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This is a list, which allows you to vote for the books that you consider as some of "the great classics" but, unfortunately, have never gotten a chance to read.
1

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4.22 avg rating — 866,070 ratings
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2

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4.17 avg rating — 378,403 ratings
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3

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4.11 avg rating — 969,055 ratings
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4

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3.92 avg rating — 315,785 ratings
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5

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4.40 avg rating — 415,754 ratings
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6

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4.34 avg rating — 1,085,316 ratings
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7

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3.76 avg rating — 141,830 ratings
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8

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3.88 avg rating — 1,034,767 ratings
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9

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3.57 avg rating — 635,802 ratings
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10

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4.16 avg rating — 2,416,603 ratings
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11

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4.29 avg rating — 1,160,195 ratings
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12

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4.21 avg rating — 5,771,508 ratings
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13

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4.09 avg rating — 1,340,815 ratings
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14

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3.92 avg rating — 2,005,536 ratings
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15

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4.26 avg rating — 7,128,480 ratings
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16

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3.71 avg rating — 390,315 ratings
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17

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3.80 avg rating — 895,748 ratings
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18

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4.05 avg rating — 187,813 ratings
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19

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3.87 avg rating — 979,794 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 355,763 ratings
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21

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3.44 avg rating — 942,573 ratings
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22

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3.89 avg rating — 2,296,399 ratings
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23

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4.30 avg rating — 5,014,532 ratings
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24

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,994,710 ratings
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25

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4.18 avg rating — 2,544,434 ratings
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26

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4.21 avg rating — 232,574 ratings
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27

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3.81 avg rating — 135,295 ratings
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28

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3.83 avg rating — 1,354,401 ratings
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29

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3.80 avg rating — 4,015,522 ratings
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30

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4.02 avg rating — 116,880 ratings
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31

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3.98 avg rating — 204,467 ratings
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32

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3.92 avg rating — 247,275 ratings
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33

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3.97 avg rating — 171,193 ratings
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34

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3.93 avg rating — 6,147,840 ratings
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35

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4.13 avg rating — 2,006,610 ratings
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36

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3.77 avg rating — 375,540 ratings
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37

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,272,090 ratings
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38

by
4.05 avg rating — 266,626 ratings
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39

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3.43 avg rating — 576,064 ratings
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40

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3.85 avg rating — 309,628 ratings
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41

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3.86 avg rating — 390,336 ratings
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42

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4.46 avg rating — 729,248 ratings
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43

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4.15 avg rating — 810,945 ratings
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44

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4.08 avg rating — 14,533 ratings
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45

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4.17 avg rating — 416,176 ratings
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46

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4.01 avg rating — 105,644 ratings
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47

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4.09 avg rating — 179,822 ratings
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48

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3.86 avg rating — 188,475 ratings
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49

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4.10 avg rating — 81,077 ratings
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50

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4.34 avg rating — 14,589 ratings
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51

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3.85 avg rating — 1,287,698 ratings
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52

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3.80 avg rating — 86,910 ratings
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53

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3.97 avg rating — 100,665 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 226,476 ratings
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55

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3.65 avg rating — 168,457 ratings
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56

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3.82 avg rating — 367,546 ratings
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57

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4.03 avg rating — 4,815,525 ratings
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58

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3.53 avg rating — 242,028 ratings
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59

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4.02 avg rating — 225,443 ratings
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60

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3.96 avg rating — 22,613 ratings
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61

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3.92 avg rating — 1,046,348 ratings
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62

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3.97 avg rating — 233,293 ratings
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63

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,091,657 ratings
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64

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3.55 avg rating — 76,535 ratings
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65

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4.19 avg rating — 79,162 ratings
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66

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3.85 avg rating — 234,208 ratings
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67

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3.50 avg rating — 142,365 ratings
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68

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3.78 avg rating — 84,435 ratings
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69

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3.91 avg rating — 1,563,340 ratings
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70

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4.21 avg rating — 38,574 ratings
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71

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3.98 avg rating — 109,395 ratings
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72

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3.72 avg rating — 23,417 ratings
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73

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4.28 avg rating — 451,116 ratings
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74

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3.92 avg rating — 487,833 ratings
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75

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,543,483 ratings
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76

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 793,022 ratings
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77

by
4.12 avg rating — 541,139 ratings
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78

by
3.76 avg rating — 310,582 ratings
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79

by
4.10 avg rating — 569,574 ratings
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80

by
3.86 avg rating — 33,068 ratings
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81

by
3.63 avg rating — 82,090 ratings
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82

by
4.20 avg rating — 796,311 ratings
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83

by
4.01 avg rating — 106,334 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 171,565 ratings
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85

by
4.27 avg rating — 964,181 ratings
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86

by
3.76 avg rating — 154,207 ratings
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87

by
4.14 avg rating — 60,730 ratings
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88

by
3.78 avg rating — 511,776 ratings
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89

by
3.79 avg rating — 24,620 ratings
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90

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 49,727 ratings
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91

by
3.91 avg rating — 40,114 ratings
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92

