criteria
Posted by Art on July 31, 1998 at 22:29:06:
In response to Great books, written by Constanza on July 31, 1998 at 08:57:27
I like your post a lot, most particularly the "logic universe" notion, and the fact that a great book ultimately has to touch us on an emotional level. And the thing that makes a book great, in the end, is precisely the ability to touch us emotionally many years after the contemporary references that seem to make a book important are quite gone. My quarrel with the Modern Library list is that at least a third of the selections are essentially political in nature, political in the broad sense, and are therefore ephemeral and of no long-term interest. 1984 and Brave New World are very good books (I guess), but will I suspect seem quite dated in 100 years. And conversely, I bet that John Updike and The Narnia Chronicles, thoroughly snubbed by the Modern Library judges, will be read with as much interest in 100 years as they are now.
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