Harvard Classics Checklist

[RWood]

Here is a checklist to better understand what has already been published and what will be published in the future.

It is a letter sized PDF document. It is an extract of my worksheet that I keep in Excel.

[Bob Russell]

Very nice!

[Andanzas]

Impressive!

Have you read all of them?

[RWood]

Originally Posted by Andanzas

Impressive!

Have you read all of them?

No. It is an interesting question and it did cause me to review the list. I was surprised that I have read over one-half (almost two-thirds) of the named books and plays. Some, like John Woolman's Journal, have been read only recently. (Thanks to Bob Russell for the source text for that one.)

Many of the collections contain excerpts that I have read either the excerpt or the full text. Many are totally new to me such as Volume 33, Voyages and Travels: Ancient and Modern.

And yes, I do hope to finish the full series sometime after I finish posting it at MobileRead.

[Bob Russell]

I am constantly amazed at how fast everyone here devours books! Now that I'm reading HC again, I am on the last bit of HC Vol 2 myself, hoping to continue then with Vols 3 & 4 (Hint hint Wood!) I have read other bits and pieces out of order also.

Someone posted recently that they had read the entire Honor Harrington series by David Weber (must be about 10 books or so) in a weekend. That's crazy. It takes me weeks to read anything but the sortest and "lightest reading" books.

[RWood]

Volume 3 is part Milton and Volume 4 is all Milton. I have burned out on Milton long ago; but, I will try to get the volumes finished for you.

[Bob Russell]

Thanks!

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

Someone posted recently that they had read the entire Honor Harrington series by David Weber (must be about 10 books or so) in a weekend. That's crazy. It takes me weeks to read anything but the sortest and "lightest reading" books.

Yeah, that blows me away too, even though I think they noted it was a 'long' weekend -- it takes me several weeks to plow through the entire 10 book series, and I seem to read at a fairly fast clip (read Battlefield Earth's 1066 pages in 6 days, on the first run through). Fortunately for my ego, I've already been disabused of my speed-reading delusions by my wife, who thinks that Jane Eyre is a nice afternoon's diversion. And she's nothing to one of her professors who won't watch the Sense and Sensability screenplay because she can read it faster than the show runs.

[RWood]

Originally Posted by NatCh

Yeah, that blows me away too, even though I think they noted it was a 'long' weekend -- it takes me several weeks to plow through the entire 10 book series, and I seem to read at a fairly fast clip (read Battlefield Earth's 1066 pages in 6 days, on the first run through). Fortunately for my ego, I've already been disabused of my speed-reading delusions by my wife, who thinks that Jane Eyre is a nice afternoon's diversion. And she's nothing to one of her professors who won't watch the Sense and Sensability screenplay because she can read it faster than the show runs.

So if I understand you right, your wife can read a page on the Sony Reader faster than the e-ink page can turn to the next one. Thus, she dislikes the Sony Reader because it slows her reading speed too much.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by NatCh

Yeah, that blows me away too, even though I think they noted it was a 'long' weekend -- it takes me several weeks to plow through the entire 10 book series, and I seem to read at a fairly fast clip (read Battlefield Earth's 1066 pages in 6 days, on the first run through). Fortunately for my ego, I've already been disabused of my speed-reading delusions by my wife, who thinks that Jane Eyre is a nice afternoon's diversion. And she's nothing to one of her professors who won't watch the Sense and Sensability screenplay because she can read it faster than the show runs.

I read Battlefield Earth and boy did I hate it. It was too long, too droning and could have ended in a number of different place. It was like a short story dragged out to be a tomb. It's just well, awful tripe and if anyone is concidering reading it, save yourself and run away.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by RWood

So if I understand you right, your wife can read a page on the Sony Reader faster than the e-ink page can turn to the next one. Thus, she dislikes the Sony Reader because it slows her reading speed too much.

Heh, yeah, she probably could. I don't know what she thinks of the Reader, really, except that it's not suited to her needs, and she agrees the display is impressive.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I read Battlefield Earth and boy did I hate it. It was too long, too droning and could have ended in a number of different place. It was like a short story dragged out to be a tomb. It's just well, awful tripe and if anyone is concidering reading it, save yourself and run away.

I actually enjoyed it a great deal, I've re-read it a couple of times since, and expect to re-read it again in the future. Matter of taste, I s'pose -- I can't abide anything by Hemmingway, for instance, and others simply adore him.

[HarryT]

Count me as another fan of "Battlefield Earth"!

I believe there are, at the present time, 12 books in the "HH" series, not counting the "spin-offs". This is how I've got them numbered on my disk, at least:

1. On Basilisk Station.
2. The Honor of the Queen.
3. The Short Victorious War
4. Field of Dishonor.
5. Flag in Exile.
6. Honor Among Enemies
7. In Enemy Hands
8. Echoes of Honor
9. Ashes of Victory
10. War of Honor
11. The Shadow of Saganami
12. At All Costs

Although I think the series has rather "lost its way", I must say. Brilliant up to "Ashes of Victory"; the last three books have drifted rather aimlessly, to my mind, and not taken the story anywhere much at all.

[JSWolf]

Don't you just love a series that goes on for too long and ends up having books that really don't contribute much the the series?

[NatCh]

Shadow of Saganami isn't, strictly speaking, part of the Honor Harrington series, but only part of the Honerverse (rather like Crown of Slaves and the anthologies in that regard). Nevertheless, you're right, that makes 11 books, not 10 -- At All Costs took so long to come out that I kinda got into a mental rut on the number of books.

I didn't find the last two books to be any less enjoyable, but I'd say that Mr. Weber might just agree with you since he seems to be taking some serious time off from writing the series. I do hope that he eventually returns to it (when he's confident that he can do it the way he wants to), there are some danglers I'd like to know more of before I "shuffle off this mortal coil."

[HarryT]

Yes, I get the impression that he really doesn't know how to finish the series off neatly. It's such a wonderful series, it would be a shame if it didn't have a good ending. Hope he thinks of something!