The New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Reaction Video
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- The New York Times compiled a list of the 100 best books of the century (so far) with the help of a bunch of people in the literary world. I’ll talk about what made the list, what got left out, and a bit about the background of how it was made. Expand for more information. 👇
UPDATE: the readers' list of the top 100 books of the 21st century has been released. Here is my reaction to that: • New York Times Readers...
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The Best Books of the Last 25 Years: • The 25 Best Books of t...
The Atlantic’s Great American Novels: • Reacting to The Atlant...
Time’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time: • Time’s 100 Best Myster...
15 Books I’ll (Probably) Never Read: • 15 Books I’ll (Probabl...
My Interpreter of Maladies Video About My Pulitzer History: • My Pulitzer Prize Obse...
My Video About the 2012 Pulitzer Fiasco: • Do Book Prizes Owe Us ...
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I would have preferred that they made two separate lists - one for fiction and one for nonfiction but I'll take what I can get. Thanks for this video, Greg.😀
I do agree that separate lists would have made sense. And of course, I'm curious about which fiction books would have rounded out the list if they had kept them separate.
I was so happy to see Edward P. Jones get the title of top-ranking American novel on the list. The Known World doesn't get nearly enough love, though from its showing it's clear to me that everyone who actually read it agrees it's a knockout of a book.
I hear so many good things about The Known World. I need to try to read it soon!
It would be interesting for the New York Times to create a list of the top 100 authors from the data.
I would LOVE that.
I think it's a fun list; nothing truly out of left field (in my opinion) as there are many, many prize winners included and nearly all of the books are familiar to those of us who follow the book world these days. Would have liked to see some more under the radar picks (or maybe books from smaller presses) but I suppose when people are asked to pick their favorites, the books with the biggest spotlight tend to be selected. Thanks for the video!
Yes, with a list structured this way it would be very difficult to get an under the radar choice. The way they built the list by definition puts greater weight on popular choices.
Putting yourself on your list is super bad ass!!! As my great grandfather said, "It ain't bragging if it's true!" (Turns out Stephanie Land put her book Maid on her list also) If you ever do a show on underrated books, I would love to see you read and discuss "The Measure" by Nikki Erlick.
I hadn't heard of The Measure--I'll look into it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Haha, I commented that King had chutzpah, but I think "super bad ass" says it better 😃
I’ve been waiting to see your reaction video and loved hearing your thoughts. I thought the list was OK. I didn’t love how many repeating authors were on the list at the expense of some glaring omissions. What I loved is how much Bookstagram embraced this with everybody sharing their own ballots. I definitely added to my TBR last week!
Bookstagram was all over the list! It was fun to see.
I absolutely love your taste in books. The fact that we’ve DNF’s the exact same books (Overstory, goldfinch, anything jonathan franzen etc) but also loved many of the same books such as train dreams and the secret lives of church ladies! I can always trust your recs!! ☺️ (also anyone who DNFS Jonathan Franzen has a friend in me lol)
I love that! Especially that we've DNF'ed the same ones. 🥂 📚
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! I need alternate options to prime time tv this week and this was a lovely surprise tonight. Feel free to drop hours and hours of content this week 😂…it’s anxiety relief for those of us that need it ❤
Same!! ❤
That means a lot! Thanks so much. 🥂
This was fun! Great recap and perspective!
Thanks so much!
Thank you for this video! Appreciate how you’ve put it together in order to respect the paywall. As someone who absolutely loved the Neapolitan Quartets I would also surprised to see it #1 on the list, I thought something else would supplant it. Also agree that Love Songs and Homegoing should have been in there.
Thanks--I'm glad you enjoyed this! Love Songs and Homegoing would have been excellent inclusions.
I just finished The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois earlier this month. I'm kind of surprised it didn't make the list.
I'm very disappointed that it didn't. I also think it should have won the Pulitzer that year.
I’m new to your channel and was really excited to see your reaction to this! I’m still figuring out my literary tastes and already borrowed a few from the list that I liked the sound of and will top some off based on your thoughts 😄
I hope you like the books you pick up! Welcome--and what a fun journey figuring out your literary tastes.
I've read 45 of the 100. The Known World is well worth reading
I'm really looking forward to The Known World!
My choices?
Deluge by Stephen Markley
Ohio by Stephen Markley
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The Green Road by Ann Enright
Foster by Claire Keegan
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
I could keep going……
That's a good list (at least, for a start)!
