Just for fun, here is another ‘best of’ post. This time it’s the 100 best books of the decade, as judged by the Times. [I've linked here to the printer-friendly version to save you plodding through all 17 pages.] I’ll reprint the top ten, as they do, in reverse order:
- 10 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (2003)
- 9 Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)
- 8 Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood (2008)
- 7 Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2002)
- 6 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
- 5 Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky (2006)
- 4 Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers trans Robert Bringhurst (2002)
- 3 Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (2004)
- 2 Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2003)
- 1 The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)
Lot’s of food for thought here. You get the impression that ‘best’ sometimes means ‘bestselling’ or ‘most influential’ or ‘of the moment’ rather than, well, best. But of course it is impossible not to be subjective. Or is it?! (I’d better stop, before I get into a whole discussion about the possibility of making objective value judgments.)
I’m not sure if The Road should be at the very top – but it is certainly a staggering work. Yes, it’s as brutal and stark as the reviews say; but it is at heart a story of a father’s love for his son. And there are moments of hope – one in particular – which I can honestly say shifted the existential ground within me and made me gasp with unanticipated relief and with gratitude at what the human spirit could bring.
It is a sad indictment of, well, society I suppose, if The Da Vinci Code makes the top ten of a list like this. I have nothing against popularism, in fact I a total sucket for it, but for so many other wonderful (and indeed popularist) books to be bumped one place further down the list because of Dan Brown’s inclusion leaves me feeling just a little desperate.
Maybe I shouldn’t take it so much to heart!
I think it is just mean to provoke us! And give us ideas of other books to read. And to make us mad…
No Country For Old Men is also another awesome piece by Cormac McCarthy. Saw the movie for the The Road and I think they got it wrong, sad to say cause I liked the book. A great Non-Fiction book that is never on anyone’s list and may or may not be one’s style but everyone I’ve recommended it to have loved is Under and Alone by William McQueen. I picked it up at an Airport bookstore in Gatwick of all places and finished it on the flight. Hard to put down. Thank you very much for not listing any of the Twilight series!