The Greatest Stories Ever Told: Introduction

Ladies and gentlemen, over the next several weeks or months (however long this takes, I suppose) I will be counting down a list of the Greatest Stories Ever Told.
I invite you along, and I hope you enjoy it.

Now, before we dive into this list there are a few things I feel I need to clarify.

First, I had to be somewhat brutal with myself over this list. I originally had the idea for a “greatest stories” list, but then I second-guessed the idea and decided to split it into two separate and independent lists of “Greatest books” and “Greatest films”. This didn’t seem right to me, and here’s why:

When I began to think of what are, in my opinion, the greatest stories ever told, I realized that there is a certain quality that transcends the medium through which these stories are told, and therefore defy categorization and segregation. There are films absent from this list that are, indeed, some of my favorite films, and they would be included on a “Greatest films” list. Likewise, there are certain books that did not make the list, even though they are among the best novels I’ve ever read. For instance, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is not on this list, regardless of the fact that it is one of the most well-written and vivid books I’ve ever read. Being well-written is not enough. Likewise, excellent cinematography and great performances from the actors are not enough to merit a title of one of the greatest stories ever told. I had to step outside and take a look at these stories without the words and images and the medium through which they are told.

It may seem strange, but I found myself imagining that if there were no films, and there were no books, what were the stories that I’ve experienced that I would want to tell around a campfire, ringed by eager listeners? This is the kind of criteria I tried to use to get to the heart of the matter: stories that speak to the darkness and the light inside of every human being. Stories and characters that move us on more than one level, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually. Stories that remind us of the hope of which we are capable, and the meaning that threads itself through our daily lives, sometimes invisible, yet ever-present.

Second, like anything, this is a fluid, ever-changing list. New stories come, a familiar story is told in a new, and perhaps better, way. And as we ourselves change and shift, so do the stories that speak to us the most. This is, according to me and who I am at this point in my life, the list of the stories that have spoken to me on the deepest level, moved me irrevocably, influenced and inspired me forever.