Guardian Booklist sorted by author

[hralistserve]

Adams 25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
Adams 94 Watership Down Richard Adams
Alborn 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Alborn
Alcott 11 Little Women Louisa M Alcott
Atwood 48 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
Austen 1 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Austen 34 Emma Jane Austen
Austen 35 Persuasion Jane Austen
Austen 54 Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
Banks 93 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
Blyton 90 The Faraway Tree Collection Enid Blyton
Bronte 3 Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Bronte 7 Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
Brown 42 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
Bryson 74 Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson
Burnett 73 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
Byatt 80 Possession AS Byatt
Carroll 29 Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Collins 45 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
Conrad 91 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Dahl 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
de Bernieres 38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis de Bernières
Dickens 10 Great Expectations Charles Dickens
Dickens 32 David Copperfield Charles Dickens
Dickens 57 A Tale Of Two Cities Charles Dickens
Dickens 71 Oliver Twist Charles Dickens
Dickens 81 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
Dockens 23 Bleak House Charles Dickens
Dostoyevsky 27 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Doyle 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Du Maurier 15 Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
Dumas 65 Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
Dumas 97 The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
Eliot 20 Middlemarch George Eliot
Faulks 17 Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
Fielding 68 Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding
Fitzgerald 22 The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
Flaubert 85 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
Gibbons 53 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
Golden 39 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
Golding 49 Lord of the Flies William Golding
Grahame 30 The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
Haddon 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark
Haddon
Hardy 12 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
Hardy 47 Far From The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
Hardy 67 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
Heller 13 Catch-22 Joseph Heller
Herbert 52 Dune Frank Herbert
Hosseini 37 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Hugo 100 Les Misérables Victor Hugo
Huxley 58 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
Irving 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney John Irving
Ishiguro 84 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
Joyce 75 Ulysses James Joyce
Kerouac 66 On The Road Jack Kerouac
Lee 5 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Lewis 33 Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis
Lewis "36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe CS Lewis"
Marquez 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Marquez 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Martel 51 Life of Pi Yann Martel
McEwan 50 Atonement Ian McEwan
Melville 70 Moby Dick Herman Melville
Michell 21 Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
Milne 40 Winnie the Pooh AA Milne
Mistry 86 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
Mitchell 82 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
Montgomery 46 Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
NA 6 The Bible
Nabakov 62 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
Niffenegger 19 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
Orwell =8 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
Orwell 41 Animal Farm George Orwell
Plath 76 The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Pullman =8 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
Ransome 77 Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
Rowling 4 Harry Potter series JK Rowling
Rushdie 69 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
Saint-Exupery 92 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Salinger 18 Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
Sebold 64 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
Seth 55 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
Shakespeare 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare William Shakespeare
Shakespeare 98 Hamlet William Shakespeare
Shute 96 A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
Steinbeck 28 Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
Steinbeck 61 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
Stoker 72 Dracula Bram Stoker
Tartt 63 The Secret History Donna Tartt
Thackeray 79 Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
Tolkien 2 The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien
Tolkien 16 The Hobbit JRR Tolkien
Tolstoy 24 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy 31 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
Toole 95 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
Walker 83 The Color Purple Alice Walker
Waugh 26 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
White 87 Charlotte's Web EB White
Zafon 56 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Zola 78 Germinal Emile Zola

[Francis Turton]

Adams 25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
Adams 94 Watership Down Richard Adams
Alborn 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Alborn
Alcott 11 Little Women Louisa M Alcott
Atwood 48 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
Austen 1 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Austen 34 Emma Jane Austen
Austen 35 Persuasion Jane Austen
Austen 54 Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
Banks 93 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
Blyton 90 The Faraway Tree Collection Enid Blyton
Bronte 3 Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Bronte 7 Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
Brown 42 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
Bryson 74 Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson
Burnett 73 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
Byatt 80 Possession AS Byatt
Carroll 29 Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Collins 45 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
Conrad 91 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Dahl 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
de Bernieres 38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis de Bernières
Dickens 10 Great Expectations Charles Dickens
Dickens 32 David Copperfield Charles Dickens
Dickens 57 A Tale Of Two Cities Charles Dickens
Dickens 71 Oliver Twist Charles Dickens
Dickens 81 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
Dockens 23 Bleak House Charles Dickens
Dostoyevsky 27 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Doyle 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Du Maurier 15 Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
Dumas 65 Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
Dumas 97 The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
Eliot 20 Middlemarch George Eliot
Faulks 17 Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
Fielding 68 Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding
Fitzgerald 22 The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
Flaubert 85 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
Gibbons 53 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
Golden 39 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
Golding 49 Lord of the Flies William Golding
Grahame 30 The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
Haddon 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark
Haddon
Hardy 12 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
Hardy 47 Far From The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
Hardy 67 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
Heller 13 Catch-22 Joseph Heller
Herbert 52 Dune Frank Herbert
Hosseini 37 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Hugo 100 Les Misérables Victor Hugo
Huxley 58 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
Irving 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney John Irving
Ishiguro 84 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
Joyce 75 Ulysses James Joyce
Kerouac 66 On The Road Jack Kerouac
Lee 5 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Lewis 33 Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis
Lewis "36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe CS Lewis"
Marquez 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Marquez 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Martel 51 Life of Pi Yann Martel
McEwan 50 Atonement Ian McEwan
Melville 70 Moby Dick Herman Melville
Michell 21 Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
Milne 40 Winnie the Pooh AA Milne
Mistry 86 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
Mitchell 82 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
Montgomery 46 Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
NA 6 The Bible
Nabakov 62 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
Niffenegger 19 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
Orwell =8 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
Orwell 41 Animal Farm George Orwell
Plath 76 The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Pullman =8 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
Ransome 77 Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
Rowling 4 Harry Potter series JK Rowling
Rushdie 69 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
Saint-Exupery 92 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Salinger 18 Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
Sebold 64 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
Seth 55 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
Shakespeare 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare William Shakespeare
Shakespeare 98 Hamlet William Shakespeare
Shute 96 A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
Steinbeck 28 Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
Steinbeck 61 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
Stoker 72 Dracula Bram Stoker
Tartt 63 The Secret History Donna Tartt
Thackeray 79 Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
Tolkien 2 The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien
Tolkien 16 The Hobbit JRR Tolkien
Tolstoy 24 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy 31 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
Toole 95 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
Walker 83 The Color Purple Alice Walker
Waugh 26 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
White 87 Charlotte's Web EB White
Zafon 56 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Zola 78 Germinal Emile Zola

