A few weeks ago, in podcast episode 6, we talked about how most people don't feel particularly well-read when faced with a list of "classics," even if they had read many of the titles on the list. This week, Entertainment Weekly has chosen to make me feel better by presenting us with a list of what they consider to be "New Classics" -- the 100 best books published from 1983-2008. I still haven't read most of the books on the list, but for some reason, I don't feel a sense of guilt or shame about it. Instead, I see it as an opportunity -- many of these books have been on my to-read list for a long time and seeing them presented here together makes me want to dive in.
Many will argue about the list -- books that should have been included, titles that aren't worthy. And others will no doubt focus on the fact that Entertainment Weekly is hardly a venue for serious literary criticism. But I am going on the record here to tell you that I love this list!
It's not that I've read more of these books (I've actually read more of the titles on the classics list).
It's not that some of my favorites are here (The Road, Handmaid's Tale, Angela's Ashes).
No, it's because I think this list can make reading exciting for people who love to read, and for those who want to read more but don't. The inclusion of The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter makes other books on the list, like Love in the Time of Cholera or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle more approachable. There are some very interesting choices, like William Gibson's Neuromancer, Sandman by Neil Gaiman, and George Saunders' Pastoralia. The list has literary award winners galore, but the inclusion of graphic novels and children's books (including the fantastic Holes), as well as the book that I consider to be one of the best airplane books ever, shows that books don't have to be serious and traditional to become classics. And classics don't have to mean "stuffy."
So take a look at the list, and let me know what you think. Does the inclusion of some make you want to read others? You can comment here, or join the discussion over on the Books on the Nightstand group at Good Reads.
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