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3.73 avg rating — 140,226 ratings
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93

by
4.13 avg rating — 66,146 ratings
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94

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3.65 avg rating — 16,543 ratings
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95

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3.94 avg rating — 594,299 ratings
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96

by
3.88 avg rating — 44,723 ratings
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97

by
3.68 avg rating — 13,914 ratings
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98

by
3.83 avg rating — 11,802 ratings
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99

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,529,960 ratings
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100

by
3.52 avg rating — 49,412 ratings
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780 books · 1,839 voters · list created March 30th, 2010 by Derya (votes) .
956 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Derya 918 books
72 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
848 friends
Grace Tjan 1124 books
340 friends
Priscilla 3799 books
32 friends
Elizabeth 1658 books
56 friends
Alison 2671 books
156 friends
Amanda 626 books
27 friends
Ashley 1190 books
126 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 50 (50 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Danna (new)

Danna yeah... 2 bad I have 2 read those. But I might actually enjoy 'em, I <3 classics


Maurizio (matemati) I voted just for the ones I'm planning to read, sooner or later.
Some I haven't read, but I'm not interested in.


message 3: by Sally Anne (new)

Sally Anne Way too few women on this list.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads It might mean that we'd read a lot of classics by women.


message 5: by Sally Anne (new)

Sally Anne I believe we have and there are.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads I'm afraid I don't get your point, then.


message 7: by Sally Anne (new)

Sally Anne They ane not included, not enough of them.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads This list is for classics we haven't read. If we've read classics by women, we aren't voting for them here, because we've read them.


message 9: by Sally Anne (new)

Sally Anne Ah, confusing somehow. But I suppose I was mentioning that there are lots of classics by women that haven't been read. Or maybe I should just shut up.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Is confusing, isn't it? You go to vote for a book, and have to go, wait, am I voting for ones I've read, or ones I want to read?


message 11: by Charity (new)

Charity U I voted for ones I want to read -- indeed, that I feel I need to read someday, if only so I can say I did. :)


message 12: by Cleopatra (new)

Cleopatra I've only read 12 of those books, i wish i had time to read the rest of them within this year, yet i know it's impossible!


message 13: by Danna (new)

Danna Same here. And my situation is even thougher: only 3 book out of top 100 read... :|


message 14: by Amelia (new)

Amelia May How can you consider something "a great classic" if you haven't actually read it yet?


message 15: by Derya (new)

Derya Well, how can't you?


message 16: by Erick (new)

Erick hahahahahahahahahahaha


message 17: by Sketchbook (new)

Sketchbook I hate Lists (of any kind). So ignore. But I must protest fact that no serious myopics are on the List and no one with webbed feet.


message 18: by Marren (new)

Marren Hmm, I am voting for books that I have not read, which are "considered" as classics that I am interested in reading one day.


message 19: by Christina (new)

Christina Dee Does anyone know how I can add this list of books I want to read? Or save this list as a list or group to follow?


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) There are a lot more unread classics on my list than the 100 I'm allowed to vote for.... :-)


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads There are lists where I wish I had a few hundred more votes...


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "There are lists where I wish I had a few hundred more votes..."

Couldn't agree more... :-)


message 23: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten I think there should be a "yet..." added. ;P I do intend to read a lot of the books that I voted for. When I do, I'll have to remember to come back and update my votes!


message 24: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten Christina wrote: "Does anyone know how I can add this list of books I want to read? Or save this list as a list or group to follow?"

If you click "like" at the bottom of the list, Goodreads will keep it in a special section for lists you've liked. :)


message 25: by Dustin (new)

Dustin Holy SMOKES, I really need to tackle a LOT more Classics!


message 26: by Richard (new)

Richard Dustin wrote: "Holy SMOKES, I really need to tackle a LOT more Classics!"

Some of the titles on your list are ones I need to read too, Dustin. Maybe we could pick one and do a buddy-read sometime.


message 27: by jo (new)

jo white and male and eurocentric, i.e. the definition of "classic." ugh.


message 28: by Danna (new)

Danna jo wrote: "white and male and eurocentric, i.e. the definition of "classic." ugh."

Agreed!


message 29: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited May 01, 2017 05:21AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) jo wrote: "white and male and eurocentric, i.e. the definition of "classic." ugh."

I think you are selling women a bit short here...

How about Jane Austen, George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë, Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft, Tasma, Catherine Helen Spence, Fanny Burney, Anne Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Charlotte Lennox, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, Marguerite de Navarre, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Sei Shōnagon, Murasaki Shikibu, Colette, Zora Neale Hurston, Sappho, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Gaskell, Maria Edgeworth, Mary Augusta Ward, Elizabeth Bekker Wolff, Nella Larsen, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, and so on and so forth. And this list is just coming from a white Western European female... Just think what someone outside of Europe may come up with, as I was only taught about Western European literature in secondary school.

