Inspired by Amateur Reader’s discussion of having read 16 books by Robert Louis Stevenson, I decided to tally my own reading, extremely unscientifically, and figure out which authors I’ve read most of.
The results are not super surprising. The list is heavy on mysteries and light fiction (especially series, especially by prolific authors). It’s also heavy on authors I’ve been reading for many years, including some I don’t read anymore at all.
Conversely, the list is missing some of my favorite authors. My arbitrary cut-off point of five books (generally novels or collections of stories, but again, very unscientific) knocked out of the running Jonathan Franzen, Richard Hughes, Philip Roth, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson, among others. Do I really prefer parodied noir set in Aberystwyth to all that? Well, no, of course not. My other arbitrary cut-off point of books I’ve read since I was at least 12 or so, but not before, means I lose the likes of Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery, and C.S. Lewis (to say nothing, as AR metnions, of The Boxcar Children and suchlike).
Oh, and it is a bit embarrassing. But in any event, here is the list:
- Rex Stout—26
- Haruki Murakami—15
- Alexander McCall Smith—14
- P.G. Wodehouse—14
- William Shakespeare—12
- Ernest Hemingway—11
- J.K. Rowling—10
- Vladimir Nabokov—9
- Charles Dickens—8
- Herman Melville—7
- Raymond Chandler—6
- Jasper Fforde—6
- Ford Madox Ford—6
- Milan Kundera—6
- Kirsty Gunn—5
- John Irving—5
- Malcolm Pryce—5
- Virginia Woolf—5
What a strange, strange list, and I’m not sure at all meaningful. However, it has led me in some way to think more on “where I am” and “plans” or something. I still believe in the logic of Ishmael when he says, “Out of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs.” But like the graphs, this is Some Kind of Benchmark. And fortunately, as I often note, this project is long-term.
This is totally fascinating. I am going to have to try it out for myself (I can’t quite imagine what the results will be, apart from the fact that Stoppard and Shakespeare will be way up there). Off to LibraryThing!
Ha, yes, I should say that LibraryThing played an important role in the creation of this list! And one other childhood author I forgot is Lloyd Alexander—loved him.
Your list actually looks pretty good. I am not even going to attempt to do this because I’m sure it would just be an embarrassing declaration of how much Stephen King I read in high school. JK Rowling and Lemony Snicket wouldn’t be very far behind either.
Aw, the embarrassment is part of the fun! I’m not into pressure myself so I didn’t want to turn this into a “meme” and “tag” people or anything, but I hope some others will decide to make their own lists. Could be neat.
It definitely does tempt one to make one’s own list! I didn’t even know there were 15 Murakami books out there, but I’ve obviously been slacking off in my reading of him.
15 Murakami novels? That’s awesome! I’m sure that covers about all of them, unless you counted short stories as separate works? It’s my goal to read all of his work for sure!
Yeah, the Murakami covers everything except Pinball, 1973 (which I haven’t gotten my hands on yet in the Kodansha English edition) and whatsit, the new one, that hasn’t been translated yet…1Q84. I counted the short story collections as they were published in English (how I read them, anyhow): The Elephant Vanishes, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, and after the quake.
My list:
JK Rowling – 10
Iain Pears – 9
Jane Austen – 7/8/9 depending on classification of unfinished/short
Evelyn Waugh – 7
Nick Hornby – 6
Anthony Bourdain – 6
Armistead Maupin – 6
David Mitchell – 5
John Berger – 5
Sue Townsend – 5
F. Scott Fitzgerald – 5
Michel Foucault – 5
MFK Fisher – 5
Really is bizarre – some favorites are on there, but they are matched by series, light fiction, graduate school assignments. I did find I had many more authors I consider myself liking in the 3-4 range.
Do I need to go to the Internet Meme Registration Office and fill out a form or something? I don’t know how this works. How I hate the word “meme” in this context.
I didn’t know what to do with plays, so I ignored them, but counting each as a book, as seems reasonable, Shakespeare leaps to the fore, with something like 38. But what if I weighted by rereading? Then it’s around 80. I also need to add Euripides, Aristophanes, Ben Jonson, and Molière to my list. And I simply forgot James Boswell. As if this post were about me.
Your list does have some meaning. It’s worthwhile to distinguish between extensive and intensive reading. An extreme example of intensive reading is people who read nothing but the Bible. Readers of Harlequin romances are another example – they may read hundreds of distinct books but really want some sort of repetition.
Your list shows how you switch between extensive reading (wide flung, curious) and intensive reading (books in series, the desire for something reliable). To me, it looks well-balanced.
The limitations of counting – the 15 Murakami books are there for quite different reasons than the 14 Wodehouse books, right?
OK, voila: http://sycoraxpine.blogspot.com/2010/06/agony-and-ecstasy-of-author-glomming.html
Would that my list were as blameless as yours.
Thanks for the inspiration, Nicole; a fascinating though slightly uncomfortable exercise.
I had no idea Murakami had so much material available, nor Anthony Bourdain. I guess for the latter you read his detective novels?
You have also reminded me I have a severe deficit of Shakespeare in my reading diet.
I’ve posted my own list.
Thanks again.
Alison—I predict yours will be the only list with both Sue Townsend and Foucault.
AR—You should have added a Mr Linky to your post for full memerights. Besides, I remixed the basic idea by using a bulleted list. Clearly.
I agree though that really the list is well-balanced. It’s good to think of it in these extensive vs. intensive terms. Thanks for that perspective.
Ariel—I love your list, so much drama! Lots of people I haven’t read at all but lots of others that will someday hopefully be in my above-five list as well. Thanks for joining in!
Anthony—Ah, the joys of outgrowing John Irving. I must say, aside from some of the sci-fi, your list looks a lot like what mine might in another ten years or so. Whoops, hope that’s not an offensive age reference or anything!
Not at all, Nicole; I admire your taste and take it as a compliment. About fifty percent of writers on that list I no longer read, of the others still writing I read on publication. My list in another ten years will include both Woolfs, Sebald, Beckett and Shakespeare.
Unfortunately, the amount of time that has passed since the cut-off age and today has not been sufficient for me to read enough books that a list like this could actually take form. Especially since a good majority of J. K. Rowling’s books come much before the cut-off! (and I just realized, so does Alexandre Dumas…)
Let’s meet back here in ten years and we’ll try again…