Starting my own canon of 108 best books of the world

Whether I will make it to 1001 108 books, or get bored along the way, I do not know, but I have started reading in order to build my own "canon of great books."

(After just two days I have lowered my target from 1,001 to 108 - 108 is a Buddhist number and a safer bet as a target!)

My principles are:

• All texts, so not only fiction, but also poetry, essays, historiography, plays, even great science writing will qualify. And manga, of course.
• Texts will be considered from all cultures and languages (but my personal preference will steer me often in the direction of East Asia).
• All texts selected must be of "literary interest." That is to say, the writing must be "artful", and add its own layer of meaning, not a mere flat text.
• All texts selected must mean something to us, living in the present-time. So no texts that are only of historical relevance, etc.
• And finally, a subjective criterium, they must grip me with their humor, boldness, fantasy, insight in the human condition, etc. In other words, literature that broadens and deepens the heart.

I will report individually on the books I have read and consider fit for inclusion (you can expect a lot from Japan and China, that is why I keep it in this blog!). The first books I am reading (again) are the Zhuangzi and Murakami's The Elephant Vanishes.