Back in 2003, the well-respected Guardian Observer newspaper in England has come out with its list of the Top 100 Novels of All Time, as ranked by Robert McCrum. The top 10 are:

1. Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes. The story of the gentle knight and his servant Sancho Panza has entranced readers for centuries.

2. Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. The one with the Slough of Despond and Vanity Fair.

3. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The first English novel.

4. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. A wonderful satire that still works for all ages, despite the savagery of Swift’s vision.

5. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. The adventures of a high-spirited orphan boy: an unbeatable plot and a lot of sex ending in a blissful marriage.

6. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson. One of the longest novels in the English language, but unputdownable.

7. Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. One of the first bestsellers, dismissed by Dr Johnson as too fashionable for its own good.

8. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos De Laclos. An epistolary novel and a handbook for seducers: foppish, French, and ferocious.

9. Emma by Jane Austen. Near impossible choice between this and Pride and Prejudice. But Emma never fails to fascinate and annoy.

10. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Inspired by spending too much time with Shelley and Byron.

I’m not sure whether I should admit it, but I have never actually read any of these novels in the top 10. For that matter, I’ve never even heard of five of the top ten. I guess I’m just not a literary connoisseur. Come to think of it, I can’t even recall the last time that I read a book just for pleasure.

I wonder, is that typical of an academic -- or is it just me?