Inderjit Sanghe
01-25-2007, 11:26 AM
Was wondering what people thought of greatest book polls? Are they worthless, merely the subjective leanings of the public or a few critics or do they have some kind of worth? Which do you favour-"public" polls or critic’s polls, which tend to be a lot more intellectually based and esoteric.
Modern Library List
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlib...estnovels.html
This list seems ok, and is useful in that we can compare the critics vs. public readers choices, though I think it is limited to novels written in English since 1900, and is very much focused on American literature, which is fair enough I guess. The critics list is o-k, was surprised to see "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" so high up, though I do not really care much for Joyce. It was also nice to see Nabokov's "Lolita" and "Pale Fire" so high up, Nabokov was, IMO, the greatest English prose writer of the previous century. "Invisible Man", "1984" and "Animal Farm" should all be in the top 10, though altogether I have read 29 from that list. The "public" list is a bit strange-it is nice to see "Lord of the Rings" so high up, but their collective Ayn Rand mania is a bit off-putting. Stephen King also has some books in that list. I have read 28 from this list.
THE CRITICS LIST
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/art...711520,00.html
I think this may be my favourite list out of all of them, which may say something about my literary tastes. Have read 74 from that list, though a few of them, such as Borges, Poe and Kafka I can only claim to have read half or so of their short stories, and others such as Canterbury Tales and the Decameron I have read parts of. I don't think these books are ranked.
GUARDIAN LIST
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/revie...061037,00.html
This list only includes prose pieces of literature-no plays or poetry. This list is also slightly biased towards English-speaking literature and I do not think that any author can have more than one book in the list. Have read 69 from this list. The "one-book-per-author" rule does yield some suprises-"Haroun and the Sea of Short Stories" instead of "Midnights Children" or "The Satanic Verses", "The Charterhouse of Parma" instead of "The Red and the Black", "1984" instead of "Animal Farm", "Emma" instead of "Pride and Prejudice", (!), "Anna Karenina" instead of "War and Peace", "The Brothers Karamazov" instead of "Crime and Punishment", "The Plague" instead of "The Stranger" and "Malone Dies" instead of "Molloy" are all selections that I would question, but each to his own, I guess. Nice to see "Lord of the Rings" and "Miss Palfrey" in the list, not so nice see that over-rated and over-bloated piece of work "Money" in the list though.
Finally,
BBC BIG READ
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
Although it was nice to see "Lord of the Rings" win, this my least favourite poll, though it is by far the most "public" poll. Do not really like "His Dark Materials". Have read 41 from this list, a lot of (to me at least) strange books on there.
Modern Library List
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlib...estnovels.html
This list seems ok, and is useful in that we can compare the critics vs. public readers choices, though I think it is limited to novels written in English since 1900, and is very much focused on American literature, which is fair enough I guess. The critics list is o-k, was surprised to see "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" so high up, though I do not really care much for Joyce. It was also nice to see Nabokov's "Lolita" and "Pale Fire" so high up, Nabokov was, IMO, the greatest English prose writer of the previous century. "Invisible Man", "1984" and "Animal Farm" should all be in the top 10, though altogether I have read 29 from that list. The "public" list is a bit strange-it is nice to see "Lord of the Rings" so high up, but their collective Ayn Rand mania is a bit off-putting. Stephen King also has some books in that list. I have read 28 from this list.
THE CRITICS LIST
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/art...711520,00.html
I think this may be my favourite list out of all of them, which may say something about my literary tastes. Have read 74 from that list, though a few of them, such as Borges, Poe and Kafka I can only claim to have read half or so of their short stories, and others such as Canterbury Tales and the Decameron I have read parts of. I don't think these books are ranked.
GUARDIAN LIST
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/revie...061037,00.html
This list only includes prose pieces of literature-no plays or poetry. This list is also slightly biased towards English-speaking literature and I do not think that any author can have more than one book in the list. Have read 69 from this list. The "one-book-per-author" rule does yield some suprises-"Haroun and the Sea of Short Stories" instead of "Midnights Children" or "The Satanic Verses", "The Charterhouse of Parma" instead of "The Red and the Black", "1984" instead of "Animal Farm", "Emma" instead of "Pride and Prejudice", (!), "Anna Karenina" instead of "War and Peace", "The Brothers Karamazov" instead of "Crime and Punishment", "The Plague" instead of "The Stranger" and "Malone Dies" instead of "Molloy" are all selections that I would question, but each to his own, I guess. Nice to see "Lord of the Rings" and "Miss Palfrey" in the list, not so nice see that over-rated and over-bloated piece of work "Money" in the list though.
Finally,
BBC BIG READ
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
Although it was nice to see "Lord of the Rings" win, this my least favourite poll, though it is by far the most "public" poll. Do not really like "His Dark Materials". Have read 41 from this list, a lot of (to me at least) strange books on there.