Refrain
A defining entry in the Top 100 Books. Sitting at number 44, Refrain earned its place through a combination of craft, context, and consensus among the twenty-four editors who maintain this list. The companions immediately above and below it on this ranking are worth reading in the same sitting.
Position in the list
About this entry
A defining entry in the Top 100 Books. Sitting at number 44, Refrain earned its place through a combination of craft, context, and consensus among the twenty-four editors who maintain this list. The companions immediately above and below it on this ranking are worth reading in the same sitting. The editors’ note placed it here on the basis of three criteria: durability across re-reads (or re-watches, or re-plays), influence on the entries that came after it, and the degree to which it could only have been made by the person — or team — who made it.
In the comparative table maintained by the Books desk, Refrain sits within a band of 41 – 47 that contains some of the most contested swaps of the year. Editors vote with arguments; a swap requires three editors and one written defense.
From Wikipedia
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music—the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the villanelle, the virelay, and the sestina.