So no, not quite 'white and male and eurocentric'. Don't forget either, by the way, that a lot of literature was oral for a long time in large parts of the world.


message 30: by jo (new)

jo i'm not selling women short, just our concept of classics! all the women you mention are terrific writers and they are definitely classics, but there are so many more. i don't think for a second that are not as many fabulous women writers (in all times) as there are men: this list however doesn't acknowledge them.


message 31: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jul 17, 2015 10:52AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) jo wrote: "i'm not selling women short, just our concept of classics! all the women you mention are terrific writers and they are definitely classics, but there are so many more. i don't think for a second th..."

'Our' concept of classics might not be as much 'ours' as you think :-) I'm Dutch you see, and even though I acknowledge, of course, the fact that there are more male than female authors in classic literature, I don't tend to think of classics in the terms of white, male or European... :-) (Just one example: Het hoofdkussenboek / The Pillow Book, which is neither 'white', nor 'male', nor 'European')

But a Listopia is as elaborate as people make it, so all I can say is, add more classic women authors :-0


message 32: by jo (new)

jo right. and right. i thought about taking on that task, and then i realized that, much as i love having something to distract me to what i should be doing, maybe this is not the best idea for me right now.


message 33: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Author spam removed.


message 34: by Richard (new)

Richard Glad to say I've read 3 of the ones I originally voted for.


message 35: by Derya (last edited Jul 17, 2015 07:54AM) (new)

Derya Richard wrote: "Glad to say I've read 3 of the ones I originally voted for."

Well, congratulations!


message 36: by Richard (new)

Richard Derya wrote: "Richard wrote: "Glad to say I've read 3 of the ones I originally voted for."

Well, congratulations!"


Thank you, Derya!


message 37: by Christina (new)

Christina Dee Kirsten wrote: "Christina wrote: "Does anyone know how I can add this list of books I want to read? Or save this list as a list or group to follow?"

If you click "like" at the bottom of the list, Goodreads will k..."


Thank you!


message 38: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Aug 28, 2015 04:48AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) To name some of the really old ones I'd love to read : The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Eros ontwortelt mijn hart, Aesop's Fables, Oidipous & Antigone, Shahnameh, De ring van de duif, Rubaiyat, Het boek van Dede Korkoet, De Vier Heemskinderen, The Decameron, The Divine Comedy and Zes dagen. These were all written ages ago... Needless to say I voted for them :-), as well as for several others.


message 39: by Matthew (new)

Matthew Connolly I've read 8 of these!I'm 11.


message 40: by MissCoria (new)

MissCoria Well, let's be honest... I want to read them all :D


message 41: by Dylan (new)

Dylan Gelbard jo wrote: "white and male and eurocentric, i.e. the definition of "classic." ugh."

Not sure if you knew this, but it wasn't always 2016. Learn to appreciate all literature from the early days up to now. There's nothing wrong with that.


message 42: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited May 01, 2017 05:29AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I've read four of the ones I mentioned earlier on (and removed them from my list of votes, of course). Not that it helps me much, as in the meantime I've bought more classics I'd love to read ;-)


message 43: by Derya (new)

Derya Booklovinglady wrote: "I've read four of the ones I mentioned earlier on (and removed them from my list of votes, of course). Not that it helps me much, as in the meantime I've bought more classics I'd love to read ;-)"
Great! Keep on reading!


message 44: by Luke (new)

Luke Dylan wrote: "jo wrote: "white and male and eurocentric, i.e. the definition of "classic." ugh."

Not sure if you knew this, but it wasn't always 2016. Learn to appreciate all literature from the early days up t..."


I sure hope that means you're rocking the great texts from the Heian Period and the Golden Age of Islam and the Ming and Qing dynasties, else your definition of the 'early days' doesn't cover much.


message 45: by E.Lurie (new)

E.Lurie Sally Anne wrote: "Way too few women on this list."

Maurizio (matemati) wrote: "I voted just for the ones I'm planning to read, sooner or later.
Some I haven't read, but I'm not interested in."


There's a reason for that. Women were not expected or allowed to have writing careers until very recently in history, but that doesn't negate the value of classics written by men. There is a reason they are classics-they have something valuable to contribute and they have lasted because of that.


message 46: by Greg (new)

Greg Now this is a smart list for goodreads. I've read 22 of the top 25, I'm reading Anna Karennina now, and plan to read the other two books this year.


message 47: by Greg (new)

Greg E.Lurie wrote: "Sally Anne wrote: "Way too few women on this list."

Maurizio (matemati) wrote: "I voted just for the ones I'm planning to read, sooner or later.
Some I haven't read, but I'm not interested in."

Great answer!



message 48: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Something is buggy, #264 on p. 3, Faust, First Part, says 8 people voted for it but when you click, there are 11 voters.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Lobstergirl wrote: "Something is buggy, #264 on p. 3, Faust, First Part, says 8 people voted for it but when you click, there are 11 voters."

The only thing I can think of is that some of the voters have deleted their vote (which doesn't always show). But it is almost impossible to check with 58 pages of voters...


message 50: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Maybe it's a caching issue.


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