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Notes -
I struggle to understand the polemic against lists per se.
It sounds like you and Sam have more of an issue with people treating these sorts of lists as an end all and be all which I completely agree with but I'm also not quite sure who's actually treating them as some sort of objective truth. It's just fun to show others what you like and think valuable and conversely what others like and think is valuable.
It's very difficult to contribute to scientific inquiry without first having a grounding in the state of the art and in my opinion it would also be difficult to be "an independent thinker" without first having a grounding in the most fundamental existing works. That's pretty much just a "list" by another name.
Sidenote: I do agree that often these types of lists are too often Anglo and Androcentric, probably because a significant number of people in the West who still have serious interest in reading are the based right-winger type at this point.
I personally actually like the 4chan one that Sam hates so much the most, although it is missing some obvious candidates like the Classic Chinese Novels, Austen, TKAM and Eliot (I'm sure I'm showing my own biases here though).
I'd be interested in what else you feel these lists don't cover enough. Maybe it could even be... a list?
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