New edition due out in October

For more info see http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?p=3711

Balls. I've been slacking off on the 1200+ books from the other editions as it is. What are the chances the new list will include books I've already read that were not on previous lists?

Well, I guess the sections with older books will mostly stay the same, just the more recent ones that are going to change around...

I am planning to buy the new edition; I don't have the book yet, and when I started on the list the new edition had already been announced, so I decided I'd wait for this newest version and buy it when it comes out :)
But I'll probably be reading from the combined list anyway...

I'm already reading a book from the 2012 edition, Wolf Hall. At least, if it is not in the 2012 edition I will complain bitterly and count it nonetheless. Given all the crappy Booker winners they have insisted on including, I assume they will include one that actually deserved the prize!

@bookishbunny: I think you mean 293 books, not 1200+!

@annamorphic: crappy Booker winners? Well, the only one I can remember as being truly awful was The Old Devils. What is your crappy selection?

I meant total.

So the new book's not going to be available in the US? Why not?

I read the pdf with the very short list (link on arukiyomi's website) and it mentions Aesop's fables, which had been removed from the 2006 list. So maybe it really is a rework in the sense that they do not only substitute some modern books, but also correct some 'mistakes' they made in the later editions when they removed important classics.

#5, well, crappy may have been going too far. But The Sea and The Inheritance of Loss were clearly inferior to Wolf Hall. I did not really like Amsterdam or Disgrace very much. I quite disliked Possession as well. And there are a few that I have felt unable to read (yet) because they were so off-putting. I guess I get cross when a book I really like is passed over for these ones I feel are less good.

probably not available in the US for the same reason the cheap Kindles are not available in the UK.

What goes around comes around!

#8 - It also mentions a book called "The Invisible Sons." There is no such book unless this is a translated title of an untranslated work. They probably mean "The Invisible Man." If the publicist's editing is this sloppy then the inclusion of Aesop's Fables could be an error too.

It would be nice, though, if they rectified the list by not only restoring some inappropriate deletions (e.g. The Sound and the Fury, The Brothers Karamazov) but also removing those books unavailable in English (The Taebek Mountains, The New World, etc) and giving us a list of 1001 books we can actually read.

They did make an attempt at making the list less English-language centered after the first edition, I'm guessing the inclusion of untranslated books is also part of that effort. And, in a way, I kind of agree: just because a book hasn't been translated to English doesn't mean it's not worth reading, right? Then again, the 1001 books book is an English language book, so it would also make sense to leave untranslated works out of it...

Then again, the 1001 books book is an English language book, so it would also make sense to leave untranslated works out of it...

That's been my take on it since day one. I read in English, and I want to read the 1001 books that speak to my culture. I know there are fabulous books that are untranslated for us who only read English. But I don't have a problem with the English language edition of the book to focus on English language books. I'm sure there are another 1001 books that speak better to a different audience--different cultures, different languages. Some of those will be great and translated. For me, there are only so many reading hours available, and after twenty years of reading mostly non-fiction books, I'm working at catching up on more of the standard classics first (with a few interesting outliers added).

That said--one of the most popular stumbling blocks that excuses all of us English monolinguals from actually completing the 1001 list, The Taebaek Mountains has been translated into English. No more excuses, you completest out there! Details here:

http://knowledgepen.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/korean-best-seller-taebaek-mountain...

Taebaek Mountains actually sounds like a really interesting novel :)

are there actually many books on the list that haven't been translated to English? I thought I'd heard people say that Taebaek Mountains was the only one that wasn't available in English (and since I read French, it wouldn't have been a problem), but maybe I got that wrong...

A couple of people on this site have posted 1001-books-lists in different languages, I'm sort of guessing most languages will have their own literary canon. The worldwide approach might just be a bit too much, I mean, there are several countries which aren't represented in the book at all, does that mean that mr Boxall thinks that nobody in that country ever wrote anything worth reading? Sounds unlikely to me...
I find it difficult though; on the one hand I can totally understand wanting to have a worldwide list, on the other hand it seems like an impossible enterprise.

