50 Greatest books of all time.

… our critic picks the half-century of highlights that any serious reader should have on their shelf.

Kerridge has organised his list in to pre-17C,17C & 18C, 19C, 20C and 21C.

Only a serious scholar of literature is going to have read most of those. Several of them are long verse novels and hard going.

I have read many of them as I have degree in English and they were course material but I wouldn’t have picked most of them as reading for pleasure.

I am afraid than like much in the Telegraph nowadays, the headline is misleading. It’s just one man’s choice and he’s trying to impress.

As lists go, I much preferred The Guardian’s recent list of 100 novels which was a collaborative affair, Still serious works but more accessible, in my opinion. I have read all of them.

www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-novels-of-all-time

I do consider myself well read. My favourite novel is Middlemarch, which I can read again and again, but some evenings I just want to sit with a cosy crime or something equally light that romps along, something by Graham Norton or similar.

I wonder if A Thousand Splendid Suns is more of a woman’s read? I’ll soon know because I lent it to my ex who is reading his way through the classics.

youtu.be/J-SUoHmpRdM

Does watching the excellent tv series (tea time Friday nights…) count as reading Monkey King; Journey to the West?

MayBee70

YorkLady

Hello…welcome back.
I can’t see the list as it’s behind a paywall but A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini would be in there.

My first thought, too.

Why am I not surprised. It wouldn’t surprise me if most of the panel who compile the list haven’t read them.
They are the same people who choose the Turner Prize who go onto insult people who can’t see the art in an unmade bed with some dirty washing thrown around.

Skye17 Thank you.

This is a gift link so should work.

The 50 greatest books of all time www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/6433e8f150592212

I had read 12. The one I most want to read that I haven’t is War and Peace.

I didn’t see A Thousand Splendid Suns in the list.

YorkLady

Hello…welcome back.
I can’t see the list as it’s behind a paywall but A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini would be in there.

My first thought, too.

I looked at that article and ticked off the ones I’d read - not many, about the same as you, Sago. I was cheered to see how many other people had also said no to many of the titles!

It's literary "snobbery" isn't it? There are so many brilliant writers that to make a list of 50 books is impossible. I have loved different books though out my life. In my teens I maxed out on Russian authors, in my 20's I loved books like The Women's Room and other feminist novels, in my 30's I found American writers like John Irving and Canadians like Attwood and Shields. Every decade has brought fresh literary delights, what I have is a love of reading and tbh I really don't care if it's on a list or not!

These lists get on my nerves they're so prescriptive and they pretty much contain many of the same titles that are on other "so called 50 Greatest Books of All Time" Who decides what qualities books must have to make up a definitive list?. For some that list might contain titles diverse as The Hungry Caterpillar, Finnegan's Wake or Knitting with Dog Hair. I've generally read some on Telegraph type lists. Books are subjective so it's up to the individual. I'm an avid reader of reviews in publications such as The Times or The Guardian or I go on recommendations, but they're not a foolproof guarantee any more than 50 or 100 books YOU MUST read before you die are. I make up my own mind what constitutes a great book. Another person may think my choices are dire. What I do know is the books that I've been moved or swept away by, so much so I felt bereft when I'd finished them, have often stayed with me long after I'd reached the last page. Those are few and far between and they go back in time to different junctures of my life from early childhood onwards.

There aren't enough hours in the day to become truly well read imo. I often want to read more non fiction and regret that I don't get round to the books I've earmarked.

I'm glad 'my brilliant friend' was on there.

Think I read it after hearing about it on here, and the others in the trilogy, & also paid to watch the TV adaptation (which really got to me).

I'm italophile anyway, & just loved her writing.

I loved 'A suitable boy' by Vikram Seth.

Well, I think you can still be 'Well read' even if you've read nothing off these lists. I'm an avid reader and I've read many books that I thought had something really important and lasting to say and could have beat some on these lists.Of course I've also read a lot of things on the lists!
Ha I'm not sure I really answered your question but that's the best I could do !

Hello…welcome back.
I can’t see the list as it’s behind a paywall but A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini would be in there.