Membrotalulahgosh

my first goal is to read the top 100 novels written in english, as compiled by modern library (skipping james joyce--he once said he aimed to make his works obscure so people would puzzle over them for years to come--and henry james--the language is too much). i've found many of those books are boring--"winesburg, ohio" comes in first, "portnoy's complaint" next--and do not date well ("main street" is the only sinclair lewis' book i have found doesn't apply to our times).

my favorite book is story of the stone (or dream of the red chamber) by cao xueqin--i've read it at least six times and i still can't get enough of it. the next best type of book is history of science/medicine, especially microbiology-related history. then the fiction authors: vladimir nabokov, bret easton ellis, sinclair lewis, john le carre, nikolai gogol, jonathan lethem, chuck palahniuk.