,
by Nuandez.
Nuandez: The Book-Ranking Website (4 -and Last)
The books ranked, finally, in a democratic way.
The star section of Nuandez.com is the Book Chart.
The idea is simple enough: books should be allowed to compete with one another -and readers should have a say in the matter.
At first, the chart will be organized around three filters.
Country. Because literature is, among other things, a record of the peculiarities of the people who produce it. Every country has its obsessions, its humor, its tragedies, its blind spots.
Genre. There are too many books in the world to pretend we approach them without preferences. We have our instincts. Romance, ambition, spirituality, cooking. Some people want Dostoevsky; others want a cookbook. Both are entitled to their afternoon.
Score. What are the most beautifully written books? The most addictive? The wisest? Which authors have the greatest presence, the most extraordinary ability to stay with us? Which books might teach you how to make a billion dollars, or how to have a wonderful family? And, finally, which books belong to the most difficult category of all: the greatest books ever written?
Authors will have their own rankings, too, with expanded profiles, data, and images. Great writers have spent centuries giving us their minds; the least we can do is give them a proper page.
And the rankings will be determined by the readers.
Will Isaac Asimov beat Frank Herbert?
There is only one way to find out:
The smart people are in the books
The readers themselves will be ranked.
Not because reading is a competition -although, naturally, we will make it one- but because a good reader has something worth measuring: judgment.
Over time, users can build a reputation, discover one another, and perhaps become known beyond Nuandez. Who knows? One day, some of them may be writing for Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times, or The Guardian.
More importantly, they will meet people they would probably never encounter otherwise:
And then, when you have had enough of rankings, arguments, and the accumulated wisdom of civilization, there is the book bulletin. The landing page. The lighter side of the place.
Curiosities, literary news, excerpts, strange facts, jokes, questions, observations, and the occasional punchline. Somewhere to discover something unexpected, make a comment, ask a question, or fall down an entirely unnecessary rabbit hole.
The cast is rather good.
Agatha Christie. Shakespeare. Pearl S. Buck. Margaret Mitchell. Cervantes. J. K. Rowling. Steinbeck. Homer. Harper Lee. Milton Friedman, Adam Smith, Karl Marx...
And then the rest of the crowd: psychologists, traders, economists, Olympic medalists, relationship experts, journalists, politicians, cooks, Roman emperors' advisers, biographers, Greek philosophers, samurai warriors, lovers, billionaires -and all the other strange and wonderful people who have something to say about being human.
Click on it and get lost.
Siddhartha Crime & Punishment Models Five Rings