I think I would have included The Paying Guests, Shuggie Bain, In The Dreamhouse, maybe Piranesi, and Foster by Claire Keegan. It's certainly a very interesting list. Some of the entries surprised me, but it's causing some passionate book conversation across the internet and that's not a bad thing!
The Paying Guests was one of the books a staffer from the Book Review said they would have liked to see the most. And yes, passionate book conversation is always good!
I've seen BookTubers mention The Paying Guests, Shuggie, and especially Piranesi so many times. They are definitely on my tbr!
I read a lot of literary fiction (or however anyone wants to denominate non genre fiction that comes with a strong seasoning of artistic intent) and current nonfiction and I’ve been doing it for a long time. I have read 45 of the books listed and may get around to some of the others.
The list is centered around books that got attention from American reviewers and readers, which is fair enough. NYT is an American publication.
I think ranking anything more subtle than water slides or ice cream is a little silly, and even judgments about those things are subjective. To me the benefit of a book list like this is that it keeps some worthwhile books from falling off readers’ radar once any initial spotlight has died out. Discussion about perceived omissions or incorrect inclusions magnifies and extends that effect. Based on that, I think the list is pretty good.
I didn't mention it in this video, but someone commented that they would have loved some "under the radar" picks--and I think the way they structured this list makes it impossible for lesser known books to break through, because popular consensus is required. And I agree--conversations about lists like these are great ways to help people discover new-to-them books!
I read Lincoln in the Bardo in print and loved it. It makes my list. Still haven’t listened to the audio although I keep meaning to do so. Enjoy your review of the list. 🙂
Thanks! The audio production of Lincoln in the Bardo is so good.
I liked the list a lot. I know a lot of people have issues with it. I was extremely surprised The Kite Runner wasn’t on the list.
Given how popular The Kite Runner was when it was published, it feels surprising that so many people appear to have forgotten it.
Interesting and fun discussion. I am very surprised There There did not make the list!
Me too!
I've seen so many complaints about this list- mainly from genre readers that aren't happy there aren't more sci fi/fantasy novels on it. So I'm glad to see someone appreciate the time and effort that must have gone into making it. It's baffling to me that people are upset- no one's making them read any of the books from it and such a wide pool of people were asked for their input I'm not sure what more NYT could have done D:
I definitely understand the frustration because there's such a history of lists like this overlooking genre books. But it is nice that the Times tried to take steps to include genre authors. I agree that it's worth remembering that they didn't have that much control over what people submitted once they got started.
This list sorely lacks international authors.
@@danicadabic9789 It is interesting that ballots from 503 literary people didn't yield much outside of North America or Europe.
100. Denis Johnson: Tree of Smoke
99. Ali Smith: How to Be Both
98. Ann Patchett: Bel Canto
97. Jesmyn Ward: Men We Reaped
96. Saidiya Hartman: Wayward Lives Beautiful Experiments
95. Hilary Mantel: Bring Up the Bodies
94. Zadie Smith: On Beauty
93. Emily St. John Mandel: Station Eleven
92. Elena Ferrante: The Days of Abandonment
91. Philip Roth: The Human Stain
90. Viet Thanh Nguyen: The Sympathizer
89. Hisham Matar: The Return
88. Lydia Davis: The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis
87. Torrey Peters: Detransition, Baby
86. David W. Blight: Frederick Douglass
85. George Saunders: Pastoralia
84. Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Emperor of All Maladies
83. Benjamin Labatut: When We Cease to Understand the World
82. Fernanda Melchor: Hurricane Season
81. John Jeremiah Sullivan: Pulphead
80. Elena Ferrante: The Story of the Lost Child
79. Lucia Berlin: A Manual for Cleaning Women
78. Jon Fosse: Septology
77. Tayari Jones: An American Marriage
76. Gabrielle Zevin: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
75. Mohsin Hamid: Exit West
74. Elizabeth Strout: Olive Kitteridge
73. Robert A. Caro: The Passage of Power
72. Svetlana Alexievitch: Secondhand Time
71. Tove Ditlevsen: The Copenhagen Trilogy
70. Edward P. Jones: All Aunt Hagar’s Children
69. Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow
68. Sigrid Nunez: The Friend
67. Andrew Solomon: Far from the Tree
66. Justin Torres: We the Animals
65. Philip Roth: The Plot Against America
64. Rebecca Makkai: The Great Believers
63. Mary Gaitskill: Veronica
62. Ben Lerner: 10:04
61. Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead
60. Kiese Laymon: Heavy
59. Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex
58. Hua Hsu: Stay True
57. Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed
56. Rachel Kushner: The Flame Throwers
55. Lawrence Wright: The Looming Tower
54. George Saunders: Tenth of December
53. Alice Munro: Runaway
52. Denis Johnson: Train Dreams
51. Kate Atkinson: Life After Life
50. Hernan Diaz: Trust
49. Han Kang: The Vegetarian
48. Marjane Satrapi: Perseopolis
47. Toni Morrison: A Mercy
46. Donna Tartt: The Goldfinch
45. Maggie Nelson: The Argonauts
44. N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season
43. Tony Judt: Postwar
42. Marlon James: A Brief History of Seven Killings
41. Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These
40. Helen Macdonald: H Is for Hawk
39. Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad
38. Roberto Bolano: The Savage Detectives
37. Annie Ernaux: The Years
36. Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between the World and Me
35. Alison Bechdel: Fun Home
34. Claudia Rankine: Citizen
33. Jesmyn Ward: Salvage the Bones
32. Alan Hollinghurst: The Line of Beauty
31. Zadie Smith: White Teeth
30. Jesmyn Ward: Sing, Unburied, Sing
29. Helen DeWitt: The Last Samurai
28. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas
27. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Americanah
26. Ian McEwan: Atonement
25. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc: Random Family
24. Richard Powers: The Overstory
23. Alice Munro: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
22. Katherine Boo: Behind the Beautiful Forevers
21. Matthew Desmond: Evicted
20. Percival Everett: Erasure
19. Patrick Radden Keefe: Say Nothing
18. George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo
17. Paul Beatty: The Sellout
16. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
15. Min Jin Lee: Pachinko
14. Rachael Cusk: Outline
13. Cormac McCarthy: The Road
12. Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking
11. Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
10. Marilynne Robinson: Gilead
9. Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go
8. W. G. Sebald: Austerlitz
7. Colson Whitehead: The Underground Railroad
6. Roberto Bolano: 2666
5. Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections
4. Edward P. Jones: The Known World
3. Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall
2. Isabel Wilkerson: The Warmth of Other Suns
1. Elena Ferrante: My Brilliant Friend
That's a great list!
Read bleeding edge. Read it twice and report back.
Really enjoyed this video. Waited to watch yours first. Think I have five marked to watch tonight; one is in Spanish so I hope subtitles are enabled. Lots of good books there. Wish they would have weighted the ranking a bit (extra % pts for top five books?). Who knows maybe Ferrante would have topped the list anyway. And no Hamnet anywhere??? Mistakes happen, I guess. (Yes, I'm blaming collective amnesia...) At least Under the Dome didn't win. 😉. No shade: I'm reading The Shining and enjoying it.
Thank you for that! I do think a ranked list would have been a good choice (and honestly, probably not that much more difficult for them to manage). It would be interesting to see how that would have changed the list. The Shining is a really interesting book.
Thanks, Greg, this was a great discussion. I was surprised about some of the omissions too, and there were many on the list I wouldn't have chosen. I liked that they let you mark the books you want to read, not like I need a longer TBR 😅but I appreciated seeing books that either I'd forgotten I want to read or hadn't ever heard of. (I marked 7.)
I read some of the criticism on Detransition, Baby as well, and at first decided not to read it, but then I saw an article (in Vulture) by Torrey Peters, explaining why she'd written it, that she wasn't implying Ames thought they'd made a mistake, but was trying to figure out what it means to be fully a woman or man, whether as a trans woman you can feel whole without bearing a child...It's so complex, and I'm imagining it's a kind of grieving. At least from the article, I didn't get the sense she was trying to sensationalize, just to explore this complex issue of gender and parenthood. The idea that detransitioning might make her feel whole again felt sketchy to me before reading the article, but the way she describes it, as this realization that everything would be so much easier if she could re-enter the sex she'd been assigned at birth, made sense to me. (I'm cis-het, though, so although I've seen trans people defending the novel, I can completely understand why some might feel differently.)
So anyway, I read the book. And I didn't like it, but only because it felt like it was written by and for a millennial, very...peppy, if you know what I mean. So take that for what it's worth!
I read it last year and thought it was only ok.
