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A Brief Guide to the Modern Library
If readers have ever been too frightened to start Hannibal, couldn’t wait for The Long Goodbye to end, or wondered what should be next on their summer reading list, this fascinating book is exactly what they need. Readers will find short and insightful entries on 200 of the greatest novels and authors of our time including John Updike, Thomas Harris, Harper Lee, Annie Proulx, and more.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
34 people are currently reading
418 people want to read
About the author
Carmen Callil
16 books9 followersCarmen Thérèse Callil is a publisher, writer and critic. She founded Virago Press in 1973.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
April 13, 2017
This came out in 1999 and so is a neat list of 200 novels from 50 years which is…er, ummm, one moment …. About four per year, roughly. I think.
Of these 200 I have read a mere 58 and of those 58 only 17 were out-and-out ghastly (Earthly Powers, Housekeeping, Last Orders etc) so that’s a reasonable hit rate, way better than Booker Prize winners for instance.
Of the remaining I had already intended to read 12 and am utterly uninterested in 27, and this leaves an intriguing 74 that I had never even heard of….
Such as
The Echoing Grove by Rosamond Lehmann
The Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner
From the Terrace by John O'Hara
A Legacy by Sybille Bedford
Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy
Private Life of an Indian Prince by Mulk Raj Anand
The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
The West Pier by Patrick Hamilton
Cotter's England by Christina Stead
So I’m thinking this looks like a nice neat little guide, a bit safe and literary, but handy.
Of these 200 I have read a mere 58 and of those 58 only 17 were out-and-out ghastly (Earthly Powers, Housekeeping, Last Orders etc) so that’s a reasonable hit rate, way better than Booker Prize winners for instance.
Of the remaining I had already intended to read 12 and am utterly uninterested in 27, and this leaves an intriguing 74 that I had never even heard of….
Such as
The Echoing Grove by Rosamond Lehmann
The Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner
From the Terrace by John O'Hara
A Legacy by Sybille Bedford
Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy
Private Life of an Indian Prince by Mulk Raj Anand
The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
The West Pier by Patrick Hamilton
Cotter's England by Christina Stead
So I’m thinking this looks like a nice neat little guide, a bit safe and literary, but handy.
June 8, 2025
I’m a devotee of books about books and authors, especially ones which inspire and stimulate.
This is a very good, yet unusual guide: just novels since 1950, so recent works. 200 of them. Most unusual in that the selection features a much larger than usual percentage of authors who are not American or English. Certainly those two nations still top the poll (USA authors 71, English 57). The gratifying surprises were the number of Australians (13), usually not strong in these exercises, Indians (11) and Irish authors (10). There are also Canadians (9), Scots (6) and three Kiwis for good measure (Janet Frame, Frank Sargeson and Maurice Gee).
Colm Toibin is Irish and well read, Carmen Callil is Australian, long resident in Britain and also well read. Their origins suggest why Ireland and Australia are well, but I think not over represented. The breadth of choice is refreshing.
Like some other Goodread’s reviewers I have read only a small number of the 200 books selected (19). I was reading Anita Desai’s In Custody (1984) and discovered it is one of the chosen titles. So when it comes down to it what is the value of such a guide? For me, one that serves to introduce unfamiliar writers, point the way to excellent works and perhaps confirm our thoughts about who is worthwhile.
Thematically, there are three notable strands: there are many stories concerned with the reality and aftermath of World War One, similarly for World War Two and the third strand is life in India, for the natives and their rulers. Quite a few of these Indian stories focus on Partition, the lead up to it, the horror of the event itself and the reverberations thereafter. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight's Children (1981), features children born at the moment of independence, Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan (1956) was unknown to me before reading this guide, but renowned on the sub-continent and I am really looking forward to it. Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man (1988) is about a Parsee family during Partition, when religious tolerance disintegrates into hatred. Muk Raj Anand’s Private Life Of An Indian Prince (1953), about a displaced Maharajah, Ashok Kumar, looks good: Ashok is described as: ‘a charmer, but decadent, spoilt and politically incompetent.’ (p22)
The guide legitimised one of my favourite authors - Carl Hiaasen, whose Florida corruption stories give new meaning to venal, grasping behaviour devoid of moral redemption. They are also extremely funny. So if we see familiar or known titles in a different light that is quite an achievement. If new authors emerge who prompt the desire to read their work, that’s even better. For me there are a number of key titles to add to my TBR list:
• Henry Green – Nothing (1950) – Green regularly appears in best lists and this story appeals, about how the welfare state affects the moneyed classes in Britain after World War Two. Jane, a member of such an class, has her moment :
• Sylvia Townsend Warner (new to me): The Flint Anchor (1954). Anchor House in Norfolk is made of flint, like the heart of the owner John Barnard, who has a pretty, self-interested daughter, Mary…trouble ensues.
• Mary McCarthy The Group (1963). I’ve always known it was sensational in the outrageous sense, but I now know it’s really worth reading.
• Short stories by Mary Lavin Happiness and Other Stories (1969)
• Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres (1991)
• Oh, and Olivia Manning The Balkan Trilogy (1960-1965). Her life is as interesting as you could imagine, living in the Balkans and staying just in front of the advancing Germans during World War Two. She was, by accounts, difficult and suspicious. Can’t wait to read her stuff.
