Both lists have incurred criticism. Their ranking system concerned many professional scholars and critics. The board members themselves, who did not create the rankings and were unaware of it until the list was published, expressed disappointment and puzzlement. There are only eight or nine women on the list, some very influential works are ranked below works of questionable literary merit, and the works of major writers from many English-speaking countries apart from the United States and England—such as Australia, Canada, India, and South Africa—have been ignored. There were also hypotheses that the Modern Library merely made a selection based on its stocklist. A. S. Byatt, the well-known English novelist who was on the board, called the list "typically American".