Smash lits
Today's Observer includes a slightly silly Best Novels of the Past 25 Years list, having gathered nominations and votes from 120 'literary luminaries'.
In response to a New York Times exercise in May that determined Toni Morrison's Beloved to be the best work of American fiction from the last quarter century, the Observer poll allowed for the inclusion of British, Irish and Commonwealth books.
I was a bit perturbed by the realisation that I hadn't read any of those voted to the top ten - perhaps an indication that I need to move on from my ongoing fixation with formulaic murder mysteries?
For the record, Disgrace by JM Coetzee came first and Money by Martin Amis second, while Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers and Ian McEwan's Atonement took joint third.
Intriguingly, one of the authors polled actually voted for himself, though the anonymity they were all assured of prevents the newspaper divulging who... Salman Rushdie, anyone?
In response to a New York Times exercise in May that determined Toni Morrison's Beloved to be the best work of American fiction from the last quarter century, the Observer poll allowed for the inclusion of British, Irish and Commonwealth books.
I was a bit perturbed by the realisation that I hadn't read any of those voted to the top ten - perhaps an indication that I need to move on from my ongoing fixation with formulaic murder mysteries?
For the record, Disgrace by JM Coetzee came first and Money by Martin Amis second, while Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers and Ian McEwan's Atonement took joint third.
Intriguingly, one of the authors polled actually voted for himself, though the anonymity they were all assured of prevents the newspaper divulging who... Salman Rushdie, anyone?
posted by Kuvera at
15:01
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