The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- This week The New York Times Book Review rolled out the results of an ambitious survey it conducted to determine the best books of the 21st century so far. On this week’s episode, Gilbert Cruz chats with fellow editors Tina Jordan, Scott Heller and Joumana Khatib about the results of that survey and about the project itself, including the willingness of some participants to let us share their ballots with the public.
A very anglo- saxon list. Roth, Munro, Egan, McCarthy, Mcewan, Mantel, Hisham Matar are my favorites and I read them all. Strangely Auster and Delillo don't appear here.
They're clearly talking about English language books or books that have been translated into English. Why does it surprise you that many English writers are anglo-saxon?
@@seanwebb605 I'm surprised because Americans think they have the best literature in the World. What a weird idea!
@@vayres7512 There are some incredible books written by American authors in English. New York is an important hub for English publishing.
All of these people sound like they hate books and reading:
"The first in the series isn't my favorite but I'm not going to say which one is"
"I agree - if you only have so many hours to read then why devote them to a series"
"We're not going to share our lists. We're not going to share our ballots."
Why even have a book podcast if you aren't interested in talking about books? You are not serious people.
Finishing the Hat is niche but I would put it in my top 100.
Who's that by? I can't find it. I would add Red Pill by Kunzru
@@DuaneJasper Stephen Sondheim. It would only be of interest if you like musicals.
I do wish someone would make such a great effort around a different question (and indeed, it might have generated a very different list here): the best “loved” books. Because we don’t always love and admire books for the same reason…
The NYT did bring out an alternative list which was solely chosen by the readers. It reflects more what you are driving at I think
@@DuaneJasper Agreed. But it might have also been interesting to ask this question of the luminaries. Would they answer the same titles? Not sure. ;)
3:40 You mean we can read how Michael Bay and J.J. Abrams voted? Why would someone want to do that?
No need to worry: neither Michael Bay nor J.J. Abrams vote. The voters aren't selected by how famoust they are, btw.
Why didn't you just list the books?
So we pay for the subscription haha
It's a podcast discussing the topic.
The Overstory by Richard Powers
If you had a definition of what "the best book" ia you sould not need to ask people to vote.
While this list undoubtedly includes some fine works of literature, one can't help but notice a clear bias towards progressive ideologies and 'trendy' social causes. The overrepresentation of authors who openly support left-leaning politics and LGBTQ+ issues is hard to overlook. Many of these books seem more concerned with pushing a social agenda than with timeless storytelling. Where are the conservative voices? The traditional values? It's disappointing to see such a skewed selection that appears to prioritize an author's identity or political stance over the quality of their prose. This list reflects the current trend in the literary world to elevate certain perspectives while sidelining others, potentially at the expense of true literary merit. One wonders if some of these works will stand the test of time, or if they're merely riding the wave of current social movements. A truly diverse list would include a broader range of viewpoints, not just those currently in vogue in liberal literary circles.
What are some of your picks for the year? Always looking to add diversity to my TBR
It's a diverse selection of the best. Not a diverse list of everything that has been published. Maybe more conservative authors could write better books?