I probably should say something about the Australians. The ones you think should be here, are: Shirley Hazzard, Patrick White, Tom Keneally, Peter Carey, Tim Winton and David Malouf. The surprises are welcome nevertheless: Frank Moorhouse Forty-Seventeen (1988), about a romance between a forty year old bloke and a seventeen year old girl. It’s good. And Frank Hardy, who wrote a fictional biography of a powerful corrupt Melbourne businessman called John Wren – a sensational book - Power Without Glory (1950) and an important part of Australia’s social history.
This is a good guide.
This is a very good, yet unusual guide: just novels since 1950, so recent works. 200 of them. Most unusual in that the selection features a much larger than usual percentage of authors who are not American or English. Certainly those two nations still top the poll (USA authors 71, English 57). The gratifying surprises were the number of Australians (13), usually not strong in these exercises, Indians (11) and Irish authors (10). There are also Canadians (9), Scots (6) and three Kiwis for good measure (Janet Frame, Frank Sargeson and Maurice Gee).
Colm Toibin is Irish and well read, Carmen Callil is Australian, long resident in Britain and also well read. Their origins suggest why Ireland and Australia are well, but I think not over represented. The breadth of choice is refreshing.
Like some other Goodread’s reviewers I have read only a small number of the 200 books selected (19). I was reading Anita Desai’s In Custody (1984) and discovered it is one of the chosen titles. So when it comes down to it what is the value of such a guide? For me, one that serves to introduce unfamiliar writers, point the way to excellent works and perhaps confirm our thoughts about who is worthwhile.
Thematically, there are three notable strands: there are many stories concerned with the reality and aftermath of World War One, similarly for World War Two and the third strand is life in India, for the natives and their rulers. Quite a few of these Indian stories focus on Partition, the lead up to it, the horror of the event itself and the reverberations thereafter. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight's Children (1981), features children born at the moment of independence, Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan (1956) was unknown to me before reading this guide, but renowned on the sub-continent and I am really looking forward to it. Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man (1988) is about a Parsee family during Partition, when religious tolerance disintegrates into hatred. Muk Raj Anand’s Private Life Of An Indian Prince (1953), about a displaced Maharajah, Ashok Kumar, looks good: Ashok is described as: ‘a charmer, but decadent, spoilt and politically incompetent.’ (p22)
The guide legitimised one of my favourite authors - Carl Hiaasen, whose Florida corruption stories give new meaning to venal, grasping behaviour devoid of moral redemption. They are also extremely funny. So if we see familiar or known titles in a different light that is quite an achievement. If new authors emerge who prompt the desire to read their work, that’s even better. For me there are a number of key titles to add to my TBR list:
• Henry Green – Nothing (1950) – Green regularly appears in best lists and this story appeals, about how the welfare state affects the moneyed classes in Britain after World War Two. Jane, a member of such an class, has her moment :
‘only the accumulated vinegar of many years enables Jane to put her towering self-esteem to good use, and, manipulating malice like a sten gun, lay waste those who stand in her way.’ (p89)
• Sylvia Townsend Warner (new to me): The Flint Anchor (1954). Anchor House in Norfolk is made of flint, like the heart of the owner John Barnard, who has a pretty, self-interested daughter, Mary…trouble ensues.
• Mary McCarthy The Group (1963). I’ve always known it was sensational in the outrageous sense, but I now know it’s really worth reading.
• Short stories by Mary Lavin Happiness and Other Stories (1969)
• Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres (1991)
• Oh, and Olivia Manning The Balkan Trilogy (1960-1965). Her life is as interesting as you could imagine, living in the Balkans and staying just in front of the advancing Germans during World War Two. She was, by accounts, difficult and suspicious. Can’t wait to read her stuff.
I probably should say something about the Australians. The ones you think should be here, are: Shirley Hazzard, Patrick White, Tom Keneally, Peter Carey, Tim Winton and David Malouf. The surprises are welcome nevertheless: Frank Moorhouse Forty-Seventeen (1988), about a romance between a forty year old bloke and a seventeen year old girl. It’s good. And Frank Hardy, who wrote a fictional biography of a powerful corrupt Melbourne businessman called John Wren – a sensational book - Power Without Glory (1950) and an important part of Australia’s social history.
This is a good guide.
September 27, 2011
To say that I'm finished with this book isn't quite accurate. This is a book about books that I will return to time and again. Grab a copy of it and swim around in it. If you're like me, you will be humbled by it. The old saying, "So many books, so little time," is given new meaning by the authors Carmen Callil and Colm Toibin. I found so many books here I was not familiar with, I was almost ashamed, having considered myself a well read man.
You will find familiar titles here. Some might well surprise you. A few you would not expect to find on a selection of the two hundred best novels in English published since 1950. Callil and Toibin seem almost gleeful to include Carl Hiassen and a few other well known "popular" authors in this selection. The point that a book doesn't have to be serious to be great is well made.
The number two hundred isn't quite accurate. Callil and Toibin chose 194 of the titles. The remaining six were selected from a readers' poll. I would have liked to participate in that. But so it goes. I was pleased to find Sebastian Faulk's "Birdsong," among those six titles, one of my favorite novels set during the First World War.