That's very interesting re: Detransition. Thanks for sharing that!
The best way to read the Ferrante books is audio- Hilary Huber does an incredible job. Thank you for your thoughts- this was fun!
That's good to know--thanks!
Great tip. I was wondering how I was going to find time to fit in that series. 😃
My fav Ann Patchett novel is State of Wonder
I didn't enjoy "My Brilliant Friend" so that was disappointing. I did LOVE "The Warmth of Other Sons"... so, so good. I did love "All the Light We Cannot See" and was sad that it didn't make it. I was surprised that Geraldine Brooks didn't appear..."Year of Wonders" or "People of the Book". I would have loved if "Still Life" by Sara Winman was on the list.
Good point--Year of Wonders in particular is a book I constantly hear good things about (and need to catch up to. The only Brooks novel I've read is March).
also didn’t enjoy My Brilliant Friend but loved All the Light We Cannot See
I went through the list and you're right, there are very few international books, I'd like to recommend you "Papyrus, The Invention of Books in the Ancient World" by Irene Vallejo. It came out in 2019 and by February of 2023 it had sold 1 million copies, it’s been translated into 35 languages and published in 50 countries, and by 2023 it had been published 45 times. Anyone and everyone who loves books, like obviously you do, just must read this one, I’m sure you’ll thank me for bringing it to your radar
I have the list. I am surprised at the Number 1 book. I am also surprised that Don DeLillo is not on the list. Underworld is one of my favorite books of all time.
Someone in my Pulitzer Discord group was really pulling for Underworld to be included as well.
@@SupposedlyFun Underworld is from 1997 so a bit early for the cutoff. Haven't yet read any of his 21st century novels so not sure if there's a strong contender from that group.
Lotsa books at once! I agree with many of your thoughts on these, I’ve read most of the fiction and I actually have 2 non-fic books on hold. Detransition, Baby is not great, but I thought the subject was interesting.
The subject does sound interesting, but the comments on it are 😮
We read Detransition for my library's book club, and I agree it wasn't best written, or edited. The beginning felt like a journal dump. It felt to me like they rushed to publish so they could have a book out there that provides represention for a popular group. Imo everyone should have representation, but I wish they'd make sure the books are ready to be published. I just want everyone to have *excellent* representation 💙
Say Nothing by PRK is amazing!!!
I can't wait to read it!
Greg, have you tried the audiobook of The Goldfinch? When I couldn't get into the book, I was able to get into the audiobook and then enjoyed going back and forth between the two, just to savor the writing. The audiobook won awards; it's unforgettable.
I tried the physical book the first time around. When I try a reread I will do audio instead. I'm glad to know it's better.
Hi Greg,
I read the NYT list and also their article where celeb authors revealed their picks. Stephen King was not the only one to choose his own. There was a woman who did it too, but we don't hear about that because King is the big target that some people like to snipe at. I looked over my GoodReads, and I did give Under the Dome 5 stars when it came out. Good for him for having the self esteem to list it and the chutzpah to put his votes out for all to see.
They certainly did ignore horror, scifi, etc. Two titles that I want to read that came up on a lot of those authors' lists are Redshirts (Scalzi) and Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro).
Thank you for reporting on that podcast. It seemed strange that they put authors on the list multiple times instead of just making a decision and leaving room for more authors! It seems extra suss that the votes would end up weighted towards somebody's teacher/mentor. I gave Lincoln in the Bardo 4 stars when it came out, but since then I realized it really creeped me out, and I should take my own feelings more into account when rating books. Later I discovered a short story collection that would absolutely go on my top 100 books of the century list, Vampires in the Lemon Grove (Karen Russell), which was written *before* Lincoln and has a presidents- in-the-bardo story that I feel surpasses LITB in many ways.
Also on my list, a non fiction dual biography, Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon. And probably #1 would be The Hunger Games, although I'm really thinking of the impact of the whole trilogy. It's kind of not fair to the work to have to choose one volume. If they just allowed for multi-volume works, that would have solved the multiple Ferrante issue and left room for The Hunger Games to take its rightful place on the list! 😃
For clarification: George Saunders did NOT get extra weight. The speculation was that his connections to a lot of the people who submitted ballots, particularly as a mentor or teacher, may have inadvertently given him an advantage--simply because a lot of the people who voted are by nature familiar with his work. And the staff of the Book Review did not put authors on--the ballots had total control over who made it (and how often). They did not make decisions about what made the list.
