Re: Guardian 100 Best Novels
Toby Pereira via Election-Methods <[email protected]> Tue, 19 May 2026 12:22:07 +0000 (UTC)
| Newsgroups | gmane.politics.election-methods |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--===============6273470085920877663==
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_Part_5244340_821580668.1779193327224"
------=_Part_5244340_821580668.1779193327224
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I'm not sure I'd be willing to devote several hours to try and reverse eng=
ineer their process and then almost certainly end up failing! But maybe I'l=
l have a look at some point.
On a tangent to this, I sometimes think that these lists would benefit from=
an alternative version using proportional representation. So not the 100 t=
op novels when considered individually, but the top 100 novels considered a=
s a group of 100 taking into account the range of views. Not instead of, bu=
t as well as. I've often thought that the IMDB top 250 or BoardGameGeek top=
games list would benefit from this. I think it would be very interesting t=
o see how the lists would differ - more polarising options would likely fea=
ture.
Back on the top novels, I remember when the BBC did their "Big Read" thing =
and came up with a top 200. It was voted for by viewers rather than "expert=
s" but the list is very different.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtmlhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/b=
igread/top200.shtml
Toby
On Monday, 18 May 2026 at 17:51:32 BST, Ross Hyman via Election-Methods=
<[email protected]> wrote: =20
=20
The Guardian's 100 Best Novels
https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-n=
ovels-of-all-time
inlcudes 172 ballots ranking voters' 10 favorite novels.=C2=A0 I think it
would be interesting to use different voting methods on this ballot
set..
The method the Guardian used to determine their l00 novel list from
the ballots is very mysterious to me.
They state "We scored the titles according to how often they were
voted for, and then added a weighting based on individual rankings to
produce the overall list of 100 greatest books."
I played around and could not find anything that fit this vague
description and would produce the presented list.
For example, My Antonia in 100th place is ranked on 4 ballots while
99, The Go-Between is ranked on 3. So rankings are not just being used
to break approval ties.
Then look at 89 The Left Hand of Darkness, also ranked on 4 ballots.
But Antonia at 100 is higher ranked on its four ballots than Darkness
is on its four.
What is their formula?
Best,
Ross
----
Election-Methods mailing list - see https://electorama.com/em for list info
=20
------=_Part_5244340_821580668.1779193327224
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<html><head></head><body><div class=3D"ydpb01ad1a3yahoo-style-wrap" style=
=3D"font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px=
;"><div></div>
<div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false">I'm not sure I'd be willing =
to devote several hours to try and reverse engineer their process and then =
almost certainly end up failing! But maybe I'll have a look at some point.<=
/div><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr" data=
-setdir=3D"false">On a tangent to this, I sometimes think that these lists =
would benefit from an alternative version using proportional representation=
. So not the 100 top novels when considered individually, but the top 100 n=
ovels considered as a group of 100 taking into account the range of views. =
Not instead of, but as well as. I've often thought that the IMDB top 250 or=
BoardGameGeek top games list would benefit from this. I think it would be =
very interesting to see how the lists would differ - more polarising option=
s would likely feature.</div><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false"><br></d=
iv><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false">Back on the top novels, I remembe=
r when the BBC did their "Big Read" thing and came up with a top 200. It wa=
s voted for by viewers rather than "experts" but the list is very different=
.</div><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr" da=
ta-setdir=3D"false"><a href=3D"https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.sh=
tml" rel=3D"nofollow" target=3D"_blank" class=3D"">https://www.bbc.co.uk/ar=
ts/bigread/top100.shtml</a></div><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false"><a =
href=3D"https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top200.shtml" rel=3D"nofollow" t=
arget=3D"_blank" class=3D"">https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top200.shtml=
</a></div><div><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false">Toby</div><=
div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdi=
r=3D"false"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr" data-setdir=3D"false"><br></div><div=
><br></div>
=20
</div><div id=3D"ydp21d1626dyahoo_quoted_9573124837" class=3D"ydp21=
d1626dyahoo_quoted">
<div style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, s=
ans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;">
=20
<div>
On Monday, 18 May 2026 at 17:51:32 BST, Ross Hyman =
via Election-Methods <[email protected]> wrote:
</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
=20
=20
<div><div dir=3D"ltr">The Guardian's 100 Best Novels<br></d=
iv><div dir=3D"ltr"><a href=3D"https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interac=
tive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-novels-of-all-time" rel=3D"nofollow" target=
=3D"_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/th=
e-100-best-novels-of-all-time</a><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">inlcudes 172 ba=
llots ranking voters' 10 favorite novels. I think it<br></div><div di=
r=3D"ltr">would be interesting to use different voting methods on this ball=
ot<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">set..<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div=
dir=3D"ltr">The method the Guardian used to determine their l00 novel list=
from<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">the ballots is very mysterious to me.<br></=
div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">They state "We scored the t=
itles according to how often they were<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">voted for,=
and then added a weighting based on individual rankings to<br></div><div d=
ir=3D"ltr">produce the overall list of 100 greatest books."<br></div><div d=
ir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">I played around and could not find an=
ything that fit this vague<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">description and would =
produce the presented list.<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div dir=3D=
"ltr">For example, My Antonia in 100th place is ranked on 4 ballots while<b=
r></div><div dir=3D"ltr">99, The Go-Between is ranked on 3. So rankings are=
not just being used<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">to break approval ties.<br><=
/div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">Then look at 89 The Left H=
and of Darkness, also ranked on 4 ballots.<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">But An=
tonia at 100 is higher ranked on its four ballots than Darkness<br></div><d=
iv dir=3D"ltr">is on its four.<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div dir=
=3D"ltr">What is their formula?<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div di=
r=3D"ltr"> Best,<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">Ross<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">-=
---<br></div><div dir=3D"ltr">Election-Methods mailing list - see <a href=
=3D"https://electorama.com/em" rel=3D"nofollow" target=3D"_blank">https://e=
lectorama.com/em</a> for list info<br></div></div>
</div>
</div></body></html>
------=_Part_5244340_821580668.1779193327224--
--===============6273470085920877663==
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline
----
Election-Methods mailing list - see https://electorama.com/em for list info
--===============6273470085920877663==--