by Colm Toibin
There were no quotas for men, women or race in choosing these books. The only constraint on our choice was the lack of availability of books from certain countries. Otherwise, we began and ended with open minds, and the books we chose are here because we loved them.
We both have memories from childhood and adolescence of being wrapped up in books. Books were a way of escaping the world, and also of entering it in a way that was more intense; a way of discovering feeling; a working out of how to live. Both of us were constantly reminded, as we did our research, of moments from childhood and adolescence – finding a book we hadn’t read or had forgotten, and after a few pages, suddenly being enclosed, cocooned, absorbed and totally involved in its world; finding ourselves anxious and dispossessed until we took it up again.
Books were happiness. We were brought up in places where reading was a passion and a joy. It still is for us. And so here they are: books which we offer wholeheartedly to the reader as you would give to a friend going on a journey; 194 examples of the best novels and stories in English published during the last half of the twentieth century.
How to use this book
All entries are alphabetical under the name of the author. Sometimes we have chosen a novel within a sequence, sometimes the sequence itself: the full work is detailed in both cases.
A note on this edition
Our readers, all over the world, sent us thousands of entries for the final six titles for this book. The four most popular are included here. In order of popularity they read as follows: Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong, Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, John Fowles’ The Magus – which beat his French Lieutenant’s Woman by a whisker – and Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy.
We used our rights as authors to choose the last two: William Maxwell’s So Long, See You Tomorrow because it was a grave omission and authorial mistake of ours in the hardback edition, and Helen Garner’s The Children’s Bach because she topped the poll outside the world of British and American writers, who seem to dominate our readers’ tastes.
List of titles in order of publication
1950 A Murder is Announced Agatha Christie
Nothing Henry Green
Power Without Glory Frank Hardy
The Grand Sophy Georgette Heyer
1951 December Bride Sam Hanna Bell
My Cousin Rachel Daphne du Maurier
The West Pier Patrick Hamilton
The Ballad of the Sad Café Carson McCullers
A Dance to theMusic of Time (1951–75) Anthony Powell
The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger
1952 Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
The Natural Bernard Malamud
The Financial Expert R. K. Narayan
Wise Blood Flannery O’Connor
East of Eden John Steinbeck
The Sword of Honour Trilogy (1952–61) Evelyn Waugh
1953 Private Life of an Indian Prince Mulk Raj Anand
Go Tell it on the Mountain James Baldwin
The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow
The Long Good-Bye Raymond Chandler
The Go-Between L. P. Hartley
The Echoing Grove Rosamond Lehmann
The Palm-Wine Drinkard Amos Tutuola
1954 Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Lord of the Flies William Golding
The Tortoise and the Hare Elizabeth Jenkins
The Flint Anchor Sylvia Townsend Warner
1955 The Molloy Trilogy (1955–58) Samuel Beckett
The Recognitions William Gaddis
The Talented Mr Ripley Patricia Highsmith
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
1956 A Legacy Sybille Bedford
Train to Pakistan Khushwant Singh
1957 Owls Do Cry Janet Frame
On the Road Jack Kerouac
Angel Elizabeth Taylor
The Fountain Overflows Rebecca West
1958 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
Anecdotes of Destiny Isak Dinesen
From the Terrace John O’Hara
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Alan Sillitoe
1959 Naked Lunch William Burroughs
A Heritage and its History Ivy Compton-Burnett
The Little Disturbances of Man Grace Paley
1960 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
The Balkan Trilogy (1960–65) Olivia Manning
The Rabbit Quartet (1960–90) John Updike
Jeeves in the Offing P. G. Wodehouse
(US: How Right You Are, Jeeves)
1961 Catch-22 Joseph Heller
A House for Mr Biswas V. S. Naipaul
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark
Riders in the Chariot Patrick White
1962 That’s How it Was Maureen Duffy
The Reivers William Faulkner
The Golden Notebook Doris Lessing
The Lonely Girl Edna O’Brien
(renamed Girl with Green Eyes 1964)
Ship of Fools Katherine Anne Porter
1963 The Little Girls Elizabeth Bowen
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold John Le Carré
The Group Mary McCarthy
The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
1964 Herzog Saul Bellow
Heartland Wilson Harris
Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby Jr.
