"1,000 novels everyone must read"

photo by sean, © 2009

Click here for the list.

Note: the Guardian (of power) says this is "the definitive list," but, of course, there can never be a definitive list (... and that's coming from a Johnnie). Interesting, too, how the pseudo-liberal press is so dismissive of canonical reading lists and great books academic programs – despite, or perhaps because of, the known intellectual rigor of such programs – but feels empowered to forge its own list and have the gall to proclaim it definitive. Really, the press knows no shame.

January 23, 2009
Guardian.co.uk

Selected by the Guardian's Review team and a panel of expert judges, this list includes only novels – no memoirs, no short stories, no long poems – from any decade and in any language. Originally published in thematic supplements – love, crime, comedy, family and self, state of the nation, science fiction and fantasy, war and travel – they appear here for the first time in a single list.

Feel we've left off a crucial book? Email to us with your nomination and an explanation in no more than 150 words at review@guardian.co.uk, or post your submission to The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, by 4 February.