Bokklubben World Library
Bokklubben World Library (Norwegian: Verdensbiblioteket) is a series of classical books, mostly novels, published by the Norwegian Book Club since 2002. It is based on a list of the hundred best books, as proposed by one hundred writers from fifty-four different countries, compiled and organized in 2002 by the Book Club. This list endeavors to reflect world literature, with books from all countries, cultures, and time periods.
Each writer had to select his or her own list of ten books. The books selected by this process and listed here are not ranked or categorized in any way; the organizers have stated that "they are all on an equal footing," with the exception of Don Quixote which was given the distinction "best literary work ever written."[1]
Fyodor Dostoevsky is the author with the most books on the list, with four. William Shakespeare, Franz Kafka, and Leo Tolstoy each have three.
Breakdown by language, gender
Eleven of the books included on the list are written by women, eighty-five are written by men and four have unknown authors. This breakdown is similar to other lists, such as Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, which was voted for by 17,000 people from the general public and contains twelve books by women.
Twenty-six of the one hundred voting writers had English as their first language,[2] which may be a factor in the list having so many (29) books written in English. Again, this phenomenon was visible in Le Monde's list, with 49 French books.
List of books
List of authors surveyed
| Name | Country |
|---|---|
| Aitmatov, ChinghizChinghiz Aitmatov | Kyrgyzstan |
| Altan, AhmetAhmet Altan | Turkey |
| Appelfeld, AharonAharon Appelfeld | Israel |
| Auster, PaulPaul Auster | United States |
| Azúa, Félix deFélix de Azúa | Spain |
| Barnes, JulianJulian Barnes | United Kingdom |
| Behbahani, SiminSimin Behbahani | Iran |
| Bly, RobertRobert Bly | United States |
| Brink, AndréAndré Brink | South Africa |
| Brøgger, SuzanneSuzanne Brøgger | Denmark |
| Byatt, A. S.A. S. Byatt | United Kingdom |
| Carey, PeterPeter Carey | Australia |
| Cerda, MarthaMartha Cerda | Mexico |
| Chang, JungJung Chang | China/United Kingdom |
| Condé, MaryseMaryse Condé | France |
| Couto, MiaMia Couto | Mozambique |
| Crace, JimJim Crace | United Kingdom |
| Danticat, EdwidgeEdwidge Danticat | Haiti |
| Dao, BeiBei Dao | China |
| Djebar, AssiaAssia Djebar | Algeria |
| Dowlatabadi, MahmoudMahmoud Dowlatabadi | Iran |
| Echenoz, JeanJean Echenoz | France |
| Ekman, KerstinKerstin Ekman | Sweden |
| Englander, NathanNathan Englander | United States |
| Enzensberger, Hans MagnusHans Magnus Enzensberger | Germany |
| Estévez, EmilioEmilio Estévez | Cuba |
| Farah, NuruddinNuruddin Farah | Somalia |
| Fløgstad, KjartanKjartan Fløgstad | Norway |
| Fosse, JonJon Fosse | Norway |
| Frame, JanetJanet Frame | New Zealand |
| French, MarilynMarilyn French | United States |
| Fuentes, CarlosCarlos Fuentes | Mexico |
| Ghazzawi, IzzatIzzat Ghazzawi | Palestine |
| Ghosh, AmitavAmitav Ghosh | India |
| Gimferrer, PerePere Gimferrer | Spain |
| Gordimer, NadineNadine Gordimer | South Africa |
| Grossman, DavidDavid Grossman | Israel |
| Guðmundsson, Einar MárEinar Már Guðmundsson | Iceland |
| Heaney, SeamusSeamus Heaney | Ireland |
| Hein, ChristophChristoph Hein | Germany |
| Hemon, AleksandarAleksandar Hemon | Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| Hoffman, AliceAlice Hoffman | United States |
| Hove, ChenjeraiChenjerai Hove | Zimbabwe |
| Ibrahim, SonallahSonallah Ibrahim | Egypt |
| Irving, JohnJohn Irving | United States |
| Jersild, P. C.P. C. Jersild | Sweden |
