The Guardian's 100 Best Novels Written in English

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The Guardian's 100 best novels is a list of the best English-language novels as selected by Robert McCrum for The Guardian.

Reception

McCrum has received both praise and criticism for his 2015 list. Owing to this, he created a brief epilogue to the series, in which he explained many of his choices, such as his choice of

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Heart of Darkness, The Rainbow, Ulysses, Mrs Dalloway, and The Great Gatsby.[1]

One of the most frequent complaints was that, of the 100, only 21 were by women. One reviewer desired

A Handmaid's Tale, books by Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, Willa Cather and Margaret Kennedy. She was also frustrated by the disclusion of Angela Carter, saying, 'Carter’s influence cannot be overstated: her allegorical, taboo-breaking narratives have been genuinely influential.' She favoured taking out The Thirty-Nine Steps, and replacing it with The Talented Mr. Ripley, and taking out Joy in the Morning, preferring either The Pursuit of Love, or E. M. Delafield's Diary of a Provincial Lady.[2]

Another criticism was a lack of Irish authors. Many complained of there being only nine books-

Sheridan le Fanu. The first mentioned exclusion caused perhaps the most controversy.[3][4]

The Guardian asked readers a fortnight after the conclusion of McCrum's list to name the novels that they wish had been on the list. The book with the highest number of votes was

Robert A Heinlein, penultimately Alice Walker's The Color Purple, and finally, Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy.[5]

References

  1. ^ "The 100 best novels: from Bunyan's pilgrim to Carey's Ned Kelly". the Guardian. August 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "100 best novels: one in five doesn't represent over 300 years of women in literature". the Guardian. August 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Doyle, Martin. "The 100 best novels in English? Irish writers and critics have their say". The Irish Times.
  4. ^ "Did the 100 best English language novels make enough room for the Irish?". the Guardian. August 21, 2015.
  5. ^ Bausells, Marta (September 3, 2015). "The best novels in English: readers' alternative list". The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2022.

External links

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