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The Magic Mountain would be one of several of Mann's works on my personal top 100, but, as they say, "de gustibus non est disputandum."Quote:
Originally Posted by MaybeSomeone
Personal tastes notwithstanding, it is very useful, I think, to be aware of prevailing literary appetites, wherefore I applaud the listmaker.
Hi, this is my first post although i've been browsing the forum for a week or so. So far, i've only read 20 of the 100 books listed. Great to see Crime and Punishment at the top, Dostoevsky is my favorite, along with Tolstoy, Bulgakov, Pushkin, and the like. I'll be diving into Hesse's Siddhartha next.
Thank you for this. I will read this all and It will take months, yes. I only have read 6 of that 100
Only 27, or 26, because I didn't read part II of Faust.
Great list, actually! One of those which you can trust and not be left disappointed (:
Excellent list. I've only finished 17 of that hundred so I definitely have some work to do. I’m very happy that Sometimes a Great Notion snuck in there too. As for the rest most of them are in my TBR pile.
It seems to me this forum has completely neglected fine works of Literature from half of the globe. Such a list to be created by people who claim to have found their heart in the literary world is disappointing and rather shameful.
I am only saying this because in a list of 100 books, there is not one Japanese, Iranian or Arabic work of art. Though it does give a very interesting view of the members that make up the forum, so called literary aficionados, so on the other-hand I applaud it in all it's magnificent ignorance for it's eye-opening properties.
I had to look through the list for the third time in shock, half expecting to see Fifty Shades judging from the lack of any cultured literature.
1984.. second? That's simply hilarious. A utopian novel by an elitist, for some reason unknown to me adored by the less well-read angst infected teenagers for it's 'frightening similarities to today's modern culture' has found it's way to be SECOND on the list of such a forums Top 100 books? Am I the only one left in shock? It proposed nothing new at the time (or now) in terms of stylistic and literary aspects and serves for no other role but an entertaining read on an idle Sunday in a slightly political mood. George Orwell was as uninteresting as the book he wrote so why on earth is this second?
Have a look into these:
Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Ranpo
Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Akinari Ueda
Otogizoshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
4 Books that deserve a place in the list, if not for their literary prowess, but for their diversity.
And also be left none-the-wiser.Quote:
Originally Posted by blueskies
For the love of God don't.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkAntigone
You're kind of a snob aren't you?
The list represents the most popular books of members of this forum, and though I am far from completely agreeing with it, your self righteous insinuations about the ignorance of all other forum members is irritating. If you actually took the time to read any of the other threads on this forum you would notice that there are many people who read and love literature from the places that you mentioned. The problem is that many users are casual readers; they are interested in literature, but they just read what they like and stay within their comfort zone. Thus, the common, popular books like Crime and Punishment, 1984, and The Great Gatsby make it to the top of the list because they are works that are read by most. The number of people exposed to literature from a multitude of countries is greatly outnumbered by the people who read only Western, and primarily English and American literature.
And who are you to tell me what I am and what I'm not? Go change your custom user title, it's not adding any more credibility to your post.Quote:
Originally Posted by Venerable Bede
I understand what you're saying, the top half of your rant is directed at me personally and holds no weight what-so-ever so I will just completely ignore it. And the second half is a weak attempt at telling me that the demographic of this community means that they're more exposed to Western literature.
1. I am a casual reader myself, which is precisely why I am questioning this list.
2. The role of a forum that holds such a status should be more into educating people about other literature, not the tiresome old 1984's, Crime and Punishments and Great Gatsby's we've all read.
3. Leading on from my second point, what this does, is it creates such a thread that SHOULD have direct and critical discussion concerning literary feats into:
"Hey guys! Look at my literary prowess, I've read 37 and I'm only 19!"
"This is going to be my goal! These guys said this is good literature therefore it must be! I'm gonna read all of these books one after the other."
"1984 is like the best book ever! I'm so glad it came second! I remember being so scared as a child!"
