So Many Books, So Little Time ...

There's an interesting article in the New York Times Books section currently. Written by William Grimes who begins the article "Volumes to Go before You Die" with "An odd book fell into my hands recently, a doorstopper with the irresistible title 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. That sounds like a challenge, with a subtle insult embedded in the premise."

He goes on to make some interesting observations, of which these three are only a small sample of his point of view ...

• "Two potent factors make “1001 Books” (published in the United States in 2006 by Universe; $34.95) compelling: guilt and time."
• "More than half the books were written after World War II. Already I feel my hackles rising."
• "Drop the bloated, self-indulgent Ada from an otherwise correct Nabokov list (Lolita, Pale Fire, Pnin) and insert Laughter in the Dark or The Gift. J. M. Coetzee, with 10 novels, can afford to lose 1 or 2. That would open up space for “The Cossacks” by Tolstoy and A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov."

If the average book-lover reads ... let's use the word intelligently ... for sixty years (from age 15 to age 75), that reader would need to read 17 over these books each year (1001 divided by 60 = 16.6833333). Is Professor Peter Boxall's list do'able?