Quote:
Originally Posted by SmartyPants
...
and anyway, how DO you define 'Must read books'? That would greatly depend on your age, upbringing, culture, language etc etc etc....
What is being discussed here seems to apply manly to western culture... someone born and raised, say, in Japan, would have an entirely different list!
|
Absolutely. But this is a must-
have list, not a must-
read - as far as I understood the OP
I think that's why you see more emphasis on books as, how can I put it, cultural artifacts(?). I certainly selected with that in mind. I.e. what books feel essential to me, coming form the country and the culture that I come from? Say,
Catcher in the Rye might be a good book, but it's not part of my literary heritage and I haven't a personal relation to that book either. That's, for example, in part why I selected
Lord of the Rings. It's essentially English of course, but there's also a lot of Northern European culture and history reflected in it, and I react to that. And also of course
Gesta Danorum and the Icelandic eddas and sagas. I've read a good deal of them, but, it's also books that just has a natural place in my book case.
Then of course there's books or authors that's affected one more personally, that are part of ones personal history. That's why I added E. M. Forster myself.
It would certainly be very interesting to see a non-western list