Hi there. I’m the kind of guy that likes a mad project and this idea certainly falls into that category. What idea is that then? Well, my idea is this, that I read 312 ‘books’, one from each year from 1700 until the present year 2012 and write a short review of each on the blog. See I told you it was mad.
So, why start at 1700?
Well the truth is there is no particular reason but it seems to me to be not unreasonable to suggest that the ‘modern’ era started with the Age of Enlightenment and although there is no one year which academics can pin point and say ‘it started on this date’, 1700 seems as good a start date as any. Not only is it the beginning of a new century, it also falls within the accepted window of the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment (roughly 1650 – 1700) and the early part of the 18th century saw the emergence of the first batch of professional writers who are still in print and easily available today – authors like Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift. Still these men were very much pioneers and the novel would not really become really popular until the 19th century. As a result, especially in the first half of the 18th century, it is next to impossible to select a novel from each year. Therefore, although overall I expect the novel to dominate my selections, I will be reading literature in all it’s different forms. Philosophy, dissertations, non fiction, essays, poems and plays will all feature over the course of the project.
One final piece of explanation. It was originally my intention to work through my selections chronologically starting in 1700 and moving interminably towards 2012. However, I have had a change of mind as regards this and will now work my way through the years randomly. First of all the book I am currently reading dates from 1891. It seems rather a shame to have to wade through almost 200 books before I get to review it! Secondly, it will probably be a good thing to mix up the styles and genres of the last three centuries. Ploughing through certain periods, often dominated by one or two authors surely seems like more of a chore.
In my previous experience of blogging, without any attempt to publicise them, I have generally registered between 10 and 20 views per week. Not a great deal but if you are one of those select few that somehow find yourself here it would be nice to hear some comments and opinions on the on the books or on the blog in general.
The first book to be reviewed will be Karl Joris Huysmans ‘La Bas’. I have two short chapters to read so hopefully I will get my first review up in the next few days.
Thanks,
D.
3 1 2 B O O K S 