4. Ted Hughes
8. Muriel Spark
10. Angela Carter
11. C. S. Lewis
12. Iris Murdoch
13. Salman Rusdie
14. Ian Fleming
15. Jan Morris
16. Roald Dahl
17. Anthony Burgess
18. Mervyn Peake
19. Martin Amis
20. Anthony Powell
21. Alan Sillitoe
22. John Le Carré
24. Philippa Pearce
25. Barbara Pym
26. Beryl Bainbridge
27. J. G. Ballard
28. Alan Garner
29. Alasdair Gray
30. John Fowles
31. Derek Walcott
32. Kazuo Ishiguro
33. Anita Brookner
34. A. S. Byatt
35. Ian McEwan
36. Geoffrey Hill
37. Hanif Kureshi
38. Iain Banks
40. A. J. P. Taylor
41. Isaiah Berlin
42. J. K. Rowling
43. Philip Pullman
44. Julian Barnes
45. Colin Thubron
46. Bruce Chatwin
47. Alice Oswald
50. Michael Moorcock
I am surprised by Philip Larkin appearing in first place, but it makes me want to run back to his poetry. Would personally have placed Rushdie much higher, and also Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes. And I think Burgess should have made the top 10 (sorry, personal prejudice!). It's nice to see Alan Garner (a favourite of my teen years) make the list. Benjamin Zephaniah too.But then, how on earth can you weigh up authors as if they were vegetables on a market scale? In the end there can be no absolute measure. As Wagner says, it's all about kick starting a conversation. And that's always a good thing.
(I've read books - and in some cases more than one - by 38 of them.)
23 comments:
Yeah this is totally weird. I mean, what's the difference between, say, rank 38 and 39?!? I think I agree that the 50 choices on the list were/are all very significant figures but I wouldn't have ranked them -- I would've just said, these are the 50 greatest, in alphabetical order. Ranking implies objective criteria and empirical inquiry, and that's a little silly when it comes to literature.
I think one glaring omission is Auden -- Larkin is pretty great, but how come Auden isn't on there at all?!? They had to leave off Yeats because he was Irish, but I'm not sure why Auden was ignored.
-- Preeta
And just look at how many sf-fantasy authors there are up there, even several in the top 10! Why, then, is the genre itself so despised by the literati??
preeta - auden wasn't even on the list of 50 more names who nearly made it! (i'm looking at the print version of the newspaper and i don't think it's online). in the posted comments someone else pointed out this very obvious omission.
you're so right glenda. i hope you will use this list as ammo. incidentally, having grown up on sci-fi and fantasy i don't feel like being at all sniffy about the genres! good stuff is good stuff.
So ,What about Alistair Maclean, Gavin Lyall or even the great Tom Sharpe?
-Diablo
No George MacDonald Fraser? He died a couple of days ago and he was terrific.
And where's Jackie Collins? How can the Great Storyteller, the Scheherazade of the Stars be left out????
- Poppadumdum
tom sharpe was on the list of almost made its, but not the others.
i am very sad that oliver sacks isn't on it ...
also william trevor is listed on the long list, but surely her is irish. we (brits) keep appropriating irish authors as if they were our own
Interesting that Burgess's advocate was another maverick, DBC Pierre. And yes, Trevor is definitely Irish, though he has lived in England for over 50 years. And Ireland is part of the British Isles...
Tom Sharpe almost made it!? God, what has happen to the British sense of humor?
Most likely, had too much of PC for breakfast.
Oh! Forgot to add to my earlier comment ...What about Hammond Innes? The wreck of the Mary Deare was my all time favorite from him.
-Diablo h
Graham Greene is missing! :)
You're right, Graham Greene is missing. But that must be because he was first published before 1945. The same must be why Evelyn Waugh isn't there. But then again, wasn't George Orwell published before 1945.
Jackie Collins not being on the list is not so surprising because she's absolutely awful.
bloody hell! you're right janet and kam. greene is missing. he isn't even on the longlist!!!!!! the criteria states "their most enduring works" must have been published since 1945 and several of his greatest ones came later inc
# The Heart of the Matter (1948)
# The Third Man (1949)
# The End of the Affair (1951)
# The Quiet American (1955)
oh please do tell me again that j.k. rowling is a greater writer
It's a conspiracy, I tell you! ;)
Have also often wondered why Graham Greene never won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Heard it was because he rubbed the right people the wrong way, or something along those lines.
I really enjoyed one of his more lightweight books (or maybe the ONLY lightweight book), Travels With My Aunt.
And J.K. Rowling is better than J-K Collins???? No way!
So where are J. M. Barrie and Lewis Carroll ? and Louisa May Alcott ? they're still going to be read long after JK Rowling becomes ancient history :)
Anonymous at 10:08, Louisa May Alcott was American.
Maybe the "most enduring works" clause is why Auden, Greene, and Waugh (also James Barrie and Lewis Carroll) aren't on the list. Otherwise it's bloody baffling.
Did someone really say Jackie Collins? Was that a joke?
-- Preeta
Oh -- I misread that list, Sharon. So Greene's most enduring works *were* published after 1945 -- then I don't know what explains his absence. Very weird!
-- Preeta
lewis carol, anon? erm ... wrong century?
they had to have been alive and writing after 1945 i think to qualify
but no greene is a shocking oversight
janet - i loved "travels with my aunt" too. read it 35 years ago. fancy that. can also remember quite a lot about it, unlike a lot of books i've read since. discovered greene via piles of books in the english stockroom at school and used to sneak in and illegally borrow them. read several of his novels back to back. "the third man" is a real favourite, maybe because of the film and the music (which i will sing to you when next we meet)
jacky collins? to each his or her taste. mind you, a convincing case needs to be made for the rest of us!
Bib, I just realized they left of James Herriot, of all the people. I mean, you don't get any more British than James Herriot :)
Similarities between JK and JC:
1. They have written a series of books featuring the same character: JK - Harry Potter. JC - Lucky Santangelo
2. They've sold millions of these books featuring their recurring characters, and have encouraged a generation to read.
2. Characters always go on shopping sprees in their books: JK - at Diagon Alley. JC - Rodeo Drive. And characters who hate each other always meet up at these places and trade insults while shopping.
3. Their books have characters who are whiny bitches (in JK's case it's Ron, and Hermione and Malfoy), in JC's almost every one except her beloved Lucky Santangelo
4. They name drop brand names like mad.
5. Their books are set in a fantasy land (Hogwarts for JK, Hollywood for JC).
6. Their characters use magic powder frequently - 'floo in JK, and cocaine in JC. Both send one flying through the air. 'Floo's more dangerous.
7. Liberal use of coincidences to propel their plots
8. JK seems to be using JC's hairstylist now
9. JC's books are steamy. That train station in JK's books is always full of steam.
10. There's a lot of frenetic wand-rubbing and wand waving in JK's and JC's books.
anon 1 - funny thing was, i was just thinking about james herriot as i sat down at this computer this morning and wondering if my vet had read him and wondering whether to buy him the books if he hadn't. i think he'd like them because of the way they show that vets are always having to treat the people as much as their animals (and this train of thoughts occurs because i have another very sick cat to take care of ...)
anon 2 - i did enjoy that. what a nice way to start my morning. i think now that jc should be up there with the rest. how could she have been left out? wand-rubbing, indeed!
Hi, Shar!
I totally agree on Rushdie being higher than he is on the list. :)
Have a fantastic New Year filled with books!!!
From the islands just across,
Siege.
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