This is one of those books you might have on your bedside table,to steer you towards your next read. A warning--many of these titles are not available if you want to put them on your favorite e-reader. You might have to visit your library or have a copy of your own. It's also unlikely that you will find any number of these titles at your local B&N. You'd better head to the nearest good Indie bookseller to find some of these jewels. Nor would I be surprised if I had to find a few on ABE.
When it comes to books there will always be treasures out there waiting to be discovered. This book is prospector's guide for the lover of literature who thinks they've read it all. Nope, none of us are even close.
You will find familiar titles here. Some might well surprise you. A few you would not expect to find on a selection of the two hundred best novels in English published since 1950. Callil and Toibin seem almost gleeful to include Carl Hiassen and a few other well known "popular" authors in this selection. The point that a book doesn't have to be serious to be great is well made.
The number two hundred isn't quite accurate. Callil and Toibin chose 194 of the titles. The remaining six were selected from a readers' poll. I would have liked to participate in that. But so it goes. I was pleased to find Sebastian Faulk's "Birdsong," among those six titles, one of my favorite novels set during the First World War.
This is one of those books you might have on your bedside table,to steer you towards your next read. A warning--many of these titles are not available if you want to put them on your favorite e-reader. You might have to visit your library or have a copy of your own. It's also unlikely that you will find any number of these titles at your local B&N. You'd better head to the nearest good Indie bookseller to find some of these jewels. Nor would I be surprised if I had to find a few on ABE.
When it comes to books there will always be treasures out there waiting to be discovered. This book is prospector's guide for the lover of literature who thinks they've read it all. Nope, none of us are even close.
December 26, 2019
Following on from my excavation of 1000 Books to Read before you Die on behalf of those readers looking for something short, sharp and also allegedly great, here is a similar list of 15 novels from this book. Our editors focus on the 200 best novels published between 1950 and 1999 when this guide was published, and here are 15 of the 200 that are all between 150 and 200 pages long :
Age of Iron : J M Coetzee
An Artist of the Floating World : Kazuo Ishiguro
Owls do Cry : Janet Frame
The Unfortunates : B S Johnson
Happiness : Mary Lavin
Injury Time : Beryl Bainbridge
The Murderer : Roy Heath
Sleepless Nights : Elizabeth Hardwick
Lamb : Bernard MacLaverty
In Custody : Anita Desai
Family and Friends : Anita Bruckner
The Other Garden : France Wyndham
A Summons to Memphis : Peter Taylor
Ellen Foster : Kaye Gibbons
A Strange and Sublime Address : Amit Chaudhuri
Some of these have really dull titles, it must be admitted -Family and Friends, Ellen Foster, The Other Garden - that would surely put off even dedicated browsers, so that's why we like these guides. I had only heard of the first four.
Age of Iron : J M Coetzee
An Artist of the Floating World : Kazuo Ishiguro
Owls do Cry : Janet Frame
The Unfortunates : B S Johnson
Happiness : Mary Lavin
Injury Time : Beryl Bainbridge
The Murderer : Roy Heath
Sleepless Nights : Elizabeth Hardwick
Lamb : Bernard MacLaverty
In Custody : Anita Desai
Family and Friends : Anita Bruckner
The Other Garden : France Wyndham
A Summons to Memphis : Peter Taylor
Ellen Foster : Kaye Gibbons
A Strange and Sublime Address : Amit Chaudhuri
Some of these have really dull titles, it must be admitted -Family and Friends, Ellen Foster, The Other Garden - that would surely put off even dedicated browsers, so that's why we like these guides. I had only heard of the first four.
March 22, 2021
Reflections and lessons learned:
“We chose these books together on the basis that the idea of two people disputing – hotly at times, not at all on other occasions – is always preferable to one person laying down the law.”
In passing this looked interesting. Upon reading I couldn’t believe how wonderfully all encompassing and without agendas (apart from post 1950 publication) this list was. Worldly and letting the literature speak for itself with one sided summaries that gives flavour without spoiling any of the storylines. Some that I’ve read, some I’d heard of and some that I now want to read having never heard of them before! I also really enjoyed the short author summary at the end of each entry, with a key factor listed - how old the author was when the book was written - age doesn’t matter to me but the potential life perspective is so interesting. For a while I’ve pondered about reading an entire prize winners list but featuring these showed me that a mixture will probably always be better - maybe something to save for a retirement challenge!
“We chose these books together on the basis that the idea of two people disputing – hotly at times, not at all on other occasions – is always preferable to one person laying down the law.”
In passing this looked interesting. Upon reading I couldn’t believe how wonderfully all encompassing and without agendas (apart from post 1950 publication) this list was. Worldly and letting the literature speak for itself with one sided summaries that gives flavour without spoiling any of the storylines. Some that I’ve read, some I’d heard of and some that I now want to read having never heard of them before! I also really enjoyed the short author summary at the end of each entry, with a key factor listed - how old the author was when the book was written - age doesn’t matter to me but the potential life perspective is so interesting. For a while I’ve pondered about reading an entire prize winners list but featuring these showed me that a mixture will probably always be better - maybe something to save for a retirement challenge!
