Guardian/Observer : The top 100 books of all time
Yap Yok Foo
8 May 2002
Don Quixote is the world's best book say the world's top authors
Angelique Chrisafis, arts correspondent
Don Quixote, the tale of a Spanish knight driven mad by reading too
many chivalric romances, was yesterday voted the best book of all time
in a survey of around 100 of the world's best authors.
"If there is one novel you should read before you die, it is Don
Quixote," the Nigerian author Ben Okri said at the Norwegian Nobel
Institute as he announced the results of history's most expansive
authors' poll. "Don Quixote has the most wonderful and elaborated
story, yet it is simple."
Around 100 well-known authors from 54 countries voted for the "most
meaningful book of all time" in a poll organised by editors at the
Norwegian Book Clubs in Oslo.
Voters included Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie, Nadine Gordimer, Wole
Soyinka, Seamus Heaney, Carlos Fuentes and Norman Mailer. Isabel
Allende boycotted the exercise on the grounds that she objected to
"book surveys".
The Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren managed to vote just
before her death in January, and her book Pippi Longstocking made the
list.
Lessing said the authors aimed to spark a thirst for reading in a
young generation that preferred TV and Playstations. "They should be
called educated barbarians," she said.
Miguel de Cervantes' tale of misguided heroism gained 50% more votes
than any other book, eclipsing works by Shakespeare, Homer and
Tolstoy.
Ten authors got more than one book on to the list, which was not
ranked. After Cervantes, Fyodor Dostoevsky emerged as the most
worthwhile read with four books listed: Crime and Punishment, The
Idiot, The Possessed and The Brothers Karamazov.
The only Shakespeare plays the authors agreed on were Hamlet, King
Lear and Othello.
The Bard was matched by Franz Kafka, who was virtually unknown during
his lifetime. His three angst-ridden tales of grotesque alienation on
the list were The Trial, The Castle and the Complete Stories.
Three works by Leo Tolstoy made it: War and Peace, Anna Karenina and
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories.
The American William Faulkner and the Briton Virginia Woolf both
scored twice, along with the Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who
declined to vote.
Living writers were few and far between . Notable examples were Doris
Lessing - whose Golden Notebook featured - and Salman Rushdie, Chinua
Achebe and Toni Morrison.
Alf van der Hagen, an editor with the Norwegian Book Clubs, said: "The
unique element to this list is that we didn't just ask authors from
Europe or the US, we took a worldwide survey for the first time."
He said more than two-thirds of the 100 titles were written by
Europeans, almost half were written last century and 11 were by women.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The top 100 books of all time
Full list of the 100 best works of fiction, alphabetically by author,
as determined from a vote by 100 noted writers from 54 countries as
released by the Norwegian Book Clubs. Don Quixote was named as the top
book in history but otherwise no ranking was provided
Chinua Achebe, Nigeria, (b. 1930), Things Fall Apart
Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, (1805-1875), Fairy Tales and Stories
Jane Austen, England, (1775-1817), Pride and Prejudice
Honore de Balzac, France, (1799-1850), Old Goriot
Samuel Beckett, Ireland, (1906-1989), Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies,
The Unnamable
Giovanni Boccaccio, Italy, (1313-1375), Decameron
Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina, (1899-1986), Collected Fictions
Emily Bronte, England,(1818-1848), Wuthering Heights
Albert Camus, France, (1913-1960), The Stranger
Paul Celan, Romania/France, (1920-1970), Poems.
Louis-Ferdinand Celine, France, (1894-1961), Journey to the End of the
Night
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spain, (1547-1616), Don Quixote
Geoffrey Chaucer, England, (1340-1400), Canterbury Tales
Joseph Conrad, England,(1857-1924), Nostromo
Dante Alighieri, Italy, (1265-1321), The Divine Comedy
Charles Dickens, England, (1812-1870), Great Expectations
Denis Diderot, France, (1713-1784), Jacques the Fatalist and His
Master
Alfred Doblin, Germany, (1878-1957), Berlin Alexanderplatz
Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881), Crime and Punishment; The
Idiot; The Possessed; The Brothers Karamazov
George Eliot, England, (1819-1880), Middlemarch
Ralph Ellison, United States, (1914-1994), Invisible Man
Euripides, Greece, (c. 480-406 B.C.), Medea
William Faulkner, United States, (1897-1962), Absalom, Absalom; The
Sound and the Fury
Gustave Flaubert, France, (1821-1880), Madame Bovary; A Sentimental
Education
Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain, (1898-1936), Gypsy Ballads
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Colombia, (b. 1928), One Hundred Years of
Solitude; Love in the Time of Cholera
Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia (c.1800 B.C.).