I don’t know who gave me the recommendation for “A Manuel for cleaning women“. But I loved it. Also try her second or last collection “evening in Paradise”. She was a unique ride over the unique point of view. Aloha.
I kinda hope it was me who recommended A Manual for Cleaning Women because it's been a while, but I have mentioned it before. I'm so glad you liked it!
I've read 36 of them. I wish they'd limited the author repeats; and I feel like they didn't always choose the best offering from some of the authors. Worst omissions in my opinion include Louise Erdrich, Maggie O'Farrell, James McBride. These lists are always fun to consider. I'm currently in the middle of my Elizabeth Strout reread project.
It is interesting to see which books made it for an author and which didn’t. If I could only put one author on the list it might be McBride.
Milkman made my list
I’m honestly surprised I didn’t see it on more ballots!
I have read 16 of the books on this list, and it's interesting because it includes some of my all time least favorite books (Cloud Atlas, A visit from the Goon Squad, The Amazing Adventures of K and C), and some of my all time favorites (Neapolitan saga, Middlesex, The Sympathizer, The Years, and The Human Stain).
It definitely runs the whole spectrum for you then!
I think that they should make a list for romance books because there are a lot that I feel deserve to be on the list.
I would be interested in that list!
Just FYI: NYT listed all their books on their Instagram 😊
Thanks--I did know that. What I mean when I say I want to respect the paywall is the specific descriptions, rankings, and recommendations that come with each listing.
@@SupposedlyFunLiving here in Mexico I can’t subscribe to everything online and often hit paywalls, darn!
@@jordana99 That would get frustrating!
Oh, Hamnet! It would be very near the top of my list, were I to compile one. I think historical fiction, with the exception of Hilary Mantel, seems largely to have been overlooked. But considering I didn’t know huge chunks of these titles, maybe there was more historical fiction than I know. I’m still furious at the NYT for their political games, and it’s hard for me to separate out their book coverage, so I still think this list is kind of crappy. But the thing that I hadn’t considered before watching your video is where the data is coming from. If there was a large chunk of public responses included that might explain the #1 pick (which is probably also historical fiction now that I think of it). I think having that book as #1 sort of makes this list a lot less serious. (No, I haven’t read it. I just have opinions. 🤣)
I just got off a mid-year review call with my boss where I expressed extreme frustration with my tasks, something I never do. I’m a keep my mouth shut person unless talking with people at my own level. My boss got both barrels today. 😬 We’ll see it I regret that. Anyway, it kind of explains my sour comments about the top 100.
Loved the video though! And little Teddy coming in near the end to camp on the floor behind you! 💜🤎🖤
Sorry for the tough workday! Here's hoping the feedback improves things for you.
It is difficult to separate the Book Review from the atrocious coverage the regular paper has been releasing. But I've enjoyed the Book Review under Gilbert Cruz's leadership (hopefully, he doesn't turn out to be as awful as his predecessor was in her personal life, which was only revealed after she retired and started writing op-eds).
I missed Paul Auster on the list. A superb author!
He always feels like an author with more of a cult following than a lot of mainstream recognition, but you would kind of think that the sampling that voted would be more likely to be Auster fans.
Not featuring Sue Monk Kidd, Dan Brown or Dean Koontz....staples on the bestseller list.....who was asked? Who voted?
Worth bearing in mind that people were not asked to rank their lists - this top 100 could have been quite differently ordered if nearly everyone who picked My Brilliant Friend put it at number 9, for example. I was appalled at the absence of Ducks, Newburyport, and wondered if that and Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois were too long for enough people to have got around to yet...? (2666 is very long, of course, but that's a fair bit older.)
That's very true--I do wonder (now) what this list would have looked like had they asked the voters to rank their ballots.
I already know the twist of Never Let Me Go. Its how I heard of it. Will I still enjoy it?
I think you can still like it. The first part of the book just won’t be as mysterious for you.
I saw the list but I didn’t notice “Love Songs of WEB DuBois” was not on it. Because it didn’t win a major prize (like 95% of the list did)
I would absolutely have included Love Songs--and in the top ten.
I've only read 8 of those. The Line of Beauty and Small Things Like These are the only ones I have actually finished, so 6 DNFs 🤭(Gilead ● The Overstory ● A Brief History of Seven Killings ● Trust ● Demon Copperhead ● Septology)
I didn't actually count how many of them were DNFs for me. 😂
I think they should not have allowed any author to have more than one book on the list.