What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

[Duncan Wood]

Post by Francis Turton

Adams 25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
Adams 94 Watership Down Richard Adams
Alborn 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Alborn
Alcott 11 Little Women Louisa M Alcott
Atwood 48 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
Austen 1 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Austen 34 Emma Jane Austen
Austen 35 Persuasion Jane Austen
Austen 54 Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
Banks 93 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
Blyton 90 The Faraway Tree Collection Enid Blyton
Bronte 3 Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Bronte 7 Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
Brown 42 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
Bryson 74 Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson
Burnett 73 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
Byatt 80 Possession AS Byatt
Carroll 29 Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Collins 45 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
Conrad 91 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Dahl 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
de Bernieres 38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis de Bernières
Dickens 10 Great Expectations Charles Dickens
Dickens 32 David Copperfield Charles Dickens
Dickens 57 A Tale Of Two Cities Charles Dickens
Dickens 71 Oliver Twist Charles Dickens
Dickens 81 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
Dockens 23 Bleak House Charles Dickens
Dostoyevsky 27 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Doyle 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Du Maurier 15 Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
Dumas 65 Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
Dumas 97 The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
Eliot 20 Middlemarch George Eliot
Faulks 17 Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
Fielding 68 Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding
Fitzgerald 22 The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
Flaubert 85 Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
Gibbons 53 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
Golden 39 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
Golding 49 Lord of the Flies William Golding
Grahame 30 The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
Haddon 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark
Haddon
Hardy 12 Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
Hardy 47 Far From The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
Hardy 67 Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
Heller 13 Catch-22 Joseph Heller
Herbert 52 Dune Frank Herbert
Hosseini 37 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Hugo 100 Les Misérables Victor Hugo
Huxley 58 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
Irving 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney John Irving
Ishiguro 84 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
Joyce 75 Ulysses James Joyce
Kerouac 66 On The Road Jack Kerouac
Lee 5 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Lewis 33 Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis
Lewis "36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe CS Lewis"
Marquez 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Marquez 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Martel 51 Life of Pi Yann Martel
McEwan 50 Atonement Ian McEwan
Melville 70 Moby Dick Herman Melville
Michell 21 Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
Milne 40 Winnie the Pooh AA Milne
Mistry 86 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
Mitchell 82 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
Montgomery 46 Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
NA 6 The Bible
Nabakov 62 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
Niffenegger 19 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
Orwell =8 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
Orwell 41 Animal Farm George Orwell
Plath 76 The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Pullman =8 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
Ransome 77 Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
Rowling 4 Harry Potter series JK Rowling
Rushdie 69 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
Saint-Exupery 92 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Salinger 18 Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
Sebold 64 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
Seth 55 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
Shakespeare 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare William Shakespeare
Shakespeare 98 Hamlet William Shakespeare
Shute 96 A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
Steinbeck 28 Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
Steinbeck 61 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
Stoker 72 Dracula Bram Stoker
Tartt 63 The Secret History Donna Tartt
Thackeray 79 Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
Tolkien 2 The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien
Tolkien 16 The Hobbit JRR Tolkien
Tolstoy 24 War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy 31 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
Toole 95 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
Walker 83 The Color Purple Alice Walker
Waugh 26 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
White 87 Charlotte's Web EB White
Zafon 56 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Zola 78 Germinal Emile Zola

What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.
--- www.dogsticks.org ---

You'd expect much more than 10%?

[John Smith]

Post by Duncan Wood

Post by Francis Turton

Adams 25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
Adams 94 Watership Down Richard Adams

(snip)

Post by Duncan Wood

Post by Francis Turton
What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

You'd expect much more than 10%?

If it's a list of top 100 books of all time then I'd expect higher than 10%

Don Quijote de la Mancha,
Cien años de soledad,
Ἰλιάς,
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,
Πολιτεία,

... etc etc

[Francis Turton]

Post by John Smith

Post by Duncan Wood
You'd expect much more than 10%?

If it's a list of top 100 books of all time then I'd expect higher than 10%
Don Quijote de la Mancha,
Cien años de soledad,
Ἰλιάς,
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,
Πολιτεία,

Well, not necessarily in the originals! (The second item you mention
is actually in the list, in translation.)

