In January 2010 I realised that I was about to get a lot of time to read books. I was starting a new job that would involve almost four hours of commuting to London and back every weekday, and as I had accumulated a lot of books (largely of the late eighties sketch comedy tie-in sort), I decided to read them all.
I set myself a target of 100 new books (new to me, not newly published). This figure was chosen because (a) it didn't seem too hard, and (b) because I had heard Tony Martin give an interview on RRR in which he said he had done the same thing. (He had to read a few slim comics on December 31st, but had hit the target.) As Tony is a relatively busy man, I though that with a dedicated four hours per day I could hit one hundred with no problem.
Eager for punishment, I then decided to watch 100 new films as well (again, new to me, not newly released). This works out at two entire books and two entire movies per week, every week. It was exhausting.
It didn't help that at first I just read whatever I wanted, including re-reading old favourites (which were ineligible for the count). It didn't help that I crammed in both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. It didn't help that by November I was reduced to watching abysmal movies on Youtube for which the copyright had slipped through the cracks (Wake Me When the War is Over is one that will never leave my film- and caffeine-addled psyche). However, it did help that my wife is into movies and suffered through a lot of these with me. It also helped that she works as a freelance from home, so I would often stagger in after work to see her in the middle of a particularly intense piece of concentration, and know it would be better for all concerned if I scurried into the corner with a book.
Assessing what was a movie and what was a book was sometimes surprisingly difficult. The Cremaster series: are they all movies? One of them's three hours long, so surely it's a movie. But one's forty minutes long, is that a movie? And if it is, does that mean a 45 minute episode of Doctor Who is a movie? McSweeney's: is that a book? Is a collection of short stories a book? What if the same collection is published in magazine format? The Earthsea novels, are they all separate books if I read them in one volume? (This particular question went unanswered, as I couldn't be bothered finishing even the first book of the series.)
The most interesting discovery was that 100 books and 100 movies is just too much to take in, if one aims to live a happy life. This made me realise that I have a demonstrably finite number of books and movies left to watch in my entire life (I am 31). At 50 books and movies per year, assuming my eyes remain serviceable for another forty years, I'll get to read another 2000 books. This sounds like a lot. But it is probably the number of books we own. I could spend my time from now to the grave just re-reading everything I've deemed worthy of keeping. As for movies, there's just too much crap. My favourite film of the year was probably The Magic Christian, which most likely only shows how skewed one's critical sense becomes when forcing all this cinematic meat through the wringer. I also got confused in April and again in November so ended up watching 102 movies anyway. Of these, 35 were from Britain, 28 from the United States, 9 from Australia, 9 from France, 8 from Japan, and 13 from 'Other'.
Was it a massive waste of time? Yes. Was it a lot of fun? Yes. Will I be reading another Tim Winton book? No.
The list in full (italicised are those I had read/watched before but earned a second look):
JANUARY 2010:
MOVIES:
1. Floating Weeds, 1959
2. The Road, 2009
3. Precious (Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire), 2009
4. The Millionairess, 1960
5. The End of Summer, 1961
6. A Prophet, 2009
7. Ugetsu Monogatari, 1953
BOOKS:
1. Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules, David Sedaris (ed)
2. The Clumsiest People in Europe, Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer
FEBRUARY 2010:
MOVIES:
8. The Proposition, 2005
9. Burma VJ, 2008
10. The Trial of Tony Blair, 2007
11. Fine, Totally Fine, 2008
12. Seven Samurai, 1954
13. UHF, 1989
14. A Single Man, 2009
15. Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1954
16. Capitalism: A Love Story, 2009
BOOKS:
3. Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Vol 2, Ivor Cutler
4. Japanese for Travellers, Katie Kitamura
5. On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho
6. Islomania, Thurston Clarke
6a. Barcelona Plates, Alexei Sayle
7. The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel
8. A Companion to James Joyce's Ulysses, Margot Norris (ed)
9. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki Murakami
10. Brit-Think, Ameri-Think: A Transatlantic Survival Guide, Jane Walmsley
11. How to Read Joyce, Derek Attridge
12. Codebreaker, Stephen Pincock
MARCH 2010:
MOVIES:
