Greatest English-Lang Novel of Past 5, 10, 25 Years?

[Randy M.]

A small point, but 25 years before 2013 is 1988. Which unfortunately means Blood Meridian, or other books from 1987 or before, don't count.

Darn that cut off date. If it weren't for that we could have mentioned Blood Meridian. Also The House on Mango Street. Don't you just hate cutoff dates that cut off Blood Meridian and The House on Mango Street? I certainly hate cut off dates that ...

Okay. I'll stop now.


Randy M.

 

[svalbard]

Maybe the style existed before, but when I first read The Road by Cormac McCarthy it blew my mind away. The storytelling was concise, the language sparse, but beautiful and the oddity of the telling opened my eyes to the diverse ways a great story could be told.

 

[hitmouse]

A small point, but 25 years before 2013 is 1988. Which unfortunately means Blood Meridian, or other books from 1987 or before, don't count.

Yep. And that takes out Midnight's Children. A book I really like. Not terribly keen on Rushdie's later works apart from Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

 

[soulsinging]

I wavered about Underworld. Bits of it are brilliant, but it does go one for a bit, and you have to wonder exactly how in control of his plot DeLillo was. I wouldn't include it in a list of the top novels of the 20th century, but perhaps it belongs on one of the top novels since 1990...

I HATED Underworld, though my brother loved it. Bloated, pretentious mess. It was better as a novella (Pafko at the Wall). That intro is genius and the ending is solid, but the middle is everything wrong with modern fiction.

My vote would be for American Tabloid by James Ellroy. It gets dismissed as genre fiction (crime) but nothing, to me, captures America better than this novel's insane mixup of US history, conspiracy theory, violence, crime, and morality in an immoral world. Characters constantly rising and falling, sin and redemption, this book has everything...

 

[hitmouse]

I HATED Underworld, though my brother loved it. Bloated, pretentious mess. It was better as a novella (Pafko at the Wall). That intro is genius and the ending is solid, but the middle is everything wrong with modern fiction.

So glad its not just me. This is such a relief. Like a terrible guilty secret I have had to keep for years.

 

[GOLLUM]

Yep. And that takes out Midnight's Children. A book I really like. Not terribly keen on Rushdie's later works apart from Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Phoee! I included Midnight's Children in my list. OH well, such are the breaks. I agree that not all of Rushdie's ouevre is top shelf. I too enjoyed Haroun and the Sea of Stories. I have several of his other novels that have been kicking around for several years now..still to be read.

On Underworld I've only reads bits of this book. I did not find it particularity easy (structurally) to follow or comprehend what exactly DeLillo was trying to say?

 

[HareBrain]

Of those I've read, my choice for "outstanding" (and very nearly "great") would be Michael Moorcock's Mother London, which is just about eligible as it was published in 1988.

 

[Extollager]

I'm reviving this thread, dormant since June 2013. Perhaps those interested could read the first posting here

Greatest English-Lang Novel of Past 5, 10, 25 Years?

before responding -- thanks!

 

[hitmouse]

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell, The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey.

 

[soulsinging]

I HATED Underworld, though my brother loved it. Bloated, pretentious mess. It was better as a novella (Pafko at the Wall). That intro is genius and the ending is solid, but the middle is everything wrong with modern fiction.

My vote would be for American Tabloid by James Ellroy. It gets dismissed as genre fiction (crime) but nothing, to me, captures America better than this novel's insane mixup of US history, conspiracy theory, violence, crime, and morality in an immoral world. Characters constantly rising and falling, sin and redemption, this book has everything...

Interesting to see again. I was maybe a bit harsh on Underworld, and my adoration for American Tabloid waned slightly on a second reread. I'd have to think about this. I did enjoy a few award winners like Cold Mountain, Empire Falls, Middlesex, The Hours and The Corrections.

The Underworld talk always makes me think of this infamous article, with which I mostly agree:

A Reader's Manifesto - The Atlantic