But yes, if this *is* supposed to be a list of experts' "recommended
reads", it's a complacently Anglocentric one. Anglo-Saxon literature
may indeed be among the world's richest, but it surely doesn't account
for 90% of the "top 100 books" ever written. For example I don't see
why we need 6 Dickens[*] in there - life's short :)

[*] Taking "Dockens" to be a pseudonym

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

[DK]

Post by Francis Turton

Post by Duncan Wood
You'd expect much more than 10%?

If it's a list of top 100 books of all time then I'd expect higher than 1=

0%

Don Quijote de la Mancha,
Cien a=C3=B1os de soledad,
=E1=BC=B8=CE=BB=CE=B9=CE=AC=CF=82,
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,
=CE=A0=CE=BF=CE=BB=CE=B9=CF=84=CE=B5=CE=AF=CE=B1,

Well, not necessarily in the originals! (The second item you mention
is actually in the list, in translation.)
But yes, if this *is* supposed to be a list of experts' "recommended
reads", it's a complacently Anglocentric one. Anglo-Saxon literature
may indeed be among the world's richest, but it surely doesn't account
for 90% of the "top 100 books" ever written. For example I don't see
why we need 6 Dickens[*] in there - life's short :)

Actually, considering the odds ("top 100") one would suffice just fine.
But then again, the list as presented is a total bullshit anyway (as
probably is any and all top 100 lists). Two Orwells and none, say,
Vonnegut? Not a single author from South America and four frigging
Jane Austens???

Sane people pay no attention to these stupid charts where Milly
Vanillies of the world routinely dominate King Crimson and
Genesis.

DK

[Duncan Wood]

Post by Francis Turton

Post by Duncan Wood
You'd expect much more than 10%?

If it's a list of top 100 books of all time then I'd expect higher =
than 1=3D

0%

Don Quijote de la Mancha,
Cien a=3DC3=3DB1os de soledad,
=3DE1=3DBC=3DB8=3DCE=3DBB=3DCE=3DB9=3DCE=3DAC=3DCF=3D82,
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,
=3DCE=3DA0=3DCE=3DBF=3DCE=3DBB=3DCE=3DB9=3DCF=3D84=3DCE=3DB5=3DCE=3D=

AF=3DCE=3DB1,

Post by Francis Turton
Well, not necessarily in the originals! (The second item you mention
is actually in the list, in translation.)
But yes, if this *is* supposed to be a list of experts' "recommended
reads", it's a complacently Anglocentric one. Anglo-Saxon literature
may indeed be among the world's richest, but it surely doesn't accoun=

t

Post by Francis Turton
for 90% of the "top 100 books" ever written. For example I don't see
why we need 6 Dickens[*] in there - life's short :)

Actually, considering the odds ("top 100") one would suffice just fine=

.

But then again, the list as presented is a total bullshit anyway (as
probably is any and all top 100 lists). Two Orwells and none, say,
Vonnegut? Not a single author from South America and four frigging
Jane Austens???

I'm not sure you're proving much there though, I'm failing to think of a=
=

Vonnegut with the resonance of Animal Farm or 1984 & given it's a list i=
n =

English South American Authors aren't exactly well known. Thereagain I'd=
=

swap any of those Dickens for a Conrad, so I'm probably a lost cause.

[Brian L Johnson]

Post by DK
Two Orwells and none, say,

Post by DK
Vonnegut? Not a single author from South America and four frigging
Jane Austens???

I'm not sure you're proving much there though, I'm failing to think of a
Vonnegut with the resonance of Animal Farm or 1984

<snippage>

Ah, well, y'see... back when I was 12 or 13, Vonnegut's _The Sirens of
Titan_ made a big impression on me. I'd say that it was around the
level of _Animal Farm_.

[Jeremy Henty]

Post by Brian L Johnson

Post by Duncan Wood
I'm not sure you're proving much there though, I'm failing to think
of a Vonnegut with the resonance of Animal Farm or 1984

<snippage>
Ah, well, y'see... back when I was 12 or 13, Vonnegut's _The Sirens
of Titan_ made a big impression on me. I'd say that it was around
the level of _Animal Farm_.

+1. _The Sirens of Titan_ is gobsmackingly good and easily compares
with _Animal Farm_.

Regards,

Jeremy Henty

[Brian L Johnson]

Post by Jeremy Henty
+1. _The Sirens of Titan_ is gobsmackingly good and easily compares
with _Animal Farm_.

It was the book I chose in an attempt to persuade a school friend of
mine to read SF -- a genre which he had, until then, dismissed as
juvenile. It was a swap: he had to read _Sirens of Titan_ and I had to
join him on a caving trip in the Yorkshire Dales.

I *loved* caving and continued it for many years. I started by camping
[1] in the Ingleton and Chapel-le-Dale areas but quickly progressed to
joining the Northern Pennine Potholing Club and tackling some of the
more difficult pots in the area.

He, on the other hand, never read another SF book. <g>

Footnote
--------
1. My parents wholeheartedly approved of this healthy outdoor[2]
activity and generously kitted me out with boots, a rucksack and a 1-man
tent.[3]

2. And underground, of course.

3. I never rented a tent. <g>

['foolsrushin.']

'Anna Karenina'.' ignored and even dismissed for some time, is a novel
I love more than any I have read. 'Happy families are all happy in the
same way; all unhappy families are unhappy after their own fashion'.
Romantic, to be sure, but with a tragic and logical ending: you don't
want to know what is going to happen, even though you know the outcome
is in the characters and in their situation.

