Modern Library has a list of the 100 best novels compiled into two sections: The Board's List and The Reader's List.
From The Board's List, I've read 7 novels:
Ulysses
The Great Gatsby
Brave New World
1984
Lord of the Flies
The Catcher in the Rye
Heart of Darkness
From The Reader's List, I've read 14 novels:
To Kill a Mockingbird
1984
Anthem
Ulysses
The Great Gatsby
Brave New World
Catcher in the Rye
Lord of the Flies
Beloved
Heart of Darkness
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Ender's Game
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Fahrenheit 451
Twice as many novels from The Reader's List as from The Board's List. In terms of Mediated Cultures and anthropology, this leads me to a few thoughts.
There is a slight gap between the "experts" and the readers. Overlap is obvious, not that I was expecting there to be none, but the rankings of the books are completely different when they do overlap. What are the "experts" basing their opinions on to rank these books? Have experts lost touch with what's important in a book in favor of technicalities? "Hey, John Steinbeck is a boring hack, but he's a master at foreshadowing. That turtle? Brilliant. We'll put Grapes of Wrath at number 10."
Are the readers simply reading for enjoyment ("the story"), or are they reading to deepen their understanding about social norms? Are readers understanding and garnering the proposed "deeper meaning"? I'm a fan of the deeper meaning in books. Distopian societies, conspiracy, and satire are what it's about.
I know since this I'm fairly new to this, that there's no one following me, but I'll ask the question anyway:
Why do YOU read?
Like John Green, I don't care how you read, I just care that you do.
3 comments:
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I read to help me go to sleep at night. But because I mainly read before bed, I seem to only manage about 4 pages a night. Takes a long time to finish a book then.
JB
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two of my favorite books (that i think you might like):
Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
and
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
my answer: I read to escape, books and libraries have always been "places" I could forget my troubles and escape to a more optimistic world. I think this is why I dislike digital books.
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