Thursday, August 06, 2009



Reading Pairs of Books


A 'Lit'tle Gimmick

I've hit upon a gimmick which I'm sure is not unique or new,
But it seems it will be fun to liven up one's reading for a bit.
I take the books I am reading, or will read, two by two
And thus pairing them create a list of potential reading 'lit'!
- August 2009 - uncollected rhymes



Here are some sample pairings of books I am reading or have read all of which are in my library:


The Trojan War by Barry Strauss and War & Peace by Tolstoy
An Iliad by Alessandro Barrico and Ilium by Dan Simmons
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Dickens and Drood by Dan Simmons
Journey for Our Time by Marquise de Custine and Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler
Blindness by Jose Saramago and Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley
Gulag by Anne Applebaum and The Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn
Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn and Ward No. 6 by Chekhov
The Tree of Man by Patrick White and Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon and The Rainbow by Lawrence
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin and The Rivals by Sheridan
Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym and Decadence by Maxim Gorky
Noble House by James Clavell and Heatbreak House by Bernard Shaw
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and Poison in Jest by John Dickson Carr


What do you think of the gimmick?

2 comments:

Charles said...

A good idea. I find I often get caught up in a subject and read a great number of books, fiction and non-fiction, on the subject.

Letters to Bess, a collection of letters from Harry Truman, for example, prompted me to read more about Truman.

James said...

Thanks for your comment. Some subjects have that effect on me as well.