'Our Man in Havana'. Superb satire. Vaccuum cleaners will never be the
same again! Read it - and laugh!
--
'foolsrushin.'

Post by Brian L Johnson

Post by Jeremy Henty
+1. _The Sirens of Titan_ is gobsmackingly good and easily compares
with _Animal Farm_.

It was the book I chose in an attempt to persuade a school friend of
mine to read SF -- a genre which he had, until then, dismissed as
juvenile. It was a swap: he had to read _Sirens of Titan_ and I had to
join him on a caving trip in the Yorkshire Dales.
I *loved* caving and continued it for many years. I started by camping
[1] in the Ingleton and Chapel-le-Dale areas but quickly progressed to
joining the Northern Pennine Potholing Club and tackling some of the
more difficult pots in the area.
He, on the other hand, never read another SF book. <g>
Footnote
--------
1. My parents wholeheartedly approved of this healthy outdoor[2]
activity and generously kitted me out with boots, a rucksack and a 1-man
tent.[3]
2. And underground, of course.
3. I never rented a tent. <g
--
-blj-

[DK]

Post by Brian L Johnson

Post by DK
Two Orwells and none, say,

Post by DK
Vonnegut? Not a single author from South America and four frigging
Jane Austens???

I'm not sure you're proving much there though, I'm failing to think of a
Vonnegut with the resonance of Animal Farm or 1984

<snippage>

The resonance is purely political. There is nothing wrong with
Animal Farm but it's not a literary masterpiece by any stretch
of imagination (it's not even a significant achievement; 1984 is).
If you are inclined to compile book lists using considerations
other than quality of writing, that's fine. But I don't.

DK

[Mary Pegg]

Post by DK
Sane people pay no attention to these stupid charts where Milly
Vanillies of the world routinely dominate King Crimson and
Genesis.

Dan Brown => Agadoo.

[Francis Turton]

Post by DK
Actually, considering the odds ("top 100") one would suffice just fine.
But then again, the list as presented is a total bullshit anyway (as
probably is any and all top 100 lists). Two Orwells and none, say,
Vonnegut? Not a single author from South America and four frigging
Jane Austens???

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is from South America (originally).

As for Austen, Pride and Prejudice is good but the others I can take
or leave. Im fact I find that with most authors you can read their
best book and ignore the rest without missing much. Most novelists
(not all) *really* only have one thing to say: they learn their
technique in their early work, come up with their classic in the
middle of life, then carry on writing fairly disappointing stuff
because it's what everyone expects of them and what they expect of
themselves.

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

[DK]

Post by Francis Turton

Post by DK
Actually, considering the odds ("top 100") one would suffice just fine.
But then again, the list as presented is a total bullshit anyway (as
probably is any and all top 100 lists). Two Orwells and none, say,
Vonnegut? Not a single author from South America and four frigging
Jane Austens???

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is from South America (originally).

Oh, my bad! Marquez is on the list, I should have paid closer
attention. (Stilll, no Borges or Cortazar...)

[Al Grant]

Post by Francis Turton
As for Austen, Pride and Prejudice is good but the others I can take
or leave.

The 'desert island' Austen is universally acknowleged (TM)
to be 'Emma'. P&P is a good Regency romp. I suspect the
position of the rest in the list reflects recent TV series.

Post by Francis Turton
Im fact I find that with most authors you can read their
best book and ignore the rest without missing much.

I thought this was one of the more stupid comments I've seen
on cam.misc recently, but then I noticed we're sharing this
thread with rec.org.mensa.

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by Al Grant
The 'desert island' Austen is universally acknowleged (TM)
to be 'Emma'. P&P is a good Regency romp. I suspect the
position of the rest in the list reflects recent TV series.

I have a problem with Austen. I want her to be George Eliot. She
clearly isn't. So I have only read this one, and decided that I would
need a good reason to read more. While recognizing the few choices the
women of the period had, I can't be bothered to read whole books on
the subject of getting married, I'd rather see the society as a whole.
including, say, any wars or political changes going on at the time.
(Like in "Middlemarch". See what I mean?)

Post by Al Grant
I thought this was one of the more stupid comments I've seen
on cam.misc recently, but then I noticed we're sharing this
thread with rec.org.mensa.

Not me, just cam.misc. And it's always interesting to read postings on
books from my fellow cam.miscers.

Besides, lists of books make interesting reading and discussion. And
this is the first list I've seen, from which I've read over 50%. (52
books.) Oh, not the De Vinci code, one Potter, but both Marquez.



Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

Anetta Meriranta Pirinen <***@pirinen.demon.co.uk> writes:
(snip)

I can't be bothered to read whole books on the subject of getting
married, I'd rather see the society as a whole. including, say, any
wars or political changes going on at the time.

Mmmm, I did like War and Peace. (-: I've read Emma and Pride & Prejudice
and come away not wanting to do so again. But, AFAIK, the people who
liked them, found them really quite amusing. I don't know how
humour-filled they actually are, but FWIW I wonder if they'd see them as
only ostensibly having been about getting married.

Post by Al Grant
I thought this was one of the more stupid comments I've seen
on cam.misc recently, but then I noticed we're sharing this
thread with rec.org.mensa.

