Escoppycoppy<\/a> asks<\/strong>: What was the actual question you asked the contributors? Did you ask for \u201cbest\u201d novels, \u201cgreatest\u201d, \u201cfavourite\u201d? The wording would influence the choices eg \u201cgreatest\u201d primes people to think of big, ambitious books, \u2018best\u2019 less so. \u201cFavourite\u201d would be very different- more personal choices, possibly children\u2019s books. I think \u201cfavourite\u201d would have produced a very different final list. Might even be a good follow-up?<\/p>\n David:<\/strong> The wording said we were looking for the \u201cbest novels of all time published in English\u201d, asking for contributors for the \u201ctop 10\u201d. It was interesting to see how different people responded to that and I\u2019m not sure if anyone set their own favourites entirely to one side \u2013 a completely dispassionate assessment is probably impossible and not really the point. A lot of the comments we received, which are really interesting and you can explore by clicking on the individual voters on the novel list, suggest that it was a combination of critical merit and personal significance.<\/p>\n Benjamin Myers, for example, said \u201cI have chosen 10 titles that I feel have advanced what it is the novel can \u2013 and should \u2013 do, while also taking into consideration the influence each has had on my own reading enjoyment and writing career\u201d.<\/p>\n Liese:<\/strong> I think many voters \u2013 including this one! – chose many books that they read at an impressionable age, because those are the ones that hit the hardest (also possibly the ones that you study at school ending up staying with you). When you\u2019re reading as a young adult novels can really be life-changing. I was struck by a comment from a reader who voted for George Orwell\u2019s Animal Farm on our Readers\u2019 top 100: \u201cReading this as a teen was my entry-level book to socialism. It opened my eyes to injustice, oppression and abuse of power. My parents always blamed my \u2018communist\u2019 English teachers for introducing me to Orwell!\u201d<\/p>\n
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