Posted by Steven
on 10/2/2009, 21:58:39, in reply to "Re: Guardian List: "1000 Novels Everyone Must Read""
76.187.98.74
I am something of a booklist junkie (not that you haven't figured that out already). Though I've collected literally hundreds of lists, I've never found the perfect list. So naturally I've tried making my own. They end up resembling other people's lists that I didn't think so much of before I tried it myself.
It's very hard to balance the desire to include the very best works with the desire to represent as many periods, styles, nationalities and formats as possible. Ideally I would like to find or build a three-tiered list: 50 or so books to read once every ten years, 500 to read at least once in a lifetime, and another 2500 suggestions optional reading according to interest.
We already have a list started and the framework for finishing it: The "World Literature" links down the left side of this page. If we are serious about creating a list, all we need to do is complete and refine those pages a country at a time. (We will need to add some countries or regions as we go: India, Latin America, etc.)
--Previous Message--
: The Scarl ... oh nevermind.
:
:
:
: I burst out laughing.
:
: OK. So, let's think about this. I agree that it has to
: be fiction. I would like to suggest "novel"
: but that would exclude "Paradise Lost" and
: the like.
:
: The name is everything, we should choose the title
: smartly so that people will not say "oh, not
: another list."
:
: How do we impose our list on the rest of the world?
: H-m-m.
:
: Exactly the way other lists do: push it down the
: throats of people, circulate it on the internet...
:
: Or maybe, if we are serious, we can compile a review
: for each of our books. I am sure half of the books on
: our list will already have some commentary written
: about it by one of us. Guillermo writes one for every
: book he reads. Friederike writes one for most of her
: books. The rest of us have written some. There are
: also some random thoughts that we can edit and turn
: into witty reviews. Then we go around looking for a
: publisher.
:
: Lale
:
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