Aliterary to-do list enjoys a survey of what books we should really read, apart from some glaring omissions .
Steve Walker
Why do we need lists of things we must do? Places we must see, islands we must visit, films we must watch, or books we must read? Are we incapable of making our own minds up? Have we lost the art of finding out for ourselves?
I consider myself well read. Certainly, I have read more than two thirds of the books in this volume. So, why would I need a list?
The simple answer is: because even the cognoscenti among us will be unaware of some, or many, of the novels here. The editors have wisely spread the net far and wide, and included books in many other languages than English. The result is a rich and rewarding survey of many of the highlights in world literature.
One word of warning first. The word ‘‘books’’ is utterly misleading. The only books here are novels. So, no poetry, philosophy or drama or nonfiction. No Shakespeare, Homer or Vergil, no Beckett, Brecht or Shaw, no Nietzsche, Plato or Lucretius.
What is here, however, is concise, lucid and illuminating. Each text is given 500 words, for a brief plot summary and some analysis. The editors really do argue their case for inclusion. Take the article on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness; ‘‘this brilliantly antiimperialist and largely anti-racist work shows Conrad at the peak of his powers as a challenging innovator in ideas and techniques’’. This is why it should be read.
Any list, however, says as much about its omissions as it does about its inclusions. And there are some astonishing ones here. There is, for example, only one Kiwi author: Frame makes it with two novels, Faces in the Water and The Lagoon and Other Stories. But no Mansfield, Catton, Gee, Shadbolt, Stead or Ihimaera.
There are some other surprising absences. Neither of the Bradburys, no Stephen Crane, Patrick Modiano (who has just won the Nobel!), William Styron, Ellen Glasgow, ME Braddon, Richard Yates or Ford. Neither Hemingway’s nor Joyce’s beautiful short stories make the cut. William Faulkner’s majestic novels, As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury miss out. Herta Muller, another Nobel laureate, is conspicuous by her absence. Some classics are omitted, like Dumas’ The Man in the Iron Mask. Most astonishingly, there is only one book in Latin or Greek. Not even Aesop sneaks in.
Likewise, there are some incredible inclusions. Michel Houellebecq rates three entries, as does Lorrie Moore – I doubt we will be reading these in 50 years. Why do Paul Coelho and Jonathan Franzen merit two? Why Donna Tartt, or Barbara Kingsolver or Phillip Meyer?
The answer might come from one source: many of the contributors are from the University of Sussex. A broader editorial band might have made for some more discriminating decisions.
Nevertheless, my bucket list of unread novels is now full for the next few years.