The ratio of male to female authors and the small subset of countries that absolutely dominate this list tell me just about all I need to know about it.
Sure, they qualify how the list was built at the top, but titling it "The Greatest Books of All Time" serves to perpetuate the problems with who gets exposure and what styles and perspectives are considered worthy of praise. This kind of list is exactly the thing I'd have bought into as a pretentious high schooler. It's a shame to see this thinking continuing to be propagated in 2021, in my personal opinion.
Sure, they qualify how the list was built at the top, but titling it "The Greatest Books of All Time" serves to perpetuate the problems with who gets exposure and what styles and perspectives are considered worthy of praise. This kind of list is exactly the thing I'd have bought into as a pretentious high schooler. It's a shame to see this thinking continuing to be propagated in 2021, in my personal opinion.