Hey Nickelini it hasn't been translated yet. It "is to be" translated. There are only a few not available in English. One in Amharic The New World by Walde Sellasse I can't ever see being translated. And Amharic script isn't for the faint hearted.

I wasn't even aware a language called Amharic existed :)
Well, maybe I can still make it one of my life goals to learn to read Amharic and then actually finish the list ;)

This is one of the big problems with the 1001 Children's Books list -- a lot of the works have never been translated out of whatever their native language is.

are there actually many books on the list that haven't been translated to English?

On the Wiki page I started here I tried to list all the titles that were not (yet) available in English (from all three editions of 1001 Books...). As far as I can tell they are:

Margot and the Angels by Kristien Hemmerechts (Dutch)
The Taebaek Mountains by Jo Jung-rae (Korean, with French translation, English translation in progress)
The Smell of Sadness by Alfred Kossmann (Dutch)
The Forbidden Realm by J. J. Slauerhoff (Dutch, English translation due out Feb 2013)
Lady Number Thirteen by Jose Carlos Somoza (Spanish, with French translation)
Pallieter by Felix Timmermans (Dutch)
The New World by Heruy Wäldä-Sellasé (Amharic)
Back to Oegstgeest by Jan Wolkers (Dutch)
Gimmick! by Joost Zwagerman (Dutch)

I guess I might have been overlooking the ones that are only available in Dutch; being Dutch, I obviously don't see that as a problem.

So, that would only leave me with three, and of those three, only one that's actually not available in any language I know. Guess I really do need to learn Amharic some day ;)

Before you sit down to learn Amharic you can translate the Dutch ones for the rest of us. ;-)

amen to that Steven!

Well, that would be a great idea if I was any good at translating, but I'm pretty sure my translations would be horrible... And I wouldn't want all of you guys to get the idea that Dutch literature is terrible :P
Besides, I might get trouble with copyright infringement, right, John? ;)

Hey, you know what, we should just put the untranslated books through Google translator; I'm sure that would make for some very interesting literature :)

Hey Britt, are any of those only-available-in-Dutch books really good? Maybe I should read one of them instead of the Mulisch this summer. I lived in Oegstgeest when I first moved to Holland in 1986 but have never read the Wolkers...

I guess if you actually lived in Oegstgeest you should read Terug naar Oegstgeest :) And Wolkers is a good writer, so I think that would be a good choice. If you're interested in what Holland was like some decades ago, that's a must-read, and I think it does a really good job at showing the generation gap that existed between parents and their children.
I personally also like Kristien Hemmerechts, that would be my second choice.
I only know Slauerhoff from his poetry, and though he's a good poet, he can be somewhat depressing, so I'm not sure if that would be a nice summer read...

I'm not familiar with Pallieter, but I looked it up and it's pretty old (early 20th century), so that might be somewhat difficult because of the old-fashioned language. The same counts for The Smell of Sadness, plus that one seems to be out of print.

And Zwagerman... Well, he's not one of my favourites. I don't think he's a very good writer and I don't see why he's on the 1001-books list. Plus, he's a bit too obsessed with sex for my taste. Many of the younger Dutch writers seem to think more sex is always better, and I just don't think sex scenes necessarily improve the quality of a novel. Should be a pretty quick and easy read though...

The Amazon UK website shows that this edition is already shipping. Has anyone seen it?

If it's a major redo I might want to order it, but not if they've just switched out a few 21st century titles like the last edition.

I'm also keen to know! It's also on bookdepository I see.

If anybody gets this book, please reassure me that Wolf Hall is included. I might buy the new edition if they've included that, but if they haven't I will refuse to buy it in protest!

I was snooping around Goodreads and saw that someone had posted a list this morning of 11 books that were new to the list in the 2012 edition:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/370475-deanne?shelf=1001-2012-additions

Wolf Hall is not among them, but this may be just the result of a quick glance and not a thorough comparison. Let's hope so, because if this is all there is, then I'm very disappointed and certainly won't be ordering the new edition.