I do think it's interesting to see who gets in for multiple books and who doesn't.
I’ve read 18 but two were DNFd. American Marriage and Hurricane Season. I tried to leave my own list but they wanted my email first. That means I be bombarded by subscription requests and advertisements.
I'm glad I'm not alone on disliking American Marriage.
The Goldfinch was a DNF for me. I have zero interest in trying it again.
I’m one of those people who hated Detransition Baby. I did it on audio otherwise I would have tossed it across the room.
Well, it has been almost two months since I tossed a book across the room. 🤣
It is very weird to me that this list doesn't have as many super best sellers as it could
It is a little surprising that they managed to avoid that completely.
Thanks for this reaction. I miss Yann Martel's Life of Pi, anything by J. M. Coetzee, or John Banville or Howard Jacobson or Richard Russo. And what happened to Harry Potter?
The Coetzee book I would most like to see was actually published in 1999, so it wouldn't fit the time period. But he certainly has several others that were published after 2000.
I would’ve thought Book Thief would be number 1! Did it even make the list?
It didn't make the list! No YA books made the cut.
I appreciate My Brilliant Friend, and I think it's the best one of the quatret... But the best book of the century so far? Eh. It did have A LOT of hype back in the day, though, and I kinda feel like people remember the hype more than the book itself (I feel the same about The Goldfinch). Maybe I'm just being salty)
I think a lot of people have been surprised that My Brilliant Friend fared so well. Someone commented that the list probably would look VERY different had the voters been asked to rank their ballots.
Well in 2 years the Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow movie adaptation is supposed to premiere
That would definitely keep it top of mind. 😂
I've read just a few less than you. Need to read more nonfiction.
I love lists like this. Agree or disagree it gets people talking about books and reading books. Personally, it reminds me to pull down those great books that have been sitting on my bookshelves for too long, (looking right at you, 2666) and to check out books that have slipped past my radar. I think that many of the books "missing" from the list are in #101-150. Some of the books you mentioned, like Homegoing and Hamnett, are listed under "read it, might like this" which leads me to think they just missed the cut.
Interesting...two of your DNF are two of my all time favorites, Goldfinch and Overstory. I second recommendation for the Goldfinch audiobook.
It's going to take you a while to catch up on Ann Patchett. She's written many really good books. Happy reading.
I wonder if a lot of the recommendations would have been books that the Book Review staff would have included had they structured their own list. Hamnet, at a minimum, probably wouldn't have gotten away from them. I will definitely try Goldfinch on audio next time around. Happy reading!
Best is so subjective. NYT let each participant decide their own criteria. Stand the test of time vs. personal favorites = very different lists. Methodology would make a big difference too. Consulting your carefully crafted reading notes vs. just browsing your bookshelves. Again, very different lists.
Looked through
book review yearly lists this morning...full of "oh yeah, that one." Not enough time.
I'm in the middle of Train Dreams, audiobook with Will Patton. After the fever dream that was Tree of Smoke many years ago, I had let Denis Johnson slip quietly off my radar.
@@CindyRakowski I listened to the audio of Train Dreams when I reread it two years ago, and I thought it was very well done. It makes me so sad that Johnson missed on a Pulitzer.
Respect the paywall? Dude…NYT has plenty of cash.
Dude, if I was trying to make sure I made money off of my own content and people kept giving it away for free just to spite me, I wouldn’t enjoy that at all. And neither would you.
@@SupposedlyFun the authors on the list don’t get any money. I don’t support nor respect media conglomerates like the NYT scavenging folks’ works and putting a paywall behind what they consider to be essential reading. It’s cultural gate-keeping and I have no respect for such media companies’ practices.
@@SupposedlyFun and to fully answer your supposition, I do not care because I don’t care about the monetary compensation of my supposed work. I don’t write or do whatever because I want to get paid. I did not choose my vocation for financial gain.
You either do care about people getting paid for their work or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t claim to be offended when someone who writes books isn’t getting paid for web clicks while denying the journalists who wrote the piece their own right to get paid for their work. Whether you care about getting paid for your writing is immaterial: people who go into journalism very much care about getting credit for their work and getting paid for it.
"Against the Day"?
I guess they aren't Pynchon fans (in the 21st century at least).