17. Micmacs, 2009
18. The Colour of Pomegranates, 1968
19. Sodom and Gomorrah, 1963
20. The Night We Called it a Day, 2003.
BOOKS:
13. Show Me the Magic: Travels Round Benin by Taxi, Annie Caulfield
14. James Joyce's Ulysses: A Student Guide, Vincent Sherry
15. Parrot and Olivier in America, Peter Carey
16. Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot-Com Juggernaut, James Marcus
17. That Was the Week That Was, David Frost & Ned Sherrin (eds)
18. Mouse or Rat?: Translation as Negotiation, Umberto Eco
18a. Introducing Joyce, David Norris & Carl Flint
19. Fat Chance, Simon Gray
20. The Bed-Sitting Room, Spike Milligan & John Antrobus
APRIL 2010:
MOVIES:
21. The Juniper Tree, 1990
22. Alice in Wonderland, 2010
23. Goshu the Cellist, 1982
24. Cremaster 1, 1995
25. Cremaster 2, 1999
26. I Am Love, 2009
26. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 2009
27. Cremaster 3, 2002
28. Cremaster 4, 1995
29. Cremaster 5, 1997
BOOKS:
21. Language and the Internet, David Crystal
22. Seven Words You Can't Say on Television, Steven Pinker
23. Attacks of Opinion, Terry Jones
23a. Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years, Michael Palin
23b. Ulysses, James Joyce
23c. Black Swan Green, David Mitchell
MAY 2010:
MOVIES:
30. The Tulse Luper Suitcases 1: The Moab Story, 2003
31. Cathy Come Home, 1966
32. Four Lions, 2010
33. Ben Elton Live: the Get a Grip Tour, 2007
34. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, 1974
BOOKS:
24. Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries 1980-1988, Michael Palin
25. By Hook of by Crook: A Journey in Search of English, David Crystal
26. Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris, Lucian Randall
27. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas: (Not) The Screenplay, Terry Gilliam & Tony Grisoni
28. Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties, Ian MacDonald
29. The Art of Coarse Acting, Michael Green
29a. Time Bandits: A Screenplay, Michael Palin & Terry Gilliam
30. The Brain-Dead Megaphone, George Saunders
31. Le Grand Meaulnes, Alain-Fournier
32. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell
33. Extreme Europe, Stephen Barber
34. Eunoia, Christian Bok
35. The Best American Non-Required Reading 2002, Dave Eggers (ed)
36. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003, Dave Eggers (ed)
JUNE 2010:
MOVIES:
35. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, 2009
36. Serenity, 2005
BOOKS:
37. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2004, Dave Eggers (ed)
38. Things the Grandchildren Should Know, Mark Oliver Everett
39. Spike & Co, Graham McCann
40. Granta 108, Special Issue: Chicago, John Freeman (ed)
41. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005, Dave Eggers (ed)
41a. 253, Geoff Ryman
42. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Film Tie-in Edition, Douglas Adams
42a. In the Skin of a Lion, Michael Ondaatje
43. Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age!, Kenzaburo Oe
44. A Quiet Life, Kenzaburo Oe
JULY 2010:
MOVIES:
37. Lennon Naked, 2010
38. The Kentucky Fried Movie, 1977
38a. The Fisher King, 1991
39. Stiff, 2004
40. Toy Story 3, 2010
41. XXY, 2007
42. Inception, 2010
43. Gran Torino, 2008
BOOKS:
45. The Wild Highway, Bill Drummond & Mark Manning
46. English Passengers, Matthew Kneale
46a. Appendix Appendix, Ryan Gander & Stuart Bailey
47. Eucalyptus, Murray Bail
48. San Sombrero, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner & Rob Sitch
49. Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
AUGUST 2010:
MOVIES:
44. The Cove, 2009
45. Gainsbourg, 2009
45a. Ed Wood, 1994
46. Sherlock: A Study in Pink, 2010
47. Sherlock: The Blind Banker, 2010
48. Sherlock: The Great Game, 2010
48a. Pleasure at Her Majesty's, 1976
48b. The Mermaid Frolics, 1977
49. The Secret Policeman's Ball, 1979
50. The Illusionist, 2010
51. Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1984
52. The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, 1982
53. The Nugget, 2002
53a. Paprika, 2006
BOOKS:
50. McSweeney's Quarterly Concern 13, Chris Ware (ed)
51. Islam for Beginners, N. I. Matar
52. Introducing Hinduism, Vinay Lal & Borin Van Loon
53. A Fortune-Teller Told Me, Tiziano Terzani
