This is old news, but Amazon has a best books of the millenium list. The list was compiled by taking Amazon customer votes, so the list is a strange mix of the sacred and the profane. Lot of classics, but Jurrasic Park, Robert Jordan (kill me now if that is as good as it gets), Rainbow Six????? ? SF gets some love with Stranger In a Strange Land, Ender's Game, Neuromancer and Foundation on the list. At least personal faves Karamazov and Gravity's Rainbow made the list.
I generally take a democratic approach to reading. One should read meaningful books, but there is nothing wrong with driving over to the wrong side of town for a date with some trash. This though is a list of the BEST, and Left Behind and the Celestine Prophecy do not belong on any such list. If the list is the best books published between 3 and 4 PM on July 6, 1999 maybe, but nothing more than that. Ayn Rand is on there, she may be wacky, but at least it is literature. Owen Meany is on there too, but I have already expressed my distaste for that novel. My only hope is that these readers can transition to something a little more literary.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Amazon customers are stupid
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2 comments:
Funny Ayn Rand story: Someone at William & Mary had a license plate that said "AYNRAND."
Clearly a real fan of her work. All serious readers know that her message is to make sure that people parade their unquestioning devotion to her (or, really, to any institution) on their license plates.
Stoners used to love my VA plates "TRIPPER." Johnny Law didn't seem to pay extra attention thankfully.
Back in the dot-com days, CEOs used to throw some Ayn Rand on the desk to show how Club for Growth they were, as well as to justify their limited involvement in the community. It was the Clausewitz of the 90s.
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