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany, (1749-1832), Faust
Nikolai Gogol, Russia, (1809-1852), Dead Souls
Guenter Grass, Germany, (b.1927), The Tin Drum
Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Brazil, (1880-1967), The Devil to Pay in the
Backlands
Knut Hamsun, Norway, (1859-1952), Hunger.
Ernest Hemingway, United States, (1899-1961), The Old Man and the Sea
Homer, Greece, (c.700 B.C.), The Iliad and The Odyssey
Henrik Ibsen, Norway (1828-1906), A Doll's House
The Book of Job, Israel. (600-400 BC).
James Joyce, Ireland, (1882-1941), Ulysses
Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924), The Complete Stories; The Trial;
The Castle Bohemia
Kalidasa, India, (c. 400), The Recognition of Sakuntala
Yasunari Kawabata, Japan, (1899-1972), The Sound of the Mountain
Nikos Kazantzakis, Greece, (1883-1957), Zorba the Greek
D.H. Lawrence, England, (1885-1930), Sons and Lovers
Halldor K. Laxness, Iceland, (1902-1998), Independent People
Giacomo Leopardi, Italy, (1798-1837), Complete Poems
Doris Lessing, England, (b.1919), The Golden Notebook
Astrid Lindgren, Sweden, (1907-2002), Pippi Longstocking
Lu Xun, China, (1881-1936), Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
Mahabharata, India, (c. 500 BC). Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt, (b. 1911),
Children of Gebelawi
Thomas Mann, Germany, (1875-1955), Buddenbrook; The Magic Mountain
Herman Melville, United States, (1819-1891), Moby Dick
Michel de Montaigne, France, (1533-1592), Essays. Elsa Morante, Italy,
(1918-1985), History
Toni Morrison, United States, (b. 1931), Beloved
Shikibu Murasaki, Japan, (N/A), The Tale of Genji Genji
Robert Musil, Austria, (1880-1942), The Man Without Qualities
Vladimir Nabokov, Russia/United States, (1899-1977), Lolita
Njaals Saga, Iceland, (c. 1300).
George Orwell, England, (1903-1950), 1984
Ovid, Italy, (43 BC-17 e.Kr.), Metamorfoses
Fernando Pessoa, Portugal, (1888-1935), The Book of Disquiet
Edgar Allan Poe, United States, (1809-1849), The Complete Tales
Marcel Proust, France, (1871-1922), Remembrance of Things Past
Francois Rabelais, France, (1495-1553), Gargantua and Pantagruel
Juan Rulfo, Mexico, (1918-1986), Pedro Paramo
Jalal ad-din Rumi, Iran, (1207-1273), Mathnawi
Salman Rushdie, India/Britain, (b. 1947), Midnight's Children
Sheikh Musharrif ud-din Sadi, Iran, (c. 1200-1292), The Orchard
Tayeb Salih, Sudan, (b. 1929), Season of Migration to the North
Jose Saramago, Portugal, (b. 1922), Blindness
William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616), Hamlet; King Lear; Othello
Sophocles, Greece, (496-406 BC), Oedipus the King
Stendhal, France, (1783-1842), The Red and the Black
Laurence Sterne, Ireland, (1713-1768), The Life and Opinions of
Tristram Shandy
Italo Svevo, Italy, (1861-1928), Confessions of Zeno
Jonathan Swift, Ireland, (1667-1745), Gulliver's Travels
Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910), War and Peace; Anna Karenina; The
Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories
Anton P. Chekhov, Russia, (1860-1904), Selected Stories
Thousand and One Nights, India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt, (700-1500).
Mark Twain, United States, (1835-1910), The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn
Valmiki, India, (c. 300 BC), Ramayana
Virgil, Italy, (70-19 BC), The Aeneid
Walt Whitman, United States, (1819-1892), Leaves of Grass
Virginia Woolf, England, (1882-1941), Mrs. Dalloway To the Lighthouse
Marguerite Yourcenar, France, (1903-1987), Memoirs of Hadrian
Reza Zainal
What happened to Gulag Archipelago, Malcolm X, Great Gatsby, Catch 22 and
Catcher in the Rye...??
I'm surprised that Jalal Rumi's "Mathnawi' is listed, it is my favourite
too.
Nearly 90-95% is fiction though...
"Yap Yok Foo" <yf...@pop.jaring.my> wrote in message
news:cp1hdu0p1fo5ggnth...@4ax.com...
Pan
wrote:
>It's disturbing to realise that out from that list, I have read only 4.
>What happened to Gulag Archipelago, Malcolm X, Great Gatsby, Catch 22 and
>Catcher in the Rye...??
[snip]
Catcher in the Rye for a top 100 of all time? Hey, I liked it too - up
to a point - but let's be real!
Somewhat surprisingly, I've actually read a good many of the novels
and plays on their list, but I _haven't_ read even more.
