Best and Greatest Books, Canadian Style

This year Penguin Canada is challenging Canadians to read 52 of The Best Books Ever Written. Each week one title will be revealed in the Globe and Mail, and they are being collected at Amazon.ca (where one can conveniently purchase Penguin editions of these classics, of course). I was quite surprised to find I have read 4 of the 9 books assigned so far, but I don't think that percentage will last throughout the year.

Strangely, the Globe and Mail is running a separate profile of the 50 Greatest Books. Apart from their first selection, they've chosen much weightier books than Penguin has, including nonfiction and poetry. Each is accompanied by an article from a leading expert on the book in question. Unfortunately there isn't a master page with links to all the articles, so you'll have to scan the Arts page for the lastest addition, and that will lead to the rest.

Here are the two lists so far:

Penguin

Fifth Business—Robertson Davies
Far from the Madding Crowd—Thomas Hardy
Mansfield Park—Jane Austen
Of Human Bondage—W. Somerset Maugham
Madame Bovary—Gustave Flaubert
Dangerous Liaisons—Choderlos de Laclos
Lady Chatterley's Lover—D. H. Lawrence
Day of the Locust and The Dream Life of Balso—Nathanael West
Anna Karenina—Leo Tolstoy

Globe & Mail

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—Mark Twain
In Search of Lost Time—Marcel Proust
The Origin of Species—Charles Darwin
The Divine Comedy—Dante Alighieri
The Republic—Plato
Don Quixote—Miguel de Cervantes
Ulysses—James Joyce
Das Kapital—Karl Marx

It's certainly looks as though Penguin is going for enjoyable novels that the average person would consider buying, whereas the Globe and Mail is picking the most august volumes in the canon (I'm not sure how Huckleberry got in there, but then he's always getting into places he doesn't belong!). Penguin's challenge is much more practical, though. I can't imagine anyone reading The Origin of Species or Don Quixote in one week, though Anna Karenina in one week is a lot to ask as well. Still, if either of these projects gets people reading any of these books, that's a good thing.

Comments

[H.M.]

Have you read Huckleberry Finn? It is much more than just a simple folk tale of a young urchin/adventurer. It is actually a complex and many layered novel. If Mark Twain has a masterpiece (and I would argue he does) Huckleberry Finn is it. Set against the pre Civil War American South and slavery, it deals with issues such as racism and bigotry and compassion and the inherent dignity and worth of every person. With apologies to any "Gone With the Wind" fans, Huck Finn infinitely a worthier book of redeeming social value and critique, and as the representative of the great American southern novel. So don't let the title or the (initially) simple story fool you. There is more than meets the casual eye or ear to Huckleberry Finn. I am glad to see the book on that list and consider it a fine inclusion.

[Amateur Reader]

Yeah, "Huckleberry Finn" is a complex book. "Tom Sawyer" is the simple one. Not to get to serious about this - your joke was a good one.

[Sylvia]

I'm not sure if I've read Huck Finn. Maybe it was Tom Sawyer. I don't doubt it's a fine American novel, but one of the 50 greatest books ever written? In terms of impact, Uncle Tom's Cabin would rank much higher. I don't see it having much political or literary importance outside the US.

[Amateur Reader]

Nor did "Huck Finn" have any political importance inside the US, the occasional library banning aside.

As for literary importance, well - the Martin Levin column at the Globe & Mail does a good job making the case.

I personally consider it only the 176th greatest book of all time.

[Sylvia]

I think Levin's strongest point is that Twain used regional idioms, but Hardy and Eliot were doing the same thing decades earlier. Also Dickens used a child as a vehicle for social commentary almost 50 years ealier. Is putting those things in a new context enough to make it a great book? It seems to me, from what little I know of it, that Twain's humour and the idea of the freedom (literal and intellectual) of childhood are the books' strengths. Feel free to correct me on this.

[MotherPie]

I'm really glad to see the Canadian list as there are books there that would be overlooked here in the states. It is hard to find good books outside of the U.S. in many instances. Thanks for the link... I've saved it.

[Sylvia]

I'm glad you found it useful, MotherPie. Thanks for the comment!

[Imani]

Honestly? I lost interest in the G&M list once I saw the Twain as their first pick. :P

[Sylvia]

So it's not just me...

[wil]

Admit it. You're just miffed that the first pick was an American. USA! USA! ;-P

[Sylvia]

:P

[sarala]

I certainly haven't read them all although I've read a respectable number. I'm not about to launch into the rest. Not enough free brain cells to apply to the project!
I'd definitely recommend Dangerous Liaisons—Choderlos de Laclos, especially if you read French.

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the recommendation, sarala. If the movie is any indication, it must be very intriguing (pun intended!).