This is a rather breezy and modern-tilted list. Now they have Tenesee Williams plays but no Shakespeare. And they have Homer but no Dante. Your minx? Could it be Cleopatra or the French lieutenant's woman? And I can't believe they couldn't fit Fowle's The Magus in that list somewhere, or Ship of Fools. But these lists always cause controversy, why we make them up. Mark Musa's Penguin translation of Dante is my all-time favorite.
The list was featured in today's Times, with excerpts. The excerpt they gave for the best Minx (!) was a delightful extract from Vanity Fair. However, I don't see our Minx as like Becky Sharp. There are Minxes and Minxes, I suppose.
The Times' challenge was to ask readers of the paper how many of the books they had read. I am pleased to say that after excluding the ones I would not be seen dead reading, I'd read almost all of them.
However, I would say it is a bit of an odd list, very skewed towards what my local Waterstone's calls "modern culture" (trendy ephermera). A lot of straight classics weren't mentioned -- possibly the list was restricted to what Penguin has published?
This is a rather breezy and modern-tilted list. Now they have Tenesee Williams plays but no Shakespeare. And they have Homer but no Dante. Your minx? Could it be Cleopatra or the French lieutenant's woman? And I can't believe they couldn't fit Fowle's The Magus in that list somewhere, or Ship of Fools. But these lists always cause controversy, why we make them up. Mark Musa's Penguin translation of Dante is my all-time favorite.
ReplyDeleteThe list was featured in today's Times, with excerpts. The excerpt they gave for the best Minx (!) was a delightful extract from Vanity Fair. However, I don't see our Minx as like Becky Sharp. There are Minxes and Minxes, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteThe Times' challenge was to ask readers of the paper how many of the books they had read. I am pleased to say that after excluding the ones I would not be seen dead reading, I'd read almost all of them.
However, I would say it is a bit of an odd list, very skewed towards what my local Waterstone's calls "modern culture" (trendy ephermera). A lot of straight classics weren't mentioned -- possibly the list was restricted to what Penguin has published?
Ah, but Breakfast at Tiffanys is on the list, they are forgiven for their obvious oversight....this time!
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