After an attempt at watching the top 100 greatest movies (still only on 97) I decided to do a little research and see if such a list existed for books.
Naturally, via google, I have found a few and will give my reasonings for choosing one list over the other, although at some point I will probably revisit other lists as well. I do not believe that one list will ever be able to be the "final" opinion on this subject.
The first list I found was the 100 Best according to Random House. This actually includes 4 separate lists. At first the Board's List seemed appealing, although I am always frustrated to see The Great Gatsby in the top 3. Yes it's a worthy book of the list, but in the top 3?? The deciding factor against this list was that the 100th book (of course I would start at 100 and go backwards) I could not find at any bookstore (not to mention Tolstoy was no where to be found on the list). Know that I'm an impatient person, so I automatically jumped to the next list.
The next list was the Readers List for Random House (a poll the readers placed). Upon reviewing the titles I thought I would give it a go. Keep in mind an L. Ron Hubbard title was number three. And nine. And ten. I would like to get the statistics for the populace that polled for this information. Once again this was not my chosen list.
Random House's website also includes a rival list from Radcliffe publishing. I was disappointed that this list did not include a Tolstoy title either. Maybe I cannot trust my own tastes. My discrepancy of opinion aside, the Radcliffe list seemed to include most of the titles that any person whom finds pleasure in reading should at some point in time come to be familiar with. Unfortunately for me, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie was novel 100 on the list. A very important place to be for someone starting from the bottom up. I will not go into my dislike for this book in detail, since it has been a few months since reading. I would not want to give such an opinion without being able to offer supportive detail. I will say his writing style was filled with the right amount of dry humor and the details were colorful. The main character was flat and unemotional. In addition there is a cultural difference to the approach of storytelling that I cannot seem to broach. Beyond those things I just remember feeling much dislike towards the novel. It was dislike enough for me to move onto other lists.
Times Magazine also posts a top 100 novels list, but only since the beginning of the magazine's conception. I think you could see how this could be extremely lacking for my purpose. Keep in mind I am not looking down at the entirety of these lists (and will probably revisit many), only I am looking for a more complete place to start my foundation.
In searching for my list of choice just now I have ran across another which I will give merit to and wish I might have come across it before embarking on my current list. It can be found here .
I include the list that I have chosen here , with no following reason why. If you chose to follow the link the author of the website that has found the list himself gives enough detail and reason without me having to type it here. My only disappoint with this list is the focus on the novel as it is written without supernatural and fantasy aspects. Alice in Wonderland shall have to wait. Despite that I have been quite pleased and continue on with The Catcher in The Rye.
Included Also:
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