Comments on: Another list! 100 (actually 90) great books

By: Sasa

Sasa — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:02:37 +0000

Oh my, the lack of science-fiction is a great observation! Well, I think for this list, it actually makes a lot of sense. First of all, it’s not a list of most influential books (much less on modern pop culture), but originally a list of “best quotes from literature”. And so, it is unlikely for a fantasy of sci-fi book to enter this list to begin with, because they are from another universe. Another reason is that for the chinese readership, both fantasy and sci-fi are ‘lower class literature’, even when we are speaking about the likes of “1984″. It is also rarely read in China, perhaps “1984″ is the only book my parents would know. But if I had to make such a list myself, I am sure there would be quite a few science fiction titles.

Also, don’t worry about not having read many of those titles, I doubt anybody I know would have read the majority of them; to me, classics are mostly those books that everybody knows of but nobody reads. (The Bible, anyone? Haha.) I wouldn’t even necessarily recommend any of these books, as I believe a lot of them would be headache- and yawn-inducing (“Jane Eyre”? Argh), but perhaps some of them would strike your fancy; I’d be interested in what you think about them. ^^
And unlike you, I have actually thought that were surprisingly many modern works, hahaha. To me, a “modern work” is everthing after 1945 and the list is full of them. Most other lists of literature canons barely feature those post-1945 books at all.

I’m sorry that I don’t know any Chinese authors either. I am not even sure if there even are good modern authors at all, ahaha.

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:43:03 +0000

*Sigh* I’ve read very few of those. Catch 22, The Catcher in the Rye, Tom Sawyer and Die Verwandlung are the only ones I think. A friend of mine is reading the Godfather at the moment and says it’s even better than the film adaptation, so I’ll probably read that.

There’s a real emphasis on the classics but less of more modern works – I’d say a mention of J K Rowling would be a bit premature but I was really expecting more sci-fi. Something by Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke and Philip K Dick ought to be represented, mainly for their influence on popular culture and how their works have proved to be so prophetic in many cases. It’s a shame but I can’t think of any well-known Chinese authors at all – any ideas on some good names to start off with?

At any rate this is a nice list to give me ideas on what to read next!

By: Sasa

Sasa — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:27:07 +0000

I still want to know what you have read! XD

But yeah, the Decameron seems to be a lot of fun, I remember having read one quite perverted and amusing story from it: it’s Novel X in this version, or chapter 7 in this german version.

By: Pixelmatsch

Pixelmatsch — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:17:16 +0000

The decameron is about sex. ’nuff said.

The number of books I have read on this list is embarassingly low.

By: Sasa

Sasa — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:24:19 +0000

Wait, wait, if you ignore the Kundera (since I recommended it to you), all the books you have read are english and russian plus Kafka and the Divine Comedy! Amazing XD

Btw, I have heard that it’s quite a hassle to work yourself through the Divine Comedy, while the Decameron is supposedly much more fun, is that true? X3

By: Alstan

Alstan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:21:17 +0000

Books I have read:

8. Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky)
11. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
12. The Divine Comedy (Dante)
15. The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway)
28. Die Verwandlung (Kafka)
39. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Kundera)
40. Tom Sawyer books (Twain)
44. Catch-22 (Heller)
75. The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne)
82. Gulliver’s Travels (Swift)
86. Moby Dick (Melville)
90. The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger)
92. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)