| Kemal, YasarYasar Kemal | Turkey |
| Kjærstad, JanJan Kjærstad | Norway |
| Kundera, MilanMilan Kundera | Czech Republic/France |
| Lander, LeenaLeena Lander | Finland |
| le Carré, JohnJohn le Carré | United Kingdom |
| Lenz, SiegfriedSiegfried Lenz | Germany |
| Lessing, DorisDoris Lessing | United Kingdom |
| Lindgren, AstridAstrid Lindgren | Sweden |
| Luik, ViiviViivi Luik | Estonia |
| Maalouf, AminAmin Maalouf | Lebanon/France |
| Magris, ClaudioClaudio Magris | Italy |
| Mailer, NormanNorman Mailer | United States |
| Martínez, Tomás EloyTomás Eloy Martínez | Argentina |
| McCourt, FrankFrank McCourt | Ireland/United States |
| Mehta, GitaGita Mehta | India |
| Miranda, AnaAna Miranda | Brazil |
| Mistry, RohintonRohinton Mistry | India/Canada |
| Munif, Abdel RahmanAbdel Rahman Munif | Saudi-Arabia |
| Müller, HertaHerta Müller | Romania |
| Naipaul, V. S.V. S. Naipaul | Trinidad/United Kingdom |
| Nooteboom, CeesCees Nooteboom | Netherlands |
| Okri, BenBen Okri | Nigeria/United Kingdom |
| Pamuk, OrhanOrhan Pamuk | Turkey |
| Paretsky, SaraSara Paretsky | United States |
| Phillips, Jayne AnneJayne Anne Phillips | United States |
| Rasputin, ValentinValentin Rasputin | Russia |
| Ribeiro, João UbaldoJoão Ubaldo Ribeiro | Brazil |
| Robbe-Grillet, AlainAlain Robbe-Grillet | France |
| Rushdie, SalmanSalman Rushdie | India/United Kingdom |
| Saadawi, Nawal ElNawal El Saadawi | Egypt |
| al-Shaykh, HananHanan al-Shaykh | Lebanon |
| Sirees, NihadNihad Sirees | Syria |
| Sonnevi, GöranGöran Sonnevi | Sweden |
| Sontag, SusanSusan Sontag | United States |
| Soyinka, WoleWole Soyinka | Nigeria |
| Späth, GeroldGerold Späth | Switzerland |
| Swift, GrahamGraham Swift | United Kingdom |
| Tabucchi, AntonioAntonio Tabucchi | Italy |
| al-Tikerly, FouadFouad al-Tikerly | Iraq |
| Thomas, D. M.D. M. Thomas | United Kingdom |
| Thorpe, AdamAdam Thorpe | United Kingdom |
| Thorup, KirstenKirsten Thorup | Denmark |
| Tkachenko, AleksandrAleksandr Tkachenko | Russia |
| Toer, Pramoedya AnantaPramoedya Ananta Toer | Indonesia |
| Tokarczuk, OlgaOlga Tokarczuk | Poland |
| Tournier, MichelMichel Tournier | France |
| Toussaint, Jean-PhilippeJean-Philippe Toussaint | Belgium |
| Uzun, MehmedMehmed Uzun | Turkey |
| Valkeapää, Nils-AslakNils-Aslak Valkeapää | Sápmi |
| Vassilikos, VassilisVassilis Vassilikos | Greece |
| Vera, YvonneYvonne Vera | Zimbabwe |
| Weldon, FayFay Weldon | United Kingdom |
| Wolf, ChristaChrista Wolf | Germany |
| Yehoshua, A. B.A. B. Yehoshua | Israel |
| Zariâb, SpôjmaïSpôjmaï Zariâb | Afghanistan |
See also
- Classic book
- Larry McCaffery's list of the 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction
- Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
- Lists of 100 best books
- List of books banned by governments
- Marcel Reich-Ranicki's anthology of exemplary German literature Der Kanon
- Modern Library 100 Best Novels
- Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction
- Världsbiblioteket, a Swedish "100 best books" list from 1991
- Western canon
- World literature
References
- ↑ "Les 100 meilleurs livres de tous les temps". Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ↑ See table in article. 22 come from Ireland, UK, US, and Trinidad and Tobago; 4 come from India but are all from the minority of Indians with English as their primary language.
External links
- Norwegian Book Club's World Library, Official site (Norwegian)
- The Guardian The top 100 books of all time
- Le Figaro Les 100 meilleurs livres de tous les temps (French)
- The list's page at Greater Books, with bibliographic information for each work