Quintessence, the British publishers, later decided that “books” worked better than “novels” in the title.Įven without Milton or Shakespeare, Professor Boxall has come up with a lot of books. In this instance Peter Boxall, who teaches English at Sussex University, asked 105 critics, editors and academics mostly obscure to submit lists of great novels, from which he assembled his supposedly mandatory reading list of one thousand and one. The British love literary lists and the fights they provoke, so much so that they divide candidates for the Man Booker Prize into shortlist books and longlist books. Like one of those carnival strength-testers, it dares you to find out whether your reading powers rate as He-Man or Limp Wrist. It suggests that you, the supposedly educated reader, might have read half the list at best. An odd book fell into my hands recently, a doorstopper with the irresistible title “1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.” That sounds like a challenge, with a subtle insult embedded in the premise.
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