McCaffery 20th Century Greatest Hits Reading Group discussion
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Interesting list Laure! I look at plenty of lists and I've never come across this one. How did you find it? One weakness that stands out for me is that the list contains no works in translation. Apart from that aspect it is a quite alluring blend of modern literature.
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I came across it when browsing someone else's shelves on Goodreads. I love listst! So I had to have a look. :D
Yes, I know what you mean about no works in translation.
To be honest the list title does say 'English-Language Books of Fiction'. A bit narrow, but still interesting.
I would love to find a French/Spanish list. If you know of one, let me know.
I am quite a fan of lists as well! :)Not true French lists, but with a French angle:
Here is a list made by Francophone authors:
http://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/114
A list by the newspaper Le Monde:
http://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/108
Tons of lists here: http://thegreatestbooks.org/
Have fun with that! LOL
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Not true French lists, but with a French angle:
Here is a list made by Francophone authors:
http://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/114
A list by the newspaper Le..."
Great I will. Thanks for the lists. Very much appreciated.
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I'm excited at the thought of reading [bo..."
I have attempted twice to finish The New York Trilogy - I seem to come unstuck on the third book for some reason. Third time lucky! :D
I loved reading 'Women in Love' - that is a fantastic read. I am sure you are going to enjoy that book immensely. I found what McCaffery said about the book ever so true, incredibly perceptive.
Looking forward to reading books from this list. There are many books I didn't know yet so this is a very interesting reading list.
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Welcome Annelies to the group. :)
I like the presence of some fantasy/SF on the list and look forward to tackling Gene Wolfe's books at one point. I've read the very first one and enjoyed it quite a bit. It is unusual to see SFF on the 20th century book lists. The Book of the New Sun Tetrology (The Shadow of the Torturer [1980], The Claw of the Conciliator [1981], The Sword of Lictor [1982], The Citadel of the Autarch [1982]), Gene Wolfe
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Yes, this is what I thought too, and made the list straightaway very interesting for me.
I guess SFF generally has a "bad" reputation in the realm of literature. I don't see why as some SFF have some excellent qualities in terms of writing and themes. Perhaps it is a stereotype of some kind?
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Yes, I agree. From reading between the lines, I think Prof Larry McCafferty devoted his literary studies to proving its credentials. Bravo to him. :)
Manda wrote: "Yes and unwarranted too. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and I, Robot are too excellent reads, I too am looking forward to reading the sci fi books on this list "Definitely! Philip K Dick and Asimov have written some excellent and thoughtful SF novels (PKD in particular). He was actually one of the authors that really turned me on to SF while in high school.
SF has (like all other genres) lots of different tiers. Now (after you mentioning it, Manda) I feel like reading 'I, Robot" !
It is an intriguing list but it does seem very idiosyncratic! No problems with the top three, all of which I have read, but my overall impression is that it is quite a white male list. There are probaby 20 to 30 books on the list I would like to read, many of the others do not appeal at all.
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I agree with the 'white male list'. I know very little about quite a few of these books - especially the ones at the bottom of the list.
This list was created as a response to the Modern Library list.
I had a look at the latter to see how it compared and some authors like Waugh have totally disappeared from it!
Here it is: http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/...
Surveying the list I found 14 books that I've read: 2-5-10-21-22-28-29-30-32-37-56-60-63-89.
And I found 21 books that I am interested in reading:
1-3-6-9-14-15-17-20-23-24-34-38-42-44-54-57-65-71-79-92-98.
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2-5-10-21-22-28-29-30-32-37-56-60-63-89.
And I found 21 books that I am interested in reading:
1-3-6-9-14-15-17-20-23-24-34-38-42-44-54-57-65-7..."
Not bad!
Laure wrote: "Mark wrote: "Surveying the list I found 14 books that I've read: 2-5-10-21-22-28-29-30-32-37-56-60-63-89.
And I found 21 books that I am interested in reading:
1-3-6-9-14-15-17-20-23-24-34-38-42-..."
Also, of the 14 that I've read, seven are all-time favorites:
2-5-21-29-37-56-63.
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2-5-10-21-22-28-29-30-32-37-56-60-63-89.
And I found 21 books that I am interested in reading:
1-3-6-9-14-15-17-20-2..."
That's a lot more than I have. Brilliant. I try not to have any preconceived ideas about books-very difficult! I 'll read them all. :P
Darwin8u wrote: "I made an easy list here:http://www.listchallenges.com/larry-m..."
A list of lists! No matter how many times I take this quiz my score never seems to improve. But what I found most interesting were the covers!!! Are not there any adults in the room when these decisions are made? The new barbarism!
Mark wrote: "Darwin8u wrote: "I made an easy list here:http://www.listchallenges.com/larry-m..."
A list of lists! No matter how many times I take this quiz my score never seems to ..."
Right? Hey, we've got a $25 design budget, go!
Darwin8u wrote: "Mark wrote: "Darwin8u wrote: "I made an easy list here:http://www.listchallenges.com/larry-m..."
A list of lists! No matter how many times I take this quiz my score ne..."
So it's just a matter of money, not talent or taste. That's cool.
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http://www.listchallenges.com/larry-m..."
Thanks for making the list - a handy reckoner. Not many ticked right now but hey, it's just the start. :D
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http://www.listchallenges.com/larry-m..."
A list of lists! No matter how many times I take this..."
Don't you think the little star that goes up when you click a book is cool? :P
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I've only read 4. :P
McCaffery 20th Century Greatest Hits Reading Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Under the Volcano (other topics)The New York Trilogy (other topics)
The list was written it seems as a response to the Modern Library 100 best Novels list (1999) and McCaffery saw the list as 'being way, way out of touch with the nature and significance of 20th century fiction.'
Personally what I liked about the list is that there are a few fantasy and science fiction books in there.
What I don't like is that very few of the books listed have been written by women. I counted only 10 women writers on the list.