(I'm not saying it's not good literature, but look at some of the posts made through my eyes)
4. Judging from the majority of these posts, you expect me to believe you when you ignorantly say "The number of people exposed to literature from a multitude of countries is greatly outnumbered by the people who read only Western, and primarily English and American literature.", No chance.
And then you get people like myself who are disgusted at such statements and will point it out in the most direct, obvious fashion possible and get called 'Snobs'.
Soho, I think the problem wasn't that your post was "direct [and] obvious," but that it was more much more negative than constructive. Except for this part:Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Hot Soho
So could you elaborate on why those books (and why you feel diversity is more important than literary prowess)?Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Hot Soho
--Of course. Just to get this out of the way, I mentioned 'if not for their literary prowess' in the sense that even if one disputes, for example, their stylistic merit; for the sake of diversity having these books being shown and discussed is reason enough to feature such works on important lists as this one.-Quote:
Originally Posted by Calidore
But let's talk about diversity. To me, it's of high importance discussion of multicultural literature is maintained and encourage on this board. Traditional literature provides a window on cultural beliefs and on the spiritual and psychological qualities that are part of our human nature. Thus, Otogizoshi, a compilation of fairy-tales written by D. Osamu is there. Folk tales can and should be used to promote multicultural awareness. Especially in such a forum where we hold the power of introducing new-comers to literature, as this thread has clearly depicted.
The framework of Japanese literature is truly fascinating, and this is why I perceive it with huge importance. The methodology behind it strongly resembles Japanese Culture, and the way it's written allows certain important themes to be played off with each other in a beautiful lyrical prose. These are themes almost always common in Japanese literature, and thus it is a fertile ground for those who are to begin reading, it already begins to lay the foundations of analyzing literature!
Acceptance vs. Rejection
Service to the Emperor vs. Being Self-Made
Dependency vs. Independency
Modesty vs. Pride
Spirituality vs. Physical Beauty
The way I see it, the majority of the forum users come here looking for direction. If we direct them to 1984, the Ulysses (and by god who would want to read that needlessly over-complex garbage, apart from the guy who has 'Undergraduate' in his custom user title? He'd love it!) and the Great Gatsby we're not offering a help handing, but rather forming the next generation of readers to simply read what is 'safe' and 'worth reading'. This is what our Undergraduate friend here has opened my eyes to, this stupid idea of 'comfort zones', all the mean whilst stating such ignorant slurs without the slightest bit of remorse; as if he's not insulting the intelligence of the casual reader, calling him a snob, rather disgraceful.
Perhaps I'm exaggerating. However, I can't help but think there's something not right when we're in the twenty first century, sat here in front of computers, access to thousands and thousands of critical analysis on such books, and yet we neglect books that haven't yet been analyzed by Westerners? The internet is now so open that people will pop in here just for a little direction, and then suddenly leave never to be seen again. Day in and day out.
So a list like this one, stickied at the first board and may I add the most active of all the thousands of boards (with no multicultural authors), isn't a dangerous and problematic thread with all this in mind? No let's all have a huge communal masturbation session where we can discuss how many of these books we've read, that's what I call a good literary discussion! No, seriously, this thread serves no purpose, and at very least, to someone who has the least bit of logic and critical thinking, is completely counter-productive.
In terms of the last book (Blind Owl), here are a few points I thought to bring up.
1. Hedayat is considered one of the most prominent writers in twentieth century Iranian Literature.
2. Blind Owl itself is an introduction to Persian Folk Lore (which may I add, is very interesting and full of life, and hopefully from my first paragraph you'll understand why I think folklore is of utmost importance to literature), an owl referring to the bringers of death and so on. It's riddled with these little references.
3. It's macabre, repetitive imagery will stay with the reader for as long as he can remember the book. Maintaining a vivid plot whilst also making strong interjections on art, referring to other Middle Eastern and Western literary feats and religious texts, this makes it an excellent starting place for anyone looking for different interpretations on works we know so well.
