Bunner Sisters, by Edith Wharton

[koboldmaki]

"In the days when New York's traffic moved at the pace of the drooping horse-car, when society applauded Christine Nilsson at the Academy of Music and basked in the sunsets of the Hudson River School on the walls of the National Academy of Design, an inconspicuous shop with a single show-window was intimately and favourably known to the feminine

Comments

[inverarity]

The selections for the 1001 books list are generally those deemed by the panel of literary experts to have some great significance, to the literary world or as some kind of groundbreaking book, rather than merely books that are very popular (otherwise it would be the 1001 Best-Selling Books List).

That said, a lot of people have pointed out that the committee who selected the books tended to put everything by their favorite authors on the list. Though I believe the revised list that came out in 2010 was a bit more diverse.

[koboldmaki]

I think criticising the book selection on this list is part of the fun, and Bunner Sisters is definitely NOT a groundbreaking work, is all I'm saying. And I think that a "must read before you die" list should definitely also contain at least one trashy romance. Or if you absolutely can't bear that thought, at least Georgette Heyer.

[ms_geekette]

Out of curiosity, I looked at the lists, and this work by Wharton was removed from the 2008 list. As someone who was assigned a book that was also removed from the 1001 list when it was first revised in 2008, I *totally* get your comment. Although my book was about 600 something (horrible!) pages, I sort of wish I had gotten your assignment instead! ;-D

I think inverarity should've used one of the revised lists instead of the 2006, though. That list is extremely lazy, IMO. But he started this community, he can do what he wants, I guess. (I kind of think that's one reason why some people dropped out, though, since some of these extra books that have been since removed from the 1001 list are not necessarily fun reads.)

[inverarity]

I didn't actually know about the revised list when I started the comm. :P

The revised list is more diverse, though I am not sure there aren't still some "not so fun" reads on it. I think most book clubs have a fairly high attrition rate.

I may consider switching to a revised list when I do my amnesty/purge at the end of this year.

[ms_geekette]

Oh I don't doubt that there aren't still some boat anchors on the newer lists, but there has to be less than 2006 list. ;-P

[koboldmaki]

Well, I mean, it's kind of a given that out of 1001 books that some highbrow-ish dude selected as must-reads, only about 20% will be "fun" for everyone. I knew that when I was getting into this (which doesn't mean that I managed to finish "The Godfather"), but at the very least it should be discussed in the review when a book is an absolutely baffling selection like this one (or "The Golden Bowl" by Henry James earlier).

The list itself, I think, would make much more sense as "1001 authors to read before you die (and a suggestion of which of their books to start with)".