January 29, 2012
I love to collect books about books, since no matter how much I read I can always use more suggestions. This one has a little different take on the best books from authors; the compilers are not concerned with literary merit as much as an enjoyable reading experience.
June 6, 2022
Full of treasures and fascinating finds! This collection was published in 1999 and contains 200 books, English books, since 1950, allegedly the best English novels during this time span. Maybe they are, maybe there are other opinions, but it does not matter at all: it is a collection full of surprises, some books I haven‘t even heard of, let alone read. Some books are well loved, even favorites of mine, and some I would not necessarily include in this collection. It is not only the collection which makes it a book to always come back to. Colm Toubin‘s and Carmen Callil‘s descriptions and comments are short, precise and full of surprising reasons and perspectives why a selected book was included. No matter, if you agree or disagree with them, it is a most interesting book!
March 31, 2021
This book is starting to look quite dated. Nevertheless it pointed me in the direction of several authors and book I had not previously considered. I also found many of the book reviews rather lacking in passion and not particularly convincing.
6.5/10
6.5/10
August 23, 2022
I was interested to see what books were chosen for this and found that I had read 30% of the authors and 28 of the actual books although my rating for them would not have got them anywhere near the ‘best Novels’ label. The ones I’d read I had given mainly 1 2or3 out of 10 a few higher which gave an average of 4/10. The authors I read fared better with an average rating of 6/10 so again it shows that my style is not the same. I found a lot of the books listed were sex/gay orientated and it fascinated me to read their synopsis of the story where I would have got something quite different from them. It’s good we all have different tastes!!
April 15, 2013
The authors state that they looked for the same quality in every choice – ‘a certain genius in the work, a certain excitement in the reading, and a feeling that you would love to hand this book to someone else to read’. The authors hope that indignation, as well as pleasure, will be among the first reactions to this selection. I am still working through it!
The complete list is
http://www.listsofbests.com/list/2738...
or
http://www.librarything.com/bookaward...
It includes one work each by: Agatha Christie, Henry Green, Frank Hardy, Georgette Heyer, Sam Hanna Bell, Daphne du Maurier, Patrick Hamilton, Carson McCullers, Anthony Powell, J.D. Salinger, Ralph Ellison, Ernest Hemingway, Bernard Malamud, R.K. Narayan, Flannery O'Connor, John Steinbeck, Evelyn Waugh, Mulk Raj Anand, James Baldwin, Saul Bellow, Raymond Chandler, L.P. Hartley, Rosamund Lehmann, Amos Tutuola, Kingsley Amis, William Golding, Elizabeth Jenkins, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Samuel Beckett, William Gaddis, Patricia Highsmith, Vladimir Nabokov, Janet Frame, Jack Kerouac, Elizabeth Taylor, Rebecca West, Chinua Achebe, Isak Dineson, John O'Hara, Alan Sillitoe, William Burroughs, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Grace Paley, Harper Lee, Olivia Manning, John Updike, P.G. Wodehouse, Joseph Heller and V.S. Naipaul. This list also includes: Muriel Spark, Patrick White, Maureen Duffy, William Faulkner, Doris Lessing, Edna O'Brien, Katherine Anne Porter, Elizabeth Bowen, John Le CarrE, Mary McCarthy, Sylvia Plath, Wilson Harris, Hubert Selby Jr., Frank Sargeson, Wole Soyinka, Margaret Laurence, Jean Rhys, Paul Scott, John Fowles, Christina Stead, William Styron, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, William H. Gass, Iris Murdoch, B.S. Johnson, Mary Lavin, Mario Puzo, Robertson Davies, Patrick O'Brian, Frederick Forsyth, Mordecai Richler, Francis Stewart, Eudora Welty, J.G. Farrell, Thomas Pynchon, E.L. Doctorow, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, David Lodge, Alistair MacLeod, Anne Rice, David Storey, Beryl Bainbridge, John Cheever, Joan Didion, Margaret Drabble, Jessica Anderson, Maurice Gee, Graham Greene, Roy A.K. Heath, Ian McEwan, Thomas Flanagan, Mavis Gallant, Nadine Gordimer and Elizabeth Hardwick. This list also includes: Norman Mailer, V.S Naipaul, Anthony Burgess, Shirley Hazzard, Russell Hoban, Bernard MacLaverty, Marilynne Robinson, John Kennedy Toole, Fay Weldon, William Maxwell, Alasdair Gray, Thomas Harris, Salman Rushdie, Robert Stone, Bruce Chatwin, Thomas Keneally, Alice Walker, Edmund White, Martin Amis, J.G. Ballard, Julian Barnes, Anita Desai, Balraj Khanna, Jayne Anne Phillips, Helen Garner, Anita Brookner, Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, Brian Moore, Jeanette Winterson, Richard Ford, Kazuo Ishiguro, Peter Taylor, Barbera Vine, Kaye Gibbons, Carl Hiaasen, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Micheal Ondaatje, Francis Wyndham, Peter Carey, Raymond Carver, Pete Dexter, Elizabeth Jolley, Frank Moorhouse and Bapsi Sidhwa. This list also includes: Anne Tyler, Tom Wolfe, John Banville, Oscar Hijuelos, Amy Tan, A.S. Byatt, J.M. Coetzee, Micheal Cunningham, Roddy Doyle, Elmore Leonard, John McGahern, David Malouf, Alice Munro, Pat Barker, Angela Carter, Amit Chaudhuri, Bret Easton Ellis, Timothy Mo, Norman Rush, Iain Sinclair, Jane Smiley, William Trevor, Tim Winton, Eugene McCabe, Patrick McCabe, Donna Tartt, Jeffrey Eugenides, Gita Mehta, E. Annie Proulx, Will Self, Irvine Welsh, Sebastian Faulks, Vikram Seth, Jonathan Coe, Louis de BerniEres, Alan Hollinghurst, P.D. James, James Kelman, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Penelope Fitzgerald, Rohinton Mistry, Margaret Atwood, Patrick McGrath, Graham Swift, Tobias Wolff, Jim Crace, Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, Charles Frazier and V.S Pritchett.
