- Hardcover: 960 pages
- Publisher: Universe Publishing(NY) (7 Mar 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0789313707
- ISBN-13: 978-0789313706
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 6.1 x 21.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 309,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Tatler
"The only books you ever really need to read...it's like a library
in your pocket - dip into it and feel smugly well informed" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
in your pocket - dip into it and feel smugly well informed" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Daily Mail - Weekend Supplement
"...a fascinating guide to some of the most significant books ever
published." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
published." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
87 of 89 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a biblioholic this was guaranteed to have me slavering with anticipation: a book about the 1001 best(?) books ever, with each one receiving a eulogy of around 300 words. It's quite a hefty tome: a bookshelf-bending 2kg in fact, nearly half of which must be due to all the photographs. Someone even managed to find a snap of JD Salinger - extra kudos for that.
Inevitably everyone will quibble about the selection, so why should I be any different? The omission of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers is an unforgivable oversight. Other surprise absentees include Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess and anyone called Bradbury (there is no sign of The History Man, or Fahrenheit 451). And it's probably best not to mention Watership Down or Terry Pratchett - I don't envy the publishers having to deal with all those irate fans.
Maybe they were collateral damage in an editorial decision to avoid "children's" books - something which enabled them to sidestep Harry Potter, but also resulted in there being no place for Louis Sachar's Holes, or anything by Philip Pullman, Malorie Blackman or even Roald Dahl. (Is there a 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up in the pipeline I wonder? If so, can I be a compiler please?)
Such omissions are made harder to understand by the presence of quite a few insubstantial novels from recent years, and some of the choices make no sense at all. For example: two books by Paulo Coelho have been included, neither of which is The Alchemist; while BS Johnson is represented by three books, none of which is his legendary book-in-a-box (The Unfortunates). There is also a page where Youth by JM Coetzee sits next to Dead Air by Iain Banks, despite much stronger novels by both authors being absent. (I would have certainly included Coetzee's Age of Iron.)
The compiler also shows a treacherous predilection for the cinema: too many books seem to have been chosen because they spawned classic films. The Graduate and The Postman Always Rings Twice spring to mind. So The Third Man is here, but not Our Man In Havana; while Arthur C. Clarke is represented by the novelisation of 2001: A Space Odyssey rather than Childhood's End (or Rendezvous With Rama, or The Fountains of Paradise). Cassell also publish 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, but somehow I doubt the compiler of that book has chosen any mediocre films of great novels.
One more minor quibble: the title index at the front and the author index at the back are both riddled with errors and omissions, which seems sloppy. Despite all that it is a wonderful compendium to dip into over and over again - but beware: you will end up with lots more of books to add to your must-read list.
Inevitably everyone will quibble about the selection, so why should I be any different? The omission of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers is an unforgivable oversight. Other surprise absentees include Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess and anyone called Bradbury (there is no sign of The History Man, or Fahrenheit 451). And it's probably best not to mention Watership Down or Terry Pratchett - I don't envy the publishers having to deal with all those irate fans.
Maybe they were collateral damage in an editorial decision to avoid "children's" books - something which enabled them to sidestep Harry Potter, but also resulted in there being no place for Louis Sachar's Holes, or anything by Philip Pullman, Malorie Blackman or even Roald Dahl. (Is there a 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up in the pipeline I wonder? If so, can I be a compiler please?)
Such omissions are made harder to understand by the presence of quite a few insubstantial novels from recent years, and some of the choices make no sense at all. For example: two books by Paulo Coelho have been included, neither of which is The Alchemist; while BS Johnson is represented by three books, none of which is his legendary book-in-a-box (The Unfortunates). There is also a page where Youth by JM Coetzee sits next to Dead Air by Iain Banks, despite much stronger novels by both authors being absent. (I would have certainly included Coetzee's Age of Iron.)
The compiler also shows a treacherous predilection for the cinema: too many books seem to have been chosen because they spawned classic films. The Graduate and The Postman Always Rings Twice spring to mind. So The Third Man is here, but not Our Man In Havana; while Arthur C. Clarke is represented by the novelisation of 2001: A Space Odyssey rather than Childhood's End (or Rendezvous With Rama, or The Fountains of Paradise). Cassell also publish 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, but somehow I doubt the compiler of that book has chosen any mediocre films of great novels.