Not me, just cam.misc. And it's always interesting to read postings on
books from my fellow cam.miscers.

(snip)

TBH, despite Al's derision for the idea, I am having difficulty thinking
of authors where, if I had to, I couldn't easily restrict myself to just
one of their books. Although, there are people like Chekhov and Nabokov
(and Greg Egan (-:) who generate interesting sets of short stories too,
I suppose. And I've not been much of a fan of Dickens.

(Mind you, I plead the mitigating factor of not yet having unpacked most
of my books since our last move, so I'll be forgetting a lot.)

-- Mark

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by Mark T.B. Carroll
TBH, despite Al's derision for the idea, I am having difficulty thinking
of authors where, if I had to, I couldn't easily restrict myself to just
one of their books. Although, there are people like Chekhov and Nabokov
(and Greg Egan (-:) who generate interesting sets of short stories too,
I suppose. And I've not been much of a fan of Dickens.

Ah! Short stories. I love good short stories. Yes, Chekhov is good...
no, great. From Nabokov I haven't read any. (Or remember I read.) I
may well read, one day.

There are countless sf authors, who write brilliant short stories,
Egan included. (Although I must admit my partner is more a fan of his
stories than I am.) Yes, it's a pity that short fiction is ignored in
lists like these. (Although there are plenty of authors who manage
both, novels and short fiction.) Favourite collections anyone? Or a
favourite short story? That is, if one is able to choose.

Post by Mark T.B. Carroll
(Mind you, I plead the mitigating factor of not yet having unpacked most
of my books since our last move, so I'll be forgetting a lot.)

I won't even try to remember all my favourite authors. Even with the
books in the shelves.



Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Al Grant]

Post by Mark T.B. Carroll
TBH, despite Al's derision for the idea, I am having difficulty thinking
of authors where, if I had to, I couldn't easily restrict myself to just
one of their books.

Well, one could easily decide that reading another book by
the same author would be more of the same - and certainly
if one reads novels for the wars and politics (as I understand
some people do) then one Trollope, say, is very much like
another.

But the claim was quite different, i.e. that most authors write
a series of juvenilia, then a classic, then go into decline.
Authors like this are surely the exception rather than the rule.
Perhaps Melville, whose later novels are so introspective and
discursive as to be unreadable. Perhaps Flaubert, whose
follow-up to 'Madame Bovary' was a gory sword-and-sandals
epic only read these days by goths and death-metal fans.

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

"Al Grant" <***@myrealbox.com> writes:
(snip)

Post by Al Grant
But the claim was quite different, i.e. that most authors write
a series of juvenilia, then a classic, then go into decline.

Oh, right. I'd join you in disagreeing with that. I'd probably go no
further than noting that, of many authors (with many exceptions), I tend
not to like their later work as much as their earlier work. (For
instance, of Iain Banks' stuff, I still find 'The Wasp Factory' one of
the best.)

Post by Al Grant
Authors like this are surely the exception rather than the rule.
Perhaps Melville, whose later novels are so introspective and
discursive as to be unreadable. Perhaps Flaubert, whose
follow-up to 'Madame Bovary' was a gory sword-and-sandals
epic only read these days by goths and death-metal fans.

I shall have to bow to your familiarity, here. TBH I'd managed to
completely forget 'Madame Bovary'!

-- Mark

[Francis Turton]

Post by Al Grant

Post by Francis Turton
As for Austen, Pride and Prejudice is good but the others I can take
or leave.

The 'desert island' Austen is universally acknowleged (TM)
to be 'Emma'. P&P is a good Regency romp. I suspect the
position of the rest in the list reflects recent TV series.

Post by Francis Turton
Im fact I find that with most authors you can read their
best book and ignore the rest without missing much.

I thought this was one of the more stupid comments I've seen
on cam.misc recently, but then I noticed we're sharing this
thread with rec.org.mensa.

Oo, I'm *so* flattered to be taken for a rec.org.mensa intruder :)
Actually I never go anywhere that group except when things from it get
cross-posted to cam.misc.

Actually I overstated my case, I can see that. But I was making a
serious point from my own experience. Basically there's more
interesting writing - both fiction and non-fiction - out there than
anyone is every going to be able to read on their own and there's a
case for looking for new authors rather than mining the same seems.

I was thinking of a writer like Milan Kundera - since "The Unbearable
Lightness of Being" he's largely been repeating himself, and before it
he was largely still working out exactly what it was he wanted to say.

I've heard people say the same of Garcia Marquez - that nothing else
he wrote is of the quality of "One Hundred Years of Solitude". I've
only read the latter novel by him so I couldn't offer an opinion other
that I can well believe it's true.

Of course it depends what you read for. No doubt I come across as a
pompous prat saying this, but I read to learn things and appreciate
language rather than simply to be diverted. It's partly because I have
a terrible memory for plots and therefore anything that's merely a
"story" doesn't interest me much; in fact I actually find it harder
work to read supposedly undemanding "stories" than things where the
interest is more philosophical or psychological.

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

[Mary Pegg]

Post by Francis Turton

Post by Al Grant
I thought this was one of the more stupid comments I've seen
on cam.misc recently, but then I noticed we're sharing this
thread with rec.org.mensa.

Oo, I'm *so* flattered to be taken for a rec.org.mensa intruder :)

I ahbou'd it because I Thought It Was Funny, because of the crack at r.o.m.