The complete list is
http://www.listsofbests.com/list/2738...
or
http://www.librarything.com/bookaward...
It includes one work each by: Agatha Christie, Henry Green, Frank Hardy, Georgette Heyer, Sam Hanna Bell, Daphne du Maurier, Patrick Hamilton, Carson McCullers, Anthony Powell, J.D. Salinger, Ralph Ellison, Ernest Hemingway, Bernard Malamud, R.K. Narayan, Flannery O'Connor, John Steinbeck, Evelyn Waugh, Mulk Raj Anand, James Baldwin, Saul Bellow, Raymond Chandler, L.P. Hartley, Rosamund Lehmann, Amos Tutuola, Kingsley Amis, William Golding, Elizabeth Jenkins, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Samuel Beckett, William Gaddis, Patricia Highsmith, Vladimir Nabokov, Janet Frame, Jack Kerouac, Elizabeth Taylor, Rebecca West, Chinua Achebe, Isak Dineson, John O'Hara, Alan Sillitoe, William Burroughs, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Grace Paley, Harper Lee, Olivia Manning, John Updike, P.G. Wodehouse, Joseph Heller and V.S. Naipaul. This list also includes: Muriel Spark, Patrick White, Maureen Duffy, William Faulkner, Doris Lessing, Edna O'Brien, Katherine Anne Porter, Elizabeth Bowen, John Le CarrE, Mary McCarthy, Sylvia Plath, Wilson Harris, Hubert Selby Jr., Frank Sargeson, Wole Soyinka, Margaret Laurence, Jean Rhys, Paul Scott, John Fowles, Christina Stead, William Styron, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, William H. Gass, Iris Murdoch, B.S. Johnson, Mary Lavin, Mario Puzo, Robertson Davies, Patrick O'Brian, Frederick Forsyth, Mordecai Richler, Francis Stewart, Eudora Welty, J.G. Farrell, Thomas Pynchon, E.L. Doctorow, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, David Lodge, Alistair MacLeod, Anne Rice, David Storey, Beryl Bainbridge, John Cheever, Joan Didion, Margaret Drabble, Jessica Anderson, Maurice Gee, Graham Greene, Roy A.K. Heath, Ian McEwan, Thomas Flanagan, Mavis Gallant, Nadine Gordimer and Elizabeth Hardwick. This list also includes: Norman Mailer, V.S Naipaul, Anthony Burgess, Shirley Hazzard, Russell Hoban, Bernard MacLaverty, Marilynne Robinson, John Kennedy Toole, Fay Weldon, William Maxwell, Alasdair Gray, Thomas Harris, Salman Rushdie, Robert Stone, Bruce Chatwin, Thomas Keneally, Alice Walker, Edmund White, Martin Amis, J.G. Ballard, Julian Barnes, Anita Desai, Balraj Khanna, Jayne Anne Phillips, Helen Garner, Anita Brookner, Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, Brian Moore, Jeanette Winterson, Richard Ford, Kazuo Ishiguro, Peter Taylor, Barbera Vine, Kaye Gibbons, Carl Hiaasen, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Micheal Ondaatje, Francis Wyndham, Peter Carey, Raymond Carver, Pete Dexter, Elizabeth Jolley, Frank Moorhouse and Bapsi Sidhwa. This list also includes: Anne Tyler, Tom Wolfe, John Banville, Oscar Hijuelos, Amy Tan, A.S. Byatt, J.M. Coetzee, Micheal Cunningham, Roddy Doyle, Elmore Leonard, John McGahern, David Malouf, Alice Munro, Pat Barker, Angela Carter, Amit Chaudhuri, Bret Easton Ellis, Timothy Mo, Norman Rush, Iain Sinclair, Jane Smiley, William Trevor, Tim Winton, Eugene McCabe, Patrick McCabe, Donna Tartt, Jeffrey Eugenides, Gita Mehta, E. Annie Proulx, Will Self, Irvine Welsh, Sebastian Faulks, Vikram Seth, Jonathan Coe, Louis de BerniEres, Alan Hollinghurst, P.D. James, James Kelman, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Penelope Fitzgerald, Rohinton Mistry, Margaret Atwood, Patrick McGrath, Graham Swift, Tobias Wolff, Jim Crace, Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, Charles Frazier and V.S Pritchett.