4. I can only think of one analysis by a scholar (Iranian), who had focused on Hedayat more than the Blind Owl. Being one of the most prominent books in Iranian Literature, surely it's important we as westerners begin to analyze and interpret such texts from our point of view.
There's little need to mention the plot of the book, it's simply fascinating.
I guess through thinking as I wrote this up, I realized my initial negativity was due to the fact we have an amazing open platform to discuss 100 literary feats that haven't yet been examined. And yet all the posts here indicate to me we're going to be discussing these books for a whole lot longer. All at the same time promoting them to people who are looking for new and exciting reads. This is why I refuse to applaud the list maker and hope all those involved with it have the fleas of a million camels infest their household.
EDIT: Excuse my previous ignorance. There is, in fact, a grand total of !TWO! texts from a non Westernized culture. Both of which I haven't had the delight of reading.
RE-EDIT: Scratch that, they're only found on the list of '206 Books if you're a Xenophobe', on this http://www.listsofbests.com/list/876...on-list?page=5 despicable excuse for a HTML page. Makes me wonder if the person who wrote this list works as a Border Official.
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R e m i n d e r
Please do not discuss each other but the topic at hand.
Posts containing personal comments will be removed without further notice.
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I don't really get why you take issue with "Undergraduate" as my title. I list it because it is my only occupation. It isn't like being an undergraduate is terribly prestigious anyway; anyone with semi decent grades can attain to the rank of undergraduate. If it is any consolation to you, I'll change it in a year when I graduate and it is no longer relevant :p.Quote:
And who are you to tell me what I am and what I'm not? Go change your custom user title, it's not adding any more credibility to your post.
Apparently, we have a different definition of a casual reader; you may not be reading for academic purposes, but you definitely sound like a serious admirer of literature. The kind of people that I consider to be casual readers are those that read purely for fun with no pretensions to be a serious connoisseur or critic.Quote:
1. I am a casual reader myself, which is precisely why I am questioning this list.
I agree that the role of this forum should be to guide people into discovering new literature, but when it comes to producing a list of the all time greats, something different and uncommon is not necessarily better than Crime and Punishment. Also, the list was composed by a vote of all forum members, many of whom require introduction to less popular literature themselves, so how can you expect them to direct others towards books that they are not familiar with themselves?Quote:
2. The role of a forum that holds such a status should be more into educating people about other literature, not the tiresome old 1984's, Crime and Punishments and Great Gatsby's we've all read.
If what I say is not true, then what reason do you give for this list's exclusion of "half the globe's" literature? A lot of people will join a forum, without having a fully rounded repertoire of books. These people are allowed to vote too; thus the list is skewed in favour of the popular, safe classics. Democratic lists will always place the cliche titles at the top because most people are not fully rounded readers and are more familiar with 1984 than with The Blind Owl. The truly diverse are always a minority.Quote:
4. Judging from the majority of these posts, you expect me to believe you when you ignorantly say "The number of people exposed to literature from a multitude of countries is greatly outnumbered by the people who read only Western, and primarily English and American literature.", No chance.
Actually, I am not terribly fond of Ulysses. Joyce's short fiction is good though, and Finnegans Wake is fun in a group setting.Quote:
If we direct them to 1984, the Ulysses (and by god who would want to read that needlessly over-complex garbage, apart from the guy who has 'Undergraduate' in his custom user title? He'd love it!
I just read Fifty Shades of Grey! It should totally be on that list!
Gr8 job........really sch a wondrfulllll help.....well we ppl in india have t sit in a papr cncrnd vid d topic u optd in d masters levl...it ws litrature fr me nd nw i knw were t start frm fr dis papr...thanx a looooott......u made it easier fr me:santasmil
India is a beautiful country with immeasurable resources and it is really great to be Indian, part of the great cultural background singular in many ways. I think you will have to share with us from a vast source of ideas you come up withQuote:
Originally Posted by bhavna