Posted by Sterling on 20/10/2009, 0:28:31, in reply to "my nominations"
98.71.101.231
OK, here are my suggestions. The list is mostly based on works that are on my "to read" list:
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - I've intended to read this for years, and Joffre's recent endorsement rekindled my interest.
Something by Muriel Spark - perhaps Memento Mori or The Girls of Slender Means - Lale's interest (as well as the input from Joffre and Rizwan) reminded me that I have long intended to read her. This might be a terrific opportunity.
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy by Laurence Sterne - All the recent talk about travel books reminded me that I've intended to read this (lightly fictionalized) early entry in the genre for years. Tristram Shandy is one of my favorite novels ever, and this is Sterne's other most highly regarded work. ( We should read some classics.)
Okay. Now we plunge into the New York Times (American) and Guardian (all English-speaking works that are not American, Booker-style) lists of the best novels of the past 25 years, published in 2006. Since most of the books that I have read from these lists are among my favorites, I'm hoping to read the remainder.
From the NYT list:
Mating by Norman Rush - Won the National Book Award in 1991. Described as Jane Austen in an American-created utopian village in Botswana. Interested?
The Human Stain by Philip Roth - Roth is clearly one of the most highly regarded living American authors. To me, this sounds like one of his more interesting novels.
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson - A novel that was not even reviewed by the New York Times when first released, it has grown in stature through the years.
Rabbit, Run by John Updike - OK, OK, I know we read The Witches of Eastwick this year. But the Rabbit novels are Updike's most enduring works, and I would love to discuss this novel with of all you. (Lale, if we pick this one, you're probably not going to like the characters much. But I love this novel.)
From the Guardian list:
Money by Martin Amis - Astonsihingly, this came in second only to Disgrace on the Guardian list. I read it many years ago, and at the time it knocked me out. Since it is still so highly regarded, it merits another look.
The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald - One of the books tied for third on the Guardian's list. I don't know if I can make a novel about the 18th century German Romantic poet Novalis sound enticing, but it certainly interests me.
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro - I haven't read Ishiguro either. Steven's suggestion is fine, but I would like to read this Kafkaesque, dream-like, surrealistic novel that also tied for third on the Guardian's list.
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