Great video as always, thanks! The list... well, ok, it's subjective, but there are too many omissions for me to like it (Paul Auster's 4321, or Aramburu's Patria from Spain, Carrere's L'Adversaire from France, just to mention a few, books they are already classics and should have appeared on the list). As an Italian, and NOT a fan of Ferrante's, seeing two titles of hers and one as number one, is a shame. About your choices, I normally agree with you... BUT on Franzen! I am a die-hard fan of him, therefore: promise me you'll read him, and no one will get hurt...;-)
Interesting choices! I've attempted two Franzen books and didn't like either, but I would be willing to try Crossroads at some point to see if I get on with that one better since I've heard a lot of people tell me it's their favorite of his books (so far).
@@SupposedlyFun I’ve read them all, including his first two novels that were not that great yet, and I agree: I’d say for me the two best ones are equally The Corrections and Crossroads
the lonely polygomist udall, instance at the fingerpost by ian pears and I am radat
Interesting submissions.
John Boyne.
Twilight should be on the list.
It wouldn't be on my list by a mile (to be honest), but it was certainly a popular book and series.
Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' isn't as good as earlier dome novels like 'All Flesh is Grass' IMHO and I would have voted for 'The Fireman' by Joe Hill if I was him. Even if you argue The Fireman is genre fiction, it's still a fantastic exploration of the true cost of hope and the nature of religion. The thing about Tomorrow x3 is it has an impact that leaves you with a burning desire to contact people whose friendship you may have discounted. How many books command immediate action?
That's interesting re" Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.
Very disappointing omissions for me:
Lauren Groff, James McBride , Ruth Ozecki, Louise Erdrich and Ocean Vuong
I hadn't thought of Ozecki. Groff and McBride were huge surprise misses for me.
Gone Girl guaranteed I would never read another Gillian Flynn book. I hated every character in that book.
They are very unlikable--but I also think Flynn intended them to be that way. But that definitely won't be a choice that works for everyone.
@SupposedlyFun I think it was definitely intentional and I was like one of those people who can't look away from a car wreck, I couldn't put it down but I came away with such a dark feeling in my heart that I just never wanted to read her stuff again. And normally I am a very open minded voracious reader of almost all content.
@@jennrecord2784 That makes sense!
It would have been far more effective to do a top 50 fiction list and top 50 nonfiction list. Combining the two like this ain't it. Limiting it to one book per author should have been a nonnegotiable rule regardless of approach. The readers list was the more successful attempt.
It does feel like nonfiction get short shrift on both lists. I would have liked to see a separate list as well.
Really dont understand the love for The Overstory. It was sooooo boring....
I have put it out there before, if someone wants to read charming, scientific facts about trees, I recommend The Hidden Life of Trees. If they want to read multiple human stories with trees in the background, Barkskins is preferable to The Overstory. If they want to read one of the best books of the 21st century that has trees (an apple orchard) as an important part of the story, read North Woods. I'd prioritize all three over The Overstory. Then I'd prioritize a couple more "sciencey" books the came out around that time as well: Soul of an Octopus and Lab Girl (should be more well known!)
On balance, I'm not recommending skipping The Overstory altogether. Because of the "you get out of it what you put into it" principal, I think readers could enjoy The Overstory or parts of it very much by letting their imaginations wander in their preferred directions, so I don't want to be too hard on it. 😊
I didn't think it was boring so much as I felt the story kept getting overly convoluted as it progressed. But a lot of people love Richard Powers and his work--and I do think he's a fantastic writer.
Maybe Sarah Jessica Parker has ethics, unlike Stephen King.
🤣🤣🤣
I think A Little Life is missing. For sure! 😊
I suspect the cilantro nature of the book probably ultimately kept it off of enough ballots that it didn't make it.
I made this comment on another channel, but I think it deserves repeating. A Little Life was a book readers either lauded or loathed. However, its impact on arts and letters cannot be discounted. The fact that NYT couldn't find a spot for it on a list of 100 tells you how bogus this list is.
I'm one of the people who really did not like A Little Life, so it didn't even occur to me that it wasn't on the list. Maybe the cilantro aspect kept it off of enough ballots? But given that the people who love the book REALLY love it, it does feel surprising that it didn't have more of a presence.
To me, A Little Life felt like torture porn. I kept waiting to “ get it”, but it just devolved into very unpleasant soap opera. I’m surprised I finished it…(again kept waiting for the redeeming message). But that’s just me🤷♀️