August 15, 2016
In 2013 we sent R2952.83 on books, including this one at R167. In 2012 we spent R3940.40 on books, and in 2011 R2019.95. But when Val retired in 2014, we could not afford to go browsing in bookshops and just buying whatever took our fancy, so we rejoined the public library.
In 2014 our spending on books dropped to R1653.50, and in 2015 to R50.01. But browsing in a library is not the same as browsing in a bookshop. In a bookshop, the popular books will be stocking the shelves. In a library, the popular books will probably have been taken out by others. That is where books like this come in. OK, it's someone else's choice, and their taste may not coincide with yours, but you at least know that some book lovers think it is worth reading. And, to back it up, at the back of the book are some lists of winners of some of the major literary prizes. And if you don't find the book in question, another one by the same author might be worth a read.
The authors' list has descriptions of each book and why they think it is worth reading, so from those I've compiled a list, which I take to the library, at least when I remember to.
In 2014 our spending on books dropped to R1653.50, and in 2015 to R50.01. But browsing in a library is not the same as browsing in a bookshop. In a bookshop, the popular books will be stocking the shelves. In a library, the popular books will probably have been taken out by others. That is where books like this come in. OK, it's someone else's choice, and their taste may not coincide with yours, but you at least know that some book lovers think it is worth reading. And, to back it up, at the back of the book are some lists of winners of some of the major literary prizes. And if you don't find the book in question, another one by the same author might be worth a read.
The authors' list has descriptions of each book and why they think it is worth reading, so from those I've compiled a list, which I take to the library, at least when I remember to.
September 20, 2013
I found this book on the new shelf at the Mechanics Institute Library, and figured if Colm Toibin was co-editor, it was worth a look. So glad that I picked it up, it was really fascinating! It was fun just to read the introduction in which they explain their approach to the project. The book introduced me to a number of writers I had not heard of before, from all over the English-speaking world. I decided to count, and I had only read about 22 of the 200 selections, although I had read other books by some of the authors they chose. Anyway, much as I enjoyed the central project of the book, I also loved many of the extras involved: Lists of the best memoirs/autobiographies, the best collections of poetry, the best literary biographies, etc. Also, at the back, they had a number of book awards from around the world, and lists of winners of those awards. So for those of us who are always looking for new books to read, this volume offers a lot of information and inspiration!
November 19, 2018
A book of lists. I love lists. You can see what you agree with, disagree with and find books you didn’t know about and be reminded about books you have meant to read but have forgotten about. Carmen Cahill makes sure there is an Australian presence and Colm Tóibín makes sure there are some European books. 200 books from the last half of the 20thC. I have read 49 of them.
But no Marge Piercy, Barbara Pym and no God of Small Things. No Science Fiction. Maybe one that I don’t know, it was hard to tell but the story line was a bit SciFy. Surprised by the inclusion of John Le Carré, Stephen King, Thomas Harris. I enjoy Le Carré but I wouldn’t have chosen any of his books as in the best 200. Stephen King and Thomas Harris are popular but I wouldn’t have chosen them as having written the best books of the half century.
There is little if any non-fiction.
But no Marge Piercy, Barbara Pym and no God of Small Things. No Science Fiction. Maybe one that I don’t know, it was hard to tell but the story line was a bit SciFy. Surprised by the inclusion of John Le Carré, Stephen King, Thomas Harris. I enjoy Le Carré but I wouldn’t have chosen any of his books as in the best 200. Stephen King and Thomas Harris are popular but I wouldn’t have chosen them as having written the best books of the half century.
There is little if any non-fiction.
July 17, 2017
Because this book was published in 1999, some of the authors' biographies are rather dated (a number of writers shown as living have since died), but I believe a more updated version is available. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed dipping in and out of this eclectic guide to 200 of the 'best' novels written in English from 1950 to about 1998. While I have read many of the more famous or classic titles - or in some instances, I have intended to read them for some considerable time - my appetite has now been whetted for a selection of lesser known works. My TBR shelf becomes ever heavier.
February 15, 2009
My to-read list is growing and growing...but who better to take advice on what to read from than Carmen Callil, the woman who founded the Virago Modern Classics line, which republishes forgotten masterpieces by women writers, and Colm Toibin, a wonderful Irish novelist and critic? I borrowed this from the library and flipped through the reviews; however, I think it would be better to buy it, keep it on the shelf, and flip through it from time to time rather than trying to read it all at once.
August 1, 2017
Great guide of The novel mid 20th Century, great recommendations which I'll definitely consider reading, unfortunately as usual in English guides other (non English) voices are missing (Vargas Liosa and Marquez, to name a few)
May 16, 2018
This book is basically a list of novels, covering the years 1950 to 1998, with a 3/4 page description of each. It's a fine list. But lists abound on the internet....Worth a look if you can find it in the library, or if you can find an inexpensive copy online...
July 20, 2022
If you're short of something to read (although who is, these days?), you could do a lot worse than start here. By controlling myself, I managed to buy only about half a dozen books/authors recommended here. (I'm keeping my eyes open for others...)