Woohoo! 1Q84! I read that just this summer! I was hoping it would be added to the list, but I would have read it anyway.

Interesting. I've only read two of those, but have several on my TBR pile. I'm just as curious to know what got taken off!

I haven't read any of those but I own seven of them - good investment!

I've just been over to goodreads 1001 book group and their discussion. Someone there mentioned that they think there are a few new books throughout the book not just latest releases so it will take a while to go through it and make comparisons. Memoirs of a Geisha which is the cover image for example is back on the list.

My copy arrived last week. #27 - sorry to confirm that Wolf Hall isn't in there but then neither is The Crimson Petal and the White. I just can't resist these books and they do make a lovely collection on my shelves but I can't really confirm any changes since the last edition as I gave that one away. Despite the changes being apparently few, it's still my bible when I start looking for new reading matter.

Oh hey, I've actually read a decent amount of the new ones - History of Love, Freedom, Art of Fielding, Marriage Plot and 1Q84 I've all read in the last year or so.

I'm not sure I'd class any of them as a must-read, though.

#32 - Booksloth, are the titles listed in msg 18 still there?

From what I've read elsewhere, it appears that there are only 11 books that are altogether new to the list, but they have also brought back some of the deleted books from the 2006 edition. If they did this to replace the untranslated and unobtainable books, then this is a good thing because there will be a list people can actually complete. But it's more likely that they just shuffled things around to give the 2012 edition the appearance of being "completely revised" without having to pay for any new material--a reminder that this series is a commercial venture.

#34 Yes, those are all in the 'new' edition, though with no references as to which, if any of them, are now available in English. I got very excited indeed to see what I took to be a new book by Jose Carlos Somoza but a quick dash to Amazon revealed that it would probably be faster for me to learn Spanish than to wait for this to come out in English. Annoying anyway, but when it's with a favourite author it is infuriating!

No Wolf Hall!? OK, that settles it, I am sticking with the 2008 edition as my reading guide. And I'm keeping Wolf Hall in my own 1001 list. That, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and One Hundred Years of Solitude are the only five-star books I've read this year!

#35 - Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm not going to buy the new edition either, and I'm finding this whole business rather disenchanting. I'll still track my progress as I do with several other lists, but I don't think I'll make any special effort to read books from the 1001 list from here on out.

Steven - "disenchanting" is an interesting way to word it! I've only ever followed the 2006 list because that's the book I invested in, and it gives me lots of reading material. I have read books from the other lists, but only because I was reading them anyway. Or as you put it, I didn't make any special effort to read them. I do hope, however, that when you do happen to read a 1001, that you come here and tell us about it. Please stay in the conversation!

Joyce - No, I won't be leaving the discussion at all, and the list will still be a factor in my reading decisions, as are other lists, but a much lower priority.

#39 - Yea!

I've heard that books that were deleated in 2008 have been restored to the list in this latest edition. Does anyone know which those are?

@Nickelini: The only one I've seen mentioned anywhere is Memoirs of a Geisha.

I'm snooping around the internet and still haven't answered my question from #41, other than as amerynth says, Memoirs of a Geisha. I did, however, see this:

books removed for the 2012 edition:

Kafka on the Shore by Murakami
The talk of the Town by Ardal O'Hanlan
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Jack Maggs by Peter Carey
Money To burn by Ricardo Piglia
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
Felicia's Journey by William Trevor
The Music of Chance by Paul Auster

I thought Enduring Love was a terrific, compelling read, so if you haven't read it yet, don't let this stop you.

#43 None of those are in the latest edition, nickelini.

#44 - I'm confused. I was told they were all removed in 2012. Are you saying they were all gone earlier?

#45 Sorry, Nickelini, I'm the one whose confused (and confusing everyone else). For some reason I thought you were saying that they were the ones that had been removed from the last edition and you wondered if they'd been replaced in this one (2012). Just chat among yourselves while I try and get my head sorted out . . . :(

Well Im going from all the list combined so if a book as been on the 1001 list and any point then its on my list to read.

