridget Jones' Diary? The Five People You Meet In
Heaven?) but most of it is pretty good, and I think it'll expose me to a lot
of good stuff that I wouldn't have read otherwise.

~~~
michael_dorfman
I don't want to rain on your parade, but that list is a pretty crappy list. As
you probably figured out, it has nothing to do with the BBC-- it is actually a
list that was voted on by readers of the Guardian, and it shows some serious
evidence of being a user poll; besides the absolute crap you mentioned, there
is a lot of things that are there only because they are on the British school
curriculum (like all of that Thomas Hardy, which is mostly awful.)

There are some absolute gems on the list, don't get me wrong-- but if your
goal is to read 100 good books you haven't read before, you could do a lot
better. (And I say this as someone who has read 90 of the 100 titles listed.)

~~~
luminarious
Is there a better list available that you'd recommend? Because the idea of a
curated list of books to read appeals to the lazy side in me. I like reading
but not researching what to read..

~~~
michael_dorfman
Well, here's a list proposed by Det Norske Bokklubben (who happens to be a
competitor of mine, but I have to give credit where credit is due):

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100_Best_Books_of_All_Time>

You'll notice that it's much less heavily biased toward 20th Century English-
language literature.

If you want to stick to things originally written in English, the Modern
Library list is a pretty good one:

<http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/>

I mean "The Board's List", of course--comparing "The Board's List" to the "The
Reader's List" is enough to make one cry.

~~~
Apocryphon
The Reader's List is making me cry... tears of pure hilarity at Ayn Rand
capturing not just first place but second place as well, at L. Ron Hubbard
appearing not once but thrice on it, and at both Tom Clancy and Orson Scott
Card each making an appearance. This is a breathtaking list.

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devindotcom
I've got a few of these. Worth having, some of them, but they're not always
the best translations or editions. Nice to dip into on short notice, but if
you want to read any in full, better to pick up a newer edition or at least
peep a few before committing to a bunk translation or poor annotation.

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pragmatic
"compiled and edited by Harvard University president Charles W. Eliot"

Could you imagine a university president of today doing something like this?

As opposed to serving on corporate boards, making speeches, raising money
_full time_.

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rudle
I whipped a little ruby script to download the kindle versions.

<https://gist.github.com/1056111>

The URLs are really, really, nice. You can substitute "kindle.noimages" for
any other format you'd like.

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ajays
The University of Buffalo publishes a list of books called "unrequired
reading". The idea is to encourage an undergraduate student to read one book a
month for the duration of the (assumed 4-year) course, totaling 48 books. I
first came across this list in 1993. It is still being maintained; definitely
worth checking out: <http://library.buffalo.edu/48goodbooks/books/>

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chalimacos
In mobi format:

[http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Harvard_Classics_Available_a...](http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Harvard_Classics_Available_at_MobileRead)

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jeremymcanally
eBay has these for a really good price. I just picked up a nearly complete set
of first editions in crazy good condition for $60. Most of the sets cost more,
but they're usually complete (this one is missing 4-5 volumes of 51).

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shii
I collect these with their original Harvard binding and soft leather covers
from thrift stores, usually the Salvation Army, at a great killing. Really
nicely prepared and bound books. And they look nice in the study.

~~~
w1ntermute
> "See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona fide piece of printed matter. It
> fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What
> thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop too--didn't cut the pages. But
> what do you want? What do you expect?"

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wccrawford
I'm guessing most or all of these are available for free for the Kindle... Has
anyone compiled a list of links for that?

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MaxGabriel
I'm thinking his original premise was a little overstated--that list would
take a lifetime at fifteen minutes a day.

~~~
johnswamps
I don't think that's true. There's 51 volumes of 400-450 pages, or ~23,000
pages. Let's say you can read half a page a minute, or 7.5 pages per day (at
15 minutes of reading per day).

(23,000 pages)/(7.5 pages / day) = ~3,000 days or a bit over 8 years.

~~~
hugh3
Or to put it the other way around, supposing you have seventy years of reading
(from the day you learn to read 'til the day your eyes give out), then you'd
only have to read 0.89 pages per day to read the whole thing. If it takes you
fifteen minutes to read less than a page then you really need to work on your
reading speed.

~~~
aik
Or, take 4 months out of your life, go somewhere remote with the collection,
and spend about 4-5 months reading 6-8 hours a day to complete it.

Or, perhaps this could be a business -- host a Harvard Classics Resort where
everything is taken care of. You supply the ideal environment for reading
(whatever that may be), including a small community to discuss the books with.

You could teach a few speed-reading and self-study courses for an additional
cost.

~~~
jacques_chester
> Or, perhaps this could be a business -- host a Harvard Classics Resort where
> everything is taken care of.

St John's College has this angle covered.

<http://stjohnscollege.edu/>

~~~
aik
Very interesting. Did you or do you know anyone who has attended St John's?
Any idea if it's particularly successful in terms of students exiting with an
impressive understanding of themselves and the world?

~~~
hugh3
I just had a quick look at the website. On some level it sounds tempting. On
another level, paying forty-three thousand dollars a year to sit around
reading Homer doesn't sound like _that_ great a use of money and time.

~~~
aik
The value isn't in knowing which books to read, but rather is in the Socratic
classroom learning environment with 2 teachers per classroom and a 1-8
teacher-student ratio. Assuming the teachers are of good quality (and it
sounds like they have the correct focus -- being "tutors" or discovery
partners rather than lecturers, and don't have a well defined plan for each
day), the amount of serious inquiry and a nearly ideal environment for
feedback on your thoughts daily by knowledgeable and hopefully intelligent and
wise individuals, would be massively awesome and beneficial for any person
ENGAGED and caring to learn.

In the case of a person attending this university just because their parents
made them -- I feel very sorry for both the parents and the students for the
waste of money and lost hours of amazing opportunity.

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Alex3917
It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too —
didn’t cut the pages.

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jeffchuber
A wonderful accomplish for people learning everywhere

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killerswan
Wow, 1909 was a long time ago, in literature!

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cli
I wonder why War and Peace was not included.

~~~
smhinsey
I'd say Anna Karenina is a good alternative. It's always been my personal
favorite of his.

