I own One Hundred Years of Solitude so that I can read it one day.

I used to own it so that I could read it one day. And then I moved cross-country and decided it was never going happen.

Megan, definitely read Atwood's Penelopiad for fun when you get a chance. Given that you re-read the Odyssey relatively recently, I think you'll love it.

Oh, I'm sure I will. I just added it to Shelfari. This list was more based on a "what am I embarassed not to have read" concept.

My two big ones on that list are Paradise Lost and the Divine Comedy. I have a copy of the latter but need to buy the former still.

Divine Comedy is on the list in my mind, but, since I'm supposed to read 2 books a month, I tried to limit the long ones. Already getting through Don Quixote, War and Peace, and the two volumes of Le Comte de Monte-Cristo should be quite a challenge.

I read Purgatorio and Paradiso for completism's sake.

There's a reason people only talk about Inferno.

megan -- When you get to the Count of Monte Cristo, nag me and I'll try to mock up the chart I scrawled at 3 AM to keep track of who was related to who. Granted, I'm terrible with names, so you might not need it. But someone should benefit from things I did on an all-night reading binge.

Which is to say: it's an excellent page-turner. So it may not take as long as you expect to read.

Speaking of, I'm looking for a good version of PL with comprehensive notes since Milton is so challenging and I haven't studied it formally. I've come across a Norton Critical Edition and Penguin Classics edition. Looking at the reviews, it seems the Penguin might be better, but I've had good luck with Norton Critical Editions in the past. Anyone familiar with these (or another annotated version) and have advice?

So it may not take as long as you expect to read.

Well, I'm reading it in French, so it will probably take me a bit longer than English, although I'm pretty sure his vocabulary is closer to Zola than Hugo. At least I hope so.

it will probably take me a bit longer than English

Oh, you, with your valid points. But yes, I think it'd still be an easier read than Hugo.

I should note that the chart I made is not as comprehensive as this one. (I should say that there are spoilers if you zoom in enough to actually read it.)

Kristin -- when I took a class on Milton we read a version annotated by Merritt Hughes. Which appears to be the basis for this one: [link]

I can't compare it to other editions, but that particular prof was very... particular, so I imagine he had a reason for choosing it. It's certainly extensively footnoted. (And it looks like the paperback I linked to is even more so, actually.)

The fact that I can't even get that chart to load scares me.

I think it'd still be an easier read than Hugo.

I think anything is easier than Hugo. When we started on the preface to Cromwell, my prof at the Sorbonne told the French students to be patient because they would probably have to look up every tenth word. And then she looked at the few Americans in the class and just shook her head and sighed.