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Originally Posted by JennyHallu
And yet His Dark Materials is a must read? I know that book was very popular, but it was published what? 5-6 years ago? An interesting list...but I feel it is a sad comment on our society that some of these are on the list.
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At least seven of the books listed were published within the last ten years, some are very recent works. It is inevitable that lists of "the best..." or "the greatest..." will always include some contemporary work as it will be fresh in the mind of those choosing or voting. What is really interesting to see is how such lists change over the years, and whether certain works still make the list.
How do we know if a book will still be incredibly popular in decades to come? I remember Bob Geldof being very nasty about Madonna back in the early 90s, when she was amongst those voted "most influential musicians" - he stated she was a 'has-been'. Bet he had to eat his words in order to get her to appear at Live8.
This is a list compiled by librarians too, who will be used to recommending 'good reads' to all kinds of people; this would explain why more difficult works might not have been included, though few of these are 'easy' reads!