[Jeremy Henty]

The 'desert island' Austen is universally acknowleged (TM) to be
'Emma'.

_Emma_ is one of the best comedies I've ever read. Ben Elton can eat
his fookin' heart out.

Regards,

Jeremy Henty

[Chris Lamb]

Post by Francis Turton
Im fact I find that with most authors you can read their
best book and ignore the rest without missing much.

Can I just say this is probably the best post you have ever
written.

Chris

[Francis Turton]

Post by Chris Lamb

Post by Francis Turton
Im fact I find that with most authors you can read their
best book and ignore the rest without missing much.

Can I just say this is probably the best post you have ever
written.
Chris

Not sure how to take that - you may mean you agree with AG in thinking
that it's cobblers, but you *still* think it's the best post I've ever
written :)

Frankly, right now, I'm too fed up to care :)

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

[Chris Lamb]

Post by Francis Turton

Post by Chris Lamb

Post by Francis Turton
Im fact I find that with most authors you can read their
best book and ignore the rest without missing much.

Can I just say this is probably the best post you have ever
written.
Chris

Not sure how to take that - you may mean you agree with AG in thinking
that it's cobblers, but you *still* think it's the best post I've ever
written :)
Frankly, right now, I'm too fed up to care :)

It was just for the fun mostly, and being a little contrary.

I was going to add something pithy about Ismail Kadare and Jose Saramago
(two authors who produce very distinctive fiction, but are immensely
enjoyable from book to book) but I was so annoyed - partially with myself
and partially with Rend - I'd killfiled on poster name ('d' in this case)
regrettably by regexp, so any poster with a 'd' in the name or email
addrees was immediately junked. So just for the feeling, imagine I said
something pithy and slightly amusing.

Chris

[Jeremy Henty]

On 2007-03-08, Chris Lamb

... imagine I said something pithy and slightly amusing.

Done! Imagine I posted a witty, educated and somewhat sardonic reply.

Regards,

Jeremy Henty

[Stuart Moore]

Post by Jeremy Henty
On 2007-03-08, Chris Lamb

... imagine I said something pithy and slightly amusing.

Done! Imagine I posted a witty, educated and somewhat sardonic reply.

Imagine I picked you up on some kind of spelling mistake while making
two of my own, and started complaining about wheely bins.

[Al Grant]

Post by Francis Turton
But yes, if this *is* supposed to be a list of experts' "recommended
reads", it's a complacently Anglocentric one.

I imagine it's a list formed by write-in poll results. Hence the
strange mix of classics, bestsellers, and "book club" choices -
which ends up leaving out a lot in all three of those categories.
Even in English there are obvious omissions - "The Sound and
the Fury", a Forster or two, a couple more Waugh.

On the other hand the presence of Conrad, Ishiguro, Nabokov,
even Rushdie and Seth, perhaps says something about the
vitality and strength of English as a global literary language -
not something we should feel insecure about at all.

Post by Francis Turton
Anglo-Saxon literature
may indeed be among the world's richest, but it surely doesn't account
for 90% of the "top 100 books" ever written.

Well no, but the foreign books on the list aren't all the
ones one might expect either. I'd have expected to see
more of what one might call the sixth-form canon of foreign
literature - Borges, Kafka, Huysmans, Hesse. And hasn't
everyone read "Papillon"? Perhaps they just don't read
the Guardian. Instead there are two by Marquez, who
surely dropped off the radar years ago. Perhaps some
books more than others are recommended as "improving"
reads - "reading Marquez shows I'm a good person and it
will make you one too". One might as well allow self-help
non-fiction on the list if that's the case.

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

"Al Grant" <***@myrealbox.com> writes:
(snip)

And hasn't everyone read "Papillon"?

(snip)

FWIW I haven't. (But I saw the film. (-:) TBH it wouldn't occur to me to
assume that people had.

Mind you, I'm still catching up with literature - only this year did I
finally get around to reading Kipling's "Kim" and Fitzgerald's "The
Great Gatsby". Both are things that my mother saw film versions of many
decades ago.

-- Mark

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by John Smith
(snip)

And hasn't everyone read "Papillon"?

(snip)
FWIW I haven't. (But I saw the film. (-:) TBH it wouldn't occur to me to
assume that people had.

I read it. About 1975 or so I think. So it was a completely different
time and a person reading it. (I know I saw the film in 1976, in
Helsingborg, Sweden, that's why I remember, and that wasn't long after
I'd read the book.) I agree, it's not the first book I would think of
when thinking about books I assume people had read.

Post by John Smith
Mind you, I'm still catching up with literature - only this year did I
finally get around to reading Kipling's "Kim" and Fitzgerald's "The
Great Gatsby". Both are things that my mother saw film versions of many
decades ago.

Neither, I'm afraid. Although both are in our shelves. My literary
education is very, very lacking, and I guess it will take rest of my
life to fill in the holes in it.



Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Al Grant]

On 7 Mar, 12:13, Anetta Meriranta Pirinen

Post by Anetta Meriranta Pirinen
I read it. About 1975 or so I think. So it was a completely different
time and a person reading it. (I know I saw the film in 1976, in
Helsingborg, Sweden, that's why I remember, and that wasn't long after
I'd read the book.) I agree, it's not the first book I would think of
when thinking about books I assume people had read.