Best,
Michael
To reply by email, please take out the TRASH (so to speak). Personal messages only, please!
Yap Yok Foo
>On Thu, 9 May 2002 12:22:29 +0800, "Reza Zainal" <re...@tm.net.my>
>>What happened to Gulag Archipelago, Malcolm X, Great Gatsby, Catch 22 and
>>Catcher in the Rye...??
>and plays on their list, but I _haven't_ read even more.
Uncle Yap can only claim to have read 25 of the books in the list
Nowadays, the reading rate has dropped with the advent of Internet
Pan
wrote:
That's not my excuse. Even counting time spent on a chat line on the
pre-Internet French Minitel service, I've been online for no more than
10 or 11 of my 37 years.
Paul Saccani
>It's disturbing to realise that out from that list, I have read only 4.
I shouldn't worry if I were you. I dare say that 99% of the worlds
population have not even read one.
>What happened to Gulag Archipelago, Malcolm X, Great Gatsby, Catch 22 and
>Catcher in the Rye...??
A pleasant surprise to see you reading such works.
cheers,
Paul Saccani
Perth West Australia
Ken Lee
> many chivalric romances, was yesterday voted the best book of all time
> in a survey of around 100 of the world's best authors.
I always think we need to take surveys of this nature cum grano salis.
What's the definition of a "best book"? Who decide who are the world's
"best authors"? By what authority do we conduct business, sire?
That said, I'd say the list provides a good reference. (I'll allow
that it's good reference.) A reference of what a hundred people think,
that is.
My take is that they are more or less right with European and North
and South American writers. My problem is their limited choice of
writers from China, Japan, and India. My guess is that the inclusion
of Lu Xun, Yasunari Kawabata, and Shikibu Murasaki in that list is
more for their "well-known" factor than anything else.
Is Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman" better than Cao Xueqin's "A Dream of
the Red Chamber"? Or any of the other classics? Does Paul Celan write
"better" poetry than, say, Su Dongbo, Wang Wei, Bai Juyi, Li Bai, Du
Fu, Li Qingzhao?
When they say "the best book of all-time", can we request a list of
"contenders" they have short-listed to see how representative and
thorough they have canvassed the vast environ with which they must
labor under?
Reza Zainal
> I shouldn't worry if I were you. I dare say that 99% of the worlds
> population have not even read one.
Upon closer observation, the list contain a lot of heavy literature which I
doubt the reading public would chose from.
I did try to read Don Quixote, the book involves heavy reading which I don't
particularly enjoy thus I never finished it...give me Grisham or Ludlum
anytime though now I don't read fiction very much.
I bought my first audiotape book a month ago...beats the heck out of reading
;-)
Dollah X
news:3cd9f...@news.tm.net.my...
> It's disturbing to realise that out from that list, I have read only 4.
> too.
reza, reza ... how very amenoque can you sound. the mathnawi costs RM660 a
set in KL. and that is on newsprint printed in india. heh heh. yer ker
dah baca nih ..... heh heh.
so what do you think of the finest specimen of the Muktazilas sounds?
but really, try Rumi in bahasa melayu/indonesia ... his words and worldviews
will just blow your mind away. (chehhh ... those indonesians .... they are
so darn good at the translation game ... that much i agree with johan
jaafar, of late a travelling farmer). don't know where to find it? try
wisma yakin, jalan melayu. the store is pustaka indonesia.
and to think that you have never read chinua achebe. how uncultured a
melayu can one ever be. say, whats this i heard about the following to be
compulsory readings for ameno members.
> > Robert Musil, Austria, (1880-1942), The Man Without Qualities
> > Vladimir Nabokov, Russia/United States, (1899-1977), Lolita
Reza Zainal
> reza, reza ... how very amenoque can you sound. the mathnawi costs RM660
a
> set in KL. and that is on newsprint printed in india. heh heh. yer ker
> dah baca nih ..... heh heh.
Without sounding the least bit cocky, my book collection at home would
easily reached RM5000 even minus the Britanicas and my college books, I
consider my collection sparse, I know of some others that have collection
that could buy a car.
I don't care about news prints, I have an autobiography of Nehru and
Hitler's 'Mein Kampt' printed using the medium. Both Indian of origin....so
what...?
You do not have to buy the entire set of Rumi's Mathawi to enjoy his works
(this explains your in depth knowledge), the choice works are printed in at
least in 7-8 books or even more...I could easily find 3 in Kinokuniya KLCC
in the religion section, you could find 2-3 others in the peotry
section...yup Dollah X....it's the Mathanawi.
Similarly, you don't have to buy the entire set of Shakespeare's writing to
enjoy the Bard's works.
> so what do you think of the finest specimen of the Muktazilas sounds?
