We've all heard of it. We all have an opinion about it. We all have our own idea what it means in regard to our personal degree of feeling educated. And we all recognize our inner desire to have a list of books that we feel connects us to others because they have read them, too. What is it? The Western literary canon. What is it, exactly? That's harder to determine. It's at least one of the primary places where great ideas come from.
Perhaps it's easier to grasp what it is by thinking of its role in our lives, culture, and civilization.
Please turn the page.
The books of the Western literary canon are where our creation myths come from. Beyond monuments, which must be traveled to to be seen, the books of the literary canon have proven to be highly portable celebrations of the glories of our past. They are those windows into ourselves where we find the universal 'me' -- we pass through the book, the book passes through us. And in that process of reading great books, we become everything contained within them and they contain us. That is to say, we recognize ourselves in them and the books acknowledge who we universally are. Great books inspire political change, they instigate social change (my mantra on R&BLers is reading is a political act). They are the repositories of our culture and the transportation devices to our future.
The controversy over what books should be included in that august list really heated up in the middle of the last century, culminating in the late eighties and early nineties as academics worked to include books by women and writers representative of many ethnicities. How many canonical works are officially recognized ranges from 3,000 to 500, and even fewer, depending on who the authority is.
Lists abound. The classics -- those 500 or so downloadable from the Gutenberg Project are probably the most familiar to everyone. The world's 100 greatest books are available in a CD (abridged) audio set. The Modern Library touts the100 greatest novels, with board selections in one column and readers' selections next to it for comparison. (Libertarian overload in that poll!) Harold Bloom created his own Western Canon, which is very comprehensive and organized according to a system of Ages of Mankind.
In this millennium, list compilers have been busy in the UK and the US. In 2003 the BBC created The Big Read, lists of top 21, top 100, and top 200 best books ever.
Here are the Top 21
1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
I've read 19 on their list. Below is one from our side of the Pond -- notice how different they are! What influences/criteria do you think are at work here?
Here in the US, we have the NEA Big Read Book List. I like this one because of the teaser provided.
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvare
Julia Alvarez's popular novel is a fictional account influenced by the real lives of the Mirabal sisters, who grew up in the Dominican Republic and were involved in the rebellion against dictator Rafael Trujillo in the 1930s.
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
One of the most respected works of Chicano literature, Rudolfo Anaya tells the story of Antonio Juan Márez y Luna, a young boy who grapples with faith, identity, and death as he comes of age in New Mexico.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
In one of literature's most haunting denunciations of censorship, Ray Bradbury uses the materials of science fiction to tell the story of Guy Montag, a fireman forced to burn books.
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
The spirited daughter of a Bohemian immigrant family plans to farm the untamed Nebraska land. Willa Cather's tale comes to us through the eyes of Ántonia's childhood friend, Jim Burden.
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Although virtually unknown during her life, this visionary New England poet is now praised as one of America’s most original writers.
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
An eclectic range of comic and tragic voices narrate this powerful book about the enduring power of love. Erdrich leads the reader through the interwoven lives of generations of Kashpaws and Lamartines in North Dakota.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Told through the eyes of narrator Nick Carraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald's lyrical masterpiece recounts Jay Gatsby's desperate quest to win back his first love as he struggles to recapture the past.
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
A frustrated schoolteacher in 1940s Louisiana tries to give a condemned man back his dignity before he dies. Vivid and compassionate, this novel asks: Knowing we're going to die, how should we live?
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Detective Sam Spade becomes embroiled with a mysterious client, avenges the death of his partner, and chases a priceless treasure in this classic American private-eye novel.
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
A story of love and pain, loyalty and desertion, Ernest Hemingway's World War I novel features the tragedy of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful nurse.
Sun, Stone, and Shadows edited by Jorge F. Hernández
This anthology presents a superb selection of the finest Mexican short stories ever written, and offers a glimpse into a diverse and fascinating culture. Authors include Juan Rulfo, Octavio Paz, Rosario Castellanos, and Carlos Fuentes.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston's vibrant novel presents Janie Mae Crawford's growth from a voiceless teenage girl into a woman who takes charge of her own destiny.
Washington Square by Henry James
The timeless story of a young girl's desire to please both her disapproving father and the man she loves, this novel follows Catherine Sloper's remarkable transformation from a meek wallflower to a steadfast woman true to her convictions.
The Poetry of Robinson Jeffers
A great poet of the Western landscape, Jeffers celebrated the heartbreaking beauty of existence and reminded humanity of its responsibility to the natural world.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
In the first book of Ursula K. Le Guin's widely admired fantasy series, only the power of language can restore balance to a dangerous world.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
As Harper Lee's narrator, Scout Finch, tries to draw out a reclusive neighbor, she bears witness to a racially charged trial that shapes the character of her Alabama community.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Abducted from his comfortable home and sold as a sled dog, Buck battles the elements to become leader of the pack. This story of a struggle for survival is an unforgettable adventure.
The Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The most popular American poet of the nineteenth century, this remarkable writer helped create the songs and stories that gave a new nation its identity.
The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz
Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz's psychological thriller follows a thief's quest for revenge down the boulevards and back alleys of Cairo.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
A teenage outcast, a drunken socialist, a black doctor, and a sad café owner confess their secrets to a deaf-mute, in Carson McCullers's dramatic story of poverty and racism in a 1930s Georgia mill town.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Tracing the tour of one American platoon this book is not just a tale of the Vietnam War, although it's considered one of the finest books ever about combat. This award-winning book is a brutal, sometimes funny, often profound narrative about the human heart—how it fares under pressure, and what it can endure.
The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick
Rosa Lublin is a Holocaust survivor whose memories of a Nazi death camp continue to traumatize her thirty years later. Cynthia Ozick's heartbreakingly empathic novella achieves one of fiction's loftiest goals, giving readers insight into a stranger's heart.
The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Combining stylistic virtuosity with a deep understanding of the darkness of the human heart, Edgar Allan Poe's stories and poems have haunted readers for more than 150 years.
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
When Ruth and her sister Lucille are abandoned in the isolated Idaho town of Fingerbone, their lives become intertwined with the legacy of loss that haunts the Foster family.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
A Dust Bowl saga of the Joad family's rough passage to California and the rougher treatment they find there, John Steinbeck's novel is tragedy and comedy, story and allegory, editorial and epic.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
In sixteen interwoven stories, Amy Tan's characters—four Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-raised daughters—struggle to connect despite the ghosts and secrets of the past.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich is a Russian judge and middle-class everyman. Struck down by disease at forty-five, Ivan discovers a horrifying truth: He has not lived a meaningful life.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Humor, trouble, and adventure follow Tom Sawyer everywhere—from the banks of the Mississippi to the brink of death and back in Mark Twain's first full novel.
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
In 1870s New York, Newland Archer and his fiancée seem the perfect match. But when the alluring Countess Ellen Olenska returns home from Europe, Newland must make the most important decision of his life.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder is the only writer to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and drama. His novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and his play Our Town ask us to examine how we live our precarious, precious lives, whether in small-town America, eighteenth-century Peru, or anywhere else.
Old School by Tobias Wolff
At a New England prep school where keeping up appearances is everything, Tobias Wolff's youthful narrator learns the painful difference between truth and fiction.
I've read far fewer (only 13-15, depending if you count the precise title or merely a book by the author, as in the case of Tolstoy and Wolff) from this list and find that the choices are more diverse, representative, and modern but more esoteric.
Looking at all these lists, considering how varied are the makeup of the "great books of the world" and the "Western Canon," I think it's fair game and high time for R&BLers to propose its own 20 Books That Represent the Best in World Literature. So, make your lists, dear readers, and post them in comments below. There's but a single rule: 10 books by dead authors and 10 by living authors. Maybe next week I'll meld all your submissions and see if I can generate an authoritative single list of the Top 20 as created by you.
Suggestions for making a list:
Do list influential books; don't list fav reads.
Do list international authors; don't restrict yourself to Anglo-centric authors.
Do list both fiction and non-fiction works(if you wish), or novels/poems/plays only.
We'll call it The List of the Visigoths, as it's sure to destroy the Temple of the Literary Canon that exists now.
Announcement
Sadly, no one has come forward to edit My Favorite Books/Authors, and unless someone msgs. me or indicates below that they can take over this fine series, it will be discontinued in the next published Weekly Magazine Schedule. Let's not allow this to happen, R&BLers! Please volunteer to coordinate the Contributors so this fine series can continue. Thank you.
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
3:00 PM (intermittent) |
The Magic Theater |
ArkDem14 |
SUN |
6:00 PM |
Young Reader's Pavilion |
The Book Bear |
SUN |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
MON |
11:00 AM |
Songs of Ice and Fire |
Floja Roja |
MON |
8:00 PM |
My Favorite Books & Authors |
?? |
TUE |
8:00 PM |
Readers & Book Lovers Newsletter |
Limelite |
WED |
7:30 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries: Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
2:00 PM (bi-weekly) |
eReaders & Book Lovers Club |
Limelite |
THU |
8:00 PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
FRI |
9:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
etbnc, aravir |
FRI |
10:00 PM (first of month) |
Monthly Bookposts |
AdmiralNaismith |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |
NOTE: Though not part of R&BLers Weekly Magazine Series, please look for "Indigo Kalliope: Poems From the Left" by various authors republished here every WED NOON by
aravir. Also look for "The Mad Logophile" by
Purple Priestess that appears intermittently, when the spirit moves her.
Other than that, nothing's happening.