#46 - no problem!

#47 - In the end, I'm with you. But I just like to know, for trivia's sake.

Not bad choices as far as I know them. There was always WAY too much Ian McEwan on the list, though Enduring Love is not his worst. Jack Maggs is far from the best work of the generally fantastic Peter Carey. And Felicia's Journey was a book of such unremitting gloominess that I could hardly stand it. None of these were books that I needed to read before I die. On the other hand, Memoires of a Geisha definitely deserved to get its place back.
The fact that they failed to include the phenomenal Booker-winning Wolf Hall has nevertheless deeply tarnished the credibility of the new edition for me. I keep saying this because my annoyance is so profound...

Hilary Mantel has just won her second Booker Prize for the Wolf Hall sequel Bring Up the Bodies.
I'm sure the 1001 people must regret having left her out.... Really, I don't get it.

I just saw (on Goodreads) an updated list of books removed for the 2012 edition.

Kafka on the Shore by Murakami
The talk of the Town by Ardal O'Hanlan
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Jack Maggs by Peter Carey
Money To burn by Ricardo Piglia
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
Felicia's Journey by William Trevor
The Music of Chance by Paul Auster

The Accidental by Ali Smith
Mothers Milk by Edward St Aubyn
Falling Man by Don DeLillo
Invisible by Paul Auster

So Memoirs of a Geisha was the only previously deleted work that was put back on the list--probably just because the publisher wanted to use the geisha picture for the cover. Meanwhile not only Wolf Hall but also The Brothers Karamazov and The Sound and the Fury are considered unworthy. It looks like the purpose of the new edition was to bring in some fresh cash with a minimum of expense and effort.

Steven - I was going to say "ha ha" to your comment about the Geisha cover, but then I kept reading and your whole post is a "ha ha." I've felt the cynical opinion that all new editions have been a cash grab sort of effort, but then on the other hand, if you're a consumer who is buying the book for the first time, are you less likely to buy it if it's six years old? Perhaps they're just keeping it "fresh". And keeping us talking about it .....

As I've suggested before, I don't see why there can't be a 'master copy' (the original one) and then a new appendix printed every year. Perhaps I'm being naive in thinking that would work when they can sell the full copies for a much higher price but I'd have thought this would attract buyers who are fed up with the slight amendments we currently get every year or two, while still appealing to new collectors. But what do I know . . . ?

I agree that Memoirs of a Geisha and also The Brothers Karamazov should by all means be included. I havent read Wolf Hall so I cant comment, but I have heard nothing but good things so it is included on the TBR pile for 2013.

I've been somewhat critical of the list lately, so before someone rightly tells me to put up or shut up, here is my own list of 1001 books.

Steven - that's fun! Although I'd argue with you about your Margaret Atwood selections.

I never understood why they don't just make a book called 1001 AUTHORS to Read Before you Die and why it seems no one else has come up with that. It solves the multiple books to one author issue and allows for more entries in the book. Plus how many times have I come up with the situation where I've read the author but not the particular book listed. Always happens.

Steven, is Manila Rope not readily available in English, or some other reason for dropping it?

#58 I never understood why they don't just make a book called 1001 AUTHORS to Read Before you Die and why it seems no one else has come up with that. Well, there is 501 Great Writers.

#56 @steven03tx - I'm tempted to suggest you perhaps need to get out more but, seriously, that's an interesting list you've come up with. There's plenty I'd agree with and plenty I'd disagree with - just as these lists should be!

#57 - What would your Atwood selections be?

#58 & 60 - The 501 Great Writers book is actually pretty good, and the selections are more consistently serious than those in 1001 Books. It was one of the resources I consulted in compiling my list. I agree with you that a list of authors is probably more useful than a list of individual works--especially when you're dealing with poetry, stories and essays. Several years ago at the request of a niece who had decided to major in literature I constructed a list of authors for her. My 1001 novels list kind of grew out of that one.

