Tracking the ever-elusive Great American Novel

[jbor at bigpond.com]

On 20/05/2006:

> I recognize that it is an important book, but not a book I can care 
> about deeply.  So, did the judges use that criterion?  Did they have 
> to care about the books deeply in order to rate them highly, or did 
> they merely need to recognize that the book in question was somehow 
> "important"? That would seem to be the issue here.

I don't think it's that narrow. I don't think that you can mandate 
criteria. And needless to say criteria are going to be different for 
different people, as is what they "care about deeply" and/or consider 
the measure of "important".

Not a bad list though.

best