"Compiling a list of the greatest novels of all time is an impossible task. King is one of more than 170 novelists, critics and academics the Guardian polled for their top 10, ranked in order, which we tallied to compile an overall 100. But, as he argued, 10 books is not enough! On King's list there is, he's sorry to say, not a single Dickens; he wishes he'd found space for David Copperfield or Oliver Twist."
"Never has such a list been more needed. Dwindling attention spans, screens, Netflix; whatever we blame, reading for pleasure is a dying pursuit. Half of adults in the UK say they never read, and levels among children and young people are at their lowest in 20 years. This year has been declared the National Year of Reading to address this crisis. Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all, Henry David Thoreau advised."
"Lists procreate; they give rise to other lists, Margaret Atwood observed. In 2003, the Observer's then literary editor Robert McCrum compiled a list of the 100 greatest novels of all time, itself inspired by the BBC's Big Read earlier that year, which asked the nation to choose its favourite novels. McCrum's more informal polling roaming the office for a week and buttonholing colleagues about their favourite fiction resulted in a list that was, as he admitted, partial and highly personal. But it got people talking about books."
"One Day author David Nicholls's choices are definitely skewed towards novels I read at an impressionable age, he says. Bernardine Evaristo listed some of my alltime favourites, including several classics of the past 100 years. Salman Rushdie, Anne Enright, Yiyun Li, Elif Shafak, Ian McEwan, Maggie O'Farrell, Colm Toibin, Lorrie Moore, Katherine Rundell and many more have all cast their votes. Salman Rushdie is the highest-ranking living author in the list, at No 23 with Midnight's Children."
A poll of more than 170 novelists, critics, and academics produced a ranked overall list of the 100 greatest novels of all time. The list includes living authors such as Salman Rushdie, whose Midnight’s Children ranks highest at No 23. Some voters express regrets and personal biases, including a wish for Dickens and a preference for novels read during youth. The need for such lists is framed as urgent because reading for pleasure is declining, with many adults in the UK reporting they never read and children’s reading levels at their lowest in 20 years. A National Year of Reading is intended to address the crisis, and lists are presented as catalysts for further discussion and reading.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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