#59 - The Manila Rope is borderline on availability, but I've never seen it mentioned anywhere but in the 1001 Books list, so it would have been dropped on that basis anyway. I'm sure there are many great books, especially from the non-Western world, that are more deserving than some of those on the list but just aren't given enough recognition. Since I haven't read all of these books, I have no choice but to base my list upon other sources. Every book I listed has received recognition of some sort from multiple independent authorities.

#60 - you perhaps need to get out more... This coming from someone who calls herself a sloth! :) The reason I did the list at this time is that for the last three weeks a pipeline company has been excavating and drilling in my front yard and making so much noise that it's hard to concentrate on reading. They're out there right now drilling, pumping, welding, and beeping their excavators up and down the street. I've gotten about a third as much reading done this month as I would normally have done. Fortunately, from long decades of practice at work, I can do computer work against a more chaotic background than I can read. So I did this project just for fun and to take my mind off the devastation occurring just outside the window.

#61 This coming from someone who calls herself a sloth! :)

Always a case of 'do what I say, not what I do' with us sloths. I went through several weeks last year of someone digging up the pipes outside my house too so I can sympathise. In fact, I'm amazed you were able to concentrate enough to make your list - especially without it including at least a dozen handbooks on things to do to people who dig up the road outside your house.

What would your Atwood selections be?

In my opinion, The Robber Bride is a better book than The Blind Assassin. I know the later won the Booker, but I still hold to my judgement.

Enjoying the alternative list! Good work weeding out extraneous works by over-represented writers. Because you included Wolf Hall I will tolerate your inclusion of the ghastly The Cement Garden, but wouldn't you like to take that off and include instead Ovid's Metamorphoses, definitely a book that everybody should read before they die and I've never understood why it was removed after the first edition of the list?

The Robber Bride is my favourite Atwood. I hated the first few chapters and cursed my prof for assigning it but then got hooked and never looked back.

I will have to check out The Robber Bride - my favorite Atwood is still The Blind Assassin, though it might just be because it was my first book by her.

Honestly I don't mind if Wolf Hall gets left off. It was pretty good, but I don't get the endless praise it receives - and now its sequel won the Booker as well? Both of them are solid books with many things to praise, but I wouldn't say they're Must Read books.

#64 - Ovid's Metamorphoses isn't on the list because it's in verse (though there are prose translations)--same reason the The Iliad and The Canterbury Tales, among many others, aren't there.

A list of literature in general would certainly be useful, but there's the problem of how to list such things as the poems of Wordsworth or the stories of Chekhov as a "book" when there is no definitive edition. Also the problem of how much non-fiction to include as "literature" (e.g. Plato).

I'm not going to defend every book on the list, but just to give those who may be curious an example of how I constructed the list, here is why The Blind Assassin is on the list and not The Robber Bride:

The Blind Assassin...
won the Booker Prize
was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award
was shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Award
was shortlisted for the Orange Prize
is included in the Guardian's list of 1000 novels
is on the LA Times' list of 61 Essential Postmodernism Reads
is on the list of 100 Greatest Modern Novels by This Recording
is one of Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Novels
is included as a Key Work in the Good Reading Guide to World Fiction

The Robber Bride...
was a Commonwealth Writers' Prize regional winner
was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award
is recommended in the Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literature

But I like The Robber Bride better! I think that by the time The Blind Assassin came around, all those award panelists said "oops! How did we miss giving her all the accolades for The Robber Bride? Must make up for it now!" That's my story, and I'm sticking with it. Oh, and The Robber Bride also won the Trillium Award (yes, most people outside of Ontario, and many within Ontario, don't know what that is, but all the Trillium winners I've read have been terrific).

....and this is not to take anything away from The Blind Assassin, which is a very fine book. It's just not my favourite.

You sell it Joyce! :)

#56 I like this list form a purely selfish point of I've read slightly more on this than the original list :)

Still a few we'll have to agree to disagree though ;)

Steven that is a great list! Sticking to a strict 'no more than 3' rule means you have much better coverage. I'd happily work off of your list.