Discussion: What would be on your list?

[inverarity]

So, as I mentioned in the community info, I used Peter Boxall's list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die more or less arbitrarily. Boxall compiled the list in consultation with a team of literary critics:

For discerning bibliophiles and readers who enjoy unforgettable classic literature, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die is a trove of

Comments

[christina_reads]

I was UTTERLY flabbergasted by the lack of Shakespeare! I guess the list is focusing on novels rather than on poetry or drama, but seriously!

[count_fenring]

Actually, funnily enough, it lists several short stories, plays, and other non-novel works.

Honestly, it's just sort of a highly disorganized jumble - there's no real logic to it.

[rosenblut]

As far as I'm concerned, this list is way too Anglocentric (even though it's somewhat understandable, as the author is an Anglosaxon native speaker), especially when it comes to contemporary literature, if that's what they were aiming for.
There's just this complete imbalance between Anglic literature (mainly British and American) and that from the rest of the world.

Moreover, I just think that the pre-1800s section needs to be redone from scratch, it feels as if literature did not exist before the coming of novels, what the heck. I don't get it, if they wanted to make it more modern-oriented, fine, just don't call it 1001 books you need to read before you die, because I personally would rather die having read Dostoevskij than any 21st century writer.

Lol sorry, it feels like a rant but it's not, really, I'm only a very verbose person XD

[ms_geekette]

I agree with your verbosity. ;-D

I would really love to see a comprehensive list that took into account WORLD literature. Not just one narrow subset.

Perhaps it exists...somewhere. And if someone knows of this list, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!!!

I remember an Iranian friend of mine asking a while back if I had heard of a famous Persian poet and I had to sadly say no. I think he was so flabbergasted that he forgot to tell me the man's name. >.

[ms_geekette]

And before someone goes, "ms_geekette, get off your 'priviledged' butt and figure out what poet he was talking about!!!!" I think he was talking about Hāfez (but I'm not sure).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafez

[rosenblut]

that took into account WORLD literature

I seriously wish something like that existed, lists are supposed to help people expand their literary horizons, not further narrow them.

[coritiacus]

I think it would have been a better list if they'd limited it to perhaps 2 books per author. I love Margaret Atwood, but 6 of hers? And way too much Ian McEwan, too (I counted 8). It was way too heavily weighted towards fiction from the 90s onwards, as well. I was amazed there was no Ray Bradbury, especially since they included Arthur C. Clarke, so it wasn't as though there was a no-SF rule, and Bradbury is a better writer than Clarke (though I do enjoy Clarke). I was surprised not to see Ender's Game, or anything by Phillip K. Dick, too.

[whitters23]

I just have to say that my brother (a guy that does very little reading) suggested I read Ender's Game last year. I think his exact words were "it was the only book I took out from the library and it was so good I never brought it back". So I have it here sitting on my to-read book shelf, where it has been gathering dust for a year. I just figured it was a random sci-fi book he picked up and now that I see you were surprised not to see it included in the 1001 must read books before you die, I am actually very intrigued

[coritiacus]

I didn't read Ender's Game until this year, I always heard of it as a must-read, but it didn't sound promising, and I didn't bother until I found it really cheap in a charity shop, it's definitely worth a go, and not just generic sci-fi.

I was a bit disappointed they left out children's books, too, a lot of children's/YA books, while maybe not written in a manner you need a degree in creative writing to decipher and appreciate, are still classics and well worth reading, and could have been included in lieu of some of the duplicate authors.

[inverarity]

There is a separate list, 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, which we could try some time.

[kerneyhead]

I recently did a list of 'recomended' books for my nephews that went in their Christmas presents. One had a lot of Fantasy and SF while the other was mostly non-fiction (The Hot Zone, On Writing). I also looked at a few of my recomendations and noticed that some of them had a low number of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, though one of them had 14 out of 15 five star reviews on Amazon (The Morning River by Micheal Gear which I highly recomend

[inverarity]

There's quite a bit of sci-fi on the list, actually -- H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Douglas Adams, Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Iain Banks, J.G. Ballard, Huxley, to name a few.

I'd say fantasy is what gets short shrift. There's hardly any straight fantasy, other than Tolkien, Lovecraft, and Lewis Carroll.

Speaking of Westerns, it is a bit surprising that Cormac McCarthy didn't get a single nod. (I'm not a big fan, but he seems to be highly regarded in literary circles.)

[nvcarnie]

The Road by McCarthy was excellent. I agree - he should have been considered!

[kerneyhead]

North American regional authors of all sorts did get a bit of a short shrift and 'westerns' are out of fashion (though I think a few should have made it, perhaps a Larry McMurty novel) as is fantasy, though not quite as much in 'literary' circles, though 'magical realism' is just ducky.
And yes, I think the Latin American have some legitimate complaints too.

As for my argument for Dune, it's probably the SF novel I hear the most popular acclaim for from the most diverse circles of people, therefore I'd include it.

[bricktor]

This isn't a book suggestion but more of a community suggestion: would it be possible, once we've signed up to read a book, to comment on that with our book assignment? Sorry to be picky, but I had no idea and kind of had to dig to find what mine was. :)

[inverarity]

I think posting 77 responses in the first sign-up thread, telling each person individually what their book was, would have made it a bit cluttered (and been a lot of work for me).

Hopefully it will be clear enough in my announcement threads from now on that you just have to go to the book list to find your book.