>
> but really, try Rumi in bahasa melayu/indonesia ... his words and
worldviews
> will just blow your mind away. (chehhh ... those indonesians .... they
are
> so darn good at the translation game ... that much i agree with johan
> jaafar, of late a travelling farmer). don't know where to find it? try
> wisma yakin, jalan melayu. the store is pustaka indonesia.
>
> and to think that you have never read chinua achebe. how uncultured a
> melayu can one ever be. say, whats this i heard about the following to be
> compulsory readings for ameno members.
I was surprised when Fadzil Noor quoted Blum's 'Rogue Nation' during his
boring speech in DBP...though I doubt he actually read it.
So is the book compulsory reading for PAS boys..??
Ahmad Sayuthi
> I don't care about news prints, I have an autobiography of Nehru
> and Hitler's 'Mein Kampt' printed using the medium. Both Indian of
> origin....so what...?
Books printed in India or brought out by Indian publishers offer the
best value. Okay, so the cheapo paper of most books isn't too
impressive but it's the content that counts. With something like 200
million people who are English literate, there's a big market in that
country.
I've forwarded this to a friend - an American from Virginia who's now
in Korea. He's had a few of his books published by those in India.
Maybe he can give us an idea of what the scene is like over there when
it comes to books.
--
icq23582...@time.net.myasayuthi@softhome.net
alphaque.com star-techcentral.com 17040pasir mas, kelantan
Dollah X
>
>
> Without sounding the least bit cocky, my book collection at home would
> easily reached RM5000 even minus the Britanicas and my college books, I
> consider my collection sparse, I know of some others that have collection
> that could buy a car.
good to know that you read. and while we are on the subject, let me tell
you that there is this new translation of the quran by a british women (if i
am not mistaken). i read a few verses and i must say that the poetry came
across beautiful. why dont you try reading it and tell us what you think.
> I don't care about news prints, I have an autobiography of Nehru and
> Hitler's 'Mein Kampt' printed using the medium. Both Indian of
origin....so
> what...?
=======
so it is expensive as they priced here.
> You do not have to buy the entire set of Rumi's Mathawi to enjoy his works
> (this explains your in depth knowledge), the choice works are printed in
at
> least in 7-8 books or even more.
========
usually it is 5 volumes plus one commentary.
> ..I could easily find 3 in Kinokuniya KLCC
=====
over priced store. full of posers. be it here or in singapore. you want
the whole mathnawi set? try that book store opposite the colesium on jalan
tuanku abdul rahman.
> in the religion section, you could find 2-3 others in the peotry
> section...yup Dollah X....it's the Mathanawi.
> Similarly, you don't have to buy the entire set of Shakespeare's writing
to
======
in case you havent realised it, reading the masnavi (that is how some people
spell it) is not the same as readng poetry. the masnavi is philosophy, the
story of a sufistic *journey* , if you will, written poetically. you have
to read the whole thing to know what Rumi was trying to tell. else you will
come across like one who has flipped a few pages of solhenitzyn and next
discussed the merits of the gulag archipelago.
> I was surprised when Fadzil Noor quoted Blum's 'Rogue Nation' during his
> boring speech in DBP...though I doubt he actually read it.
=======
heh heh. i thought he was reading to ameno the riot act.
> So is the book compulsory reading for PAS boys..??
=====
nope. it is still the Quran.
ck_in_sf1
> "Reza Zainal" <re...@tm.net.my> wrote Sun 12 May 2002 03:21:24p
>
> > I don't care about news prints, I have an autobiography of Nehru
> > and Hitler's 'Mein Kampt' printed using the medium. Both Indian of
> > origin....so what...?
>
> Books printed in India or brought out by Indian publishers offer the
> best value. Okay, so the cheapo paper of most books isn't too
> impressive but it's the content that counts. With something like 200
> million people who are English literate, there's a big market in that
> country.
I used to buy science texts published in India during my undergraduate
days. And even now, excellent basic science texts can be had for a few
USD!!
As for the 200 million people ... well, I would say that their real
value buying power is far less than the average book buyer in the EU
or NAFTA (sans MX).
With the current crazy neo-fascist Hindu nationalist government firmly
in place, I would say English would be less importance over time in
India.
<rest of the main text removed>
CKSF
Paul Saccani
wrote:
>I used to buy science texts published in India during my undergraduate
>days. And even now, excellent basic science texts can be had for a few
>USD!!
Yep. Used to enjoy doing the same thing. Though I must say, along
with the best (for some of these Indian books really are the acme of
their field), they also have some of the worst. Though generally,
they are a good lot.
>
>With the current crazy neo-fascist Hindu nationalist government firmly
>in place, I would say English would be less importance over time in
>India.
Quite possible.