One more minor quibble: the title index at the front and the author index at the back are both riddled with errors and omissions, which seems sloppy. Despite all that it is a wonderful compendium to dip into over and over again - but beware: you will end up with lots more of books to add to your must-read list.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a great book for "dipping into" rather than reading from start to finish. One of the members of the reading group I belong to brought it along to one of our meetings and I knew I had to buy my own copy. Like many people I had to do a count of how many of the 1001 books I had actually read - it was about 140. So I have a long way to go......
However I don't think the purpose of the book is to spur us on to competitive reading or to demoralise us if we haven't read a lot of the books selected. What this book is great for is to alert you to works you may want to read at some time in the future but have simply never got around to - such as To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf or The Idiot by Dostoevsky (both sitting on my bookshelves gathering dust).
It is also a good reminder of some books read long ago - The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell, Germinal by Zola and The Razor's Edge by WS Maugham.
Obviously any list of this type is contentious and we all bring our own prejudices to such a venture. (No William Boyd? Shame on you! Six Margaret Attwoods....hooray)
And it is beautifully illustrated throughout with pictures of writers and original book covers.
However I don't think the purpose of the book is to spur us on to competitive reading or to demoralise us if we haven't read a lot of the books selected. What this book is great for is to alert you to works you may want to read at some time in the future but have simply never got around to - such as To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf or The Idiot by Dostoevsky (both sitting on my bookshelves gathering dust).
It is also a good reminder of some books read long ago - The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell, Germinal by Zola and The Razor's Edge by WS Maugham.
Obviously any list of this type is contentious and we all bring our own prejudices to such a venture. (No William Boyd? Shame on you! Six Margaret Attwoods....hooray)
And it is beautifully illustrated throughout with pictures of writers and original book covers.
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Even if you're not counting on dying any time soon, you should get reading immediately if you hope to get through every book included in this bibliophile's companion. Luckily though, you don't have to actually read all those classic and influential novels, because this superb reference book provides enough information in itself to give the reader an excellent literary overview. With this single volume, you can avoid feeling that you've read so much that dying might be a merciful release from all that goddamned literature; instead, each pleasantly brief entry provides enough to grasp the essence of the book in question, and allows the reader to decide if they want to read the novel itself. The little fact boxes reveal some interesting kernals of trivia too - for example, Anne Rice was christened Howard. And OK, there are a few mistakes in the index, but frankly that does little to mar an excellent, fascinating and useful book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1001 books?
Good but, typically huge structural Christian themes are airbrushed from our moment in history like a mole on an elephant's arse. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. R. H. Winn
A source of inspiration
There are some glaring omissions in 1,001 Books to Read Before You Die. My edition (it has been updated on at least one occasion) excludes such classics as East of Eden, I... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Oracle
A titillating taster of a book. A road-map for further reading.
I bought this book for my daughter who is studying English A level to encourage her to broaden her reading habits. Read more
Published on 18 May 2010 by Dr. Stephen Smith
Is it worth the money?
Yes it is! This book has become my new best friend recently and I dip into it often, everyday. I splashed out more than I have in many a day for this book and it has so far been... Read more
Published on 7 April 2009 by Sterile
A bit less than hoped for
Of course this book is a lot of fun but I missed some of my favourite authors there. (Heinrich Böll, Roald Dahl and some feminist writers etc. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2009 by HH
Lukewarm list
It is said that the Bishop of Wakefield, on reading Hardy's Jude the Obscure, was so enraged by it that he threw it on the fire. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2008 by Stephen Cooper
Invaluable
This book is invaluable to any book lover! I have discovered so many new authors and books to add to my wish list. Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2008 by Dot
Temptation in paper form
I asked for this as a Christmas gift along with several other books and spent the entire day with my nose in this one. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2008 by Racheljrm
There are some odd omissions in this compilation
The book lists several titles by Saul Bellow, but none by that marvellous (and Nobel prize-winning) writer Isaac Bashevis Singer. There is nothing by William Boyd. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2007 by Caroline Richmond
Caution: unputdownable
Any book that encourages reading has got to be a good thing. Whilst generally not a fan of titles that try tell me how to spend my time before I croak - this actually covers a... Read more
Published on 18 July 2007 by Jl Adcock
Listmania!
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