November 14, 2021
“While we differ in our response to literary theory – one of us is hostile to it, the other cannot have enough of it – we were as one in our determination to ignore the distinction between so-called popular fiction and literary fiction (also so-called.) … The critical dividing line between popular and literary also ignores the reader and the writer, who rarely contemplate the novel in this way.” (Two original quotations, Introduction, page 6)
Theme and Content
Colm Tóibín and Carmen Callil are well-known authors. This book includes two hundred novels written since 1950 by English-speaking authors from all over the world.
Implementation
The books begins with an introduction where the two authors explain their intention to show that the modern novel flourishes more than ever before, but that it too has changed during these fifty years between 1950 and 2000. Their intense research led to one hundred and ninety-four own choices for readers of every age and taste, and six novels chosen by their readers. As the two authors are from different countries and they have different preferences, any list of this kind is also somehow personal, but they always have looked for a certain quality, an excitement in the reading and the feeling to want to give this book to someone else to read.
The introduction is followed by a list of titles in order of publication, because the entries are alphabetical under the name of the author. Each recommended novel has one page with descriptions of genre, themes, form, characters, content and the intentions of the author. On the bottom of each page, there you can find information about the author. This main part is followed by lists of Autobiographies and memoirs, Literary biographies, Poetry, Autobiographies and memoirs by novelists chosen in this book, Literary biographies of novelists chosen in this book and several lists of Literary Prizewinners from Bookers Prize to Novel Awards, ending with the Index of Titles.
Conclusion
An entertaining, delightful and interesting guide that leads us through fifty years of modern fiction and books we might know and love and others, new for us, that make us curious and immediately end up on our “want-to-read”-list. A timeless, enjoyable read.
Theme and Content
Colm Tóibín and Carmen Callil are well-known authors. This book includes two hundred novels written since 1950 by English-speaking authors from all over the world.
Implementation
The books begins with an introduction where the two authors explain their intention to show that the modern novel flourishes more than ever before, but that it too has changed during these fifty years between 1950 and 2000. Their intense research led to one hundred and ninety-four own choices for readers of every age and taste, and six novels chosen by their readers. As the two authors are from different countries and they have different preferences, any list of this kind is also somehow personal, but they always have looked for a certain quality, an excitement in the reading and the feeling to want to give this book to someone else to read.
The introduction is followed by a list of titles in order of publication, because the entries are alphabetical under the name of the author. Each recommended novel has one page with descriptions of genre, themes, form, characters, content and the intentions of the author. On the bottom of each page, there you can find information about the author. This main part is followed by lists of Autobiographies and memoirs, Literary biographies, Poetry, Autobiographies and memoirs by novelists chosen in this book, Literary biographies of novelists chosen in this book and several lists of Literary Prizewinners from Bookers Prize to Novel Awards, ending with the Index of Titles.
Conclusion
An entertaining, delightful and interesting guide that leads us through fifty years of modern fiction and books we might know and love and others, new for us, that make us curious and immediately end up on our “want-to-read”-list. A timeless, enjoyable read.
July 26, 2021
A great reference book. They don't always select the most famous book of an author which is also interesting.
The index lists books by year of publication and book is laid out in alphabetical order against the author so its very navigatable. At the end there are lists of Booker winners, Pullitzer prize winners, Whitbread so it provides more lists if you should exhaust the first one.
The index lists books by year of publication and book is laid out in alphabetical order against the author so its very navigatable. At the end there are lists of Booker winners, Pullitzer prize winners, Whitbread so it provides more lists if you should exhaust the first one.
November 6, 2023
As Harriet Gilbert would say “some great reading suggestions here”
November 24, 2023
A lot of short story collections in this survey of the English-language novel!
Want to read
June 7, 2024Bought at Reread, , Sants neighbourhood, Barcelona
June 6, 2024
June 6, 2024
May 30, 2025
Useful and fascinating recommendations, even though the language and style of the summaries feel rather outdated. I’d forgotten how common slurs were in the late 20th century.
April 12, 2023
I was pleased at the inclusion of some popular writers like Stephen King and Agatha Christie, but, dear God, there's a world of difference in quality between them and Anne Rice (I know people read her, I know she's popular, but I think she's terrible. She can't write plot that makes any damn sense). So now I'm second-guessing the whole list! I mean, Jonathan Livingstone Seagull was popular, but even Toibin wouldn't dare include it here. Perhaps you have gathered I really, really hate Anne Rice's writing.
As I continued through the list, I actually felt the problem was there are too many prize-winners, too many book-club books, that sort of thing, and less of the undiscovered classic (which is why I seek these kind of books in the first place). Where is the amazing genre fiction? Maybe my mother would finally condescend to read Fantasy or SF if it were in a list like this. Anne Rice, but not Ursula Leguin, or Diana Wynne Jones, or Gene Wolfe? The list is 95% realism, touching honest depictions of life in the South / or Australia / or a small town somewhere / or the big city / blah blah blah. There's more to the novel than that, for Pete's sake.
