I hated the original list because it seemed both too broad (books in other languages) and too narrow (most are 20th century and those that aren't concentrate on few authors).
My own list is based on trying to include only books in English, but also books that are representative of a specific time, place, or author.
There's probably also a cultural side too it, which is where the King James Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare come in. So many phrases used in daily speech come from one or the other of these two books. I could probably pull 7 works by Shakespeare to cover most of his contributions to the language, and Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Gospel According to Luke, Gospel According to John, and I Corinthians XIII would cover a great deal of the King James Bible's contribution to the language. The Lewis made it because the original list had it that way. Were I selecting only one, it would be Voyage of the Dawn Treader because that's the one I connect with.
I know this isn't a list of my favorite books. If it were, the Geste of Robyn Hoode and Other Ballads would replace Chaucer.
I picked The Maid's Tragedy because I have a hard time finding Beaumont and Fletcher's comedies funny. Seeing them might be hilarious, but I keep feeling like there are physical bits that I'm missing when I read them.
Neverwhere is my favorite Gaiman book, it speaks to me in ways his other works haven't. But I completely get why Sandman might be the one item in his oeuvre everyone should read.
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I hated the original list because it seemed both too broad (books in other languages) and too narrow (most are 20th century and those that aren't concentrate on few authors).
My own list is based on trying to include only books in English, but also books that are representative of a specific time, place, or author.
There's probably also a cultural side too it, which is where the King James Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare come in. So many phrases used in daily speech come from one or the other of these two books. I could probably pull 7 works by Shakespeare to cover most of his contributions to the language, and Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Gospel According to Luke, Gospel According to John, and I Corinthians XIII would cover a great deal of the King James Bible's contribution to the language. The Lewis made it because the original list had it that way. Were I selecting only one, it would be Voyage of the Dawn Treader because that's the one I connect with.
I know this isn't a list of my favorite books. If it were, the Geste of Robyn Hoode and Other Ballads would replace Chaucer.
I picked The Maid's Tragedy because I have a hard time finding Beaumont and Fletcher's comedies funny. Seeing them might be hilarious, but I keep feeling like there are physical bits that I'm missing when I read them.
Neverwhere is my favorite Gaiman book, it speaks to me in ways his other works haven't. But I completely get why Sandman might be the one item in his oeuvre everyone should read.