1965 Memoirs of a Peon Frank Sargeson
The Interpreters Wole Soyinka
1966 The Magus John Fowles
A Jest of God Margaret Laurence
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
The Jewel in the Crown Paul Scott
Cotters’ England Christina Stead
(US: Dark Places of the Heart 1967)
1967 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron
A Grain of Wheat Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
1968 In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass
The Nice and the Good Iris Murdoch
1969 The Unfortunates B. S. Johnson
Happiness Mary Lavin
The Godfather Mario Puzo
1970 Fifth Business Robertson Davies
Master and Commander Patrick O’Brian
1971 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth
St Urbain’s Horseman Mordecai Richler
Black List, Section H Francis Stuart
1972 The Optimist’s Daughter Eudora Welty
1973 The Siege of Krishnapur J. G. Farrell
Gravity’s Rainbow Thomas Pynchon
1975 Ragtime E. L. Doctorow
Heat and Dust Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Changing Places David Lodge
1976 The Lost Salt Gift of Blood Alistair MacLeod
Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice
Saville David Storey
1977 Injury Time Beryl Bainbridge
Falconer John Cheever
A Book of Common Prayer Joan Didion
The Ice Age Margaret Drabble
1978 Tirra Lirra by the River Jessica Anderson
Plumb Maurice Gee
The Human Factor Graham Greene
The Murderer Roy A. K. Heath
The Cement Garden Ian McEwan
1979 The Year of the French Thomas Flanagan
From the Fifteenth District Mavis Gallant
Burger’s Daughter Nadine Gordimer
Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick
The Executioner’s Song Norman Mailer
A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul
1980 Earthly Powers Anthony Burgess
The Transit of Venus Shirley Hazzard
Riddley Walker Russell Hoban
Lamb Bernard MacLaverty
So Long, See You Tomorrow William Maxwell
Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson
A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
Puffball Fay Weldon
1981 Lanark Alasdair Gray
Red Dragon Thomas Harris
Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie
A Flag for
Sunrise Robert Stone
1982 On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin
Schindler’s Ark Thomas Keneally
(US: Schindler’s List)
The Color Purple Alice Walker
A Boy’s Own Story Edmund White
1984 Money Martin Amis
Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard
Flaubert’s Parrot Julian Barnes
In Custody Anita Desai
The Children’s Bach Helen Garner
Nation of Fools Balraj Khanna
Machine Dreams Jayne Anne Phillips
1985 Family and Friends Anita Brookner
Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy
Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry
Black Robe Brian Moore
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson
1986 The Sportswriter Richard Ford
An Artist of the Floating World Kazuo Ishiguro
A Summons to Memphis Peter Taylor
A Dark-Adapted Eye Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
1987 Ellen Foster Kaye Gibbons
Double Whammy Carl Hiaasen
Misery Stephen King
Beloved Toni Morrison
In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje
The Other Garden Francis Wyndham
1988 Oscar and Lucinda Peter Carey
Where I’m Calling From Raymond Carver
Paris Trout Pete Dexter
The Sugar Mother Elizabeth Jolley
Forty-Seventeen Frank Moorhouse
Ice-Candy-Man Bapsi Sidhwa
Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler
The Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe
1989 The Book of Evidence John Banville
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love Oscar Hijuelos
The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan
1990 Possession A. S. Byatt
Age of Iron J. M. Coetzee
A Home at the End of the World Michael Cunningham
The Snapper Roddy Doyle
Get Shorty Elmore Leonard
Amongst Women John McGahern
The Great World David Malouf
Friend of My Youth Alice Munro
1991 The Regeneration Trilogy (1991–95) Pat Barker
Wise Children Angela Carter
A Strange and Sublime Address Amit Chaudhuri
American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis
The Redundancy of Courage Timothy Mo
Mating Norman Rush
Downriver Iain Sinclair
A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley
Reading Turgenev William Trevor
Cloudstreet Tim Winton
1992 Death and Nightingales Eugene McCabe
The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe
The Secret History Donna Tartt
1993 The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides
Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
A River Sutra Gita Mehta
The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx
My Idea of Fun Will Self
A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
Trainspotting Irvine Welsh
1994 What a Carve Up! Jonathan Coe
(US: The Winshaw Legacy)
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis de Bernières
(US: Corelli’s Mandolin)
The Folding Star Alan Hollinghurst
Original Sin P. D. James
How Late it Was, How Late James Kelman
1995 The Tortilla Curtain T. Coraghessan Boyle
The Blue Flower Penelope Fitzgerald
A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
1996 Alias Grace Margaret Atwood
Asylum Patrick McGrath
Last Orders Graham Swift
The Night in Question Tobias Wolff
1997 Quarantine Jim Crace
Underworld Don DeLillo
Cold Mountain Charles Frazier
American Pastoral Philip Roth
1998 The Lady From Guatemala V. S. Pritchett
Chinua Achebe 1930–
1958 Things Fall Apart
This short novel, written in short chapters, tells the story of the end of one era of civilization in a remote part of Nigeria, and the beginning of colonialism and Christianity. Achebe’s touch is so light, however, and his skill with character and pacing so brilliant, and his sense of detail and nuance so delightful, that you barely realize as you turn the pages that you are being steeped in the atmosphere of a crucial moment in history. The novel focuses on the character of Okonkwo, strong, stubborn and hard-working, locked into the traditions he has inherited. It tells the story of his wives and his children, village life, local traditions, including the story of a boy who is taken from another village as retribution; he comes to live with Okonkwo’s family, and slowly Okonkwo grows to love him, but the reader knows that he will eventually have to be sacrificed. The scene where he is killed is magnificently stark, almost unbearable to read. It is clear now that Okonkwo’s strength is a sort of weakness. The arrival of the English is seen first as a small, insignificant event, and there are moments towards the end of the book where Achebe presents what the reader knows will be a tragedy with a mixture of irony, sadness and a sort of anger. When this novel was first presented to Heinemann, the reader wrote ‘the best first novel since the war’. Forty years later, it is still the best first novel since the war.
