1001 Books

Jessa Crispin has an interview with Peter Boxall on his book 1001 Books you must read before you die. Interesting that the editor stated something which I’d always assumed was the purpose of a book like this, namely that “…the book is at its most provocative and useful a] when it suggests new books to you that you haven't thought of as important, and b] when it misses books off that you think are important.” As opposed to a "must read" list.

Having said that I definitely agree with Jessa's comment on Bookslut that “…the list of contemporary works contains a lot of books that won't be remembered in five years, let alone forever.”

I’ve noticed this trend with contemporary fiction – the hot read of today, is the forgotten novel of tomorrow. This idea has formed the basis of one the book-buying rules I’ve been following for a while now. Wait for a good long while – say two years. If the book is still public eye, or if I’m still interested, then it gets added to the pile. Okay, so I’ll never be very current, but it cuts down on reading something because it’s the flavour of the week.