The Modern Library: 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950 Book

Bringing together one of the best editors of post-war fiction, Virago founder Carmen Callil, with one of the most exciting Irish novelists of his generation, Colm Toibin, to produce The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950, threatens passionate controversy. Thankfully, that is precisely what both Callil and Toibin want, as they make clear in this refreshingly upbeat and enthusiastic book. Crisply dismissing the cultural pessimists, Callil and Toibin's stimulating introduction argues that the novel has never been in better shape, experiencing a remarkable commercial and artistic renaissance. Picking through the minefield of choosing the 194 best novels published in English since 1950, both authors are honest about their debates and disagreements, offering readers the chance to complete the list by nominating a further six novels which will appear in subsequent editions. What follows are one-page summaries of the novels chosen, ranging from Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced (1950), to V.S. Pritchett's The Lady From Guatemala (1998). Some of the entries fail to live up to the quality of writing contained in the book's introduction and, of course, there will be controversy over the choices and omissions. Where is Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces? Where is Neil Bartlett? Is James Baldwin's Go Tell it to the Mountain really better than Another Country? Does Will Self really deserve to be in the same company as Saul Bellow, Doris Lessing and Salman Rushdie? But this is precisely the sort of debate that The Modern Library encourages and what's wrong with controversy if it gets people reading novels? --Jerry BrottonRead More