We were discussing popular consumption of foreign literature
in the English-speaking world. It's the first book I thought of
when trying to think of a best-selling translation that wasn't
on the list. Perhaps it's just not fictional enough to count.

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

"Al Grant" <***@myrealbox.com> writes:
(snip)

Post by Al Grant
We were discussing popular consumption of foreign literature
in the English-speaking world. It's the first book I thought of
when trying to think of a best-selling translation that wasn't
on the list.

Mmmm, I'd have thought something like Anna Karenin or Don Quixote or The
Count of Monte Cristo or something more likely. Maybe some Victor Hugo.
(Would some Arabian Nights count? (-:)

Post by Al Grant
Perhaps it's just not fictional enough to count.

Mmm, make the standards too lax and you let in things like the Book of
Job. (-:

-- Mark

[Al Grant]

Post by Mark T.B. Carroll
Mmmm, I'd have thought something like Anna Karenin or Don Quixote or The
Count of Monte Cristo or something more likely. Maybe some Victor Hugo.
(Would some Arabian Nights count? (-:)

I meant "best-selling" as in "book of the moment" - the sort
where one could confidently predict that at least one person
on any given aeroplane or train would be reading it, and one
would find was discussed at parties. Like "Name of the Rose"
a few years later. Sorry, I thought that was obvious.

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

"Al Grant" <***@myrealbox.com> writes:
(snip)

Post by Al Grant
I meant "best-selling" as in "book of the moment" - the sort
where one could confidently predict that at least one person
on any given aeroplane or train would be reading it, and one
would find was discussed at parties. Like "Name of the Rose"
a few years later. Sorry, I thought that was obvious.

Ohh, right. I had been looking back up the thread but I think I took the
wrong bits of context in some of my interactions with you here. Mmm,
translated-to-English "book of the moment", I can't think of recent
ones.

-- Mark

[Mary Pegg]

Post by Al Grant
I meant "best-selling" as in "book of the moment" - the sort
where one could confidently predict that at least one person
on any given aeroplane or train would be reading it,

Is that all? With DVC it was more like "how many?".

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

Post by Mary Pegg

Post by Al Grant
I meant "best-selling" as in "book of the moment" - the sort
where one could confidently predict that at least one person
on any given aeroplane or train would be reading it,

Is that all? With DVC it was more like "how many?".

At least in the US one problem I have with airports is that they're full
of bookshops that all have the same dreadful small range of books in
them. On one flight last year I ended up with Dean Koontz' "Velocity" as
the best on offer.

-- Mark

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by Mark T.B. Carroll
At least in the US one problem I have with airports is that they're full
of bookshops that all have the same dreadful small range of books in
them. On one flight last year I ended up with Dean Koontz' "Velocity" as
the best on offer.

Fortunately there are exceptions -- or at least were a few years back.
I once went crazy in a small but incredibly good bookshop in the
Minnesota airport. (I think I've told this before.) But true, in most
cases I've learnt to pack a few with me to keep company to my laptop.
And, well, yes, to be read, too.

Royal Mail just delivered Michael Flynn's "Eifelheim". My fingers are
burning...



Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Paul Mc]

On 8 Mar, 09:00, Anetta Meriranta Pirinen

Post by Anetta Meriranta Pirinen
Royal Mail just delivered Michael Flynn's "Eifelheim". My fingers are
burning...

That looks like fun - must buy. Personally I'm disappointed that
there's something by Sebold (A) but nothing by Sebald (W G)

Paul

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by Paul Mc
On 8 Mar, 09:00, Anetta Meriranta Pirinen

Post by Anetta Meriranta Pirinen
Royal Mail just delivered Michael Flynn's "Eifelheim". My fingers are
burning...

That looks like fun - must buy.

At least it begins well... <g> (Been a bit busy, y'know, general
election and all... We went to London to vote.)

Post by Paul Mc
Personally I'm disappointed that
there's something by Sebold (A) but nothing by Sebald (W G)

I agree. I fear the latter will be forgotten soon. Hopefully I'm
wrong.


Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Duncan Wood]

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:41:21 -0000, Mark T.B. Carroll

Post by John Smith
(snip)

Post by Al Grant
We were discussing popular consumption of foreign literature
in the English-speaking world. It's the first book I thought of
when trying to think of a best-selling translation that wasn't
on the list.

Mmmm, I'd have thought something like Anna Karenin or Don Quixote or The
Count of Monte Cristo or something more likely. Maybe some Victor Hugo.
(Would some Arabian Nights count? (-:)

Post by Al Grant
Perhaps it's just not fictional enough to count.

Mmm, make the standards too lax and you let in things like the Book of
-- Mark

Although Tolstoy & Hugo both made the list.

[Mary Pegg]

Post by Duncan Wood
Although Tolstoy & Hugo both made the list.

I remember Hugo, but WTF was Tolstoy?

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by Mary Pegg

Post by Duncan Wood
Although Tolstoy & Hugo both made the list.

I remember Hugo, but WTF was Tolstoy?

"Anna Karenina"
"War and Peace"


Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Mary Pegg]

Post by Anetta Meriranta Pirinen

Post by Mary Pegg

Post by Duncan Wood
Although Tolstoy & Hugo both made the list.

I remember Hugo, but WTF was Tolstoy?

"Anna Karenina"
"War and Peace"

Yes yes yes. Hugo used to be a regular cam.misc poster.