So yes, I've found some more people to read. But I was, overall, fairly disappointed. Giving a grudging 3 stars because of Agatha Christie and Stephen King, but, sigh, I'm probably going to be on my deathbed one day, crying out "Anne Rice?!?" and no one will understand why unless they've read this review.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
As I continued through the list, I actually felt the problem was there are too many prize-winners, too many book-club books, that sort of thing, and less of the undiscovered classic (which is why I seek these kind of books in the first place). Where is the amazing genre fiction? Maybe my mother would finally condescend to read Fantasy or SF if it were in a list like this. Anne Rice, but not Ursula Leguin, or Diana Wynne Jones, or Gene Wolfe? The list is 95% realism, touching honest depictions of life in the South / or Australia / or a small town somewhere / or the big city / blah blah blah. There's more to the novel than that, for Pete's sake.
So yes, I've found some more people to read. But I was, overall, fairly disappointed. Giving a grudging 3 stars because of Agatha Christie and Stephen King, but, sigh, I'm probably going to be on my deathbed one day, crying out "Anne Rice?!?" and no one will understand why unless they've read this review.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
March 22, 2012
Meh. I grabbed this one from the library on a whim, and have been perusing it for the past month or so.
I have a serious love-hate relationship with guides like this. They can be fun to browse if your to-read list is in need of some additions (believe me, mine is not), but obviously any list of "must reads" or "most important/influential books" is biased and everyone's going to have a different opinion on what should or shouldn't be included. The authors at least acknowledge this in the introduction, as well as explaining a little about how they chose the books to include. Whatever. Despite having some worthy inclusions I agreed with, a good portion of these I hadn't even heard of, and the authors generally did a lousy job of convincing me to pick them up. Their summaries/reviews are totally inconsistent, tending towards uninteresting, and some of them include major spoilers -- unforgivable for a guide of this type, in my opinion. Believe me, you will find much better reviews here on GoodReads from random internet people.
I have a serious love-hate relationship with guides like this. They can be fun to browse if your to-read list is in need of some additions (believe me, mine is not), but obviously any list of "must reads" or "most important/influential books" is biased and everyone's going to have a different opinion on what should or shouldn't be included. The authors at least acknowledge this in the introduction, as well as explaining a little about how they chose the books to include. Whatever. Despite having some worthy inclusions I agreed with, a good portion of these I hadn't even heard of, and the authors generally did a lousy job of convincing me to pick them up. Their summaries/reviews are totally inconsistent, tending towards uninteresting, and some of them include major spoilers -- unforgivable for a guide of this type, in my opinion. Believe me, you will find much better reviews here on GoodReads from random internet people.
October 21, 2024
I skimmed some, but read quite a few of the entries. They are short impressions of the 200 chosen books, not really summarizing them but giving a sense of their larger themes. They also comment on the style and language. At the end of each entry is a paragraph mentioning other works by the author, and occasionally giving recommendations.
I appreciate that the authors are not afraid of making large and definite value judgments ("X is this author's best novel", "Y is the best writer of the late 20th century"), which is a very nice change from the fear-of-seeming-judgmental mindset that cripples contemporary critics. Blessedly, despite their "determination to ignore the distinction between so-called popular fiction and literary fiction", there is no Tolkien, Rowling, Larsson, sci fi, YA, or fantasy. Also, "no quotas for men, women or race ... we began and ended with open minds, and the books we chose are here because we loved them". Very nice guide to reading.
I appreciate that the authors are not afraid of making large and definite value judgments ("X is this author's best novel", "Y is the best writer of the late 20th century"), which is a very nice change from the fear-of-seeming-judgmental mindset that cripples contemporary critics. Blessedly, despite their "determination to ignore the distinction between so-called popular fiction and literary fiction", there is no Tolkien, Rowling, Larsson, sci fi, YA, or fantasy. Also, "no quotas for men, women or race ... we began and ended with open minds, and the books we chose are here because we loved them". Very nice guide to reading.
March 12, 2024
I have to admit before I start that I love anthologies, that Carmen Cahill's Bad Faith is a truly extraordinary book and I have great respect and love for Colm Toibin's novels - so I can't really say anything bad about this book - except that I did not discover many books that I wanted to add to the ever increasing 'Want to Read' pile. But even that is useful - it has probably saved me making mistakes and wasting time because I felt I had to at least try reading something that I wasn't sure of. The separating of the wheat from the chaff is always useful and, as I say, both authors are ones I respect highly.
So if like me you enjoy anthologies and are curious to find new books then go for this one - it is an excellent read and you may find delights you didn't know of, or you maybe be confirmed in your own taste and judgement.
So if like me you enjoy anthologies and are curious to find new books then go for this one - it is an excellent read and you may find delights you didn't know of, or you maybe be confirmed in your own taste and judgement.
August 20, 2015
2.5/5
I'll admit I skimmed over the last third or so of the titles in the MODERN LIBRARY section. This was okay, gave me a few books to look into to see if they might interest me. I think it can definitely be helpful to some people; however I found there were some spoilers in the reviews/synopsis that they give, so if you're thinking of reading this keep that in mind. It was a quick read, made me excited about reading.
I'll admit I skimmed over the last third or so of the titles in the MODERN LIBRARY section. This was okay, gave me a few books to look into to see if they might interest me. I think it can definitely be helpful to some people; however I found there were some spoilers in the reviews/synopsis that they give, so if you're thinking of reading this keep that in mind. It was a quick read, made me excited about reading.
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