Here is a list of the 284 books removed from the revised edition of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.
I bet when I take the time to go through the list and count the ones I've read I'll find that I've read more from the rejects pile than from the books included in both editions. . . percentage-wise at any rate.
A bang, not a whimper
Two months into L.'s retirement, and I'm finished with the stockpiling of books. No more book purchases! Or at least, no purcha...
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(See also Musee des Beaux Arts ) As far as mental anguish goes, the old painters were no fools. They understood how the mind, the freakiest ...
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When I finished Kevin Brockmeier's A Brief History of the Dead last spring I immediately did a search to see if the Coca-Cola Corp. had...
I wonder why these books were removed. They seem *better* in some ways at least than the ones still on the list. These changes just seem silly.
ReplyDeleteWhy were they removed? Is there a reason given anywhere, and who decided? Very curious.
ReplyDeleteI've not seen the new edition so I can't speak with any authority but I ASSUME it was to make the list more international. . . and to grab attention so that they can sell more copies of the book. Maybe if it continues to sell well they'll come out with an updated version every few years.
ReplyDeleteI've read at least 16 of them, and I know I've not read that many of the new titles that were newly included--many of them I hadn't even heard of and I'm not sure if even all of them have been translated into English. Thanks for the list--I was wondering what they had axed.
ReplyDeleteWow. They left out SO MANY GOOD BOOKS!!!
ReplyDeleteThis book is starting to annoy me...and when I'm annoyed, I become perverse. I now feel like conscientiously not reading what's on the list, and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI agree - updating the list will help refresh" the sales appeal and so you really end up marketing the same product over and over.
ReplyDeleteKind of like how Microsoft will first launch an OS which is buggy, then 3 months later sell you a "patched up" version.
And upgrades are usually never as good as the original software--at least not in my experience.
ReplyDeleteI think the only way to keep from being too upset over a situation like this is just to regard it as a 1285 books (or whatever) reading guide and not to dwell on the absurdity of books like The Brothers Karamazov being removed.
I've plugged a few unknown titles from the second list into Amazon and most were out of print. Some of them I'll be able to get from the university library, but it's very doubtful that public libraries would have them. The first edition's books are for the most part simply more available.
well... hmmm... the arguments that you could use to justify leaving these books out could be used to justify leaving out the ones they put in instead. Cannery Row left out? Sounds strange to me. Anyhoo...
ReplyDeleteif you're interested, there's a free spreadsheet you can download to chart your progress with the original 1001 books list. Visit Arukiyomi to get yours...
http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books
Thanks for providing a link to the spreadsheet. Do you plan to add the new titles to the list at any point?
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