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by Mary Pegg

Post by Anetta Meriranta Pirinen
"Anna Karenina"
"War and Peace"

Yes yes yes. Hugo used to be a regular cam.misc poster.

Was he? See how soon we forget. Besides, I think Tolstoy deserves all
the noise he can get.


Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Chris Shore]

Post by Anetta Meriranta Pirinen
I agree, it's not the first book I would think of
when thinking about books I assume people had read.

I think there was a period in the mid 70's when that would have been a
reasonable
assumption though. I often think you can tell a lot about what books have
been really popular by the number you find in second hand bookshops
5-10 years after they come out. I can recall them being full of Alastair
Maclean
for a while, for instance, and a long peiod of Frederick Forsyth. The Dick
Francis stocks never seem to go away...

Chris

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

"Chris Shore" <***@arm.nospam.com> writes:
(snip)

I often think you can tell a lot about what books have been really
popular by the number you find in second hand bookshops 5-10 years
after they come out.

(snip)

That's an interesting point. For some years recently here such places
seemed to be full of Whitley Streiber 'aliens poke me up my bottom and
educate me' books. I always love browsing discount book shelves. One
of the things I miss from Cambridge is Galloway and Porter.

-- Mark

[Mary Pegg]

Post by Chris Shore
assumption though. I often think you can tell a lot about what books have
been really popular by the number you find in second hand bookshops
5-10 years after they come out.

The sort of people that collect books don't collect those sorts of books.

But you're probably right.

[Al Grant]

Post by Mark T.B. Carroll
Mind you, I'm still catching up with literature - only this year did I
finally get around to reading Kipling's "Kim" and Fitzgerald's "The
Great Gatsby". Both are things that my mother saw film versions of many
decades ago.

That's no excuse.

[f***@gmail.com]

Post by John Smith

Post by Duncan Wood

Post by Francis Turton

Adams 25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
Adams 94 Watership Down Richard Adams

(snip)

Post by Duncan Wood

Post by Francis Turton
What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

You'd expect much more than 10%?

If it's a list of top 100 books of all time then I'd expect higher than 10%
Don Quijote de la Mancha,
Cien años de soledad,
Ἰλιάς,
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,
Πολιτεία,

Not to mention classics of non Indo-European literature. One would at
least expect a Genji, or Dream of the Red Chamber or something (and
which at least exist in translation). I wonder if there isn't a great
deal of excellent literature inaccessible to the vast majority of the
world simply because of linguistic prejudice.

For some reason, the 21st century seems to have kicked of with a
particularly acute desire to make lists of things. Its always been
done, but seems to have been more persistent recently.

If I said that (say) Hall Caine's "The Eternal City" was one of the
best books ever, I doubt anyone could seriously gainsay me (modern
readership is likely to be small and its likely to be almost
impossible to get any books of his). Why do people persist in
following each other's book recommendations like this? It simply
perpetuates mediocrity.

Better to share with each other uncommon works.

Francis

[Anetta Meriranta Pirinen]

Post by f***@gmail.com
Not to mention classics of non Indo-European literature. One would at
least expect a Genji, or Dream of the Red Chamber or something (and
which at least exist in translation). I wonder if there isn't a great
deal of excellent literature inaccessible to the vast majority of the
world simply because of linguistic prejudice.

Well, actually, there are non-European languages in Europe, too. Not
that I at the moment can remember what Finnish (or, say, Hungarian or
Estonian) classics are available in English.

Post by f***@gmail.com
For some reason, the 21st century seems to have kicked of with a
particularly acute desire to make lists of things. Its always been
done, but seems to have been more persistent recently.

Lists are fun. Not to be taken too seriously of course, just fun. When
the BBC Hundred Best books list was published a few years back, we
spent a few evenings discussing the books with our friends visiting,
the discussion then moving into e-mail. And had great fun.

Post by f***@gmail.com
Better to share with each other uncommon works.

Anybody into "Kalevala"? I know I'm not. <g>



Anetta to reply drop NOSPAM

Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon. -- R.E.M.

[Mary Pegg]

Post by Duncan Wood

Post by Francis Turton
What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

You'd expect much more than 10%?

Sheesh. Please remember to trim.

[Duncan Wood]

Post by Mary Pegg

Post by Duncan Wood

Post by Francis Turton
What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

You'd expect much more than 10%?

Sheesh. Please remember to trim.

Sorry ;-(

[HE Elsom]

Post by Francis Turton
What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

It's a list based on the ten "best loved" books of 2000 randomly
selected people. See the article in the Guardian
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2023896,00.html .

[Duncan Wood]

Post by HE Elsom

Post by Francis Turton
What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

It's a list based on the ten "best loved" books of 2000 randomly
selected people. See the article in the Guardian
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2023896,00.html .

Given the prevalence of Dickens it doesn't seem to have been that random a
group.

['foolsrushin.']

Post by Duncan Wood

Post by HE Elsom

Post by Francis Turton
What book list is this exactly? What are the criteria? It's sad how
little non-English-language reading matter is there.

It's a list based on the ten "best loved" books of 2000 randomly
selected people. See the article in the Guardian
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2023896,00.html.

Given the prevalence of Dickens it doesn't seem to have been that random a
group.

Sequence would be a bit different, assuming rank order the selection,
but on the whole, amazingly similar choices! I take the point as
regards 'foreign' literature.
--
'foolsrushin.'