54. I'm Coming to Take You to Lunch, Simon Napier-Bell
55. Da Capo Best Music Writing 2001, N Hornby & B Schafer (eds)
56. The House of Packer: The Making of a Media Empire, Bridget Griffen-Foley
57. Who Killed Channel 9?, Gerald Stone
SEPTEMBER 2010:
MOVIES:
53b. Four Lions, 2010
53c. Porco Rosso, 1992
54. The Snow Queen, 1957
55. Hancock & Joan, 2008
56. The King and the Mockingbird, 1980
57. Candy, 1968
58. The Secret Policeman's Third Ball, 1987
58a. The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball, 1989
58b. Amnesty International's Big 30, 1991
59. Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?..., 2004
BOOKS:
58. Da Capo Best Music Writing 2003, M Groening & P Bresnick (eds)
58a. The Underground Man, Mick Jackson
58b. Five Boys, Mick Jackson
59. Sahara, Michael Palin
60. A Pale View of Hills, Kazuo Ishiguro
61. Heavier Then Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain, Charles R Cross
62. Schoolgirl Milky Crisis: Adventures in the Anime and Manga Trade, Jonathan Clements
63. And Another Thing..., Eoin Colfer
63a. The Weeping Women Hotel, Alexei Sayle
64. That Eye, the Sky, Tim Winton
65. The Death of Bunny Munro, Nick Cave
66. Minimum of Two, Tim Winton
67. Absolutely - The Words, P Baikie, M Banks, J Docherty, M Hunter, G Kennedy, J Sparkes
68. The Beekeeper, Maxence Fermine
69. Eleven, David Llewellyn
70. The Fire Gospel, Michel Faber
71. Malvinas Requiem, Rodolfo Fogwill
72. The Ventriloquist's Tale, Pauline Melville
OCTOBER 2010:
MOVIES:
60. Finisterre, 2003
61. Kokoda, 2006
62. I Now Pronounce You Vince and Ralph, 2004
63. The Brush-Off, 2004
64. Away From Her, 2006
65. Don't Look Now, 1973
66. Crying with Laughter, 2009
67. The Madness of King George, 1994
68. On the Beat, 1962
69. Mona Lisa, 1986
70. High Hopes, 1988
71. Steve Coogan: The Man Who Thinks He's It, 1998
72. Extraordinary Rendition, 2007
73. Enter the Void, 2010
74. Dawn of the Dead, 1978
BOOKS:
73. Flight of Black Swans, Laura Fish
74. Strange Music, Laura Fish
75. The Land where Stories End, David Foster
76. Travel Writing, Peter Ferry
77. Nerd Do Well, Simon Pegg
78. The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club, Peter Hook
79. The Clay Dreaming, Ed Hillyer
NOVEMBER 2010:
MOVIES:
75. Whale Rider, 2002
76. Down Among the Z Men, 1952
77. The Magic Christian, 1969
78. Glengarry Glen Ross, 1992
79. Kenny, 2006
80. Junkers Come Here, 1995
80a. The Tulse Luper Suitcases 1: The Moab Story, 2003
81. The Tulse Luper Suitcases 2: Vaux to the Sea, 2004
82. Night Tide, 1961
83. The Brother from Another Planet, 1984
84. Never Let Me Go, 2010
85. Wake Me When the War is Over, 1969
86. Irina Palm, 2006
87. Youth Without Youth, 2007
BOOKS:
80. Screen Burn, Charlie Brooker
81. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006, D Eggers & M Groening (eds)
82. The 47 Ronin Story, John Allyn
83. Finnegans Wake, James Joyce
84. Gasping, Ben Elton
85. What the Censor Saw, John Trevelyan
86. Mutants, Armand Marie Leroi
87. [manuscript of novel due for publication June 2011]
88. McSweeney's 19, Dave Eggers (ed)
89. Waltzing Materialism, Jonathan King
90. I, an Actor, Nicholas Craig (aka Nigel Planer)
91. My Life as Me: A Memoir, Barry Humphries
92. Miracles of Life, JG Ballard
DECEMBER 2010:
MOVIES:
87. OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, 2006
88. The Edge of Heaven, 2007
89. The Tulse Luper Suitcases 3: From Sark to Finish, 2004
90. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 2007
91. Primeval, 2007
91a. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 2007
92. Submarine, 2010
93. Frozen River, 2008
94. The Manxman, 1929
95. Steal This Movie!, 2000
96. Maybe Baby, 1999
97. The Music Room, 1958
98. Blame it on Fidel, 2006
99. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, 2008
100. The Tree, 2010
BOOKS:
93. Oblivion: Stories, David Foster Wallace
94. Understanding Jihad, David Cook
95. Old Flames & A Month in the Country, Simon Gray
96. The Irrational Knot, George Bernard Shaw
97. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007, D Eggers & S Stevens (eds)
98. The Third Policeman, Flann O'Brien
99. The Eye, Vladimir Nabokov
100. Cloudstreet, Tim Winton
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