Chinua Achebe was born in eastern Nigeria and divides his time between Nigeria and the USA. Things Fall Apart has sold over two million copies and been translated into thirty languages. It is the first book of the Africa trilogy; the others are No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964). He was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in 2007.
Age in year of publication: twenty-eight.
Kingsley Amis 1922–1995
1954 Lucky Jim
This is the story of Jim Dixon, who finds himself lecturing in Medieval History in a provincial university. Jim’s prospects are grim; he knows hardly anything about his subject. His real skills are making funny faces behind people’s backs and disguising his complete contempt for those around him (especially his dreadful boss) – but the second of these fails him when he meets Bertrand, his boss’s bearded and pretentious artist son. Jim is half in love with mad Margaret who teaches at the university; she throws him out of her room when ‘he made a movement not only quite unambiguous, but, even perhaps, rather insolently frank’. In one set scene the boss gives a really awful party, and our hero manages to burn the bedclothes.
The writing is constantly funny; Dixon’s ability to cause calamity all around him and then make things much worse, his mixture of innocence and pure malice, make you laugh out loud and follow his antics and his fate with amusement and great interest. Amis is brilliant at stringing out a joke, at twisting and turning the plot, and at never making Jim either ridiculous or stupid, but somehow right to get drunk when he does, or put on funny voices, or curse his boss, or hate the Middle Ages and an appalling student called Michie. The comedy is brilliantly sustained in the book, and the conflicts well articulated, so that the narrative becomes a picture of the post-war age when a new generation – the Jims of this world – grew up having no respect for their elders and betters.
Kingsley Amis was born in South London and taught at the University of Swansea and then Cambridge before settling again in London. He was the author of more than twenty works of fiction. Lucky Jim was filmed in 1958. He won the Booker Prize for The Old Devils in 1986.
Age in year of publication: thirty-two.
Martin Amis 1949–
1984 Money
John Self is one of those young men who sprang up in Thatcher’s England in the 1980s, savouring money and using it like tomato sauce. A thirty-five-year-old director of TV commercials, Self is about to make his first real movie. With his devotion to alcohol and nicotine, pornography and video nasties, and sufficient fast food to ensure his hideous pot belly a life of its own, it’s only money keeping the wolves of excess from Self’s door. He jets between New York and London encountering a misbegotten collection of narcissistic and exquisitel
y named stars – Butch Beausoleil, Caduta Massi, Spunk Davis – panting alternately after his English girlfriend Selina Street and his American muse Martina Twain.
Self’s story is a corrosive moral tale about England’s recent past – ‘The skies are so ashamed. The trees in the squares hang their heads, the evening paper in its cage is ashamed.’ With the mordant thud and rhythm of his startling prose, Martin Amis beats the greed and venality of that decade into submission. The verbal rainstorm that Amis pours through Self’s repellent mouth – the dialogue acid, perfectly pitched – is a rousing example of the Amis style which has made his work in general and Money in particular so important to his contemporaries, and so splenetic a mirror of late twentieth-century England.
Martin Amis was born in Oxford and lives in London. Amongst his most influential novels are the West London trio beginning with Money, and followed by London Fields (1989) and The Information (1996).
Age in year of publication: thirty-five.
Mulk Raj Anand 1905–2004
1953 Private Life of an Indian Prince
In 1947, the year of Indian independence from Britain, there were five hundred and sixty-two Indian princedoms. These princes were gradually stripped of their power and Anand, the great Indian chronicler of the humble poor, turned his attention to these ‘poor rich’. Anand’s fictional prince, the Maharaja Ashok Kumar, is one of those who preferred to believe Queen Victoria’s pledge – reaffirmed by subsequent British governments – that their rights would be protected in an independent India. Foolish man. Scion of a long line of equally foolish Maharajas of Sham Fur, Ashok is a charmer, but decadent, spoilt and politically incompetent. Having rid himself of two Maharanees, he is ruled by the whims and hysterics of his mistress, the spellbinding Ganga Dasi. He lives in disintegrating times: his greed and improvidence have led his subjects towards revolt; his assertion of independence is anachronistic and useless. There remains only his sexual obsession, and this survives betrayal and madness to take on an integrity of its own. Anand is a master of character and circumstance, and he recounts his prince’s story with a powerful mixture of psychological understanding, perverse humour and political insight. This is one of the best descriptions of sexual obsession: it is rare to find a portrait of a man bewitched, which is at once so ironic and lyrical, so profoundly affecting.
