Comments on: Books That Make You Dumb

By: Tom Camfield

Tom Camfield — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:21:50 +0000

The introduction to my copy agrees that the Rome section drags horribly. I have been lucky enough to have nothing better to do for the past few weeks than read anything I can get my hands on, so I didn't really notice. Hurrah for me etc.

By: Dante

Dante — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:51:37 +0000

I've been stuck halfway through the Count of Monte Christo for nearly a year now, I really enjoyed the first half, but the Rome Carnival drags horribly.

Interestingly though it's not just a straight revenge story, the Count escapes to find those who wronged him are all wildly successful and those who stood by him are falling into poverty and despair. He then sets out to re-balance this not only by taking revenge on the evildoers, but also be rewarding the good guys which he does in exactly the same manipulative, Machiavellian way.

By: Tom Camfield

Tom Camfield — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:37:23 +0000

Returning to the topic almost by accident - during The Count of Monte Cristo he does start to think that his revenge may have gone a little too far on a number of occassions, and the book doesn't always take his side, so you might be conforted by that.

By: Kieron Gillen

Kieron Gillen — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:40:13 +0000

I beat you by 1. Crime and Punnishment's as high as I go. Read 10 in the top 20, mainly in the teens, which probably makes me tediously middlebrow.

KG

By: Pentadact

Pentadact — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:15:54 +0000

Yep - that's the one I have read, the fourth smartest. It is superb. He totally sold me on the Roe Vs Wade - the worst of that is that Guiliani got all the credit that the dead babies deserved.

By: Jason L

Jason L — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:50:06 +0000

At the risk of going into everything there that I've read, one of the 'smartest' ones - Freakonomics - caught my eye on second reading. It's a hoot. Basically the coauthor is a real-life N|_|mb3rzz dude, except instead of chasing mad serial killbombers he e.g. constructs a filter for teachers who are fiddling their students' answers on standardised tests or proves sumo match fixing or (most controversially) explores the link between Roe v Wade and the crime rate. It's too short, but then at a thousand pages it would be too short for me. My mortal imagination cannot imagine you in particular disliking it.

By: Jason L

Jason L — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:54:58 +0000

Hmm. Actually now that you mention it, it's probably over a decade since I last read COMC; it sort of got so firmly entrenched in my favourites that it didn't have to contend anymore. However, as I recall it a major appeal for me is that Dantes' 'revenge' consists entirely of carefully and starkly revealing his enemies' past and continuing wrongs to others. Their comeuppance is all wrought by their own shame or evil, a fair criminal justice system or the consequences of others' moral judgment. Basically, Batman's more vengeful than the Edmond Dantes I remember. I appear to have inadvertently set myself a reading assignment now. As for at least the most recent film, I am pretty sure there is no big flashy sword fight anywhere in the book. I remember being mildly pissed that there was a big flashy swordfight, I remember being mildly pissed that the ending was opposite to or truncated from the book, and I remember being informed enough going in that I attached no importance to the film and remember only those two things.

By: Pentadact

Pentadact — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:43:05 +0000

I should read Ender's Game. I'm not sure I'd enjoy Monte Cristo, though, assuming the various films are loosely true to the plot. I don't enjoy revenge. Morally, I'm wired wrong for it. I end up thinking "Hey, the thing that guy did to that guy is just as bad as the thing that guy did to that guy!"

By: Jason L

Jason L — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:22:31 +0000

No Count of Monte Cristo? No Ender's Game? You poor man!

By: Pentadact

Pentadact — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:48:40 +0000

Rob - where/how are you viewing this? In RSS feeds and as a single page, the text and title aren't yet links to the article, but I did add an extra link to the end of the post that should work everywhere - is it not showing up?

By: Tom Camfield

Tom Camfield — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:52:22 +0000

Atlas Shrugged and The Alchemist are ranked 5th & 7th respectively. This *scientifically* proves students are morons. I am a student, I do not exclude myself from the implication of this assessment.

By: roBurky

roBurky — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:05:00 +0000

Should there be a link with this?

By: Pentadact

Pentadact — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:24:27 +0000

I'm only talking specific book titles - I've read some Shakespeare too, of course.

By: Grill

Grill — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:55:58 +0000

I'm going to insist that my SAT score must be mammoth, as I've read so many of the books in the top part of the list. But, then, I'm addicted to books and I've read loads of them.

Zane sounds fascinating though. Anyone read / heard of it?

By: Graham

Graham — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:36:15 +0000

Didn't you also read #28, Harry Potter?

By: BullDozers

BullDozers — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:31:51 +0000

'Lolita' classified as 'erotica' --> boo.